A Tribute to Great Television: Gilmore Girls

About a week ago I started re-watching Gilmore Girls for probably the seventh or eighth time, and continued my love affair with Lorelai and Rory.  After watching Amy Sherman-Palladino's (the creator/writer/director) latest creation Bunheads, I decided I needed to head back to Stars Hallow.  This small town had all the charm and wit, and fast talking of an old school movie.  One of my other favorite parts of this show is the massive amounts of pop culture references ranging from obscure films like Pippi Longstocking to political references like effectiveness of Jimmy Carter's presidency.  While I did not watch this show from the start the end surely made me incredibly emotional.

The show started in 2000 on the fledgling WB network and was the first show funded completely by Family Friendly Programming Fund, which involves most of the countries leading advertisers.  The reason I never started watching the show during the first season was because it was on opposite my favorite show at the time Friends, in the Thursday at 8 pm time slot.  In the second season the show moved to Tuesday at 8pm replacing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Buffy moved to UPN.  I started to fall in love with the series when ABC Family started to rerun the show.

Throughout the years creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino ran the show with quick witted dialogue, until they left after the fifth season.  The show launched the careers of Lauren Graham (Lorelai) and Alexis Bledel (Rory).  Lorelai had Rory at 16 and the premise relates to the concept of this great mother daughter relationship, where their relationship is more like friendship.  The show highlights a different relationship with Lorelai and her parents specifically her mother Emily played by the amazing Kelly Bishop.  Throughout the show tenure I always felt as though the Palladino's not only understand unique family dynamics, but the could tackle so many humourous, and and dramatic moments beautifully.  

Although the show lost some of its spark within the last two years with new show runner Phillip Rosenthal the Gilmore Girls remained a steadfast treat.  Watching Lorelai stumble through her love life, the way I often feel as though I stumble through mine.  Although I wish there were a guy like Luke (who owned a diner) pining after me.  The show had heart, and has many similar characteristics to Aaron Sorkin, which is another reason for my obsession.  The show's quick dialogue mixed with the style of shooting that allows the viewer to follow the characters as they walk shows that "walk and talk" style.  This style is fairly unique to a small number of shows, but highlights some of the great elements within the Gilmore world.

One of the the other truly Gilmore elements is the use of "la-la" music transition, and the music within the show.  Sam Phillips composed the music throughout the entire run of the shows seven seasons using her own voice to create the transitional music for the show.  Music was an important of this show, and Sherman-Palladino using Sam Phillips as her musical guide was a telling venture the musical world of Stars Hallow.  Phillips had several of her own songs play throughout the the shows history, and in fact played over some of the most emotional moments of the shows history.  One of my favorite moments was the use of Phillip's "Reflecting Light" when Luke and Lorelai first dance, simply beautiful.

I can't forget one of the other great musical connections with singer/songwriter Carole King who wrote the original theme song.  An interesting fact about this song is that King stopped playing this song because she got a lot of flack during its release because of it's "anti-feminist tones" the song came back for this show when King sang with her daughter and focuses the "following" to the connection between the mother daughter relationship.  I love this story and it shows just how much of an impact this show had on popular culture, and how much popular culture affected this show.

While I am not a daughter this show speaks to me on so many levels, and as I watch Lauren Graham I see myself in Lorelai, her humor and realistic sarcasm makes me smile.  The show was never an Emmy magnet, but is a true classic.  The Palladino's created a great world with amazing characters.  I want to take a journey to the fake Stars Hallow drink coffee at Luke's and have fun teasing Kirk.

Amy Sherman (she dropped Palladino) Rocks the Quick Wit with Bunheads

One of my favorite television writers is back at it with a new television show on ABC Family entitled Bunheads.  Amy Sherman-Palladino (or just Amy Sherman as she is cited on imdb now) wrote, directed, and produced the television series Gilmore Girls.  Gilmore Girls was one of the most underrated shows on the air, and while I hear fans talk about the show fondly, the show never got any serious awards recognition, except a Golden Globe nod for Lauren Graham once, and some attention from critics groups.  Sherman has re-tooled the original concept for this new series now entitled Bunheads about a Las Vegas showgirl who is swept off her feet, gets married to a man, and moves to a small town in California.

Sherman is back to her old form; she knows how to create that small town charm, and like within Gilmore Girls she knows how to talk about dance ala Miss. Patty.  Throughout the the first episode Sherman's dialgoue ran at a rapid pace, and the quick wit is there.  Sherman's writing elevates this beyond more than the typical ABC Family fare, and the network has a truly quality show on their hands.

Leading the charge within the cast is the Broadway baby Sutton Foster.  Foster is a two time Tony winner for the shows Thoroughly Modern Millie and Anything Goes; she was also Tony nominated for her roles in The Drowsy Chaperone, and Shrek the Musical.  This girl has talent to boot, and boy can handle the dialogue with great ease.  Returning to the world of Amy Sherman is Kelly Bishop who like Foster started out in Boradway; she won a Tony for her performance in A Chorus Line.  Bishop is most known for her role in the Gilmore Girls where she played stuffy socialite Emily Gilmore.  Bishop's character is somewhat similar, but in the end it does not mater because she is a great actress, and the material helps transform her into this incredibly fun dance instructor.  The younger cast of the show seem like they will provide a good amount of entertainment, and bring about a wonderful balance.  While they all seem to play archetypes I know Amy Sherman will help flesh out their characters well.

I am excited to return to a world created by Amy Sherman with the quick wit, the great pop culture references, and a small town where everyone is in everyone's business.  Welcome back Amy Sherman!