'Gilmore Girls' isn't what it used to be - 09.26.06

[Heidi]

'Gilmore Girls' isn't what it used to be
By Alan Sepinwall
September 26th, 2006

Lorelai deals with the aftermath of sleeping with Christopher, Rory pines for London-bound Logan, and Taylor's attempt at traffic management goes bad in the seventh-season premiere.

 "I woke up one morning and looked around the room. Something wasn't right. I realized that someone had broken in the night before and replaced everything in my apartment with an exact replica! I couldn't believe it. I got my roommate and showed him. I said, 'Look at this -- everything's been replaced with an exact replica!' He said, 'Do I know you?'"

-- Steven Wright

WATCHING the season premiere of "Gilmore Girls," I couldn't stop thinking of that bit of vintage Wright. The show looks the same, the actors are the same, they're behaving in a consistent fashion, and yet... exact replicas.

I suppose that unsettling feeling was inevitable. At the end of last season, "Gilmore" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband, Daniel, quit because they couldn't agree to new contract terms with Warner Bros. studio. Sherman-Palladino not only created the "Gilmore" characters, she lent them her voice.

Like Aaron Sorkin on "The West Wing," David Milch on "NYPD Blue" and a handful of other over-stimulated writer/producers in network TV history, she either wrote or rewrote the vast majority of episodes. (And Daniel handled the ones she didn't.) Lorelai Gilmore is Amy Sherman-Palladino, give or take a fondness for big hats.

As if new showrunner David Rosenthal weren't already starting at a disadvantage, Sherman-Palladino scorched the earth on her way out. First she spent most of last season pushing popular couple Lorelai and Luke apart though the shark-jumping introduction of Luke's previously-unknown daughter April. Then, in a twist that was as loathed by the fans as it was irreversible, she had Lorelai break up with Luke and go to bed with her ex-boyfriend (and baby daddy) Christopher. Sherman-Palladino said she had hoped to stay and continue the story, but it was hard to watch the finale and not imagine her saying, "Get out of that one, suckers!" (Maybe something wittier; she's the Dorothy Parker fan, after all.)

Sorkin pulled a similar stunt when he was forced off "West Wing," contriving a way to put a Republican in charge of the White House in his last episode. It was a mess that his replacements clumsily tried to wave away in a few episodes, but the emotional fallout lingered over the show for months. Milch, meanwhile, left "NYPD Blue" without bothering to tell any of his successors what Ricky Schroder's deep, dark secret was; their improvised answer was so convoluted and lame that fans were almost relieved when the actor's character was killed off.

It's to Rosenthal's credit that he addresses the Christopher situation head-on. He doesn't make it into a dream, doesn't try to pretend they just cuddled all night, doesn't have Lorelai and Luke make a pact where he has a one-night stand and then they pretend like it never happened. The premiere deals honestly with what happened and how the characters would react to it.

Lauren Graham is so good in the final scene that she would deserve an award for it -- if, that is, Emmy voters weren't so oblivious to her existence that she couldn't even get nominated in a year when the TV Academy introduced a rule change that was nicknamed after her.

The problem is that if Rosenthal and company stay true to the characters, there is no realistic way Luke and Lorelai would get back together by the end of this season, which as of now looks to be the show's last. Luke's greatest fear was always that Lorelai would get back with Christopher; she did it, and if/when he finds out, he is not the type to forgive easily. A quick fix will feel phony; a realistic treatment will deny the fans the happy ending they've been pulling for practically since day one.

So if the dramatic, romantic core of the show is good and thoroughly bollixed, that leaves the comedy. And it's in the quippiness where Sherman-Palladino's absence is most keenly felt.

Rosenthal can write a funny line or 12, definitely. Liza Weil's underused Paris Gellar has a nice scene where she screens applicants for her new SAT prep class; when the mother of a prospective student insists her daughter has such potential, Paris snaps, "So did Charles Manson." And Alexis Bledel's Rory, failing to keep up a brave face after boyfriend Logan's forcible exile to London, goes on a memorable rant about whether the phrase "good-bye" is an oxymoron.

But the comedy half of "Gilmore Girls" has always been more than the sum of its punchlines. What's missing is that machine-gun pace, the sense that Graham and Bledel are always a second away from needing an oxygen mask. The season premiere is noticeably slower and less busy than usual. The Dragonfly Inn's kitchen, usually bustling with activity, now looks like it just got shut down by the health inspector.

"Gilmore" has had sluggish episodes before, but those usually came in the middle of a season, and you could always reassure yourself with the knowledge that the phrase "Written and Directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino" would pop up in an episode's credits in another week or two. That's not going to happen now. Anyone who's lived with this show and its characters for the last six years can see that something has definitely been stolen, even if, to the casual eye, the replacement looks and sounds close enough.

Credit: http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sepinwall/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1159249405224510.xml&coll=1

[wmushell]

This show is an incredible and high-quality show, I don't care what these no-name critics say.  To say otherwise - well, that's how shows like Fear Factor get on the air.  Negativity is an interesting thing -- it breeds, whether it is supposed to or not.  It used to be fun to come here and talk about this show I love, but the negativity has become too much.  As Richard Gilmore said in season 1's Rory's Birthday Parties, "one wrong man can always find a friend".  Criticism isn't the problem.  People unfairly ripping the show to shreds is.  I wish this was still an appreciation fan site.  I wish there was another place people could go to say how much this show has gone downhill so I could come here and talk with those who still love it without having to constantly defend it.  So, here we go:

Things I absolutely loved about The Long Morrow.  I understand in advance that not everyone will find the same things funny I did -- these are things I loved.  This is not a complete list.

