I Just Read About That…

[WATCHED: 2012-2013] Bunheads

It’s no secret that Gilmore Girls was one of my favorite shows.  It was well-written and funny, often sweet but sometimes not and with a liberal dose of quirk.  The show was Amy Sherman-Palladino’s baby and over the seven years it developed an awesome cast and was easily one of the most consistently enjoyable shows on TV.

But all good things must come to an end–and as in the case of Gilmore, often times it must come to an end before its natural arc has finished.  This led to a rather forced and frankly unsatisfying conclusion to the show.

But ASP is back on TV on, of all places, ABC Family (which has some astonishingly mature shows for a “family” network).  Her new show (which began last year) is called Bunheads.  It’s a terrible name for a TV show.  Even if it is an actual slang term used for ballet dancers (which the show features), it’s still a terrible, unappealing name.  There’s also the opening credits–also terrible.  The Gilmore credits were fun–a new version of Carole King’s “If You Lead” playing behind scenes from the show.  The Bunheads opening is a black and white scene of ballet dancers (again, it’s what the show is about, but blah), with a color ribbon swirling around them until it lands on Sutton Foster, the lead actress, who explodes in a frame of color looking a little stunned.

Neither of these two things (title and credit sequence) should impact your decision to watch the show, which is delightful–heartfelt, funny and with a healthy dose of quirk.  And like Gilmore, the show is very women-centric, rather a rarity on TV.  I feel it’s very subtly done as well–in this case, the show is about ballet dancers who are predominantly girls, so it makes sense.  And since ASP writes mother-daughter situations very well, it’s also a natural fit.

So yes, the show feels a lot like Gilmore Girls.  The amazing Kelly Bishop is back as the matriarch (she’s much the same character although she is a bit more fun in Bunheads).  Sutton Foster plays her daughter in law.  Foster looks so much lie Lauren Graham that she may as well be her. What’s cool here and what makes it not just Gilmore redux is that the dynamic is not mother-daughter-daughter, it’s widowed mother-in-law–daughter-in-law–four teenagers so while the roles are almost the same, ASP is not simply rewriting what has happened before.  As for the young characters, we have four teenagers–the bunheads.  From the get go they formed a believable foursome–sometimes annoying, and over the top, but never unreal.

The New England town of Stars Hollow has been replaced by a California town of Paradise.  The town has not been explored as much as Stars Hollow was.  There are some quirky locals–Truly, the local dressmaker is a top contender for head quirk, and we have seen the coffee shop–run by Sean Gunn, the awesome Kirk from Gilmore.

Other Gilmore Girls actors have appeared on the show as well.  Indeed, a regular from Gilmore, Gypsy, is a regular on Bunheads (in a very different role).  Recently, the much despised by Sarah and I, Michael DeLuise, who played Luke’s awful brother-in-law made an appearance as an awful (but enjoyable at least) magician.  There’s also Todd Lowe (Zack Van Gerbig), Alex Borstein (Miss Celine the harp player) Chris Eigeman (Digger), Biff Yeager (Tom the contractor), and Gregg Henry (Mitchum Huntzberger) in various roles.

But this week was a major moment of synchronicity when Liza Weil, the fantastic Paris, returned as Truly’s sister, Milly.  And she was great.  I do hope she’ll be back.

So the whole reason for me posting this is because I had an idea that made me really giddy (yes, giddy).  How fun would it be to see Rory Gilmore  on Bunheads.  Not Alexis Bledel as a new Bunheads character, but Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore.   When we last left Rory, she had accepted a job working on the Obama campaign (Obama at the time hadn’t even gotten the nomination yet).  So here we are six years later and in a second term.  What a neat story arc.  (And Bledel herself has been tweeting on behalf of Obama).  Why not have Rory swing through town on a Presidential visit.  She could either need a pitstop or perhaps the Obama tour was coming into Paradise for something interesting or whatever (it’s not my job to make that part up).  Rory could dish about what she’s been up to, talk to the girls about whatever and then blow on out of town.  It would be a total hoot and would also give a degree of closure to Rory’s character.

I know that there are talks of a Gilmore Girls movie (and have been since 2007), but this would be a much easier way to give closure to at least one character–a character who could conceivably pop up in Paradise   And wouldn’t it just make you giddy if she showed up (and it was kept on the down low as well).  Giddy I tell ya, giddy.  I won’t even think about an Obama cameo.