Gilmore Girls in the Media

[starri]

6 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

The one thing I wish they could have used the money for was Melissa McCarthy and Milo Ventimiglia.

I doubt very seriously it was money, particularly for McCarthy.  I wouldn't be surprised if she did it at much lower than her normal price tag.   Considering they didn't even bother asking her to return until she said that she's be happy to, I'm sure it was a scheduling thing.  

Which is still on ASP, since even if they only had a day with her, they could have filmed two set-ups.

This is continuing into my "ASP is a shit writer and producer" theory.

[Kohola3]

Quote

Oh what to do, what to do! Huh. There's nothing. Guess we'll just have to cut the wedding of our main couple that fans have been waiting for for years. 

I'm right there with you on the entire post.  This whole exercise in futility was a way for ASP to do whatever cutesy crap she wanted and the hell with continuity or anything else.  Spot on with the massive waste of money on that ridiculous, endless talent show (apparently plunked in there so she could bring her bestie Sutton for an extended appearance) and the totally pointless LDB sequences.  She was pouring money into her ego and screw everything else.

[junienmomo]

1 hour ago, Melancholy said:

Really? I don't think the Yale mattress played like that. I think Lorelai just really didn't want to deal with the mattress. Certainly she didn't want to deal that day when Lorelai kept wanting to use Luke's truck longer than they initially agreed was the borrowing time to get Rory more stuff or keep her company that night. The conflict was real. It just became banter missing any real sting of a fight because of all the good feelings together and because Luke may want to grumble and remind Lorelai of her promises re: the truck because he really was put out, he fundamentally thinks moving Rory in correctly is worth the extra inconvenience. 

I think they banter in two ways: where they head in specifically for the banter and to tease or where there is a real conflict between them but it stays banter instead of a real fight or even just the more normal thing of walking away passively because of the love. This is just about the banter- separate from when they really do fight. 

I also thought the small elopement was great and in character and one of my favorite bits. I'm actually fine with not having Sookie there because I think she and Lorelai became more distant after Sookie left despite the friends hug.  However, Jess really should have been there as family. 

I figure that the Yale mattress was more fun than argument because the solution was so obvious - Lorelai's garage. Tons of room, wouldn't have disturbed the band. 

I like your perspective on the two kinds of banter. Makes sense.

yeah, they could have given Jess a single smiling headshot before he left, then added a fake-Tristan side view of some guy in his coat. Heck, they could have thrown the leather (?) jacket on Luke and gotten a "congratulations, man" out of it.

[Minneapple]

21 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I loved the environment, I loved the feel. The one thing I wish they could have used the money for was Melissa McCarthy and Milo Ventimiglia. They could have cut the 20 minute musical down to 5 minutes, cut out half the LDB sequence and they probably would have had the money to bring in those two for the small intimate wedding. Again, this would be a perfect world if they had done the small wedding AND had the right witnesses. 

I believe it was a scheduling issue that kept Melissa away -- I think she said she was going to be out of the country when they were filming GG. I don't think it was a money issue.

I wish they had cut the musical though. It was one of those sequences like, "WILL THIS EVER END." The LDB sequence was a little better, but not by much.

[random chance]

The way it unfolded as I recall was, they said she was too busy, she said nobody even asked her, and then they asked and she said yes.

[Lady Calypso]

9 hours ago, random chance said:

The way it unfolded as I recall was, they said she was too busy, she said nobody even asked her, and then they asked and she said yes.

I remember this too. I honestly think it was a situation where ASP and DP probably assumed that Melissa was busy and couldn't make time. It's possible that Melissa was busy at the time, but a situation where, if she was asked sooner, she would have made time to appear more than a scene. I don't think she could commit to all four episodes, but maybe she could have added on a couple of scenes. Maybe they could have set aside a specific day to film the wedding when Melissa could have attended. I'm not sure if they could have pulled it off, but it truly sounds like they didn't try hard. 

