Say What? A 'Gilmore Girls' Movie? Is This a Joke?

Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello is usually on the mark when it comes to intel on all things TV. So when I read his report that the creative genius behind the fast-talking quirkfest that was the Gilmore Girls, Amy Sherman-Palladino, had said that not only did she not watch its series finale (she left the show before the final season), but that she had other season-ending plans for the characters AND that she wouldn’t reveal those plans because there might be a movie in the future, I went, “Hold on, what? A movie? Is this like the ghost that is an Arrested Development movie, which keeps getting discussed forever but never actually happens? Or is this like a Sex and the City movie that’ll actually see the light of day?”

I, for one, would love to see some fresh Gilmore material on the silver screen. I miss those wise, loquacious Gilmores and wasn’t quite satisfied with how the show ended. (They live on in repeats on ABC Family.) When the series wrapped in May 2007, Kelly Bishop, who played Emily Gilmore with exquisite aplomb, told the Washington Post that she felt as though the finale didn’t provide an adequate conclusion to Gilmore Girls and was “disrespectful” to the show’s many fans. “I felt like the bottom dropped out,” Bishop said.

While we fans wait patiently for any glimmer of news about even the mere possibility of a Gilmore Girls film, GG alumni have been popping up on a wide variety of TV shows:

Roles have been particularly plentiful for Rory’s old boyfriends. Rory’s first love Dean (Jared Padalecki) has been starring in The CW drama Supernatural (about Lucifer, demons and the like) for several years. Rory’s second boyfriend, Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) has had the most high profile role of all the Gilmore alums to date, starring in NBC's Heroes as Peter Petrelli, a man who absorbs superpowers of others. (Ironically, the woman who plays Peter Peterelli’s mother Angela -- Cristine Rose -- played Rory’s grandmother, Francine Hayden for two Gilmore Girls episodes.)

Rory’s final boyfriend – who proposed marriage to her at a party celebrating her graduation from Yale, and then she shot down his offer -- Matt Czuchry is a supporting character on CBS’ The Good Wife, playing a smarmy, over-confident young defense lawyer competing against Julianna Margulies. In recent The Good Wife episodes, Chilton Academy grad Francie (Emily Bergl), who tangled with Rory in the Chilton student government, also showed up as another junior associate at the defense firm after having appeared in 36 episodes of ABC’s Men in Trees for years.

Lauren Graham -- the queen mama Lorelai Gilmore who’s been in a number of films like Evan Almighty and Flash of Genius – was recently added to the cast of Parenthood, after Maura Tierney dropped out after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. (Tierney’s 44 by the way, an interesting fact for the US Preventive Services Task Force which wants to stop fortysomethings from getting mammograms.) I adored the 1989 film Parenthood and can only hope that the TV show adaptation is a fraction as good.

Among other Gilmore castmates, Lorelai’s ex-husband, Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe) appeared in a dozen or so episodes of Private Practice as Kate Walsh’s cop love interest. Others who’ve also appeared on Private Practice include: Lane Kim (Keiko Agena), Miss Patty (Liz Torres) and Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy) who’s slated to appear on the medical drama soon, now that her comedy Samantha Who? has been canceled.

Sadly, the only thing I’ve seen of Kelly Bishop was a one episode guest appearance on Army Wives. And we haven't seen a lot of Alexis Bledel, Rory the brilliant, who has appeared in a couple of films (the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies and the poorly received Post Grad this year). I’m still waiting for her to find a new role in which she’ll shine.

Another interesting factoid about Gilmore alums: Several have appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, including: Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann), Paris Geller (Liza Weil), Mrs. Kim (Emily Kuroda) and Liz Danes (Kathleen Wilhoite).

Fun Gilmore trivia: Which award-winning actor played a man who took Lorelai Gilmore on one of the most boring dates of all time? Place your guesses in the comments section.

So, Gilmore Girls fans, any interest in a movie?

Image credit: ABC Family.

Which Season Premieres Have Gotten Your Love (or Contempt) This Week?

There have been so many TV premieres this week that, despite the fact that I write about pop culture for a living, I haven't been able to see all of them. Sitting on DVR awaiting my attention are: FlashForward (pilot episode), Heroes and Curb Your Enthusiasm (actually I'll watch it On Demand). Medium, which will be dealing with the impact of Allison DuBois' brain surgery, premieres tonight on a new network, CBS.

