The Press Box - Ep. 215: 'Jam Session' With Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins

Episode Date: December 1, 2016

The Ringer's Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins discuss and dissect the return of 'Gilmore Girls' (5:00), examine the latest British gossip with Prince Harry (37:00), and wrap up with One Direction talk (43:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of Jam Session is brought to you by Bose. As the official sound of the NFL, Bose gets players close to their peak performance and gets you closer to them. How? With powerful products like their quiet, comfort 35 wireless headphones. These are Bose's best headphones yet. No noise, no wires, just your music and you. Welcome to Jam Session. I'm Juliet Litman.

I'm Amanda Dobbins. It's the week we've all been waiting for. Gilmore Girls, we finally watched it. We know the four words. Oh, my God. And I just want to be clear, Juliet, you know the four words. and I'm not spoiling it for you right now because there was some drama. Yesterday was a really tough one for me. I actually almost cried. But we'll come back to that. I'm sorry. Mostly talking

about Gilmore Girls. Then, so you know, Prince William Wade in on Megan Markle and Prince Harry. So that's big. I just found out 18 months late that Kate Mara's dating Jamie Bell. Yeah, that was a real moment for you. Yeah. And you're really interested in Liam Payne and Cheryl Cole having a baby. Yeah, we're going to do British gossip. Yeah. We're going to do a British gossip lightning round after this. Always good. Let's talk about Go-Mor Girls first. I hadn't caught up with it until a few hours ago,

but my office mate, Chris Ryan had, and he was, you know, reading our website, reading what our colleagues have to say about Go-Mor-Gerls, and inadvertently revealed to me how the fourth one ended. Can I ask you a question? Sure. Because you did contribute to our Gilmore Girls' hot takes piece on The Ringer, which, listen, if you care about the Gilmore Girls,

we have some people on The Ringer.com who also really care about the Gilmore girls and have like crazy opinions. So you contributed crazy opinions and somehow avoided the spoilers in said list of crazy opinions? Yeah, I only, like, did it, I only scanned like the top page

to like see where I could drop mine in. Okay, oh, interesting. And all of those were related to like the previous episode, like the first seven seasons. So I didn't, I didn't come across anything from the new season. But I feel like that's luck instead of strategy. right? I guess so, but we had like had an email dialogue about all of them. Yes. That was pre-tepter, pre-new miniseries. What are you calling this season?

Because it has his own IMDB page separate from one through seven. Yeah, my understanding is that's for legal reasons. It must be, right? Yeah. I'm just calling it the new season of Gilmore Girls. Okay. Well, yeah, so I just, I almost cried. It really, really cast a shadow over my whole day. It was tough, but, you know, I'll never forget Chris Ryan now in the time that he ruined Gilmore Girls for me. That's totally fine. He didn't ruin it. It was still delightful. Okay.

So what's your overall grade? B minus. Okay. I gave it a B. I enjoyed it. Yeah. My general take is that I believe they had about two hours of material that they stretched into six. Yeah.

I thought that the final episode, which I believe was fall. Yeah. It was almost two hours. It was almost two hours. And, you know, they had done some work in the first three to set it up and kind of get the pieces moving. Maybe they had two and a half hours of material. But I thought that final episode was really moving. I loved it.

And I was just like in tears the whole time because, you know, I've watched this show so many times. It's my comfort TV show. It's what I put on when I'm home alone and, you know, need background noise. So I really enjoyed it. But there was a lot of padding in the first three. And that combined with the fact that I, don't know that it aged as well as it could have all of the time. And the production elements and the singing, as you know, which I have some issues with.

Episode three had like 20 minutes of a musical. You know, and I think the other issue that I have is that I've been thinking a lot about like escapist culture and what you want from a thing that you watch for purely pleasure to get escapism, to get out of the world that you're. and enter another world. And Gilmore Girls always was that for me. And I think that that is less the show's intent as kind of the purpose that it served in my life. But it has always been that for me. And for it suddenly to become so depressing. Which it was.