That's all on assumptions and we won't know the real story, but I can see ASP and DP assuming that Melissa couldn't return and them trying minimally to get her back before Melissa finally went public to set the story straight. Or maybe it is a situation where Melissa was asked and said no, and then when the media got ahold of it, her agent suggested that she made a cameo. I don't really know Melissa or heard/seen her interviews, so I don't know how she is in real life.

[Kohola3]

On 12/7/2016 at 0:33 AM, TimetravellingBW said:

This also puts ASP's previous disagreements with execs from the original show's run in a different light. Is she seriously already complaining about Netflix, given they were the ones who funded AYITL and made it possible to do the revival at all? They seem to have been very generous with the deal she got, so her throwing them under a bus and pinning fan complaints on them seems poor taste. 

Not only in poor taste, but cutting her own throat if she thinks Netflix will let her do another revival.  That must have been on her mind with that crappy ending.  She probably thought all of the adoring fans would be clamoring to see how Precious Precocious Special Snowflake Rory handled the whole single motherhood scenario.  Trash talking a very generous donor is pretty stupid.

[random chance]

As I recall - and I can't back this up with the source link, so grain of salt - Melissa McCarthy was pissed off that she wasn't even asked to be in the revival, and she finally said so in an interview because she was irked that people though she was too successful to bother with GG. And it was not long at all after that interview that she was suddenly hired.

Quote

She probably thought all of the adoring fans would be clamoring to see how Precious Precocious Special Snowflake Rory handled the whole single motherhood scenario.

And the really stupid thing there isn't even that it's about Rory and her specialness, it's a topic that has long since stopped being special. (Not single moms themselves - the topic.)

[CalamityBoPeep]

On 12/7/2016 at 0:33 AM, TimetravellingBW said:

 

"The wedding was originally a much bigger deal. The wedding was a whole shebang. And then they took money away from us. Anything that has extras in it and costumes became a production nightmare. So we had to figure out how to make this wedding satisfying without doing 'The Big Wedding.'"

I'm rapidly losing respect for ASP. Oh, a 'big shebang with costumes' was a nightmare and had to be cut?? Oh no, if only there was some other endless, 20-minute, huge production sequence with special guest stars that had no bearing on the plot or characters that could be cut! Or another all-singing, all-dancing sequence that apparently took months to film and would have had crazy-expensive royalties for a famous song but involved peripheral characters. Oh what to do, what to do! Huh. There's nothing. Guess we'll just have to cut the wedding of our main couple that fans have been waiting for for years. 
 

 

I agree with your whole post. When I saw the wedding, though, my first thought had nothing to do with money, and everything to do with Amy's obsessive need to avoid spoilers. I guessed that a daytime, big wedding would have involved a lot of extras, and it would have been easy for someone to snap a picture and upload it to Instagram. So, to keep everyone in the dark, Amy made a decision, well before filming began, to have a secret wedding.

And now that I see her explanation is having money taken away, I still think my original theory stands. I think she's avoiding stating her real reasoning because it seems too petty. (Which yeah, if it was really a case of being overly secretive, then... petty.) So, it seems to me that it was a case of blowing the budget elsewhere (and not getting an extra budget boost, if she asked for it), and being an overly secretive control freak. I wonder if Netflix is willing to take the blame.

Of course, all of the above... I have no way of knowing if my theories are true, and I don't really care. I'm just going on ASP's past performance in spinning behind the scenes stories to match her preferred narrative.

[Frelling Tralk]

1 hour ago, random chance said:

As I recall - and I can't back this up with the source link, so grain of salt - Melissa McCarthy was pissed off that she wasn't even asked to be in the revival, and she finally said so in an interview because she was irked that people though she was too successful to bother with GG. And it was not long at all after that interview that she was suddenly hired.

