This is actually happening: after months of speculation, Netflix has confirmed that “Gilmore Girls” is officially returning to our television screens later this year.
Despite not having an episode count for the “Gilmore Girls” reboot, show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino later revealed that the limited series will consist of 4 episodes (expected to run at 90 minutes per episode) and are all named after seasons – “Winter”, “Spring”, “Summer”, and “Fall”. So does this mean that the series will be named “Gilmore Girls: Seasons”?
Now comes the important question: “Who’s in it?”
MTV reported that Edward Herrmann’s death in 2014 means “that the Gilmore family’s lovable patriarch, Richard Gilmore, will be sorely missed”. Melissa McCarthy, on the other hand, tweeted that she was not asked back for the revival. But as they say in show biz, the show must go on.
Without further ado, here are our returning favourites:
1. Lorelai, Rory and Emily Gilmore (Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel and Kelly Bishop)
There would be no “Gilmore Girls” without the girls – Lorelai (Lauren Graham), Rory (Alexis Bledel) and Emily (Kelly Bishop). “Alexis (Bledel) and I walked onto the set together and — I feel super emotional about a lot of it and I’m afraid I’m going to start crying at every turn — but walking onto that set really felt like something. It felt like a lot of time had passed and it felt like we were just there. It felt amazing,” recalled Graham.
The mother-daughter duo of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore are just as well loved as they were when the show premiered 15 years ago. So what was the secret to their working chemistry? Graham said in an interview that the pair just “always got along”.
Taking into account of Herrmann’s death, Bishop shared that her character Emily is “kind of a raw nerve. In a desperate attempt to push through (her grief), she blows between right on the edge of losing it to almost being a little manic.”
“I recall doing something very similar when I lost my mother; I was quite devastated. I was manic and aggressive and pushing, pushing, pushing — because, if you stop, you’re going to cry. So you don’t stop. And I see that in Emily,” Bishop told TV Line.
2. Luke Danes (Scott Patterson)
Luke is Lorelai best friend and love interest. He’s also Jess Mariano’s uncle. In the show, Luke returns to work at Luke’s Diner. But where do he and Lorelai stand in the upcoming season?
Patterson’s character Luke was originally supposed to be a guest role in 1 episode. “But the script begins with Luke’s Diner and ends with Luke’s Diner, so my team and I knew it’s a chemistry check. So we knew the chemistry if it [was] good with Lauren then you might get some more scenes,” shared Patterson. Thank goodness for that cause he ended up as a season regular.
3. Lane Kim (Keiko Agena)
Keiko Agena teased fans last month when she shared a photo of herself and Helen Pai (who is a producer for “Gilmore Girls”) with the captioned promising that “good things are coming…”
Agena played, Lane Kim, Rory’s bestie with a rock ‘n’ roll soul on the beloved series. US Weekly reported that Agena’s character Lane is largely based on Helen Pai, who remains good pals with “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino – a connection that was not lost on fans of the series.
4. Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia)
This is perfect! Jess and Rory can finally have a happy ending. There was so much left unsaid about their relationship. “Not much has changed in Jess’ world. Jess might’ve been a pain in the ass when he first got to Stars Hollow, but he grew up and became a pretty decent guy. So (the reboot is) kind of a continuation of that with Jess,” said Ventimiglia.
The debate continues on whether Rory should end up with Jess, or her other love interest Dean Forester.
5. Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki)
Padalecki played Rory’s first serious boyfriend Dean Forester, the partner whom Rory lost her virginity to while Dean was still married to another woman at the time. The high school sweethearts were on again/off again for several seasons with Padalecki making his final appearance in season 5 before going on to shoot for another popular drama series – “Supernatural”.
6. Paris Geller (Liza Weil)
“I start on Tuesday, which I really feel like bodes well that I get to start on a Tuesday being that we used to (air) on a Tuesday,” said Liza Weil at the recent aTVfest. “Obviously, there’s a lot of nostalgia surrounding the project, and I can’t wait to dive into it. I was very emotional when I read the script, and it’s going to be great to revisit my old friend Paris,” she added.
Paris and Rory were frenemies-turned-roommates during their time together as Chilton classmates and subsequently as Yale roommates. The end of the series saw her making a decision to go to medical school after graduating from Yale.
There is no premiere date yet but the revival is expected to hit Netflix later this year.
Sources: MTV, The Hollywood Reporter.
