‘Gilmore Girls’ arrives on Netflix, worth revisiting

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In 2000, the WB introduced something new — a mother-daughter dramedy that appealed to young and old alike, a family show that was not afraid of teen pregnancy or obscure pop culture references and a program that gave voices to strong female characters. With this, “Gilmore Girls” was born, and the world met Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, the off-kilter duo that viewers would come to worship for nearly a decade.

Although Amy Sherman-Palladino’s fast-talking, coffee-crazed Gilmore girls have not occupied a regular time slot since the series finale in 2007, escaping to Stars Hollow is now as simple as logging on to Netflix, as of yesterday. There are many reasons “Gilmore Girls” deserves to be revisited, aside from its convenient position in the Netflix suggestions.

“Gilmore Girls” was media magic. The immediate chemistry between Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel — two relative unknowns at the time — is astounding. From the pilot episode, as they sat in their respective rooms listening to Macy Gray, the close bond between these characters was clear.

The line that is often drawn between actor and character was never apparent. In viewers’ minds, Graham and Bledel simply were Lorelai and Rory in real life, too.

Today, the two still are the Gilmore girls. In the past seven years, Bledel and Graham have not even come close to approaching the success they had with “Gilmore Girls.” While this may be unfortunate for the actors, viewers can relish the idea that, for a moment in time, everything was aligned for the cast and crew, and a singular vision was carried out. It is rare to achieve perfect harmony within a working ensemble. All the more magical is the possibility that it will probably never happen again.

Showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino, while an impeccable talent, has yet to pen another hit — “Bunheads” and “The Return of Jezebel James” missed the mark by a mile or two. Graham’s whiny performance on “Parenthood” is hardly worth writing home about, and Bledel has only been in minor film and TV roles since the “Gilmore” years.

A true classic, “Gilmore Girls” still holds up 14 years after its premiere. Viewers can see its tropes play out in popular series of today, like the incessantly bickering Luke and Lorelai-esque pair of Danny and Mindy on “The Mindy Project.” But mostly, viewers are just left with a bunch of quick-to-be-cancelled wannabes, lacking the charisma of “Gilmore Girls” and oversaturated with pop culture references and quirky, small-town personalities.

“Gilmore Girls” was successful because it was innovative. It is one of only a few programs that can claim no derivative, no exploitation of fame and no lazy adherence to cliché. A true original awaits, now just a click away on Netflix.

A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, Oct. 2 print edition. Email Isabel Jones at [email protected].