In a couple of weeks one of TV’s most beloved recent dramas is getting a reboot on Netflix… and Rico and Brendan have never watched an episode of it.
The show is “Gilmore Girls.” It ran on the WB and the CW networks from 2000 to 2007. It’s about a mother-daughter duo in a small Connecticut town. The revival, consisting of four 90-minute episodes, is called “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” It premieres on the November 25th on Netflix.
So, to educate our hosts about the show and to attempt to get non-viewers excited about it, we enlisted the help of Demi Adejuyigbe. He’s currently a writer for NBC’s sitcom “The Good Place” starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. But he’s best known for being one-half of the hit podcast “Gilmore Guys,” in which — along with his co-host Kevin Porter — he watches and discusses episodes of the show, sometimes for hours at a time. After he joined our hosts on stage, they asked him to share three reasons they should watch “Gilmore Girls.”
Reason #1: The quaint town of Stars Hollow
Demi Adejuyigbe: I think that the town — the fictional town of Stars Hollow — that it portrays is so vivid and fictional, but it’s so beautiful in the way that they have so many characters and so many small town things that make you just want to follow it and fall in love with the town, even if you don’t like the people. It’s just sort of feels like a place you want to go to and it feels like something that you want to grab a hold of and learn more about.
It simultaneously feels like a town the definitely doesn’t exist and a town that, if you wandered small towns in America, you’d see little things in.
I was recently in Washington Depot in Connecticut, which is the town it was based off of. And even though it’s not the same at all, you’ll meet someone in the town and they will know people. Like they’ll know the lawyer and all the cops in town.
It’s just a weird thing of people who don’t have a reason to interact, knowing everyone because the town is so small and every little thing that somebody does in this town is big news. And it’s just kind of a weird feeling that I think anyone who’s ever lived in a big city is sort of missing in their lives. So I see it portrayed on TV and I’m just kind of like, “That rules! I want to see more of that.”
Reason #2: the romance of Luke and Lorelai
Demi Adejuyigbe: Lorelai Gilmore is the main character, the chief protagonist, and Luke Danes is the coffee shop owner who is her sort of lover throughout the series. And they sort of play, will they won’t they Sam and Diane [of “Cheers”] thing throughout the series.
Me myself, I’m just kind of like, “I get the attraction,” but I’m also just like, “I don’t care about this, I’m here for the fun.” But the way that they write this romance is so tantalizing. When it’s not there, something feels off and you’re just like, “Wait! Get them back together! I want to see them together!”
I take delight in how much I’m just kind of like, “Now you’re back together, do something else with the show.” But when they’re apart I’m just like, “But get back together, that’s the right thing to do.” I don’t know how to further explain my feelings on that.
Reason #3: Paris Geller
Demi Adejuyigbe: Number three is the character of Paris Geller, who is possibly the best character in the show, and one of the best characters because on TV.
She is cruel. She is psychotic. She’s hyper-intelligent, very organized, and very shrewd and cutting with the way she talks to people. But she’s also incredibly lovable, and passionate, and everything she does, she does one 1,0000 percent. And she is just such a great friend to Rory Gilmore — who was the other main character — and such just a great partner to everyone she’s ever worked with.
[Ed. Note: a different clip was played at the live event. It’s from season 6 episode 17, wherein Paris (seen in the clip above) chews out Rory’s ex-boyfriend Logan for “cheating” on her.]
That’s Paris at like a three. And there’s something so likable about that, that even when she’s being mean, she’s doing in a way that is so funny that you just kind of like, “Will you be mean to me if you were real? That’s great! I love it!” Like, “Roast me!”
[This interview has been edited and condensed.]
