Who Needs Friends?

TV a mother could love: Gilmore girls Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham

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More About

• Gilmore Girls
• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Johnny Slash
• Lorelai Gilmore
• Lauren Graham

There are lessons here, but not in that "very special" way that TV prefers to dole them out. (I would be overjoyed not to see one of Rory's friends suddenly accrue a drug habit.) Instead, truths arrive in the unplotted, episodic manner in which most of us muddle through our days: Oops, don't do that again.

The main lesson here is for us, the viewers. Though the "family-friendly" label may be the commercial kiss of death (the equivalent of a G-rating on a movie), anyone who complains that there's nothing good on deserves to have to watch Joey, Rachel, and Phoebe bed each other until their AARP cards come.