Is it churlish to suggest that one of the most beloved and popular dramas currently on television is really kind of dull? The domestic and romantic adventures of the Gilmore girls--32-year-old Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and her 16-year-old daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel)--are deliberately positioned as "family programming," which in the current cultural environment translates as "toothless, insipid, and unchallenging." They're frequently mistaken for sisters by visitors to Stars Hollow, the quaint little New England town where Lorelai runs the twee Independence Inn, Rory struggles with the snobbish old-money teens at her tony private school, and every single one of their wacky, oddball neighbors, of course, already knows all of their business and all of their history and doesn't mind offering unsolicited advice on life, love, and coffee. A bit too self-consciously precious to be genuinely charming, the 21 first season episodes compiled here--full of minor mother-daughter tussles between Lorelai and Rory, as well as between Lorelai and her own mother, Emily (Kelly Bishop), a stuck-up pain in the you-know-what--nevertheless have clearly touched a nerve with many viewers. As a counterbalance to the crude, witless junk that dominates primetime, however, it goes a bit too far in the opposite direction. DVD extras include trivia popups, cast and crew interviews, deleted scenes, a collection of Gilmore-isms, and more. Optional. (M. Johanson)
Gilmore Girls: The Complete First Season
Warner, 6 discs, 922 min., not rated, DVD: $59.98 Volume 19, Issue 4
Gilmore Girls: The Complete First Season
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