That's what Melissa said on twitter when she was asked about it, that she loved playing Sookie and would be happy to return, but nobody had asked her. Amy then started saying that they always wanted Melissa back, but the scheduling was too big of a headache for her to have to work around with the script, but still they would love to work in a scene for Melissa if her people called them. That always seemed odd to me, surely it was down to Amy and Dan to approach Melissa, not sit back and wait for her to approach them? I don't blame Melissa if she did get pissed off, especially when she took a lot of heat on twitter originally when it was being assumed that she must have been asked and turned it down because she felt like she was too big for the show 

Edited December 8, 2016 by Frelling Tralk

[Lady Calypso]

3 minutes ago, Frelling Tralk said:

That's what Melissa said on twitter when she was asked about it, that she loved playing Sookie and would be happy to return, but nobody had asked her. Amy then started saying that they always wanted Melissa back, but the scheduling was too big of a headache for her to have to work around with the script, but still they would love to work in a scene for Melissa if her people called them. That always seemed odd to me, surely it was down to Amy and Dan to approach Melissa, not sit back and wait for her to approach them? I don't blame Melissa if she did get pissed off, especially when she took a lot of heat on twitter originally when it was being assumed that she must have been asked and turned it down because she felt like she was too big for the show 

Seriously? Yeah, Melissa's a gem for reacting the way that she did. ASP and DP are not hot shit here. They shouldn't wait for old cast members to approach THEM. What egoistical assholes. And now Kathleen Wilhoite's comment about not being asked back for the revival makes sense as well. I know that her and ASP had some drama going on, and I never was a fan of Liz, but I'm really starting to judge ASP and DP for their really bad choices with the revival, now including scheduling cameos. 

Sorry, Amy, that Melissa's scheduling hurts your peabrain head. Sorry that Kathleen and you have had spats. Now, the latter is perfectly fine because there were still Liz mentions. But the Melissa thing? Yeah, I'm a little peeved now that I know the actual story. 

[Frelling Tralk]

I've just gone looking for the quote, and here's what Amy said exactly

It was a character we knew we could not count on in terms of story, because [Melissa] just simply wouldn’t have that sort of time to carve out for us,” explains AS-P. “It simply would’ve been impossible. Planning around her crazypants schedule and her movies and her this and her that and Ghostbusters… I would just be sobbing in a corner for six months. That would be my whole life. But if her people called me up and said she’s free on these particular days or would love to drop by and just be in one scene, we would put her right in.”

From what I can gather Amy felt like they did approach Melissa's 'people', and assumptions were then made about her schedule, but it still seems odd to me that Amy couldn't pick up the phone and get in touch with a former cast member to give her the invite in a more personal way. 

[amensisterfriend]

If ASP were here, she would say that we're just interpreting the Melissa McCarthy situation all wrong and focusing on totally the wrong things and, by the way, why are we not smart enough to GET her creative genius and her awesome taste in hats?! ;) 

Seriously, based on her history of prickly defensiveness and general "the buck stops...THERE!" policy of absolving herself of responsibility for conflicts she finds herself mired in or for aspects of the show that cause consternation among many fans, I'm not surprised to read that she's blaming Netflix for a lower key LL wedding. (Though, like many, I thought that happened to work out better anyway---it's kind of funny that even the very few things I liked about the revival seem to have come about by default or DESPITE ASP rather than because of her!)  The ratings were solid enough for Netflix to probably consider continuing the series anyway, which would be awesome for those who loved it but a vaguely terrifying prospect for those of us who feel the revival tainted our love for many of these characters and are skeptical about ASP's ability or desire to give us a more enjoyable product the next time around. 

[Lady Calypso]

From what I'm getting at is that Amy threw her hands up and said "nah, I'm not gonna try" and then didn't. It just sounds like she was convinced that it would never happen so why bother? She seemed to be waiting for Melissa's people to get in touch with her once they heard about the revival. It just makes Amy sound unprofessional. She could have lost out on the opportunity to bring back Sookie if the media hadn't pushed the issue toward Melissa and her people. Amy's putting all the blame on Melissa without considering how important Melissa might have considered the show to be. 