It was a tragedy for much of the series. It was hard to watch Royal Eye and Rory would be flailing. Rory in particular, because she was always descendant. Yeah. And, you know, I understand that the... The actor who played Richard Gilmore died, but dealing with all of that was really sad. It was just essentially things were working out. And there was a show that, you know, Rory having everything and Rory being a success was a huge part of the show.

And Lorelae getting what she wants was like a huge engine of the show. And then for people just, no, but didn't really work out like that is realistic and true to life. But it's definitely not what I want from Gailmore Girls. Sure. And I was a little bummed by that. I felt that way through one and two. And then for three and four, I did not feel that way. And I was like, okay, now that I know how this ends up and like the, and like sort of how this plays out, I want to go back and watch one and two.

And also one thing about one and two is I felt like I was part of the problem. Like I wasn't really ready to catch all the references. And it was like flying by me and I was like not paying close enough attention. And so I'm excited to go back and like really take it all in. I'm dying to know what sequence they filmed these. Oh, interesting. Because I don't know if I was projecting or if it was true that, like, episode one they filmed first because it definitely felt like off to me in a way the other ones didn't.

But they also like the dialogue has to do not only its usual quips, but also so much exposition. Absolutely. And that's like kind of a burden on the actors. Yeah, the rhythm of the show I felt was off throughout. the entire things. And some of it, you're right that maybe they're just out of the loop a little, and it takes a while to warm back up to talking at that speed. You're also right that there was a ton of exposition that they had to cover, which does not

go hand in hand with the way they talk. And also, you know, I do think 90 minutes, it changes the pacing of the contained episode in a way that I'm not sure it did it a lot of favors. Right. Episode three was my favorite. That was summer. and part of it was because there was a really like classic Gilmore Girl's Ian bit, which was Rory just keeps saying like, I'm not back.

She kept saying that over and over. And that's like the essence of Gilmore Girls. It's true. And like that was, that was exciting. Yeah. I love that. You compare that with the running gag of Paul and the first one, which just, I mean, maybe I just like poor Paul, I guess. Well, this is my personal grave mistake with Paul.

Sure. Don't cast him. Don't have him ever show up. Yeah, that's a great point. We didn't need to know who Paul was. He's much funnier as a phone person. Yeah. Which, by the way, Rory's phone.

was so big. It just made her look like, like oddly proportioned. I once saw Shaq in an elevator and he had a phone like tailored to his hand, it looked like, which are very large. And I felt like Rory had Shaq's phone, but she's not seven foot, whatever. I just feel like she had the new iPhone that I also have that's quite large. But now when I hold anyone else's phone, I'm like, oh, this is a doll phone. Yeah, the three phones thing is. Yeah, not really necessary. Yeah. There was a, I also dropped it after the first episode. So then I was like, well, this is stupid. They kept, anytime that Roy was trying to be a journalist, they kept bringing it back, which was great. I would just like to cite a piece written by Megan Garber at The Atlantic.

The headline, turns out Rory Gilmore is not a good journalist, which is really true. And I don't know whether to feel like the show just got everything wrong, which to an extent it did. Like, yo, that's not how you pitch an editor AGQ. You just don't call their cell phone number. Or anyone, please don't call me and pitch a story. I won't answer my phone. But I don't know whether some of it is that the show just doesn't know how to portray journalism, which is true of every show portraying every industry.

And you can't really get mad at that. Or whether they were intentionally pointing out that Rory's just not great at it? I don't know. I think it's more of the former. I don't think that Amy Sherman Palladino wanted you to think that her flower, Rory, is bad at something. I mean... Although she did what she... Here's a thing.

If you go to a job interview and you are not at all prepared for a job. interview, that's bad. I think that blog seems silly. Was it supposed to be X-O-Jane? I guess so. Did she watch Bonheads? Yes. So Sasha is... Yes, of course. Yeah, Sasha was my favorite character on Bunheads. I like that she is loyal to her people. Me too. I love Sutton Foster. Sure. I love Starth Hall of the musical that Sutton Foster did for 20 minutes. I did really laugh at it. With Christian What's His Face. It was great. It was very funny. I could have done with 10 minutes, though it was great. I admire that they, that's an example of them using the medium and the fact that they had Netflix and 90 minutes to just do whatever they want, and I respect it.

How do they write music? Like, I don't, I'm so many questions. It was really impressive. Carol King was a part of the musical scene. Like, it was just, it was great. I loved it. I mean, the whole thing, that guy's name was Christian Borrell. I forgot his last name. But he's like, he's also a lot of good, a lot of good wife alum happening as well. He was on the good wife for a stint with obviously Matt Zuckree. Anyway, I thought that Rory was a really bad journalist. Yeah, she was. And part of it was like the phone stuff, which is I just want to read from this article.

Number one, when your editor calls you answer the phone. Number two, if the line when you do answer has bad reception because your hometown pretty much exists in 1954, stay in one place when you finally get a decent connection. Do not, once you have found reception, keep walking around, which I thought was a great point. I mean, the whole phone thing was very stupid. I was frustrated with how incompetent Rory seemed to be throughout the entire show. Yeah. She did seem like kind of helpless or something. And I'm not like a huge Rory defender and she was pretty annoying, but it did seem not in keeping at all with the character that they had spent seven years developing. Who was for all of her flaws

and her, like, quirky upbringing really competent and focused and knew what she wanted out of life and didn't get, I mean, I guess she does get derailed from time to time, but this seemed very strange. It's true. Also, it seemed like her relationship with Logan had stayed, like, exactly the same in the 10 years where it sort of was, like, reckless. Like, I get that's, like, their relationship, but you could keep the kernel of that and still grow up a little bit.

They both, they both seemed with each other, like, exactly the same, which is maybe, why she ended up leaving their relationship behind. Supposedly. Like, the address was not, like, it just seemed like he had been doing the exact same thing, basically, and, like, hadn't, like, grown in his spine, and she sort of is, like, still mad at Mitchum, Huntsberger, and there just wasn't a lot of development there.

But, I don't know. Like, she was, like, I've always thought Alexis Pladeau was a terrible actress and, like, loved Gilmore Girls in spite of her. Yeah, I'm not, my complaint is not with Alexis Plodale. The thing I keep thinking about, and to be perfectly candid, Rorya is the same age as I am, graduated the same year from college. And so all the jokes about like the cool 30-something gang.

I loved those. I liked them too, but I continued to be really frustrated. I kept thinking about the intern while watching this whole movie. One, because it's another example of escapism that just turns like really dark. Yeah. I continue to be really frustrated by kind of older generations referendums on how sad and shitty it is to be a 32-year-old, like, working woman in the world right now? But I don't think that was the point about the 30-something gang.

No, but it was definitely the point of Rory. Of everything, they were just, it was just Rory, you're totally screwed. Yeah, that's true. And I, it's hard out there. It's a hard time to be anyone in the world right now. And it's not easy to be a journalist, and it's not easy to be successful in the world, and everyone could have setbacks. but I thought it was a pretty cynical outlook.

I think that cynicism also comes from like, there's nothing realistic about Rory either. Like, you know, she complains about having no money, but she has, like, really nice clothes. She's not trying very hard to get a job. Like, the thing that I liked about a 30-something gang, well, first of all, they're like, they're making fun of their people who love There I'll be Blood,

which I know many. And also I love that movie. It's great. It was just, it was really, like they were such a caricature, but like very spot-on. It's very true. What's your favorite PTA movie? It was just beautiful.

It was hilarious. Yeah. But like in some ways they were, there was like more realism to the caricatures of the 30-something gang and there was Rory. Like there's just nothing realistic about her at all. That's very true.

So like, I guess that she doesn't like sadden me because I'm just like, this is not real. I don't think it's saddened me at all. But it was just, it was a weird, like, gear shift for the whole show and for her. Sure. And was part of that kind of darker. It wasn't that fun?

