It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Stars Hollow

Guys, we did it. WE ALL DID IT. The Gilmore Girls revival, tentatively titled Gilmore Girls: Seasons, is confirmed, official, and currently in production – starting TODAY. Let’s go back a bit to October, when Patron Saint of GG news, Michael Ausiello, broke the news that a revival was in the works (check out our original thoughts on it in our town meeting here). Months passed by with no one (Netflix, Amy Sherman-Palladino, cast members, etc.) confirming any of it. Not a damn thing. As silent as Mr. Kim.

Late December, pictures started popping up from the WB lot of the reconstruction of Luke’s, prop pieces that said pick up for 1/11/16, and the real kicker – a Backstage.com listing for production. In between, cast members hinted that there was truth to the reports (Keiko, Milo *not YET*). In my mind, I knew it was happening, but I just needed confirmation. I needed this:

I CAN NOW CONFIRM: it's time for me, and this jacket I stole in 2007, to return to work.@netflix #GilmoreGirls pic.twitter.com/tBb07J9oO1

— Lauren Graham (@thelaurengraham) January 29, 2016

WE ALL NEEDED THIS. The tears came flooding back on Friday with LG’s tweet + subsequent posts from our boy Scott, Yanic (Michel), Keiko (Lane), and Sean (Kirk), Rose (Gypsy), Tanc (Finn) and Liza/Paris (via Kelly Bishop accidentally saying she’s in it), who’ve all confirmed they’re coming back. Oh and composer Sam Phillips, the creator of the La Las that you’re familiar with, is also coming back. Thank God (sidenote: I’m creepily taking notes of all the revival updates like a crazy person. Let me know if you want in on the insane person’s newsletter). Then, Ausiello, being the godsent that he is, managed to score the first interview with LG after their first table read (*SCREAMS INTERNALLY & EXTERNALLY), and it is one of the best things I’ve ever read in my life, article or not. Seriously, read it.

When I walked onto the set for the first time. We had to do a camera test and… the house. [She gets choked up] It’s on a different stage but it’s… the house. Alexis [Bledel] and I walked onto the set together and — I feel super emotional about a lot of it and I’m afraid I’m going to start crying at every turn — but walking onto that set really felt like something. It felt like a lot of time had passed and it felt like we were just there. It felt amazing.

*Cue waterworks* I’m basically just going to cry with every tweet, article, and picture posted re: GG Revival moving forward (BTW, read these interviews from Ausiello with Kelly and ASP for more tears, and Scott sans Ausiello talking about becoming Mr. Backwards Baseball Cap again). You know what else made me cry? Going onto the GG set at Warner Bros. WITH the GG sets up (or at least in the process of being put back up).

After I found out production was starting on February 2nd, I knew I had to go on the WB tour to see the sets before then, figuring my chances would be slimmer of seeing the GG sets if I went when they were in production. In full disclosure, I had been on the tour thrice before, and it wasn’t even until the third time that I got to see Stars Hollow/any GG sets. If they’re filming on a certain part of the lot, the tours aren’t allow to go anywhere near it, which is why it took three times before I saw the town square. Me and my two GG-loving friends went on about two Saturdays ago hoping we’d see more GG goodness IRL. Luckily, Grease: Live! hadn’t completely taken over yet – although we did get to see parts of it:

under that black tent is the front of Rydell High. The building to the right of it is the front of Stars Hollow High and currently Rosewood High from Pretty Little Liars.

And, I didn’t know this at the time, but Lorelai and Rory’s house was getting prepped to become Sandy’s house in Grease (where she sings Hopelessly Devoted to You). See: green and white bench on porch.

BUT ALSO, THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME AT THE GILMORE HOUSE. We forced our tour guide to drive us to their house, because in full disclosure, he wasn’t planning on showing it to us and told us another house around the corner was the Gilmore house (it wasn’t. we’re not new. we know things). Anyways, he let us out of the tram (no one else cared about it but us) to take pix, and we proceeded to freak out.

Obviously they were dressing the house for Grease, so I’m sure they’re already halfway done with making it back into the Gilmore house, if not completely done by now.

Another angle of the house, because why not

Here is the Gilmore garage, home of the Hug-A-World, Hep Alien rehearsals, and naked Kirk in Luke’s dad’s boat.

