MVP: Stacey Oristano

NBC Universal Television Distribution, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, ABC Family, Warner Bros. Television, Netflix

Let's take a moment to appreciate Stacey Oristano who appeared in the recent Gilmore Girls mini-series, A Year in the Life. Stacey has appeared in some this fangirl's favorites including Friday Night Lights and Bunheads. Each time, she successfully blends herself into a new world be it Texas football or Southern California ballet dancers.

In Friday Night Lights, Stacey played Mindy Collette, the promiscuous sister to Tyra, bride of Billy Riggins, and stripper at The Landing Strip. One year after FNL wrapped, Stacey made her appearance on Amy Sherman-Palladino's short lived series, Bunheads. As Truly Stone, Stacy played the bashful, painfully awkward shopkeeper at Sparkles in Paradise, California. After keeping to herself in the quaint, tiny community, she befriended Michelle and began to break out of her Sparkles shell.

It's no surprise that Stacey was invited for the return of Amy Sherman-Palladino's original series reboot, Gilmore Girls, A Year in the Life. Stacey's was a welcome ASP alumni face in a sea of random cameos. She appeared as Allie, a fellow Wild-er to Lorelie's short lived Pacific Crest Trail adventure. As Allie, Stacey brought a dash of Truly's awkwardness mixed with a new determination to solve life's post-divorce mysteries. While I've always enjoyed Stacey's appearances, it's this last one that reminded me she's someone special and we should all take notice. I'm grateful for her friendship to Lorelai around the campfire and hope she finds her next adventure soon. I'll definitely be tuning in with s'mores in hand!

Gilmore Girls Revival, Part 2...Is This Thing On??

Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Netflix

This morning's water cooler conversations featured recaps of the holiday weekend and Gilmore Girls reboot, A Year in the Life. I told my coworkers about my live tweeting throughout the four part series. They all went silent knowing my anti-social network proclivities. Let me sidebar by saying, social channels are like credit cards, they all do some version of the same thing. Why do you need to have all of them? Why do I need multiple cards from the likes of JC Penny, JCrew, and Bed, Bath and Beyond, when Visa does the same thing from a much lighter wallet? Why do I need to spend all my time updating all the channels when just a few will do?

Back to live tweeting. So no, I did not live tweet. I live texted which does not sound nearly as fun or dynamic. But for the benefit of one generous soul in Florida, and to make space in my head beyond the rants, expletives, and exclamation marks, I live tweeted my damn Stars Hallow heart out.

Admittedly, I put a lot of expectations onto the shoulders of the Gilmore Girls four part mini -series, A Year in the Life including – returning to the warm, fuzzy feeling of my beloved Stars Hallow, being dazzled by Lorelai with her rapid fire pace, getting swept away in crispness and magic of the holidays, and simultaneously escaping and saving 2016. So yeah, a lot of build up, and a long way to fall with disappointment.

The rants, expletives, and exclamation marks below have been modified from the original live tweet to protect the not so innocent, yours truly. Let’s get this not-so-live-tweeting debacle going:

WINTER
Minute 1 Review: I’m hopeful.
Not really into the barrage of VOs on black but will let it pass.
A serif font with snowflakes falling on black. Open as we drop into the town square of Stars Hallow, much like the pilot. Nice touch.
Minute 2 Review: Lauren Graham is the best. She had me at coffee and tacos...though tacos in Stars Hallow???...wait, that coffee isn't from Lukes! Keeping calm...keeping calm...
Minute 9 Review: What’s with all the fancy camera work, roving cameras everywhere! When did the Gilmore kitchen become a set from a sitcom! Bah! This will be my undoing.
Minute 27 Review: Yes to Michel, no to rando cameos, I don’t care how good his BBQ is.
Minute 30 Review: I miss the late '90's, early '00's sheen of OG Gilmore Girls. Now it's too bright and digital, and the camera work got way too fancy. No escapism yet. 2016 still sucks donkey butt. A Year in the Life is giving me the mirage of home but leaving me standing where I started – in the soulless, frigid air of 2016.
I am SO palette cleansing with Season 1 after this. I need a good dose of OG Stars Hallow.
SUMMARY: 2016 still blows BQ Corn Nuts.

SPRING
Minute 9 Review: Sasha please come back, preferably with Roman and without a pea green set.
Minute 30 Review: WHO STYLED LORELAI?!!! I’m choking on sundresses!! If Cher couldn’t turn back time, I don't know why I thought the townsfolk of Stars Hallow could.
Onward, I have a binge watch to muster through.
MORE SUNDRESSES!!! BLASPHEMY!!!
Minute 31 Review: Kirk's styling as Eraserhead’s Henry Spencer is a positive standout.
Minute 36 Review: More cameos, I can’t even.
Minute 50 Review, a boiling firestorm: Two episodes and TWO mentions of Lena Dunham?! Are you f'ing kidding me?! F this noise. How is Brooklyn invading my fair Stars Hallow?? What is happening here?? Paris, you don't need an empty briefcase and you don’t need Lena Dunham.
SUMMARY: If they mention LD again, I may have to buy a new computer after throwing this one across the room.

