Lauren Graham is about to have a Flash of Genius. Personally, I think not buttoning those top two buttons was a flash of genius, but I digress. The former Gilmore Girl has signed on to her first role since the long-running mother-daughter comedy-drama signed off in May.

Graham will co-star with Greg Kinnear in Flash of Genius, about the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper. Wait, wait, a movie about windshield wipers? Bwaahahaha! OK, sorry, had to get that out of my system. Actually, the movie isn’t a laugher at all. Instead it’s a drama about the struggles the man who made driving when it’s sprinkling out a whole lot easier (played by Kinnear) had when battling the Detroit automakers over the use of his design. Lauren will play his long-suffering wife.

I’m interested to see what route Lauren’s post-Gilmore movie career takes. She has plenty of former TV comedy stars to look to for advice. But which actress should she emulate? Julia Louis-Dreyfus? Hmm, only if she wants another TV show. Helen Hunt? Sure, it was all going well until she won the Oscar, followed it with a flurry of films and then, poof, where’d she go? Jennifer Aniston? Well, I loved her in Office Space. Courteney Cox? Uhm, you’ve seen Dirt, right?

On Friday, Lauren can be seen as Steve Carell’s bemused wife in Evan Almighty. I wish her well in her upcoming film endeavors. She gives off a decidedly likable vibe and few other women can deliver witty repartee with such style and speed.

Plus, Lauren has been a great guest and good friend to lesbian talk show hosts for years. She was the final guest on Rosie O’Donnell’s old daytime chatfest in 2002. Rosie took her to task for never having finished a craft. Lauren is also one of Ellen DeGeneres’ most frequent guests. Her most recent appearance was right after the Gilmore Girls cancellation was announced.