TV Review-----BUNHEADS

Troy and I are both enormous GILMORE GIRLS fans. So it was with great anticipation that we watched the pilot episode of BUNHEADS from the writer and creator of GILMORE GIRLS. The premise has Sutton Foster playing Michelle, a Las Vegas showgirl who is nearing the age where she is thought of as "old" in the dance world. One night, in a drunken stupor, she marries a sweet older man named Hubble. Hubble takes her away from Vegas to his hometown of Paradise. Paradise is one of those small towns where everyone knows each other and everything seems within walking distance. Hubble lives with his mother, who runs a dance studio in Paradise. Once Michelle sobers up, she realizes that she has married a man she doesn't love and is destined to live in a home along with her mother-in-law. The Pilot episode was smartly written with dialogue that is reminiscent of the quick patter from GILMORE GIRLS. Sutton Foster is wonderful as Michelle. She makes the transition from stage to screen quite beautifully. She also has a way with this sort of crackling dialogue and if you breathe too loudly you might miss one of the many hilarious throwaway lines. Kelly Bishop is her usual dynamite self as another variation on an annoying know-it-all Mother that you can't help but feel affection for. Alan Ruck makes a guest appearance as Hubble and at the end of the Pilot, you'll understand why it's a guest appearance. BUNHEADS made me smile. It's a relaxing escape from reality tv with characters that you can immediately identify with and that you want to get to know better. It's moving and funny. This is my first foray into ABC Family territory and I gotta admit, I loved it.