Netflix is planning a Gilmore Girls revival! (Go, figure out how to sliver that Netflix membership into your entertainment budget.)
Though it was just this summer that show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino denied rumors of such plans, apparently the stars have aligned for Stars Hollow fans with 4 mini-films (90-minutes each) planned. All the cast is on board but for Edward Herrmann, who passed away last winter, but Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop and all Rory’s beaus should be stopping by. Still, we’ll miss the powerful Richard Gilmore balancing good old Emily. And Melissa McCarthy is notably absent from the announcement. We can only hope.
This format is a new and unique way to revive a show and proves how exploratory Netflix really is. The Arrested Development experiment of continuing canceled series on-demand has paved the way for shows like The Mindy Project, The Killing, and Community to finish their stories, much to the joy of fans.
Sherman-Palladino and her husband, exec producer Daniel Palladino, will be writing the new Gilmore eps which will jump the series into the future. Emily Gilmore will be a widow, Rory will be settled into her career, and Luke and Lorelai will be…?
…Together, according to Lauren Graham during this summer’s cast reunion at the ATX Television Festival. Graham admitted she didn’t feel closure about the relationship when the series ended but she completely believes the couple was meant to last.
The show was canceled after 7 seasons after Sherman-Palladino and her co-writer/husband Dan Palladino left the show amid a contract dispute. The series debuted on the WB in 2000, and remained a fan favorite and critical success, eventually landing on Entertainment Weekly’s “New TV Classics” list. When the WB merged with UPN to create the CW, the series was in season 6. During contract negotiations both the creators walked away claiming that they couldn’t keep up the production pace without more help. The show was canceled after one more season.
But fans have always wanted to return to Stars Hollow and asked about a revival during last summer’s reunion. “There’s nothing in the works at the moment,” replied Sherman-Palladino, but she also commented, “If it ever happened, I promise we’d do it correctly … Nobody here hates each other, which is very important. It would have to be the right everything, the right format, the right timing, it would have to be honored in a certain way.”
Thanks to Netflix, the time and format have arrived. We’ll let you know about dates as soon as we hear.
This is not the ATX reunion (see link above) but it is a pre-ATX interview from the Today show.