I WAS, however able to watch a slew of other premieres, some of which entertained me, others which made me bored to tears.

Among the best:

The House season premiere was two hours long. And it used every minute, well, in a very un-House-like way. It wasn't your typical medical procedural episode (patient comes in with medical mystery, House & Co. argue over how to treat the person, they try a few things, they don't work, then something triggers a brainstorm in House's head and, five minutes before the episode ends, he figures it out). This was a purely character-building two hours, not simply seeing the dramatization of House's diagnostic capabilities, but of his internal emotional terrain as he spent weeks in a mental institution into which he voluntarily committed himself. We saw many different aspects of his personality: The scheming House, the wise-acre House, the good friend House, the rapping House, the besotted then heartbroken House, the scared House. Will this insightful trend continue or will the show return to a medical procedure next week?

Modern Family was kooky and fun in its pilot episode. (Favorite part was the dad shooting the kid with the BB gun, then accidentally shooting his daughter's boyfriend.) While some parts were over-the-top and a wee bit forced feeling, I think this has the makings of being a staple in my house. My fingers are crossed.

I hope that The Good Wife with Julianna Margulies as the cheated-on political spouse who gave up her job to support her husband's career and raise her family, which had a strong pilot, doesn't devolve into a legal procedural, a la a Law & Order. I'd really like to see a genuine peek-behind-the-curtains view of the lives of high profile women whose political husband have publically humiliated them. When I read in New York Magazine that Silda Spitzer recently threw her husband a birthday party, despite everything he's put her and their family through, I was intrigued about why she stayed with him. This show could provide a plausible explanation. Unless it becomes a ripped-from-the-headlines legal show, in which case, I'll be sorely disappointed.

The New Adventures of Old Christine premiere was silly and made me laugh out loud. All I could think of as I watched Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Christine attempt to fly to the Bahamas in an unsuccessful bid to help her friend Barb and, in the process, cause a series of scene on the airplane, was that Julia Louis-Dreyfus has become Lucille Ball.

Among the worst/mixed bags:

While I'm working on a column about Courteney Cox's Cougar Town, I have to say that, putting aside the odious, predatory "cougar" dating references, I found this show unfunny and painful to watch. If it weren't for the fact that I was going to write about it, I would've turned it off after 10 minutes.

Eastwick. Saw and liked the movie, The Witches of Eastwick. Never read the book. The pilot episode of the TV show only elicited a lukewarm response from me. However I'm willing to give it one (maybe two if I'm feeling generous) more episodes to establish whether it's going to be fun and light, or whether it's going to just be another mindless, crappy show.

What did you think of this week's premieres? Any favorites? Any ones you hated?

Image credit: Fox via this web site.

Fall TV Preview Plus 'Grey's' Releases First 5 Minutes of Premiere

It begins in days. . . the fall TV season.

Heroes premieres on Monday, Sept. 21 if there are folks who still care about the once sterling sci-fi drama. I'm still on board, despite the distinctly rocky roads it has traversed as of late.

Greg House will be in an asylum when House starts, also on Monday, Sept. 21.

ABC will try to hook us on a new Lost-like drama called FlashForward, with the fascinating premise: Everyone in the world blacks out and experiences a two-plus minute flash of themselves several months into the future. (Premieres Thursday, Sept. 23.)



Desperate Housewives will start its new season on Sunday, Sept. 27 with Lynette Scavo, who already has four kids, pregnant with twins, apparently trying to give Kate Gosselin a run for her money.

The Office returns to make us laugh with its uncomfortable awkwardness and news of Pam's pregnancy, as the health care debate makes us cry, on Thursday, Sept. 17. (I STILL miss the Michael Scott Paper Company.)



And then there's the Grey's Anatomy premiere on Sunday, September 24. We all know the behind-the-scenes casting stories. There are many of us -- including yours truly -- who felt manipulated by the season finale last spring when both Izzie and George coded and then met one another in that ethereal elevator scene. But, if you're like me, you're still willing to tune in for more abuse. In a surprising move, ABC has posted a sneak peek of the first five minutes of the season premiere on its web site and I've posted it below. It provocative to say the least, and I did tear up.



