Rumors have been swirling about a possible Gilmore Girls revival ever since the series concluded in 2007, following seven successful seasons of being on air. Fans of the show have been crossing their fingers, hoping that they might get to see their favorite citizens of Stars Hollow return onscreen somehow again. However, every time a rumor of a movie, spin-off series, or possible revival mini-series has begun to gain traction – it has been cut short by one of the cast members or the show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino.
Gilmore Girls critically-acclaimed for its witty, fast-paced banter between the show’s lead Mother and Daughter (Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel) and the rest of the community’s quirky, lovable citizens. However, when the WB became the CW (the network that was created from a merger between UPN and WB), Sherman-Palladino and her husband, Daniel Palladino, – who had served as the main writers and executive producers for the series up to that point – could not come to an agreement with the new network – resulting in the two departing as showrunners for the series’ final seventh season (after being replaced by David S. Rosenthal).
In a panel at the 2015 ATX TV Festival, select Gilmore Girls cast members and Sherman-Palladino reunited to talk to a packed crowd of fans reminiscing about the series and its possible future. The panel included Lauren Graham (Lorelai), Alexis Bledel (Rory), Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore), Scott Patterson (Luke Danes), Keiko Agena (Lane Kim), Liza Weil (Paris Geller), Jared Padalecki (Dean Forester) , Matt Czuchry (Logan Huntzberger), Milo Ventimiglia (Jess Mariano), and many more.
Sherman-Palladino addressed some of the more recent revival rumors, and (much to the audiences’ chagrin) denied that any Gilmore Girls revival is being developed – at the moment, anyway:
“There’s nothing in-the-works at the moment. Here’s the good thing: Nobody here hates each other. It would have to be the right everything — the right format, the right timing. It would have to be honored in a certain way. If it ever came around, I think we would all jump in and do it. If it ever happened, I promise we’ll do it correctly.”
It seems like the answer has stayed the same over the past eight years, and it looks like fans won’t really know if they’ll ever see those characters again until it actually happens. If it ever does though, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if the series were picked up by a company like Netflix, for either a series continuation (a la Arrested Development) or sequel show (Fuller House). Regardless, it looks like Gilmore Girls fans will have to keep those fingers crossed for now.
The cast and creator also commented on the recent passing of Edward Herrmann, who played Rory’s grandfather and was an integral character in the series. Before a montage of some of his best scenes was played, Sherman-Palladino commented on his passing with the following:
“It’s really crappy that he’s gone. We miss him so much, and I wanted to put a little something together. I think I speak for all of us: We were so surprised [when he died]. I don’t think any of us knew he was sick. Ed was the first one to say he was going to be at this panel, that’s how f–ed up it is that he’s gone. I just miss him, and I’m so grateful I got to work with him and hear him say my words and see him yell at me at dailies because I was making him do too many takes. … ‘We’re not puppets!’ He was not a puppet. He was just a drinkin’, lovin’, knew-everything-in-the-world [man]. He was our Mr. President.”
For those of you out there still debating over who was Rory’s best love interest as well, it looks like the debate still rages on – although there might finally be a winner. When asked about which team each of them were, Padelekcki admitted he was Team Jess because “I love Milo. I think he’s cool and sexy and handsome,” which prompted Ventimiglia to interject saying he was Team Dean, although he rooted for all of them… even though, “Logan was a dick.“
Czuchry also thought Logan was a dick, before saying he thought, “They each brought something out in Rory that she needed at the time,” but in the end, he was Team Jess also… so do we possibly have a winner?
Each of the actors went around near the end, giving their opinion on where their characters might be now. Yes, both Graham and Patterson believe that Luke and Lorelai are still together – and may have even tied the knot by now. Bledel thinks Rory’s still a hard-working journalist, Jess is still cool guy who leaves cool places when too many people show up, Paris and Doyle are still together ruling the world – and so forth.
For those wondering if Sherman-Palladino was planning on revealing those final four words, that would have ended the series in her original plan – she’s not going to anytime soon, even going as far as saying that she might not reveal them until she’s on her deathbed. She did finish the panel off with some grateful words though, check out her final quote from the panel below:
“There’s no way I’m going to top this experience, this cast, these leading ladies here. … And that’s OK. Some people get lucky and some people don’t. And, God, I got so lucky.”
This is only a few bits and pieces from the panel itself – you can find the entire video panel here.
The Gilmore Girls panel didn’t necessarily reveal anything or give much more hope to fans about a possible revival or film somewhere down the line, and focused mostly on the cast and creator remembering the series for what it was – but that should still be enough for fans of the beloved relationship-dramedy. Seeing a large majority of the cast reunited again, and all giving their opinions on where the world and its characters are at now should be enough nostalgia-fueled content for fans at the moment.
Considering all of the seemingly improbable TV show spin-offs, continuations, and revivals happening right now too – it might not be long until Gilmore Girls is added to that list.
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