Goodbye, Gilmore Girls

Published May 15 2007, 04:30 PM by Sharon Steel

All right. So I'm still not over the fact that the CW is airing the series finale of Gilmore Girls tonight.

Sorry. It's just NOT okay, you know? Maybe it isn't quite Freaks & Geeks-level not okay, because Gilmore Girls was on for nearly a decade. Still. Unsettling, upsetting, and a huge loss for both Tuesday nights and the general state of quality TV. I just hope ABC Family keeps running those GG marathons on Sunday afternoons. Watching them truly feels like eating five hours worth of ice-cream sundaes and not getting sick afterwards. Frankly, it's the TV equivalent of comfort food to me. I'm going to miss it.

It's hard to put my finger on what I loved so much. Degrassi goes there, The O.C. (RIP) was brilliant in its own way, and My Super Sweet Sixteen is a glorious trainwreck. But GG was special. Was it Rory's balls-out literary nerdiness? Lorelai's madcap randomness? The pop-culture references that came across pushy post-modern to some? (I found them completely charming, but what do I know?) The fleeting hope that Jess would return to steal Rory away from the nice but not good enough Logan? The mother/daughter dynamic that was never overly sentimental and yet always managed to tug the heartstrings? Yes. I loved all of that, and more.

Even though she hated the current season, here's Hilary Frey's piece on GG in last week's Observer. And James Wolcott gives the show a nice (if unexpected) nod in his Vanity Fair blog (thanks, Ian!). I'd put up more links for you to click on if I wasn't so depressed about it all. Of course, it's only a TV show. It just happened to be my favorite.

It really is true what Wolcott says about Alexis Bledel, though -- there isn't a series or a movie that will ever do her the same justice. Totally Sarah Michelle Gellar/Buffy syndrome. And it's sad. Really sad. This is the type of girl I'm going to have to look up to now. Tess is cool and knows Kate Moss, but she's no Rory.

Catch the last Gilmore Girls tonight at 8 pm.