Love that Rory Gilmore!

             Being introduced to Alexis Bledel on Mad Men, and missing the whole Gilmore Girls phenomenon, I started watching it on ABC Family Channel.  The writing is wonderful, clever, and funny in a eccentric way. The characters are capricious, from Babette (Sally Struthers) the next door neighbor to the now famous Melissa McCarthy as Sooki,  chef of of the Independence Inn, finishing with watching Miss Patty the dance teacher stand just outside her studio, smoking a long cigarette saying "releve, plie". Melissa McCarthy has a great physical wit as Sooki. The most normal of all of them is the young girl Rory, (Lorelei Gilmore, played by Alexis Bledel). Lorelei Gilmore is also the name of the flamboyant and rebellious mother (Lauren Graham, now on Parenthood)who had Rory at 16, and left home. She ended up at the Independence Inn with her baby, asking for a job. At the shows start, she is now the Manager of the Inn, and her baby is 16 years old.

           The show takes place in a small New England town. The town, Stars Hollow, Connecticut is where Lorelei, and Rory live.  It is about 30 minutes from Hartford,  Connecticut and is a tiny hamlet with a traditional town square and a gazebo in the center. Lorelei's parents live in Hartford. To get Rory into Chilton's Academy, Lorelei makes a deal with her wealthy family that she ran away from. That if her parents pay Rory's tuition, Lorelei and Rory will come to dinner once a week on Friday night. When the show was on the air, I avoided it for unknown reason. I think I thought it was too girly, and maybe for my frame of mind it was, however I now understand why people love it.  This show was on 2000-2007, and even now it has a strong following.  I happily have become part of that following.
                    
             The towns folk are the background to this charming show.  Babette lives next door (played by Sally Struthers),  Miss Patty the over the top dance teacher (Liz Torres), to Kirk (Sean Gunn) the gentle, yet emotionally dysfunctional  man.  Kirk has night terrors during which he strips naked and runs through town. From Taylor (Micheal Winters) the grocer, to Mrs Kim (Emily Kuroda) the born-again Korean Antiques dealer and the mother of Rory's best friend Lane (Keiko Agena), the characters are strong, well developed and are an entity of their own in creating the atmosphere of Stars Hollow.  One of my favorite parts of the show is to be brought into a festival or town issue being addressed at a town meeting. One character that I loved and slightly identified with though not a Stars Hollow resident was Paris (Liza Weil), complicated, smart and rather pesky she was a friend of Rory's that goes from Chilton's Academy to Yale with her.

            It's fast paced conversation, witty banter, engage me.  I liken the whole experience to being at a cozy retreat with my favorite girlfriends. I can see why it lasted 7 seasons. So over the last couple of weeks I have gotten to know "The Gilmore Girls" and the town of Stars Hollow. It has been a warm and enchanting journey. It raised my debating ability, warmed my soul and even made me hungry.  I was hungry for all types of food.  Whether it was the beautiful dishes that Sooki made, the wonderful containers of Chinese food that Lorelei had around, or the plates of Burgers and french fries that Luke served up in the diner,  it reminded me of my own experiences with good food and good friends. Scott Patterson as Luke Danes was sexy, manly yet vulnerable and loyal.  Easy to develop a crush on him.  The man who played Dean (Jared Padalecki) went on to another show I liked Supernatural. He was a great choice for the first boyfriend of Rory.

              Over all, I was glad that 5 years after the last showing of the Gilmore Girls, I could discover the joy and warmth of this program.  I love that there are so many ways to view programs (even ones that are no longer in production).  I am grateful to be able to turn the creative genius of this show into a warm personal experience that for me is right up there with mac and cheese as comfort food.