Eulogy for the Recently Cancelled

The last two Tuesdays have been teary nights for me. I've had to say goodbye to two of my favorite shows, Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars. My weeknight of witty women is no more.

For Gilmore Girls, my tears were all nostalgic and happy to see it go out well after a disappointing few seasons that I like to call Those Blighted by Logan Huntzberger, That Smug Ridiculous Frat Boy Who Somehow Managed to Become Rory's One True Love by the Power of Persistence. It's a long title, but appropriate, I think you'll find.

For Veronica Mars, I was sad. It ended on a sad episode that was good, but not intended to be the series finale because the CW is horrible and would rather be known as the Pussycat Dolls network than be in any way associated with quality television.

So, yeah. It's hard out there for a TV lover. You take a chance on a show, get to liking it, start to depend on it to shape your weeknights and then find out that, just because you're in a minority, you don't get to have it anymore. You know, or, the show has been on since you were in college (undergrad, not grad), and it needs to be put down before any incidences with sharks and waterskis.

Regardless, you end up sniffling at your TV set, a generally embarrassing proposition. I don't love any show unconditionally, but I loved these enough to mourn their passing, even after a fairly rough season for both. What was there to love? What is there to miss? Well, I'll tell you.

First, Gilmore Girls:

1. The quirky dialogue on Gilmore Girls emulated the speed and wit of my favorite 1930s comedies. If anyone has ever given Rosalind Russell a run for her money as the premiere fast-talking dame, it was Lauren Graham.

2. Rory reminded me of me when I was sixteen, always carting around a huge book and academically serious. It was nice to see a smart teenager on TV, someone who was aiming high and working hard to get there. (Of course, you could argue that Willow from BtVS came first, but when I first started watching GG, I wasn't yet all that in to Buffy.)

3. Gilmore Girls was about relationships, but very rarely did it fall into the soapy doldrums of concentrating solely on the romantic sort. One of the most consistently compelling relationships driving the show was the touchy, sometimes disastrous one between Laurelai and her mother, Emily.

4. There was one romantic relationship that fueled the series and it was expertly done for the first 5 seasons. Luke and Laurelai were constantly aware of each other but never quite connected over those seasons, building a mountain of sexual tension. When there was an actual relationship to speak of between them, the momentum of the series floundered a bit, but was brought nicely back together here at the end.

5. There were townies. There was Kirk, the odd-job guy; Taylor, the prickish "town selectman"; Miss Patty, the lascivious dance teacher; Babette and Mory, the neighbors with much cat love and a somewhat imperfect knowledge of the principles of TMI. Stars Hollow had a troubador. In fact, at one point, it had (rather contentiously) two troubadors. There was a troubador festival. The antics were always a bit crazy, but balanced out the show's more dramatic tendencies.

6. Paris Gellar. She started off at Chilton frightening all of her academic rivals into submission and ended the series by going off to scare everyone on the Indian subcontinent. You just had to appreciate a girl with drive.

7. Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop. There are a lot of good actors out there but I've never believed that two women loved each other and just could not get along more than when these two actresses played them.

8. It was the first big break for both Jared Padalecki and Milo Ventimiglia, who have gone on to be exponentially hotter on Supernatural and Heroes, respectively. (The flip side of this distinction is that it was also the first big break for Chad Michael Murray who has gone on to be a blonde blight on society.)

9. Much has been made over the implausibility of Laurelai and Rory's relationship, but I always found it to be both entertaining and believable. You could see the parenting cogs working in Laurelai's head every time a difficult situation came up and the unique informality they had with each other made those situations much more unpredictable and therefore entertaining.

10. Finally, just like its characters, Gilmore Girls was smart. References weren't dumbed down or spelled out for slow viewers. You either got the reference and the joke or you didn't and the show plowed right on.

And now, Veronica Mars:

1. Veronica Mars, while just as witty as Gilmore Girls, took on a darker tone that emulated film noir classics. In Neptune, CA, everyone's moral compass was pointing in a southerly direction and vengeful little Veronica seemed fated for a hard-luck life.

2. It was a high school show, but the matters and manner in which they were presented were entirely adult. That made it hard to sell to people I was trying to get to watch it, but it also made it great. Murder, adultery, theft, kidnapping, rape--Veronica solved them all.

3. Veronica had great friends and she got them in great ways. Her best friend, Wallace Fennell, she met when she cut him down after he was duct-taped naked to the school flag pole. She met her Q, Mac, during her investigation of the scandals surrounding online purity tests. Veronica outed the people posting fake scores, but only later realized that Mac was the mastermind behind the test, fleecing the rich kids out of their allowances.

4. Veronica was the champion of the underprivileged with a heavy chip on her shoulder about the over. But it was never as simple as her being a little blonde Robin Hood. Her sense of fairness prevailed, even while her regard for the law remained... flexible.

5. In a similar vein, Veronica was always a bit bruised and angry, even after the turmoils of the first season. And that anger made her kind of a bad-ass, in the best sense of the word.

6. For the most part, the mysteries were great. They were well plotted and foreshadowed without being obvious. I'd usually be pretty surprised by the big revelation, especially in the season-long arcs of seasons 1 and 2. And after every long arc was resolved, I'd marvel at the feats of continuity that they'd managed.

7. The show just dripped with moral ambiguity. Good people would do things they shouldn't and bad people had moments of redemption until everyone was shaded a touch gray.

8. Logan Echolls and Eli "Weevil" Navarro were two characters who were unpredictable and whose relationships with Veronica were always in flux, dependent on recent events. It was fascinating to watch them interact, with Veronica and with each other.

9. Keith Mars. He was corny, he was lovable, he didn't let Veronica get away with deceiving him. Their spy vs spy games were fun but even more enjoyable was to watch them solve the cases and punish the guilty together. I'd have voted for him for sheriff.

10. Veronica Mars had, bar none, the best freshman season of television that I have ever seen. The Lily Kane murder case was incredibly well played out. It was personal and emotional for Veronica, which made her movements unpredictable and heart-wrenching. Everyone was a suspect and no one could be trusted. The case had everything to do with the decisions that Veronica was making in her life in the present. It was compelling stuff.

Goodbye, girly TV shows. You were too good for your network.