(2000) Get to know 'Gilmore Girls'

By Rick Bird, Post staff reporter

It's being touted as family friendly programming. And indeed it is. But not in the sense you might think.

''Gilmore Girls'' premieres tonight (at 8 on WB, Channel 64) as we are introduced to one of the most witty and sassy mother-daughter buddy shows seen on TV in some time. This free-spirited dramedy is one of the more endearing, engaging shows of the new season.

''I thought it would be fun to write about a mom and daughter who were pals instead of just a mother-daughter relationship,'' said the show's creator and producer, Amy Sherman-Palladino, who won an Emmy for her writing on ''Roseanne.''

''I also wanted to put this style teen on TV. Sexually innocent teens are not represented. I thought that would be interesting, especially with a mother who was more sexually aware than she was at that age.''

The premise of the show is that Lorelai Gilmore had her daughter, Rory, when she was 16 and chose to raise the baby on her own. That caused a rift with her old-money parents. In the premiere, the studious Rory has been admitted to an exclusive New England prep school, and Lorelai must reconnect with her parents to ask them to pay for her daughter's education.
The storyline opens up various cross-generational conflicts ranging from grandparent relationships to the clash of cultures at prep schools, and the plight of single parents.
''Grandparents can be closer to their grandchildren than they are to their children, and we want to explore that dynamic,'' Ms. Sherman-Palladino said.

The show is touted as the first to come out of the initiative from the Family Friendly Programming Forum, a group of TV's biggest advertisers, spearheaded by Procter & Gamble executive Bob Wehling. The Forum, in a partnership with WB, put up $1 million to develop scripts for shows suitable for the 8 p.m. family hour, which has slowly become as much a sex and violence hour as the rest of the evening.

While ''Gilmore Girls'' fits the bill, the truth is it didn't come directly from the Family Friendly effort.

''They handed the network the money and said develop scripts that we can advertise on,'' Ms. Sherman-Palladino said. ''When I pitched this to the WB they had already used the development money on other scripts. Then they said, "Maybe this can fit into what we were given the money for.' ''

In fact, Ms. Sherman-Palladino had no idea the Family Friendly Forum existed when she developed ''Gilmore Girls.''

''I didn't even hear the word (family friendly) until we were filming in Canada,'' Ms. Sherman-Palladino said. ''And I saw a Wall Street Journal article about this and it mentioned my show and I said, "Oh ... really.' ''

At first she had to overcome the Hollywood writer's knee-jerk reaction to supposed morality groups dictating what to put on TV. ''"Everyone is afraid of the term ''family friendly'' - including me, when I first heard it. I thought, "What does this mean?'... I thought somewhere there's a room of people eating white bread and mayonnaise and cranking out family-friendly scripts,'' she said with a laugh. ''But I think their agenda was just that we need variety on TV, and I'm all for that.''

She said she has never talked to anyone with the Forum, or received script notes from the group.

Indeed, ''Gilmore Girls'' may not fit some people's definition of what's suitable for the entire family with its edgy, flippant dialogue, the premise of an unwed mother and a scene where the mother and daughter joke about their breast size. But P&G's Wehling says the Forum has no political or moral agenda. He said the group loosely defines ''family friendly'' as quality programming that can draw the whole family together, and he thinks ''Gilmore Girls'' does just that.

''Being in a family is tough these days. There are issues between the mother and the daughter and the mother's parents. The way they handle the situations is very positive. It sends a good message out there to other people who are struggling with these relationship issues,'' Wehling said.

''Gilmore Girls'' is marvelously cast with Lorelai Gilmore played by Lauren Graham. who had a recurring role as the consultant in ''NewsRadio.'' Eighteen-year-old newcomer Alexis Bledel plays the daughter and Sally Struthers plays the Gilmores' next-door neighbor.

Publication date: 10-05-00

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