Already in its second season, Gilmore Girls has been very popular with the the WB watchers. Perhaps there is more to this show that other television watchers just haven't realized as of yet. If you want to watch a tv show that will make you cry from the very depths of your soul and then sideline you with quick wit comedy that turns those tears of sorrow to tears of laughter and joy then Gilmore Girls is for you and your Kleenex box.

I'm not going to beat around the bush on this one. I will not waver, will not waffle, will not compromise. I also will not leave you in suspense about my opinion of Gilmore Girls. The show is great. Watch the show. No, I mean it: WATCH THE SHOW. Now here are the details.

Now in its second season, Gilmore Girls (The WB) has been lauded by critics, worshiped by fans, and largely overlooked by the general public. I have no idea why everyone else hasn't latched onto it, because you won't find a better-written show out there. Mind you, I'm not talking about butt-kicking action sequences. If you want those, go watch Dark Angel. However, if you are looking for a perfect blend of comedy and drama, and the best rapid-fire dialogue and split-second timing since Nick and Nora Charles...or at least since David and Maddie...you guessed it: WATCH THE SHOW.

Gilmore Girls stars Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore, a woman too young-thinking and -acting to have a teenage daughter named Rory (Alexis Bledel). Lorelai became pregnant with Rory at 16, left her very wealthy parents in Hartford, Connecticut, and moved to the small town of Stars Hollow to raise Rory on her own. Rory has grown up to be a brilliant teenager and often is more mature than her mother.

Lorelai manages an historic inn in the small town, which is populated by so many eccentric characters it's like visiting Cicely, Alaska, Eastern Division. Like the Northern Exposure town, Stars Hollow is a mythic little place that we all wish did exist somewhere off the beaten path.

Notable characters include Lorelai's best friend, the inn's giggly chef, Sookie (Melissa McCarthy); the cranky French front desk clerk, Michel (Yanic Truesdale); hunky but irritable diner-owner Luke (Scott Patterson), who is The Guy Meant For Lorelai (but for sexual tension's sake nothing has developed yet); Miss Patty the dance instructor (veteran character actor Liz Torres); Rory's best friend Lane (Keiko Agena) and her sharp-tongued, nightmarishly strict mother; Rory's nice boyfriend Dean (Jared Padalecki); and the James-Dean-type guy who will complicate Rory's love life, Luke's nephew Jess (Milo Ventimiglia). Oh yeah, and there's an Elvis Costello look alike troubadour who sings on street corners a lot.

Lorelai and Rory spend quite a bit of time in Hartford as well, as grandma and grandpa Gilmore (Emily Bishop and Edward Hermann) require, as part of the effort to mend family rifts, that Lorelai and Rory have a family dinner at their palatial home every Friday night. Rory's private school is also located there. If, like me, you ever attended a snooty House of Plaid, you'll recognize the irritatingly self-absorbed rich kids of Chilton and hate them just as much as our heroines do.

There's much more to the back story of Gilmore Girls, which I don't have time or space to go into here, and that is also a tribute to the quality of the show. It's not a drippy nighttime soap, yet right alongside the fun and humorous elements are plots dealing with teen motherhood and Lorelai's fear that Rory will ruin her life the same way; wealthy and privileged vs. working-class people; single motherhood; and the conflicts between generations.

Still, I have to get back to that great dialogue I mentioned before. Each episode is absolutely packed with hysterical, wacky one-liners and pop-culture references that hit like multiple lightning strikes. Heck, for a while this season, every episode managed to squeeze in a slam against Mariah Carey's bomb Glitter that were so great I wanted to keep an audio scrapbook.

Here are some samples:

RORY: You should walk down the aisle to Frank Sinatra with a huge bouquet of something that smells really good.
LORELAI: Pot roast!

TAYLOR: The charges against your nephew are numerous...
MISS PATTY: He hooted at one of my dance classes.
FRAN: He took a garden hose from my yard.
MAN: My son said he set off the fire alarms at school last week.
LORELAI: I heard he controls the weather and wrote the screenplay to "Glitter".

LUKE: Yeah, I'm gonna get going. I just left my toolbox from when I was here earlier fixing things. I do a lot of little things around here for Lorelai.
LORELAI: Yeah, you're very handy. So Luke, we'll talk later....Tomorrow.
LUKE: Same time as always.
MAX: I'd count on a little later.
LUKE: Doesn't matter what time it is. I'll always be around.
MAX: So, are we going?
LORELAI: Uh, yeah. Just wanted to make sure you two were through swinging those things around. Someone's bound to lose an eye.

(Lorelai is awakened by Luke hammering the porch rail.) LORELAI: You are not sleeping through this.
RORY: Through what?
LORELAI: The freaking Blue Man Group is outside our house!
RORY: I was sleeping through it!
LORELAI: It had to have woken you up.
RORY: No, my insane mother Margot Kidder Gilmore woke me up.

LORELAI: Come on, Luke. Just try something on. How about this sweater?
LUKE: No!
LORELAI: Okay, how about the pants? Pretty pants!
LUKE: I'm not trying anything on.
LORELAI: Hey, its not like the lumberjack look will ever go out. It won't. But just once wouldn't it be nice not to be dressed like an extra from "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"?

I could go on for pages, but I think you should check out the textual gems for yourself. Therefore, my last words on Gilmore Girls are--you guessed it--WATCH THE SHOW.

~~~~~

Jayne Denker is a thirty something writer who will work on just about any writing assignment, anyplace, anytime as long as it's something nifty associated with pop culture--especially GenX, of course--and/or entertainment. She is actually employed full time as a web content manager but also fills any free time she may happen to find on her hands with freelance writing assignments to offset the "manager" nonsense. Jayne lives with her husband and three psycho kitties (qu'est que c'est) in quite a small lakeside cottage in western New York state. When she's not writing or "managing," she enjoys loafing/watching movies, cleaning up after the psycho kitties, designing web sites, reading, and making magic. Contact Jayne

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