This show was not that fun to watch. How about that? I felt three and four were fun. When I was back in the groove, I was like, I was having fun with that. I thought when they were like finally like, they were expanding Stars Hollow in a way that I really liked. They like introduced the pool. There was like some different kinds of tracking shots that were very like 21st century. Oh, we have more time.

We have a bigger budget. I really liked that. It kind of like played at the snow globe feeling. and I was back in the zone with Gilmore Girls. And I also have a theory that Daniel Palladino is a better writer than Amy Sherman Palladino. Oh, I was going to say complete opposite. I thought the Amy episodes were so much better. I don't know.

I just loved Summer. So that was, and he wrote that one. And I liked his episodes of the original show, too. She did a good job with four. But I just think, I think that sometimes he has to do, like, more transition work and less character development work. Okay. And so as a result, I like those.

Because episode three is, like, a transition one of the season of this, for because basically it's like when Lorelai decides to go to do her wild tour, it's an Rory's decided to start writing and there's a sort of like it transitioned into like the meat of like what they're trying to get at and I just enjoy I enjoy that yeah that's true the things actually start

happening no that's an interesting point that I wouldn't have noticed and I don't know they also like they also literally were walking walking around and delivering the newspaper a lot in that episode which I thought was really funny yeah once they got into the groove of the town stuff yeah it was great it was nice but it did take a while it did

But now I'm like maybe the problem is me. I wasn't ready for it. I need to go back. That's generous. I guess I will too. Just trying to take a hard, long look in the mirror. No, I mean, I'm sure the problem is me. I mean, as I said, I think some of it is also just being exactly 32.

Yeah. And watching it happen. I was like, well. And I think some of it is also, I am coming to it from a place of nostalgia and wanting to dance service as opposed to is this kind of the right thing quote for this. story. Let's talk with fans of our so many cameos.

Yes. What was your favorite? What was my favorite cameo? Um. I was really happy to see Dean, and I liked the Corn Starz reference. Oh, we're counting actual characters as cameos? Okay. I thought it was like, you know, famous people.

Sure. I mean, those two. But you can do one famous, one regular character. I mean, I just, I was glad to see Logan back. Logan is number one. Logan is number one. I don't care what you say. I don't care about Odette.

I don't care about the fact that they probably shouldn't be together. Though, like, are we sure? Are we sure that she didn't make a huge mistake? I think they should be together. Should she have married him at 22? This is most retro I've ever been in my entire life. And I can't believe I'm saying this right now. But it seems like a bit of a mistake.

She should not have married him at 22 because of at 33, whatever he is, he's willing to marry someone because his father says so, then that's a problem. Yeah, that's a good point. But also, part of that is because Rory rejected him. I guess so, but like, Logan, grow up. Like, come on. Take some risks. Don't follow what your dad says.

He did take some risks. He went. He, like, shorted the whole damn company when he was 21, and he tried to propose to Rory. He took all of his risks. He cast it off. He was brutally rejected. And so he had to go back to-

He's doing just fine. I know, but he had to go to his safe space. I'm just, I think, I think Rory ruined him a little. And so now, I can't believe I'm defending a trust fund. character on a fictional television show. I love Logan, too. I really do. But, I mean, they should be together now.

22, come on. No, she wasn't ready. She got to go on the Barack Obama bus. He's president now. Which they never talked about. I know. I wish they had. You know, I was listening to, oh, thank you to everyone who recommended British

podcasts, by the way. Did you listen to them? Yes, I listened to one called the Seriously Podcast. How was it? It was great and very soothing. I believe it's the, I don't want to get this wrong, but it's the, new statesman pop culture podcast

and I was listening to their Gilmore Girls episode and they made a very good point which was that in their lovely accents that it's as if Amy Sherman Palladino has just refused

to acknowledge season seven yeah she has yeah nothing that happened in that season where she wasn't involved exists which including the Barack Obama thing right

maybe that's for the best I think it is for the best and also if I were her I wouldn't acknowledge it either yeah they did really briefly talk about the Chris for marriage because I guess you have had to. Yeah. That was too major.

