Amy Sherman-Palladino created “Gilmore Girls” and had a unique vision for it. All the characters are pop-culture savvy and spoke fast to fit their references into every episode.
Melissa McCarthy played the clumsy cook, Sookie St. James. She said Sherman-Palladino had an attitude that was needed as a woman running a show at the time.
Melissa McCarthy Said Amy Sherman-Palladino Fought for ‘Gilmore Girls’
NetflixMcCarthy, 56, is now a movie star, but she started as a supporting character on the teen drama show. The “Bridesmaid” star called “Gilmore Girls” “good training” for her career in her interview with Variety.
She admitted it was “really hard” and described their scripts. “Oh, our scripts are 93 pages, and you can’t change a contraction, even if you get them that morning and it’s a 10-page oner,” the Oscar nominee said.
That’s not typical for a show at the time and gave them a small amount of time to memorize those lines. McCarthy doesn’t begrudge Sherman-Palladino for this.
“I love that she had her own style, and I love that she built that world,” the funny actress said. “I love that she fought for it, because a woman running that show at that time, I think you kind of had to be like, ‘It’s my way or the highway.’ I think she had to probably fight to keep it the way she wanted to.”
The mother-daughter dynamics continued to resonate with viewers when the show moved to Netflix. The streaming platform reunited the cast and released four new episodes in 2016 called “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.”
Amy Sherman-Palladino returned with ‘Étoile’ in 2025
Sherman-Palladino’s fast style is found in her other shows like “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Bunheads.” The show creator released a new show on Amazon called “Étoile,” and some “Gilmore Girls” actors are in it.
The writer’s show focused on a struggling New York ballet company and a Parisian company educating their top dancers together in hopes of drawing bigger audiences. Yanic Truesdale, who played the French Michel Gerard in “Gilmore Girls,” played a character in the French company. Kelly Bishop, who played Emily Gilmore, acted as another wealthy mother in the ballet series. This time her character has a son who’s running the New York company.
This isn’t the first time that the showrunner used actors from the family show. Liza Weil, who played Paris Gellar, was Carole Keen in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and Milly Stone in “Bunheads.”
Ballet is also a passion for the show creator. The art form appeared in her hit show, with Miss Patty (Liz Torres) being Stars Hollow’s dance teacher. It’s the setting for the short-lived “Bunheads” starring Sutton Foster.
“Étoile” won’t return for a second season. Sherman-Palladino’s IMDb claims she’s working on a “Gilmore Girls” documentary next. It’ll be released featuring stars of the show like Lauren Graham on HBO Max. The project is currently untitled, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Appreciating majorly this update on anything Amy Sherman Palladino, Melissa McCarthy, Kelly Bishop and all the stars of Stars Hollow!