The Vital Importance of Gilmore Girls

There was Full House and TGIF and Saved by the Bell, but the TV show that made the greatest impact on my young life was Gilmore Girls. The brain-child of Amy Sherman-Palladino, it's the story of Lorelai Gilmore, the energetic and quick-witted first TV "teen mom" (of course we see her as an adult), and her now-teen daughter, Rory, a smart, beautiful introvert. It's set in Stars Hallow, Conn - a town too perfect to be real, yet eerily similar to my home town.  The town is full of quirky characters, all of whom share the duos penchant for fast dialogue and odd traditions.
In a world of Dawson's Creek, Gilmore was something a kid who really wanted to be good and who was into school could relate to. Sometimes I think we make adolescence more emotional and dangerous than it is (see all of the offerings of ABC "Family"). Gilmore is drama, but it was fun, funny, engaging, happy, and me. Rory liked to read, liked to eat, liked to be around her family, liked boys but wasn't totally age-inappropriate, and didn't disdain adults. It's vital to see oneself if a character, to be reflected in entertainment, and in a way to be prompted about how someone like yourself might act. And I think having this as a teen is a right of passage and kind of an honor. Other people maybe had the Facts of Life or Growing Pains or Charles in Charge.

So I'd get together with my Leah and we'd watch. We'd talk faster after, we'd pick up on their games (we really played 1-2-3 He's Yours, a lot), and I still say "Oy, with the poodles already!" We recorded it  on VHS for posterity and I have the titles - to this day - of season one's episode memorized. Seasons one and two were really the best. When I went to college I happened to find Rory Gilmore yellow backpack and I'd actually feel smarter going to class with it. I kept it for all three years (Imma a smartie) until it was dead and it had to be put down.
So guys will remark, "You know, whenever I went into a girl's apartment they were always watching that show." They're amazed and I'm like, duh, you were around awesome girls. I still watch it. The first seasons (once A S-P left as a write it was never quite the same) are the best, the wittiest, and they still make me feel represented and important and like anything can happen.
Gilmore is alive and well still. It's in syndication, most girls I know own all the seasons on DVD (still have those VHS tapes somewhere), and people are still talking about it.  It's vitally important.