MediaCorp Channel 5, Sundays, 6pm
Gilmore Girls Go Yale
By Mary-Ann Russon •
UrbanWire
Think single mother with teenage daughter. Think small town with eccentric characters. Think overbearing high-society grandparents. Put all that together and you've got hit TV show Gilmore Girls, which has just returned to our screens for its 4th season.
Due to a dire lack of trailers, you may not have heard that the series is back, but it's not too late to check it out, as you've only missed 6 episodes (out of 22).
Here's a recap of last season to refresh your memory: Rory (Alexis Bledel), now 18, finally graduated from Chilton, and severed all ties with troubled boyfriend Jess (Milo Ventimiglia). Despite her long-time aspiration to attend Harvard University, she decided to go to Yale University in Connecticut instead. When Yale wouldn't approve her financial-aid application, and Lorelai (Lauren Graham) selflessly decided to pay the bills instead of bidding on the Dragonfly Inn, Rory went to her grandparents, Emily and Richard (Kelly Bishop & Edward Herrmann), and made a new deal with them.
Meanwhile, back in Stars Hollow, Rory's ex-boyfriend Dean (Jared Padalecki) got engaged, best friend Lane's (Keiko Agena) mother found out about her boyfriend Dave (Adam Brody), and family friend Luke (Scott Patterson) was preparing to take his girlfriend Nicole on a luxury cruise.
In this new season, we see Rory preparing to start her first year at Yale, getting set up in the dorms like any other freshman, and meeting new dorm-mates, one of whom just happens to be long time friend/nemesis Paris Gellar (Liza Weil) from Chilton. At the same time, Lorelai and best friend Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) are beginning work on the Dragonfly Inn, getting one step closer to fulfilling their dream of owning their own inn.
Gilmore Girls, a teen/family comedy-drama from top television network Warner Brothers, surprised viewers when it debuted in 2001 with its refreshing brand of quirky humour that was just such a contrast from the typical cliché, angst-ridden teen/family dramas and sitcoms.
With a string of eccentric, heart-warming characters, Gilmore Girls managed to depict life just as it is - good times, bad times and all - without making it either drab and depressing, or honeyed and perfect. It felt like viewers were looking through a window at the characters' lives, watching them handle daily trials and tribulations in their own ways, complete with embarrassments, disappointments, and foolishness.
Although Lauren Graham received a Golden Globe nomination in 2001, and the show and its cast have continued to receive awards over the past 3 years from notable associations like The Screen Actors' Guild, Gilmore Girls was unceremoniously dropped from MediaCorp Channel 5's coveted Tuesday line-up after the show's 2nd season in 2002. It was instead shunted into a late Sunday afternoon "family viewing" time-slot to make way for one reality show after another. This was most disappointing as the show did have a lot of fans, many of whom have now either lost track of the series, are not able to catch it on Sunday afternoons, or have no idea it is even on.
Losing fans or not, this season seems set to continue the magic of the first 3. And judging from the show's long track record for spontaneity, unique down-to-earth humour, and the first 6 episodes we've seen so far, the new season of Gilmore Girls is likely to match the charm and honesty of previous seasons.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars