#7

Gilmore Girls

Yes, I realize this one opens me up to more of those nasty homophobic insults you all seem to toss around with abandon.

I am a brave man. I can take your slings and arrows.

To be honest, I would've said all those same things had I ever given this WB/CW show more than a passing thought. The title doesn't exactly scream "manly," and you know that Nolanator is all about masculinity. But if I have a feminine side, hot mommy Lorelai and her precocious daughter Rory certainly got me in touch with it.

Early in my relationship with Eileen, I used to go over to her house on Tuesday nights. Her house, her tv...my misfortune. One of the shows she subjected me to was Gilmore Girls. Saying that I was "reluctant' to embrace the show would be an understatement. It had a completely girly theme song and opening montage full of hugs and awkward facial expressions. It was set in this fictional New England town that had "quirky" writ in large letters across every facet of its existence.

Oh yeah, and they talked INCREDIBLY FAST.

As with most well-drawn stories and characters, all this grew on me. The relationship between 30-something (and I mentioned HOT, right? Lauren Graham does it for me) former teen mother Lorelai and her MENSA daughter Rory (not hard on the eyes herself), which first struck me as unreal? I eventually found it quite endearing. I fell in love with the town's quirky colonial-style meetings and its quirky events in which the entire populace would participate except for its grumpy (and a tad quirky, to be honest) diner owner Luke, Lorelai's "are they or aren't they?" love interest.

I also appreciated the ongoing class struggle between make-it-on-her-own-steam Lorelai and her affluent and image-conscious parents. I even use the senior Gilmores as an example of the "East Egg" mentality when teaching The Great Gatsby. The fact that Mr. Gilmore was the head vampire in The Lost Boys only added to his appeal.

And then there's that wonderfully speedy dialogue. What first struck me as gimmickry and nonsense eventually turned into a deep respect for creator Amy Sherman-Paladino's knack for the rhythm of the English language, in addition to some fantastically crafty pop culture allusions. I actually had to look stuff up from time to time so that I could get the jokes. It's not often that tv has that effect.

I started watching with Eileen during season three or four; it was my idea to go back and rent all the old episodes. When the show completed its run last year, it was like a phase of our relationship had ended. We had nothing left to do but go and get married. That annoying, girly theme song? It was the only show's title that I wouldn't fast-forward through because I liked when Eileen sang the whole thing, replete with holding herself and shivering on the line, "when you're lonely...and so cooooold."

Oh god. Listen to me. This show may have made me more than a little bit female.

What to do? Oh yeah, BOOBS. There. Four-for-four.