Gilmore Girls

The CW, Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

Well, we all knew it was coming. Lorelai and Christopher realized that, despite having a daughter together and trying their best at making married life work, they just weren’t meant for each other. Well, duh!

Viewers have seen this coming for quite awhile, but I was very interested in seeing exactly what the final straw would be that tore the couple apart. And, well, it was a dog’s funeral. Only “Gilmore Girls” could use a device that wild to be the catalyst for Lorelai finally telling Christopher it wasn’t working. That is why I love the show.

And it turns out Christopher was actually pretty nice about the destruction of his marriage. What a guy! The fallout was perfectly done, with Miss Patty and Babette waxing lyrical about the breakup and who Lorelai is really meant to be with.

It’s great to see that, after a few sparse episodes, most of the supporting cast is back in full form. After disappearing for half the season while Rory hung out with her new (boring) friends, Paris is back. She subtly pushes Rory into various activities that may or may not help either of them get a good job after college. Kirk is popping up more often, and even Logan (ugh) seems to be around more.

And Lane isn’t dead! Sure, the writers have come up with a more creative way of ensuring she doesn’t have to be in the show very often by placing her on bed rest, but she had an episode mostly about her, where she was being carted around by Stars’ Hollow on a big bed!

But the standout of these last few episodes has, as always, been Emily. After Richard’s heart attack, Emily may or may not have had a small nervous breakdown, causing her to order truckloads of fish (it helps weak hearts, apparently). It simultaneously makes you laugh and breaks your heart. And last week’s drunken heart-to-heart with Lorelai was Emmy-worthy.

And next week we get a road trip with the girls! Could this get any cooler?

24

Fox, Mondays at 9

*gasp *

Is it possible that I am actually over “24”? The show is still well-written and directed, but I just can’t bring myself to care anymore.

Perhaps it is because of the emphasis on characters and relationships this season. We get Jack’s relatives shoved down our throats for weeks at a time. Chloe’s husband annoys the hell out of us every time the plots turn back to CTU.

The producers obviously think this is the way to make us care about the characters, but don’t they realize viewers have always loathed unnecessary family love interests shoved down their throats? Right, Kim? Isn’t that true, Audrey? Don’t you think so, Wayne?

The characters we end up loving are the ones who begin as minor supporting players before blossoming into major characters we love despite the constant threat of death hanging over them.

The storylines are becoming too repetitive as well. There are only so many times the president is almost assassinated before the idea loses all its power, and we just reached that limit. Or how many times can Jack be stupid enough to trust a bad guy, get screwed over and act all surprised about it?

Still, “24” is probably better than most shows on air right now. The writers and producers just need to re-energize their formula, perhaps by going in closer and focusing on longer plots instead of having new story plots for all the major characters every three hours.

But I did love the fact that, after six seasons, someone finally decided to go to the bathroom. Hell yes!

Contact ALL correspondent Robert Taylor at [email protected].