Fun fact: on the front side of the Gilmore house is Sookie and Jackson’s house. I just realized that if Melissa McCarthy doesn’t end up doing the revival (and per ASP, there’s a pretty good chance she won’t?), that probably means Jackson won’t be in it either (?), which would be a bummer. Unless they have him in it and just never show Sookie? ASP says in that article they explain her absence, so maybe she’s off at a cooking school or something, and Jackson is in Stars Hollow taking care of all their kids? Although that would be shitty of her too. Ugh. Either way, I’m hoping Melissa can do at least one of the “episodes”.

Moving right along, next door to Sookie and Jackson’s is Kim’s Antiques. 58 seats and 62 Koreans. Also, it’s Emily’s house in PLL and also the former Gellar house in Friends, particularly in TOW The Prom Video, where we see a young, curly-haired Ross devastated after finding out he wouldn’t be saving the day and taking Rachel to prom.

Just before getting to Stars Hollow (think of it as going to Hartford), there’s an area that’s lined with suburban-like houses, including this one, which was Christopher’s house as seen in S5 E11, Women of Questionable Morals. Rory and Lorelai separately show up to his house to console him about his father’s passing, Rory brings milk & cookies, Lor brings adult milk & cookies, fucks it up later by not telling Luke about it. Drama ensues. This is also Hanna’s house on PLL.

Ok now we venture back into Stars Hollow! Here we see the famous church (sometimes temple) home to a funeral, a couple weddings, a baptism, a break-in by Luke & Lorelai, and the town loner yelling akin to, “Stop the noodle scooz” in rebellion of… something.

imagine the gazebo sits right in the middle. also imagine the final scene in grease: live because that’s exactly where they danced in the middle of the carnival.

And here’s where it starts to resemble OG Stars Hollow, also this is when tears started to appear in my eyes, because, emotion.

Doose’s, the book store, a random car

There was nothing inside Doose’s, but it was clearly under construction. I’m sure Taylor is keeping an eye on it.

This street leads to nowhere. However that blue building does still house Sophie’s (Carole King’s) music shop!

Alright folks here’s when the revival excitement really kicked in. As previously mentioned, I had seen pictures of Luke’s diner being rebuilt but to see it with my own eyes was a whole different ball game.

I didn’t realize until later that the Jeep in the corner is eerily a lot like Lorelai’s Jeep, but it’s not. BUT LET’S PRETEND.

You can’t really tell from this picture, but inside the shelving is all back – the wall by the kitchen filled with mugs is back up and the window into Taylor’s ice cream shoppe was there, and a sure sign of Luke’s – those weird half-curtains in the window.

True story: my friend told me and my friend Jennie to pose for a pic as we slowly drove by Luke’s for the first time, but I was impatient and wanted to get pix on my own camera. Hence I am mid-hairflip in excitement and Jennie fell asleep. BUT LOOK INSIDE!!

Taylor’s place is shaping up nicely

Miss Patty’s got a fresh coat of paint. They actually filmed all the town meetings inside this.. building (?) and not on a separate sound stage, so it was particularly annoying in the LA heat when they were all holed up in there for hours with hot lights and a room full of actors.

We did manage to convince our tour guide to take us by the gazebo, which was again, not in the middle of the square yet because of the Rydell High carnival. Please note: Gazebo Parking Only.

ok, i’m not sure if this information is correct, but i’m pretty sure we saw Gilmore Girls parking signs right outside Stage 19, and possibly other sets being built inside. Cannot confirm this, but let’s just say this is where they’re shooting the revival. EDIT: a second source also confirmed stage 19 was where they were rebuilding the Dragonfly horse stables! And i def remember seeing that!

Last night, I took a route home that passes right by the WB lot, knowing full well I wouldn’t be able to see anything with a nighttime drive-by. But I was thinking how it must feel like Christmas Eve to so many of the returning cast and crew, to go back to something that meant so dear to them but never fully had a chance to find some closure. It also got me thinking of the personal path it took me from first starting my obsession with GG over 10 years ago to now, living minutes away from where Stars Hollow is, and all of it is just so overwhelming. To some people this revival is just another reboot of people sick for nostalgia, but for fans, it is that but so much more. It’s personal, it’s emotional, it’s a cozy blanket that makes you feel safe and comfortable. So today, and for the rest of this year leading up to its release, I have no shame in following every step on this GG revival journey. Where you lead, I will follow.