Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls, compared to the rest of what’s available on TV, are extremely unique and original shows. Compared to each other, however, the similarities are striking. Last year, they aired on competing networks. This year, with the merger of the WB and UPN into The CW, Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars have been scheduled back to back, forming a veritable powerhouse of a Tuesday night for the new network. Now that the two will henceforth be closely associated, it’s time to delve in and examine how similar in nature the two shows really are. So, in spectacular, eye-pleasing bullet form, here is the “Veronica Mars/Gilmore Girls Examination of Same-ness” (I know the name does not roll off the tongue, but I like it, I’m sticking to it, and there’s nothing you can do about. Unless you stop reading, but that’d be no fun. Seriously, keep reading.)
- Gilmore Girls features two strong, female protagonists.
- Veronica Mars features one strong, female protagonist.
- Gilmore Girls is rife with pop culture references, spoken with a patented machine-gun delivery.
- Veronica Mars is rife with pop culture references.
- Gilmore Girls features a close mother/daughter relationship.
- Veronica Mars features a close father/daughter relationship.
And, most importantly:
- The Gilmore Girls are hot.
- Veronica Mars is hot.
So, maybe you’re saying, “Hey, they don’t have that much in common, he only listed four things!” Well, yeah, you’ve counted well, those are only four things. But look at them. They are arguably the most important aspects of each show. Veronica Mars does solve mysteries, but the point of Veronica Mars is that it doesn’t feel like a typical crime-solving show. Veronica just happens to solve things as she grows up and goes through college, just like Rory happens to work for her school newspaper as she goes through college. People don’t watch Veronica Mars for the mysteries; if that’s all they wanted to see, they’d watch CSI. Rory from Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars would probably be friends if they met; at the very least they’d talk a lot.
What does this prove? Well, not much except that TV shows can feel both widely similar and dissimilar at the same time. Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls share many of the same themes and devices, and these things make for entertaining television. The only worry is that viewers may get burnt out on the similarities, whether they consciously recognize them or not, and tune in to only one of the shows, or none. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen; we need more shows like Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
