Gilmore Girls in the hot seat on the TCA tour

Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham both attended the Television Critics Association (TCA) Press Tour panel on July 17th. This is a place where 200 TV critics come to greet and gossip with producers and cast of primetime shows. Panels are staged with executives of networks and then with specific show actors and creators, like Gilmore Girls.

You can see Alexis has had some good sun this summer… she’s much more freckled, even though still fair skinned. She looks good though – I love the white dress with chunky brown belt. Laruen Graham looks so pretty! Far more tanned than Alexis, to be sure.

Now, onto the juicy stuff. The Gilmore Girls on the panel – in the spotlight. New network. New producer. New writers. Maybe the last season… it’s all a crazy time for the Gilmore Girls. Let’s see what they have to say.

"Your legal contracts are up and you begin to imagine what-if," Graham told the Television Critics Association’s summer meeting. "I don’t want to be in a situation where I feel sorry for me. I’ve seen that happen to actors and shows where the thing is done, let it be over. I don’t know that we’re in that situation."

Bledel added, "I really don’t know what this year is going to be like. I’m going to see what it’s like, then decide how I feel. We’ll see."

Graham wasn’t enthralled with last season’s story line that had her Lorelai character giving fiance Luke a now-or-never ultimatum after he asked for patience in dealing with his newly discovered 12-year-old daughter. Luke let Lorelai walk out of his life.

"It wasn’t my favorite stuff to play, to be dictated to by Luke, but again, it was a believable conflict and a believable obstacle between them and that’s why the end made perfect sense," Graham said. "If everything had gone the way the fans had wanted it to go, the show would have been over."

And Graham "wasn’t a fan" of the painful separation between Lorelai and her screen daughter, Rory…

"I loved that writing [Amy Sherman-Palladino & Daniel Palladino], but I also think there’s room for it to grow," she said…

Dave Rosenthal, a writer and producer on the show, is in charge now, and he oversees an eight-person writing staff. He said he’s not treating this season like it will be the show’s last.

"The goal is to do 22 good episodes of `Gilmore Girls’ and let the rest take its course," he said.

Sherman-Palladino has said she knows how the show should end. When the time comes, Rosenthal said he’ll call her.

"I would definitely like to talk to Amy about that," he said.

It’s not a huge interview and doesn’t tell us much new stuff. Apparently, Lauren Graham was a bit snappy (comments not in the interview above) when it came to off-topic questions being asked, and was civil but sharp about not receiving an Emmy.

However, it’s a good sign of hope that maybe, just maybe, this is not the last season!!

Sources (1)(2) ; Tags: alexis bledel, lauren graham, gilmore girls, tca, television critics, interviews

Thanks to Jill & Leora for the tip!