Season 7 of Gilmore Girls has been in my DVD stacks, unopened, since last November. I didn't watch it until late last night and today when, as was my practice with the other six DVD sets, I wallowed in Stars Hollow virtually non-stop.
It's not like I needed to watch it anyway. I did not miss an episode of Gilmore Girls for more than six years, from the 19th episode of Season 1** to the very last show. Some of it was desire, a lot of it was luck, but the fact remains that when an original episode was on, I was in front of the TV. No tivo, no taping, no reruns. Occasionally, there were clashes. My friend Todd called me in May, 2004. "Hey, we're going to watch the Royals game at the _____ bar."
"Gilmore Girls is on," I answered.
Long silence on Todd's end. "John, we need to talk."
But we didn't. In his particular case, no talking would have mattered--it was "Raincoats and Recipes"...the final episode of Season 4. Kirk and the night terrors! Luke and Lorelai kiss at the Dragonfly! Rory gets it on with Dean!
Gilmore Girls hit some rough patches in its final two years. But the final season sorted out some of the crappy story lines introduced the year before, and got the mojo going for the final half of the year. Although less frequent than in previous years, the high points of that season were as good as the lofty peaks of other years...which is to say as good as anything I've ever seen on television. Watching Lauren Graham rip through dialogue at 90 miles an hour, running narrative circles around anyone and everyone, hurling literary, classic, and pop culture references at a mile a minute was off the hook. It was like the dialogue from 1930s screwball comedies, only quicker and just as arch and intelligent. It was the fastest, smartest thing I'd ever seen on the small screen. It was breathtaking. (As a guy, I have to add the fact that Lauren Graham was Hot Like a Nuclear Inferno was an added bonus.)
In general, I don't watch much TV. And few network shows really hit the mark with me. Arrested Development was truly awesome. I very much liked Sports Night, which lasted only a season or two. Nowadays, I watch a couple of shows...The Office, 30 Rock, Bones. When 24 is good, it's a terrific show (although it was really lousy last year). But none of them worked for me as well as Gilmore Girls did.
I hadn't watched the final season on DVD because I knew that watching it would be effectively saying that the show was over. Just seeing it shrink wrapped was a reminder that there was still one last big weekend with these people, one final fling before the circus left town. But I didn't want to put it off any longer. So I watched with sadness and joy, knowing that there was one less good thing in my life awaiting me, but reveling in the chance to spend time with something I truly liked.
**I was flicking through channels in April 2001, when I happened to see two teenagers discussing music.
"I like this song. It makes me gloomy."
"Gloom is good."
"No...Really gloomy."
"Like Joy Division Gloomy? Nick Cave gloomy? Robert Smith gloomy?"
"Johnny Cash gloomy."
You don't hear Joy Division and Nick Cave referenced on Network TV. You just don't. I never missed another episode.
5 years ago