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.
7 comments:
Never watched the Gilmore Girls, not sure it's on here but given that dialogue excerpt I can totally see the attraction.
We can't move on to the final season of "the Wire" for the same reason. It's so painful when you know something is going to end that has been totally brilliant. Ugh.
It's worth tracking down and watching. The writers said it was a labor of love to write all the extra pages and track down/create the references.
I like the Gilmore Girls, too, but then, I'm a girl. I was always astounded at how fast those actresses got all that complicated dialogue out. It was impressive.
I don't even know where to start.
Gilmore Girls: How we (my daughters and I) mourned its cancellation. Last Xmas I gave my girls the last season and we watched it all in a few days. Whenever we are feeling blue, we watch a couple of episodes. Unlike you, I never watched an episode in real TV time. We watched every single one on DVD. (I almost never watch TV, but I discovered GG by accident when we were on holiday in Cape Cod. It was the 1000 yellow daisies proposal episode.)
I can't even describe what this show means to my family. We like to think that all of the people in Star's Hollow are real, actually.
When I read this, I was just dumfounded. All I could think was: Soulmate!
Soulmate!
They are pretty wonderful on DVD, aren't they? When my girlfriend and her daughter would visit, we would go through Gilmore Girls episodes like...well, like Lorelai and Rory through coffee. I know exactly how your feel.
Yes, like caffeine, the GGs are very addictive!
It was a nice "bonding" thing to do with my own daughters. The year we really got into them was quite difficult -- with my husband working in Holland and me single-parenting and full-time working. We used to eat dinner on trays, for a special treat, and snack on three episodes at a time.
In my Christmas orgy of television I managed to catch some episodes of god only knows what series of the Gimore Girls. Which of course I loved.
My favourite line is when the younger Gilmore is on her way out to a job interview and asks her boyfriend if wearing a Mac makes her look "too That Girl."
And he says, "You can never be Too That Girl."
So true. So true.
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