Fox tries to get its "Gilmore Girls'' groove with "Jezebel James''

My grudge with Amy Sherman-Palladino is officially over.

I've been holding it now ever since April 2006 when she and her husband Daniel Palladino announced they were abandoning the adorable, witty, charming baby they made together, "Gilmore Girls.''

And while I have no plans to ever totally forgive the "Gilmore'' creator for leaving the folks in Stars Hollow in the lurch like that for the final season -- not to mention a series finale so unsatisfying, fans can still feel the hunger pangs -- when I heard she was the creative force behind a new comedy on Fox, I was all about second chances.

"The Return of Jezebel James'' premiered Friday with a one-hour pilot that ... well, let's just say it's no "Gilmore Girls.'' The setup: Parker Posey is Sarah, a children's book editor who is Monica Gellar-ish in her order/organization/cleanliness hang-ups. When she's dumped by her live-in boyfriend of 10 years, she decides she wants to have a baby. She calls her estranged sister, Coco (Lauren Ambrose), a sloppy, free spirt-type who leaves Chinese take-out containers setting around, to ask her to carry the baby and move in. Comedy ensues, except it didn't -- not much anyway, despite what the hard-working laugh track would have us believe.

Sure, there are shades of Lorelai Gilmore in Sarah -- self-assured single woman, brunette, killer wardrobe with a knack for accessorizing, etc. But Lorelai was cool, Sarah is uptight and sort of annoying. No wonder the boyfriend bailed. (The new only-for-sex boyfriend, by the way, is Scott Cohen, who played Max Medina on "Gilmore Girls.'')

Sherman-Palladino's trademark pop-culture name dropping is there -- Garrison Keillor, Amy Winehouse and ABBA all in the pilot -- but it felt forced. Did, however, love the matching Hello Kitty phones.

I tuned in because I was looking for some TV programming with a heart, a little warm and fuzzy that my TiVo's currently not delivering during a post-writers'-strike lag that includes "Lost,'' "Rock of Love 2'' and not much else in terms of new programming. I know Sherman-Palladino's capable of it -- that's why we loved "Gilmore Girls.'' But there wasn't much of it to be found on "Jezebel James,'' at least not during the first hour. We'll see what future Friday nights bring -- some kind of rhythm would be good, for starters.

-- Kendra Meinert, kmeinert@greenbaypressgazette.com