I am – Hercules!!

“Gilmore Girls” is over.

It’s “West Wing” without Aaron Sorkin. “Andy of Mayberry” without Don Knotts. “The Prisoner” without Patrick McGoohan. “SNL” without Bill Murray. It’s “The Simpsons” without Sam Simon. It’s “Moonlighting” without Glenn Gordon Caron.

Tonight’s episode – the first produced without the participation of Amy Sherman-Palladino, its lynchpin and mastermind since episode one – does not feel like “Gilmore.” It feels like “Gilmore” fanfic, like a far lesser talent is aping scenes we’ve seen before, and he’s forgotten to mix in the genius comedy so essential to the franchise.

I won’t delete my TiVo season pass for “Gilmore Girls.” If a great new episode (or string of episodes) emerges this season I’m sure the Gilmore Nation will alert us. (The post-Sorkin “West Wing” was, after all, far from unwatchable.) But the series we knew is done.

And what matters Herc’s opinion?

USA Today says:

… Amy Sherman Palladino wrote new producer David Rosenthal into a box, but he has only made matters worse, from silly plots to strained attempts to imitate Palladino's writing style. There are more words than ever, rattled off at even faster speed. But they seldom make sense, and they're never amusing. (Halfway through a long Lorelai metaphor about a car and a bumper, you want to reach into the screen and throttle her.)…

Entertainment Weekly gives it an “A-minus” and says:

… The seventh season of Gilmore starts with a frightening event: silence...55 seconds of it. Luckily, new showrunner David Rosenthal is just playing us. He quickly proves himself to be a gifted student of Rorelai patter (''There's nothing good about a goodbye, it's a poorly named ritual'').

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says:

… Without creator and executive producer Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband, Daniel Palladino, the heart and soul of this series, it looks as if the party is over. Better to say, it sounds as if it's over. Gone is the slicing wit. Gone are the keen cultural references and the smarty-pants social jabs the Palladinos easily wove into each episode. Stars Hollow residents didn't just chat, they danced through each exchange.
Now, under the new show runner, David S. Rosenthal, every conversation has two left feet and seems interminable. You can tell Rosenthal tried to incorporate the Palladino pep into this new episode, but all he could manage is a shabby trace job. …

The Columbus Dispatch says:

… Tuesday night’s season premiere picks up where last season left off, minus creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, who was responsible for the series’ trademark rapid, witty dialogue. The dialogue in the premiere sounds similar, if a bit forced, as if someone were trying to copy what they’d seen before (which is, of course, exactly what they did). But the action is great — kooky Kirk (Sean Gunn) is in rare form, and repercussions from the finale abound.…

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… For any fans worried that the departure of "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman Palladino would hurt the show, tomorrow's seventh season premiere should quickly put to rest such concerns. The characters not only sound like themselves, in some cases they sound more like themselves (as established in the show's early years) than Palladino had written them in recent seasons.…

The Seattle Times, The Dallas Morning News, and The Miami Herald say:

… Our favorite Gilmore girl is gone. … Sherman-Palladino, along with her husband, executive producer Dan Palladino, left the dramedy after the network refused to give them a two-year contract. Her absence is glaring. This week's premiere is the equivalent of Lorelai going without coffee. It is missing the rush of breathless dialogue, the jolt of unexpected zingers and the rich flow of pop-culture references that might make even Dennis Miller's mind reel.

8 p.m. Tuesday. The CW.

Season Sets Priced Like Socks!!

$12.00 The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete First Season(24 episodes)
$12.00 The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete First Season (24 episodes)
$16.00 Wonderfalls: The Complete Series (13 episodes)