Shh! Don’t tell anyone, but I got hooked on “The Gilmore Girls”

This is not supposed to happen to a man in his late 60s, and I even wince a bit as I type these words, but somehow, I got hooked on the early 2000s TV show ‘“The Gilmore Girls.”

Embarrassing to admit, for sure, but what the hey—they say honesty is the best policy, and I do remember a psych teacher saying "Revealing your innermost weaknesses and submitting to the previously unallowable can be somewhat  therapeutic."If that is the case, consider me therapeutically revived.

So here we go.

I loved “The Gilmore Girls.” All seven seasons of it!  Each season has about 20 episodes, so watching has been an endurance event. No, I have not “binge-watched" it (I am not quite that deranged), but over the course of the past months, I have worked my way through, and at long last,I have now neared the finish line.

No worries, by the way, on spoiler alerts, because I still haven’t seen the final few episodes. That’s in case you’re a Johnny-come-lately wacko like myself and are thinking of getting hooked on thisshow 20-plus yearsafter its run.

I liken this show to comfort food: easy to go down, an easy watch, and definitely a show you can get into after a roughday at work. It’s like taking a Xanax, an evening settler, and maybe a prelude to a good night’s sleep.

The show has its share of drama and conflicts, of course, but all within the safe haven of a small town. There is no horror, blood, tragedies, or overt sex to disrupt—thus earning the “comfort show” moniker.

“The Gilmore Girls”happens in a town called Stars Hollow, somewhere in the East, not far from the Ivy League schools and college towns. We get to know a lot of the townspeople over the seven seasons and all of the stories behind them, many of which are centered around Luke’s Diner, the town’s unofficial meet-up place.

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The star of the show is definitely Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), a still-looking-for-love young mom to her daughter Rory. Lorelai is not only beautiful, but has the sarcastic, humorous repartee similar to the character Midge from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” hit show. Credit here goes to writer Amy Palladino and husband Daniel, who were the lead writers for both shows.

You have to be quick on your feet and pay attention, because Lorelai can throw out the quick zingers and subtle humor at a rapid pace. It is fun to watch her in action, and although she has many struggles along the way, her character is easy to root for.

Lead number two, and a starof the show in her own right, is daughter Rory  (Alexis Biedel), who has an almost little-sister, big-sister relationship with mom Lorelai.

Rory is a smart, motivated, totally cool young lady who is often caught among myriad friends, classmates, and potential dates, not to mention an up-and-down and all-around relationship with her grandparents and her often-estranged dad.

The supporting cast is outstanding! All the actors and actresses do their part in making the show completely satisfying.

Melissa McCarthy got her start here as Lorelai’s best friend and work partner, Sookie, while Edward Herrmann and Kelly Bishop serve as the quintessential overbearing grandparents, Richard and Emily.

Scott Patterson has amajor role as Luke, owner of the aforementioned Luke’s Diner, as he plays the complete opposite of Lorelai with his serious, somewhat droll attitude, but the two seem destined (remember, I have not seen the end yet!) to be together by the show’s end.

Liz Weil as Paris and Keiko Agena as Lane are Rory’s friends steal many of the scenes they are in, while Matt Czuchry as boyfriend Logan, and a young Milo Ventimiglia (from “This Is Us”) as Jess is another love interest. Both do their parts brilliantly.

A host of others have various roles, and again, the sum of the parts is even greater than the whole.

I have to stop here to give major kudos to one of the best “bits-and-pieces” supporting actors I have seen in my years of television-watching: Scott Gunn as Kirk! He’s absolutely hilarious inevery scene he is in. His role started very small,  but soon (I am assuming by popular demand), he became a slightly larger part of most episodes.  

Kirk is a complete but loveable loser of a guy, who pops up when you least expect it, holding down an almost endless supply of town jobs. It definitely wasn’t intended, but as the seasons wore on, the “Kirk pop-ups” became a greater and greater part of the show—and again absolutely hilarious each and every time he appears.

All in all, “Gilmore Girls” is just an easy, enjoyable watch. It’s comfort food.  Highly recommended if you are searching for such a show.

In previous columns, I have admitted liking the music of ABBA, enjoying silly rom-com books, eating a peanut butter sandwich every day, and stating “Love Actually” is my favorite all-time movie.

So I guess my 60-somethingmale machismo is taking a serious beating at this point.

But sometimes ya just gotta just tell it like it is.  

Hey, at this point in my life, I’m just happy to be alive!