Bunheads

The creator of the beloved series The Gilmore Girls is back with a new creation. Amy Sherman-Palladino's latest endeavor, Bunheads premiered on ABC Family for the 2012 season. The cast features many of the same actors who appeared in The Gilmore Girls, as well as some faces new to the screen.

Bunheads is the story of Michelle (Sutton Foster), a professional dancer in the company of the exclusive American Ballet Theater. She becomes tired of the rigid life of a professional ballet dancer and moves to Las Vegas to dance as a showgirl. In Las Vegas, Michelle begins to live an unstructured existence where she parties hard and tries to cast off the constraints she felt her ballet career placed upon her.

By the time a Californian shoe salesman begins routinely attending her shows, Michelle is burned out on her chaotic lifestyle. Mr. Flowers wines and dines her and brings her expensive gifts. Michelle realizes that she may have found her way out of Las Vegas and dancing as a showgirl. In a night of drunken indulgence, Michelle and Mr. Flowers marry and immediately move to his little hometown of Paradise, California. Much to her surprise, they must share his enormous beachside house with his mother, Fanny Flowers (Kelly Bishop). By a strange coincidence, Fanny runs a ballet studio right in their backyard and Michelle must come face to face with her past. The show follows this struggle as well as her integration into the lives of the people of Paradise.

The mark of Sherman-Palladino is unmistakable and Bunheads shares many of the traits that branded The Gilmore Girls as a unique show in its time. Like The Gilmore Girls, Bunheads dialogue is fast paced and packed with references from popular culture. Scenes are generally lengthier than what is usual in similar shows and dialogue takes a back seat to the action, which generally takes place in the background as the characters discuss the surrounding activity.

Bunheads offers a warm hearted, family friendly show for the ballet enthusiast. While Bunheads can be dramatic at times, the episodes are generally lighthearted and filled with humorous quips.