"Oh, I couldn't POSSIBLY ask Melissa to come back. She's just SOOOO busy and MY life would be hell if I had to work around HER busy schedule. She's just so FAMOUS and I couldn't POSSIBLY ask her to come back. So I'm just going to let the news of the revival grow and wait for HER to approach ME."

That's what it sounds like. Memememememememememe. 

[Frelling Tralk]

Pretty much. And it sounds like Amy didn't want to put herself out by having to plan around Melissa's schedule, and possibly then need to re-work the script if things didn't work out as planned, so the one cameo scene in the kitchen was all that was ever on the table, because it's not like it's Melissa's place to put herself forward and suggest giving her a bigger role.

Maybe Melissa would have always been too busy for more than one days filming, but who knows how it might have gone if someone had approached her early enough and seen what could be worked out, pointing out how essential Sookie's presence was for scenes like Lorelai's wedding. Instead she was a very last-minute addition (with Melissa being clear that no one had asked her to return in the beginning), and so of course her time was completely booked up by then 

Edited December 8, 2016 by Frelling Tralk

[random chance]

20 minutes ago, amensisterfriend said:

I'm not surprised to read that she's blaming Netflix for a lower key LL wedding.

I wonder if Netflix has to necessarily hire her if they decide to do more episodes.

[BellyLaughter]

7 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Not only in poor taste, but cutting her own throat if she thinks Netflix will let her do another revival.  That must have been on her mind with that crappy ending.  She probably thought all of the adoring fans would be clamoring to see how Precious Precocious Special Snowflake Rory handled the whole single motherhood scenario.  Trash talking a very generous donor is pretty stupid.

Do you really think ASP thinks Rory is a "PPSS" because I got the distinct inpression that this revival was a big "F U" to the character and her fans.  

But wasn't it funny and so whimsical ;) 

[Sweet Tee]

Quote

I wonder if Netflix has to necessarily hire her if they decide to do more episodes.

That would be hilarious.  Can you imagine her head actually exploding if she got replaced again?  I don't have any hatred for the revival but ASP can be pretty awful with her comments.

[Kohola3]

15 minutes ago, Sweet Tee said:

Can you imagine her head actually exploding

 Hat and all. Now THAT I would pay to see.

[wonderwoman]

from salon:

Not entirely clear what the author's point is. 

[NumberCruncher]

13 minutes ago, wonderwoman said:

from salon:

Not entirely clear what the author's point is. 

Basically that GG should turn Rory's pregnancy into a political statement should there be additional episodes.  I get the reasoning but is this show really the platform to do it?  I never got the impression that people watched GG as an answer to heavy social issues.

[random chance]

Just more ASP disingenuousness -  of course she plans for Rory to keep it, otherwise why have her asking her dad about his feelings on single parenthood.

[Melancholy]

I'm all for a woman's right to choose but I think it's far more interesting if Rory carries the pregnancy to term and raises the child. Abortions really aren't fodder for fascinating long-term stories ESPECIALLY an abortion story that will please pro-choice advocates where an abortion is a solution instead the beginning of psychological and interpersonal torment. The whole point of an abortion is that it ELIMINATES the drama, it ENDS the whole pregnancy story, life just reverts back to before the strip turned pink. I consider myself progressive but I think many thinkpieces about how perfectly liberal storylines also equal the most interesting AND most virtuous drama are ridiculous. A lot of the time, what works for public policy/life because it reduces hardship and drama doesn't work for fictional drama which relies on hardship and drama. 

