It’s true! Netflix is planning a limited-series revival of the hit WB show Gilmore Girls. The revamp of the cult favorite series still takes place in the fictional town of Star’s Hollow, but this time Rory is the one raising a child that resulted from an unplanned teen pregnancy.
“The idea is that the last four seasons of the show, in which Rory attended and graduated from Yale, were actually a fever dream she had due the preeclampsia she suffered during her unplanned teenage pregnancy,” says creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. “Now she has to deal with reality; that she made the same mistakes her mother made before her. And she’s learning as she goes.” Sherman-Palladino adds, “And yeah, there’s a fast-talking baby!”
In the four 90-minute movies Netflix has planned for the revival, Alexis Bledel’s Rory is back in Stars Hollow (after never actually leaving), attempting to run an inn with the help of her irrepressibly jolly chef friend Mookie (Melissa McCarthy was unavailable to reprise her original role), and the stuffy concierge Miguel, a transplant from Spain.
Rory is attempting to raise her sixteen-month-old daughter, Laylie (also short for Lorelai), the result of unprotected sex with her high school boyfriend Jess, who has been largely out of the picture—until now. Rory and her daughter enjoy a fast-talking, pop-culture-referencing friendship that defies normal parenting behaviors.
Grandmother Lorelai, played by Lauren Graham, who no longer feels the affection for her daughter that the original series was known for, attempts to leverage her ability to fund Laylie’s education at prep school Chilton, in exchange for a series of tense weekly dinners with her daughter and granddaughter. Still, she occasionally drops in to offer wise-cracking, unprecious emotional support to her daughter, and to trade light-hearted barbs with her toddler granddaughter.
The series also follows Laylie’s friendship with Chinese-American baby Blaine, with whom she reminisces about musicians like The Bangles, popular long before they were born.
“Uppie,” says actress Ella Hampton-Klein, who shares the part of Laylie with her twin sister, Emma. “Uppie,” adds Emma.
“I think people will really enjoy us bringing these characters back to life,” says Sherman-Palladino. “It’s really fun to have such a funny, smart cast highlight on the vicious cycle of teen pregnancy.”
There is no word so far as to whether Chad Michael Murray will make an appearance.