Yeah. To not see. I don't believe that Christopher would have just dropped out of Rory's life. They make it seem like they really never speak. And I don't, Christopher was never like a bad guy and he also like really loved Rory. And I don't believe that their relationship would have gotten worse in her 20s than it wasn't her teens. Unless she's a real

shithead, which it turns out that she might be. Yeah, maybe she's the problem. That's true. Yeah. But I just feel like when she confronts him, she like makes it be like, why weren't you there? and not really his fault necessarily. Sure, he was on the road, but also Lorelei didn't have to let him be there. That's true. Her role in that is never really,

Lorelei was a great mother, and we shouldn't question her choices, but yeah, they never examined the other side of that. I didn't take it as accusatory as much as, like, he's a stand-in for Logan, and she's like, what should I do? Right. Do you need to know? Et cetera. Of course he needs to know, Rory.

Yeah. I mean, I hope so just so he comes back in the inevitable spin-offs. I know. So this has been, like, wildly successful, right? Yeah. I mean, we haven't, they haven't released the numbers yet because it's Netflix. But yes, by all accounts and by everyone on the internet, it's been wildly successful. Everyone's watching it.

One thing I wanted to mention before, oh, a season with episode four, which I really liked, it would have been so much better as like three, three, 40-minute episodes, basically. Like, just way better. They even had some transitions like that. Like there was like section one, Lorelei, almost hiking. Section two, Rory, like, figuring things out and reconciling with her mom. Section three, Loreline Luke's wedding. Like, it was so clear.

And I guess it's because the actresses are just too expensive and they did it by episode instead of buy something else. Like, that's how they were paid. But they got paid so much for their episodes that I think they, like, you could have prorated it. I think, I don't know that it was their cost as much as like that's what Amy Sherman Palladino had in her head. but I completely agree with you, and I think segmenting it then also allows you to do all the wacky B-plots that are stupid and don't really make sense over the course of a 90-minute episode.

Right. So instead, they ended up doing like five minutes of Kirk, you know? That's a great point, because you can't really do, like, you'd have to invest too much in, like, Babette's cat dying to have it be like a B-plot. Right. Like, it's like almost too much over 90-minute. Right. And, you know, I think they wisely decided not to do that. but it did, you know, result in there wasn't as much Stars Hollow as we're used to.

Yeah. And for better or worse, like the weird, quirky town people are a huge part of the show. Yeah. It's very strange. It's so likable and that we were also invested in it because it's really weird. I know. It's just so unique, though. Like, there's just really nothing else like it.

And their writing is, like, for all of, like, how much people make fun of it, it is just so smart. It's true. They pack so much into it. Exactly. And again, I think this wasn't moving quite as fast and it kind of loses some of the magic that way. One of the blurbs that we had was from Allison Davis saying that Rory dressed well. And I thought she looked great for all four of these. Loved all of her tights and boots and fit and flare dresses.

I did not care for the lucky dress. It was the red dress that she wore to the ex. Definitely her worst dress. It was her worst dress. But that was the one she kept talking about it. It was her lucky outfit, right? Yeah, that was terrible. Terrible.

But I loved what she was wearing when Logan came to her in Starz Hollow. She was wearing a jean jacket, maroon short, fit and flare, and tights. And she just looked great. And then she was wearing it for so much of the episode. I was like, yeah, it's great outfit. And it does seem pretty comfortable. Very smart, very smart, Rory. I just like, she also, in the first one, she looked great wearing like black knee-high boots.

I don't know. I was just really into her style. She's very pretty. It's so weird that she got to be on Mad Men. It's like she didn't deserve it. I'm very sorry, Alexis Bladel. But I just don't think she deserved to be on Mad Men. But she got a husband out of it.