Spoilered for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Jane the Virgin 

Spoiler

Xiomara's abortion in Jane the Virgin fits exactly into this mode. It was a single-episode storyline. They got a single-ep worth of drama mileage from Abuela's traditional Catholic values opposing the abortion like I'd imagine Gilmore Girls could copycat with OTHER grandmother Emily Gilmore. Which wouldn't be original anymore. However, mainly, the abortion was just there for political reasons and to clean up the fallout from Xiomara's fling with Rogelio's rival. It was there to cut a potential storyline out to go back to focusing on the plethora of other storylines, including the titular main characters' childrearing drama instead of letting her secondary character mother take that thunder away from the lead. (Not to mention, Petra's and Rafael's twins.) That's not the case with Gilmore Girls where there's less going on and there's no other baby to tell stories about.

I'm not caught up with the last ep of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. However while I definitely think Paula made the right choice, I think the beginnings of Paula's and Rebecca's conflict grounded in the abortion is very boring. Maybe it'll heat up. However after their fantastical, melodramatic, insane, dark cutsey partners-in-crime friendship in S1, their split up based on Paula making smarter choices for herself (including the abortion) is a big yawn. It's an example of how abortion doesn't play as a great TV storyline. 

Edited December 9, 2016 by Melancholy

[junienmomo]

"It's a surprisingly international show."

Netflix's first comment on a second season.

http://www.pedestrian.tv/news/entertainment/netflix-is-up-for-a-2nd-gilmore-girls-revival-so-y/95419fb9-fc26-4194-b8fa-04facad451cd.htm

[junienmomo]

Also, the ratings estimate for AYITL. Great, but not really great.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/gilmore-girls-netflix-ratings-third-biggest-2016-951967

[hippielamb]

On Wednesday, December 07, 2016 at 10:55 PM, Minneapple said:

I wish they had cut the musical though. It was one of those sequences like, "WILL THIS EVER END." The LDB sequence was a little better, but not by much.

The odd thing is I think the producers, cast, etc think the musical was hilarious and entertaining. I just read Lauren's book and she mentions how they think it's awesome. Maybe it's a lost in translation thing because despite the mixed reactions to other storylines, most fans seem to hate that blasted musical. 

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, hippielamb said:

The odd thing is I think the producers, cast, etc think the musical was hilarious and entertaining. I just read Lauren's book and she mentions how they think it's awesome. Maybe it's a lost in translation thing because despite the mixed reactions to other storylines, most fans seem to hate that blasted musical. 

I loved the musical! It was hilarious!!!

[zxy556575]

If Netflix really "took money away" from the show's budget, it was probably after they watched the first dailies. Ba da bum!

More seriously, the show got a shitload of buzzy press and only Netflix knows how many new accounts from people who wanted to watch. Netflix execs don't give a flip about what happens to the characters.

[random chance]

I will now confess that I laughed until I cried at the musical. Something about it just perfectly captured this godawful nightmare of a year for me and made it hilarious - I have no idea how or why. I am not putting this well but, bottom line, it was one of the highlights for me. Go figure!

[shron17]

I found the musical entertaining, although it did go on a bit long.  It seems possible it was in part a filler due to other scenes that had to be scrapped due to budgetary, casting or other reasons.

[tarotx]

I recently re-watched an episode where Kick was in an elementary school musical and it went over better imo. The revival musical bored me but then again, unlike quite a few, I loved most of the LDB (I only think the stuff in the Tango club after Rory&Logan talk about Odette and the key should have been cut). 

18 hours ago, hippielamb said:

The odd thing is I think the producers, cast, etc think the musical was hilarious and entertaining. I just read Lauren's book and she mentions how they think it's awesome. Maybe it's a lost in translation thing because despite the mixed reactions to other storylines, most fans seem to hate that blasted musical. 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2016 by tarotx

[betsyboo]

How "Gilmore Girls" offered an escape for Marines who fought in Iraq via CBS News

[lulu1960]

I loved that article/video

2 hours ago, betsyboo said:

How "Gilmore Girls" offered an escape for Marines who fought in Iraq via CBS News

[hippielamb]

16 hours ago, tarotx said:

I recently re-watched an episode where Kick was in an elementary school musical and it went over better imo. The revival musical bored me but then again, unlike quite a few, I loved most of the LDB (I only think the stuff in the Tango club after Rory&Logan talk about Odette and the key should have been cut). 

