Kaddish for Gilmore Girls

Well, the CW has finally cancelled "Gilmore Girls." I feel guilty about this since I stopped watching this year. It just wasn't fun anymore. It turns out I wasn't the only one who noticed. Viewership was down 25% from this time last year.

Prior to the departure of creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, this was a really sharp show: solid, light drama; rich characters; energetic performances; and fantastic writing that was infused with enough pop cultural sub-references to choke Dennis Miller.

Even in the good years, though, they occassionally slipped up. You could tell when they were trying out a new writer or were just off their game. Instead of funny material, they would have dull material and assume that viewers would enjoy it if Lauren Graham (Lorelai) would just say it fast. Didn't really work. And there was one time when they totally blew a "Godfather" reference, with Lorelai claiming that Michael shot Solotzo and Barzini in a restaurant. (He shot Solotzo and Captain McClusky. Duh.) That was unforgivably amateurish. Anyway, the whole current season was like this (at least until I stopped watching) - just dull writing spoken quickly.

Still, I'm glad for the memories, and I appreciate that the show was, for most of its life, so well done that a guy in his mid-30s could watch a show marketed to tween girls and not feel like a total sicko.

PS: Kelly Bishop was an absolute genius on this show as the ball-busting Emily. She deserves an Emmy. So does Liza Weil (Paris).