Forgive me if I dip into the "Hitting the Bottle" punch a little too early today, but it is, indeed, a sad day. The "Gilmore Girls" -- which rewrote the TV script on mother-daughter relationships and created without a doubt the coolest, hippest mom on the small screen, is dead. kaput. no more. canceled.
From its start in 2000, the "Gilmore Girls" brought something unique to the idea of the TV Family: A strong, single mom who wasn't always after the guy, despite a string of engagements and a marriage, which ended badly. A brainiac daughter who made literature and being smart cool for teens (at least I thought so). A quirky small town that was, in many ways, reminiscent of a more family-friendly "Northern Exposure." "Ed"-lite, if you will. But with kids.
But most of all, it brought an easy, convivial charm to parent-child relationships that I know many, many mothers -- and maybe daughters -- coveted.
"I watch that show with my daughter every week," a friend confessed, "I want that relationship, and if I can't have it with my daughter, at least we can see what it looks like."
I got hooked on the show very late. I had heard about it for a few years but always found something better to watch -- until I tuned in to hear the mother, Lauren Graham's Lorelai Gilmore, react to a house party fight with a sidewalk rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings."
And the pop culture hits just kept coming, and I couldn't stop watching. So as a requiem of sorts, I'll offer up some of the show's best hits. Feel free to recount your favorites, too. And don't forget the latest "Hitting the Bottle." You'll need it.
On birth:
Lorelai: Okay, this is a big pain and I'd really like it to go away, please.
Nurse: Just breathe deep, honey.
Lorelai: Breathing doesn't help, can I hit you instead?
Nurse: What?
Lorelai: Or pinch you really hard, 'cause that might make me feel better.
Nurse: No, you cannot hit me.
Lorelai: Can I bite you or pull your hair or use the Epilady on you 'cause I really need to do something
On Assumption:
Michel: Well, you know what happens when you assume.
Lorelai: What?
Michel: I don't know. Something about a donkey. It is a stupid American phrase.
On bad waiters:
Rory: He's like the lost Farrelly brother. He's so stupid. He watched 'The Breakfast Club' and decided to tape his own butt cheeks together.
On politics:
Lorelai: So, I think I'm in touch with the other side.
Rory: The other side of...?
Lorelai: The *other* side!
Rory: With Republicans...?
On bathrooms:
Emily: What can we do in a bathroom?
Lorelai: Meet George Michael.
Emily: What?
On popular graduates:
Lorelai: Past graduates. Henry James-isn't that a beer?
Rory: And a novelist. Go on.
Lorelai: John Adams. That's a beer.
Rory: Our second president. He's very in right now.
Lorelai: W.E.B. Du Bois, Yo-Yo Ma. Oh cool. Fred Gwynn.
Rory: Who?
Lorelai: Herman Munster. Now I'm impressed.
I'm giving up, only because I realize I'm missing some great lines from Emily and Paris -- but there are too many to mention.
(And thank you IMDB for a walk down memory lane!)