I agree. At least Kirk is a regular character, it makes sense to watch him perform. Watching two characters we have never seen before for 10 minutes is boring and annoying. Not every GG fan watched Bunheads. I kept being reminded of the time it was taking up from the characters we know and love. 

[hippielamb]

https://www.bustle.com/articles/198657-why-its-hard-to-like-rory-in-the-gilmore-girls-revival

I don't agree with everything in this article but it raises some valid points. I still like Rory, flaws and all. 

[tarotx]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2016/12/19/merriam-webster-words-of-the-year-in-omnia-paratus-gilmore-girls-revenant-icon/95606288/

"Dictionary Merriam-Webster released its word of the year for 2016, and while the main word is "surreal," it also released words that spiked in search. And one of those words was "in omnia paratus," which spiked enough after Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was released it made the list."

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

3 hours ago, tarotx said:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2016/12/19/merriam-webster-words-of-the-year-in-omnia-paratus-gilmore-girls-revenant-icon/95606288/

"Dictionary Merriam-Webster released its word of the year for 2016, and while the main word is "surreal," it also released words that spiked in search. And one of those words was "in omnia paratus," which spiked enough after Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was released it made the list."

All hail to the "Life and Death Brigade"

Edited December 20, 2016 by Deputy Deputy CoS

[BellyLaughter]

Where's the new vomit emoji when you need it??!!! 

Oh there it is....

?

[Kohola3]

Quote

And one of those words was "in omnia paratus," which spiked enough after Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was released it made the list.

What does this say about the state of our world.  Good lord.

[tarotx]

Well, some people like to look up and talk about their fav tv shows to forget about real life for a bit.

[hippielamb]

On Monday, December 19, 2016 at 8:25 PM, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

All hail to the "Life and Death Brigade"

Lol that reminds me of all the people who got In Omnia Paratus tattoos. 

[tarotx]

5 minutes ago, hippielamb said:

Lol that reminds me of all the people who got In Omnia Paratus tattoos. 

Some of them are super cute with umbrellas :) 

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

7 hours ago, hippielamb said:

Lol that reminds me of all the people who got In Omnia Paratus tattoos. 

What? Who??

[Kohola3]

5 hours ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

Lol that reminds me of all the people who got In Omnia Paratus tattoos.

Are you kidding?  Holy crap, that's just........bizarre.  This is a TV show for Pete's sake.

[starri]

9 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Are you kidding?  Holy crap, that's just........bizarre.  This is a TV show for Pete's sake.

People get tattoos for all kinds of reasons.  My next one is probably going to be Star Trek themed.

[tarotx]

I recently meant a couple who have matching Omnia Paratus tattoos. There not super big and it was cute. And they also have a book and Coffee cup. 

[NumberCruncher]

I don't get the big deal either.  Omnia Paratus translates to "ready for anything" which is a pretty cool motto to choose as far as tattoos go.

[MerBearHou]

It's an interesting dichotomy how much I love Gilmore Girls (even with flaws, no other tv series is even a close 2nd for me) given how unlikeable and egotistical the show's creator is.  IMO of course

[hippielamb]

16 hours ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

What? Who??

I see them all the time on pinterest or twitter. Do a google image search for in omnia paratus tattoos and you will see them. 

[junienmomo]

12 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

It's an interesting dichotomy how much I love Gilmore Girls (even with flaws, no other tv series is even a close 2nd for me) given how unlikeable and egotistical the show's creator is.  IMO of course

Agreed. 

I love things that work and fit, even if there are flaws, but it still gets me when she comes out and retcons in an interview. The stuff about feminism and 'Rory's love life is not the focus' comes to mind.

Lately I've had to add feelings about how not nice the main characters are. Sooner or later, though, I start rewatching, and with a little fast-forwarding my fantasy world is intact again.