*Lorelai:  "I can't [stay], Paul Anka"
Christopher:  "There's no way he's performing this early.  Check your tickets."
*Lorelai:  "Babette one, nature nada!"
*Michel:  "You think you are so great.  You think you are Miss La-di-da!"
*Paris:  "Wealthy, good-looking hedonistic heir to billion dollar multi-national media conglomerate moves to London and spends nights pining away for his college girlfriend -- who's watching that movie?"
*Paris (when buzzer goes off):  "Pencils down!" 
*Lorelai's entire "holding onto the bumper" scene was brilliant.  It was the perfect analogy for how she was feeling in season 6.
*Rory:  "There's nothing good about a goodbye.  It's a poorly named ritual.  It was a bad bye.  A very bad bye."
*Lorelai:  "Things with me friends are good.  Things with me inn are good.  Things with me -- not so good."
*Lorelai:  "We should probably talk about how we're not going to talk because I don't think we should just go right into it."
*Lorelai:  "Yeah, because drunk people never feel like talking."
*Lorelai:  "We could do that running where it's like leap around a tree and up a hill . . ."
Rory:  "You want to run cross country?"
Lorelai:  "Not across the whole country, maybe just Michigan.'
*Rory:  "Michel, what sports do you play?"
Michel:  "Well, since I'm maimed and potentially for life I may never play sports again."
Lorelai:  "Think back before this tragic and life-altering injury, what sports did you play then?"
*Lorelai:  "What are the clothes like?"
Rory:  "Can we wear cute outfits?"
*Lorelai:  "And no talking."
Rory:  "Except for smack talking because I'm soooo gonna kick you butt in racquetball!  No, no I mean my balls they're gonna bounce like way further than your balls!"
Lorelai:  "Well, you haven't seen my great top . . . flick . . . wrist. . ."
*Lorelai:  "Rocket, rocket, Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Bennie and the Jets, Candle in the . . ."
Rory:  "Are you just naming Elton John songs?"
Lorelai:  "He is just sooooo talented!"
*Rory:  "What about space?"
Lorelai:  "It's the final frontier?"
*Rory:  "Like I'm his rock - ET.  Like I'm his rock in the Eastern time zone."
*Lorelai:  "When I have made 1 zillion dollars from my rocket gum invention, you will eat those words."
*Rory:  "How can you not have ice?"
Lorelai:  "You know I don't cook."
Rory:  "That is not cooking, that is the opposite of cooking.  That is freezing."
*Rory:  "I said no to one, and I said no to two.  What do you think happened here, I got a brain transplant or something?"
Lorelai:  "I remember, you were very rude."
*Lorelai:  "Maybe I should just go to IKEA!"
*Lorelai:  "Waa, waa, waa!"
Rory:  "Chachi, right?"
Lorelai:  "Proud."

[Potterxxx]

yeah those critic guys arent right. it did sound a little different, but that would only be if you KNEW that it was new writers and you knew what to listen for to see if it was there.
my favorite line in that article is: Lorelai Gilmore IS Amy Sherman-Palladino, give or take a fondness for big hats. 

[Gross123987]

One thing that appears to be unanimous among all of the critics is how amazing of an actress that Lauren is.    And on that point, they are 100% correct, she is brilliant.   But, I wonder if the critics are biased against Rosenthal from the begginning becuase he has big shoes to fill.

I judge it like this.    I really enjoyed the episode and thought it was great.   

[gilmoreguy78]

This reviewer hit the nail on the head. As good of a writer as DR is . . . he just isn't ASP. He's a great writer, yes . . . but he just can't perfectly copy Amy's writing style. I wish she could come back sooooooo badly.

And I also thought the same thing: having Lor and Chris sleep together at the end DID feel like she was flipping the studio off.

[tater1103]

i somewhat agree with this critic's "exact replica" analogy, its all the same but...something just isnt right... but it seems to be that all these critics and some fans also (myself included) have the same attitude; they perceive the show to be different just because ASP is gone not necessarily because it is different. had ASP's named appeared at the end of the credits on last tuesday's episode would everyone have criticized so much? would we say the dialogue was lacking? or just go on about our way until the next tuesday? i guess we are all just a little predjudice. but i really think the critics are being way to harsh on DR and the show right now. i mean geez there has just been one epidsode and i thought it was good, i thought DR did a great job. i am very excited about this season, i think it's going to be a good one kids.

 

Lauren Graham is so good in the final scene that she would deserve an award for it -- if, that is, Emmy voters weren't so oblivious to her existence that she couldn't even get nominated in a year when the TV Academy introduced a rule change that was nicknamed after her.
Credit: http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sepinwall/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1159249405224510.xml&coll=1

of course we have all always known that LG is great and i believe she is just getting better. her performance is this episode was superb. lets just hope those Emmy voters wake up and give her what she has deserved for so long.

[e5ullivan]

In one of the gilmore dvds special features, Amy S-P said that she knew what the last 2 lines were going to be for the whole show... does anyone know if she shared those so the show ends with her words???

[gilmoreguy78]

In one of the gilmore dvds special features, Amy S-P said that she knew what the last 2 lines were going to be for the whole show... does anyone know if she shared those so the show ends with her words???

Nope, only she knows them.

[candice]

I totally agree with the critcs. I've been watching GG since day 1 but this season is almost too painful to watch. I cringe at almost every turn...It's just not the same, there's something lacking. The only time so far this season I haven't felt that way is the last episode with Rory & Logan on the roof. That almost seemed normal. I'm constantly thinking that maybe if I hadn't known ASP and DP it would be different...

I just wish the CW would turn around and say screw it - ASP we'll give you a second year, get your butt back here.