I am a Gilmore Girls addict. And I don’t mean I just really like the show. I truly am an addict. I have all the seasons on DVD. I’ve watched every episode at least 20 times. I use Gilmore Girls quotes all the time without realizing they’re from the show. I can watch 15 seconds of any show, and I tell you every single that happens and quote almost half of the lines.
No exaggeration; I promise. Gilmore Girls makes me happy; Lorelai’s wit warms my heart, and Luke’s sarcasm summer that said “From Amy Sherman Palladino” (the creator of Gilmore Girls and the woman I want to be best friends with), my heart skipped a beat. I stood up and screamed, “Life could not get any better!” For. Five. Minutes. Straight. OK, I lied. I didn’t do any of that. But I did get really excited. I wasn’t even sure if I liked the premise, but I knew if it was from the amazing mind of the Amy Sherman Palladino, I had to watch. Luckily, I have no life when I’m home, so my schedule was clear. I sat down, watched and fell in love.
It was quick-witted, funny, character-focused, instead of plot-based. It was the kind of show I loved but had only ever seen in Gilmore Girls. That’s why I’m so upset it’s cancelled.
But for those of you who didn’t watch it, I’ll fill you in. In the first episode, Las Vegas showgirl Michelle finally decides to acquiesce this creepy yet well-intentioned guy, Hubble’s, request for a date. She drinks a lottt and wakes up the next morning to discover that they got married. Hubble takes her back to Paradise, Calif. where he’s from, and Michelle struggles to get along with Hubble’s uptight mother and the eccentric, nosey characters of Paradise. But disaster comes- Hubble dies in a car accident at the end of the first episode, which leaves Michelle a widow in a strange town. She inherits all of Hubble’s property, including the house he shared with his mother and the land her ballet studio is on. Michelle winds up teaching classes at the ballet studio, and her students capture her heart in some interesting ways. The show really focuses on small-town drama and coming-of-age for teens and 30-something women.
It doesn’t have the intensity of Game of Thrones or the laugh-out-loud moments of Modern Family, although it does get intense and you will laugh a lot. It’s more realistic, which is why I like it and why I thought others did. But according to ABC Family, which announced the show’s cancellation on July 22, the ratings just weren’t high enough. The network’s other shows have much higher ratings.
This left me thinking one thing- “Seriously?!?! Pretty Little Liars is its top-rated show. “Come on, people.” PLT, as its known, focuses on the lives of a clique that falls apart when the queen bee goes missing, and the remaining girls find out someone else knows their secrets when they thought only Miss Queen Bee herself knew those. GASP! If you can’t tell, I’m not a fan of this show, but I’m not here to hate on it. My point is that this means something big about the fate of TV. American television is no longer about portraying American families with everyday problems.
Two decades ago, most shows on TV did that; now, it seems only 20 percent focus on that. There are so many fantasy and reality programs on. Reality- please. And fantasy shows definitely hold a place, but the shows that are supposed to be about normal people seem more like fantasy now. When we were in elementary and middle school,
"Lizzie McGuire" was Disney’s big hit. It centered on the oh-so embarrassing moments of middle school. Lizzie’s biggest problems were that she only ever got B+’s, not A’s, and Ethan barely noticed her. Now, a lot of Disney shows involve a mystical element.
Our favorite ‘90s family from Full House was always comfortable but never rich. The characters of Modern Family can afford pretty much anything they want. Claire wants a job because she wants to feel meaningful, not because her family needs extra money.
So, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised "Bunheads" got cancelled. It’s just the latest mark in the public’s rejection of realistic TV. In 2000, Gilmore Girls aired its first episode, and it quickly became one of the most popular shows on the WB. But this year when I asked my fellow Gilmore-loving friends if they watched "Bunheads," most said no; they prefer more intense shows. But the thing that really bothers me is what effect will all this have on children?
I guess I have to wait 10 years to find out. Meanwhile, I’m still going to mourn the loss of "Bunheads." I mean, Kirk from Gilmore Girls was in it. How much better could a show ever get?
