Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Comfort. That’s the word that was used a lot during the Gilmore Girls TCA session as the cast talked about returning to shoot the beloved series that ended far too soon for fans. The panel began with a showing of the first two minutes of the upcoming series. Then, seeing Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dan Palladino and Scott Patterson reassembled onstage softened even the most hardened hearts as the group talked about feeling like no time had passed when they finally regrouped to shoot the new episodes. Lauren Graham said she easily slipped back into the rapid-fire dialogue and learned, “Here are the people you have to rely on. They’ll take you through any age. That’s what the show tells you about family. I learned how these bonds take us through life. It’s a story about a young woman & the struggle she faces.” True to her wry and funny form, Amy Sherman-Palladino cracked, “I feel like s–t in your family never gets worked out. It’s a constant evolution. That’s why it’s a great show to write. You never run out of conflict.”
The audience for the show seems endless as well. Executive producer Dan Palladino said one of the reasons they decided to make new episodes is because “when the show hit Netflix, a whole new generation of people came up to us to talk about it. We pitched Netflix four 90-minute chapters that took place over a year. And that’s exactly what we made.”
Amy Sherman-Palladino remarked that the Stars Hollow sets looked a lot different than she remembered, “There was so much brown paint. I’ve never seen so much brown paint. Those Pretty Little Liars had been running around. Also, it looked like the furniture was really tiny. I thought Kelly (Bishop) had shrunk. But after they zhushed it, it looked like Stars Hollow again.”
There was some discussion with Netflix about whether all the episodes would debut at the same time. Amy Sherman-Palladino was concerned about people skipping to the end to discover the much discussed “final four words” just to put spoilers on the internet. She also likes to watch shows in the non-binge fashion. But Netflix won out and all four episodes will debut November 25th. Amy Sherman-Palladino said, “Oh well, I don’t have the a– I want, either.”
So when the new episodes drop, what should you expect to see? Rory’s former boyfriends? Check, though no details were given at the panel as to the circumstances in which we’d see them. Alexis Bledel also wouldn’t reveal details of Rory’s love life. Lauren Graham says Lorelei does have a love life but also kept mum about naming names. She did reference the loss of Edward Herrmann as something that gave the show “depth and complexity.”
With so many mothers and daughters bonding over Lorelei and Rory Gilmore, Amy Sherman-Palladino said one of the things she loves most is when mothers tell her their daughters wanted to go to Yale because of Rory Gilmore. In a related comment, Lauren Graham said returning to the series “was like going to college when you were really ready. It felt emotional. It was a rare opportunity.” Sherman-Palladino summed it up nicely, saying, “This time, we got to sit and say ‘do we want to band together and do this?’ There will be nothing else like this in my career.”
