I have grown tired of shows ...
Alexis Bledel, Kelly Bishop, Lauren Graham and Edward Herrmann, Gilmore Girls
Question: I have grown tired of shows like
Gilmore Girls that don't make use their quality actors enough! Instead they settle for bizarre story lines, they neglect their essentials (like
Kelly Bishop and
Edward Herrmann), and they show much too much of the random Yalies and Lane's band. Is this something that will change or do you think it will become more like
ER's ever-changing cast?
Answer: Relax.
Gilmore Girls services an enormous number of characters, in Stars Hollow, Yale, Hartford, the Dragonfly Inn, etc., not all of whom are logically going to be needed in every episode. Given the current circumstances of Lorelai and Rory's reunion, it makes sense in story terms for there to be a frosty distance between them and the grandparents right now. The good news is that Richard and Emily will return in this week's (Jan. 31) episode, as Lorelai and Rory finally resume the Friday-night dinner ritual, and the dinner scene between all four of the Gilmores looks and sounds unlike anything you've ever seen on the show before. Confrontational, veering between screaming matches and fits of laughter, it has a quasidocumentary/reality show/fly-on-the-wall aspect that makes it one of the standout sequences of the entire season.
Gilmore Girls may not showcase everyone equally each week, but the primary characters by and large are never abandoned for long, and they always return, unlike on
ER, which seems more depleted than ever of compelling characters this year.
Meanwhile, Shane asks: "I know it's really early to comment on this, but do you think that now that the CW will be a network (instead of a netlet like the WB and UPN were), will awards shows finally take its shows seriously? What I basically want to know is whether Lauren Graham will finally get the recognition she deserves at the 2007 Emmys?"
It is too early to speculate, but the CW by its mission statement is still going to look and feel to much of the industry like a niche service, albeit a more viable one since the two rivals will no longer be cannibalizing the same audience. But this is an audience that institutions like the Emmys refuse to take very seriously. So my answer is still: Probably not.