SUMMER
Saying a silent prayer for the life of my computer.
Minute 2 Review: Naturally, as a native of Florida, I am not a fan of summer, and as at it turns out, not a fan of summer in Stars Hallow either, fills me with ‘Korean vitriol.’
Who knew Stars Hallow had a municipal pool?! It is never summer in Stars Hallow – that's one of the reasons I like it so much!! This ill lit blast from the past is drenching me in sunlight and ruining coffee! I don’t know how, but they’re ruining coffee!! Ah, I hate summer!
Minute 8 Review: What is Lorelai wearing?? I can't look.
I really don't like cameos. They worked in Pulp Fiction and that's it. Cameos are the ultimate shark-shaped crutch. I want to spend as much time with the core characters and in the core world/town I love so much. I don't need to go to New York or California or the UK, I'm trying make this Stars Hallow moment last as long as possible but ASP, you keep whisking me away! Stop whisking, I don't need to be whisked!
Minute 20 Review: OMFG THESE DRESSES!!
Minute 25 Review: Yes to secret bars, no to more rando cameos.
There’s a musical scene for a play about Stars Hallow. I am going for the tomatoes. F this noise. 10 minutes on the faux musical scene!!!!!
I hate 2016.
The musical scene went on for 8 more minutes!!
SUMMARY: F Episode 3, SUMMER – the season, the sundresses, the musicals, the fights, the sadness and the predictable direction for Rory and her writing. Augh, SUMMER, you’re so 2016.

FALL
Fall is a much more Gilmore Girls appropriate season. Sundresses have been shredded in favor of denim and flannel shirts. YES!
The original TV show had the benefit of speed to market with cultural references, where A Year in the Life feels a little late to the Marie Kondo/Cheryl Strayed Wild party. Though I do find book vs movie identifiers amusing.
Yes to Bunhead alums, no to parenthood alums. No offense, just want to keep it pure in ASP family.
Minute 10 Review: What kind of world is it where Jesse the bright, rational spot, giving everyone advice and ridding Luke's diner of the Wi-Fi dead??
Minute 20 Review: A Beatles musical number. So that’s where the reboot budget went. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride or no, I’m about to throw myself off my bed.
Minute 40 Review: Lauren Graham brings it. She’s in it! I want Stars Hallow to be in it as well?! Bring it people! That is all I ask.
Minute 55 Review: Celeb rag headlines – Katy Perry and the nunnery. Oh hi reality, I missed you not at all. Not one damn bit.
I don’t know what is more frustrating – all the name dropping or whoever costumed Lorelai.
Minute 60 Review: Emily Gilmore just cursed! she said ‘Bullshit!!’ Whao. Where is my dreamy Stars Hallow?! Ah! Though, this is one change, I might support.
Oooo! Buffy reference, 'five by five.' Now you're speakin' my language.
Closing Review: Dayyyyyyuuuummmm. OH NO THEY DIDN’T.

Overall, our Gilmore Girls, Lorelai, Rory, and Emily, are all at differing stages of mourning, longing and lost. Fortunately for all of us, Michel was completely on point to provide much needed levity and continuity, independent of the names dropping around him. By the last scene one can only hope that all three ladies will gracefully find the way to their next chapters with Emily leading from her new home in Nantucket, complete with a new take on the Friday night dinner arrangement with Lorelai.

As promised, the series ended with those last four words ASP had planned so long ago. I wonder if she knew how much those four words would have affected her devoted audience. I wonder if she knew how much, no matter how disgruntled, that devoted audience would be begging for more.

That's it for the live tweeting. Signing off, Twitterverse, or however you'd like to identify yourself. For a less live tweeting, more sensible review of the mini-series, though no less disgruntled, please see the previous post.

Gilmore Girls Revival, Part 1...Bummer. You Really Can't Go Home Again.

Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Netflix

Let me start by saying this is gonna hurt me a lot more than it hurts you. When truly excited about an upcoming movie or TV show, I go on a blackout – no articles, trailers, or photos prior to viewing. In preparation for Gilmore Girls, A Year in the Life, I avoided all coverage of the new season, and avoided everything from the Amy Sherman-Palladino back catalog including the original Gilmore Girls and Bunheads. 

Sure these reboots are usually fraught with disappointment inciting fans to launch hate grenades in defense of the original, once beloved shows. And time is rarely kind to our TV heroes, even Veronica Mars had a hard time convincing us that she returned to be a detective, now without the charm of being a detective in high school.

During its seven season run, one of the greatest gifts Gilmore Girls gave us was the gift of place. Stars Hallow became our home, our town with Miss Patty’s School of Ballet, Doose’s Market, Weston’s Bakery, Kim’s Antiques, Gypsy’s Garage, and Luke’s Diner. Each shop set with their own three dimensional warmth, charm, and authenticity. That's where I longed to return. However, within eight minutes of the reboot, A Year in the Life, two things were abundantly clear, 1. Nostalgia is the enemy and 2. We wouldn't be going home again. The technical details failed to recapture the heart of the show. The Gilmore Girls' kitchen was  blown out with so much light that the scene appeared flat, like an old sitcom – the refrigerator full of reflections, and the cabinets illuminated like a showroom. From there, for me, the whole thing fell apart. This summation may seem harsh, but if I can't get lost in a place, I won't get lost in the story. 

While lighting was the greatest distraction in the reboot, Lorelai's styling came in second. So many floral dresses, so many floral details, all the way to the final scene with a white silk flower at her hip. While I know her best in the Fall and Winter months, covered in florals doesn't ring true to the Lorelai in my head. It could be that I previously did not have to experience Stars Hallow in the Summer, one of its many former charms. 

As for the storytelling, the two shortcomings above made it impossible to fully get lost in Stars Hallow 2016. However, the writers treated the loss of Edward Herrmann with great dignity and respect, and naturally led to where the women are in this moment, a bit unmoored with themselves and with one another, and for Lorelai in particular, feeling their mortality. For the most part, they handled it well. I could have done without seeing Luke's daughter again, nor the 18 minute musical interlude, nor did I need to travel to London and New York so much, for change of scenery, I'd much prefer a visit to the secret bar with Hep Alien's musical stylings. The original series had the excitement and momentum of forging your own way, where the return with A Year in the Life is the feeling of loss once you get there. Maybe that's why it's often so uncomfortable to watch, these Gilmore Girls, nine years later, even with bad lighting and covered in florals, are still all too relatable.