text: I have been hooked on "GG" since midway through 2001-2002 (2nd season), when I tuned in to see "Smallville" 10 minutes early. Thanks to "Beginnings", I now have all but 2 episodes on tape, right up through last night (Ep. 4.9). I am a middle-aged straight male, and this is the ONLY weekly TV show I watch.<br /><br /> I love this series because: a) Lauren Graham is a damn fine-looking woman, and funny and smart to boot; b) the dialogue is extremely well-written; c) it is flat-out hilarious, putting overrated garbage like "Everybody Loves Raymond" to shame. Many current TV comedies have been heavily influenced by the highly successful and much-despised slime-pit known as "Married with Children", where the viewer is encouraged to deride and feel superior to the characters. In "GG", the characters have faults, but we can see our own foibles in them, and laugh with them, not at them. This is stimulating TV, where the writers challenge us to keep up with rapid-fire exchanges and out-of-left-field pop-culture/literature/current events references. I get immense pleasure out of watching these episodes over and over again, catching all the one-liners and references to previous episodes. Stars Hollow is its own little world, one that I will happily continue to visit as long as the series runs.