A couple of other new shows to which I'm looking forward to seeing include CBS's The Good Wife, the one about the betrayed political wife starring Julianna Margulies (premiering Tuesday, Sept. 22) and ABC's new comedy Modern Family, whose online clips have made me laugh (premiering Wednesday, Sept. 23).



My review of fall TV premieres which feature moms and families is up on Mommy Track'd this week.

What shows are you looking forward to seeing return this fall? Any new ones you're eagerly anticipating?

TV Week: 'Heroes,' '24,' 'Lost,' '30 Rock' & 'Grey's'

So many good shows were aired this week that I thought I'd weigh in on some of them:

*Warning, big spoilers from recently aired episodes*

Heroes

Back after a rather lackluster first half of the season, Heroes seems as though it might be able to successfully reboot itself. Here's to hoping.

The pre-Christmas episodes seemed too crowded, too erratic, too . . . I don't know, too not like the first stellar season. But Heroes is beginning a new chapter -- where those with powers are being rounded up at the order of the senator-hypocrite who himself has powers and, in earlier episodes, wanted to manufacture an army of superheroes to serve him --and many of the original characters are banding together. And that's a good thing.

I found it ironic that in the last episode, the heroes had to be saved by the cheerleader. Maybe the cheerleader can save Heroes.

24

The previous season of 24 was so disappointing. I was the designated 24 blogger for a TV web site during season six and was running out of ways to say that Jack Bauer & Co., as well as the second Palmer president, were completely unbelievable, almost laughable.

When this season started, my expectations were very low. I wasn't even sure if I'd be sticking around, given what happened during season six. During the past season, a nuclear bomb was detonated in hour four, and after that, nothing could really match that moment's intensity and it all seemed downhill, dramatically speaking, as the Bauer family of thugs storyline landed with an unimpressive thud. But I think the writers may have learned from that mistake and have made a strategically good move thus far in having the tension and major "wow" moments unfold gradually, as they ratchet up the intensity. Plus this season's president isn't a wimp, a weasel or succumbing to weird medical conditions. She just has a wacky spouse. But then again, we've been down that the wacky presidential spouse road before.

One completely unrelated observation: As an admirerer of the canceled Once & Again, I found it amusing to see the actors who played Jake and Tiffany reunited on this show, with both of them working for the FBI.

Lost

Finally! Ben Linus has returned to his evil manipulative form in trying to engineer the circumstances that would inevitable lead to the reunion of the Oceanic 6 and, he's planning, a return to the island. (That return part remains to be seen.) The most recent episode was much more to my liking than the last one as it focused more on the original Lost castaways, plus Ben & Juliet. There was emotionally poignancy (Sawyer seeing Kate and Claire when the island time traveled to Aaron's birth) and we learned that Jin did indeed survive.

While reading up on the last episode, I found this funny, sarcastic video , featuring the Lost crew in the form of action figures and cardboard cut-outs, plus a box of chocolates, which attempts to "untangle" some of the confusing aspects of the show:



30 Rock

Are you a Generalissimo? If you are, then you too stand of chance of dating Jon Hamm, that is if you're Liz Lemon's brand of Generalissimo. While I'm a huge Tina Fey and Hamm fan (that phrase just sounds funny doesn't it, "Hamm fan?"), Alec Baldwin absolutely stole this 30 Rock episode with his obsession with a Telemundo soap. Played to perfection. Made Hamm almost an afterthought. ALMOST.

Grey's Anatomy

Attention Grey's writers: I, a fan from day one, am sick of seeing dead and deathly ill children and their parents in nearly every episode recently. (This applies to Private Practice as well.) I want to be dazzled by characters' wordplay, sarcasm, crazy antics and Meredith's introspective darkness (I'm one of the approximately three Grey's fans who find her tendency to overanalyze charming). No mas with the dead or nearly dead kids. Okay? Or do I have to sick the Generalissimo on Seattle Grace?

By the way, anyone notice that Hamm's longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Westfeldt, was also featured on a guest spot on a show airing Thursday night at the same time as 30 Rock? She was the pregnant woman on Grey's, which was also ironic because she was the lead for the sitcom Notes from the Underbelly, about a woman pregnant for the first time, and, as far as I know, Westfeldt doesn't have kids. Nothing like a little friendly competition between guest stars.