I know. They're married, right? Yeah, they have a child. Yeah. Congratulations to them. Yeah. Yeah, she's not a compelling actress necessarily. Though, you know, every time I think about this, I try to imagine another person would,

as high energy as Lauren Graham, opposite Lauren Graham, doing the thing, and it would be exhausting. Yeah. You know, I think part of the, her low energy is what we'll call it, is what makes the show bearable as opposed to just too intense. On parenthood, Lauren Graham is very close to her daughter, May Whitman. And it's such a different vibe. Like, obviously, May Whitman could not have been Rory.

She's certainly not, like, the stand-in. But it is, like, interesting to think about, like, other people playing opposite Lauren Graham. And it's just weird that, like, her two, like, biggest role. It's not weird, but, like, her two biggest roles are as single mothers, basically. And as who date a lot. But Sarah, Braverman and Laurel I Gilmore are like so different but Lauren Graham

is like always Lauren Graham I don't know but they both still work but it's like was funny to now like come back to this and that dynamic having seen her with May Whitman who is just so incredibly different than Rory May Wyman had a cameo right? Yeah she did so I didn't get to ask you what was your favorite cameo my favorite cameo celebrity was Carol King

I was really happy she was back and she values the Gilmore Girls brand I liked that she got to sing one of she got to sing the earth moves I loved that. That was a really good in-joke that I appreciated. I also love Sutton Foster, so that was great. Okay. And then, I don't know, I liked, I never liked Jess.

I was always Team Dean, but I really enjoyed adult Jess, like, a lot. He got his shit together. Yeah, it was great. But why did Dean and Jess have the same horrible haircut? Horrible! Awful! Guys, cut that off. Yeah, the grooming choices in general were pretty tough.

So bad. Also, Dean living in Scranton, that's just, like, too on the nose. It's too depressing. I know. It was just ridiculous. How many kids? Four? I guess so. Oh, my Lord. Way too many. Way, way too many. It makes perfect sense. Yeah. I was happy to see him, though, because he was my favorite as a teenager. I like the nice guys, the nice pretty guys. Dean is really your number one? I like Logan Moore. But the Dean versus Jess, I was 100% team Dean.

Oh, interesting. Yeah, 100%. I was never into Jess. I don't really care for like brooding. Like, I'm going to be rude to you. I was just never really into that. I'm really into that, but he's so annoying. He's so annoying. And then he left. Yeah, he sucked. And then I was just never into Jess. But I don't know.

I just loved Dean because I really loved that he read her book to her on the date after the dance in season one. I was like, real. I was like, what a great date. Yeah, he was a little too puppy dog for my particular taste. So puppy dog. Yeah, but as a 14-year-old, I was really into it. I was like, that seems great. So I just loved him.

I was happy to see him. Okay, so you enjoyed Dean. Yeah, I did. What was your take on Luke? I haven't talked about Luke at all. It's, yeah, but there's not much to say. That was another interesting thing, right? They totally saffed him of any character.

Yeah, they really neutered him. It was just not about him anymore. Yeah. Which, I guess, you know, it was funny when we were, as I mentioned, we were doing the Gilmore Girls Hot Takes. Several people on the ring or staff who will be, remain anonymous, nominated. Luke is terrible. Luke's the worst.

screw Luke and then retracted it after watching the episodes which well all but Allison Davis who's still writing for Luke is terrible I respect holding onto your opinions so it made me wonder whether there was almost like a conscious

recalibration of him oh that's interesting one thing that I bought into more than I ever had before is that he's actually a good cook I just felt like he was really cooking a lot and I was like okay maybe you know what you're doing then you didn't believe it before no there was no evidence to me that he could do anything other than make eggs. I recently watched the episode when he substitutes for

Suki when she is in bed rest because she's pregnant. And he seems to be great. He makes a lot of stuff, like lamb chops and, you know, I don't know, do you believe they're actually good? I don't know. Do you believe that Suki's a good cook? More so. I used to like how she obsessed over vegetables before that was like a thing people did. Yeah, she was ahead in that. She was like always about the farm to table locovore movement. She was an Alice Watersite way before it was cool. Yeah, that's true. The Dan Barber jokes were really funny.

Yeah. Roy Choi and Rachel Ray being on were completely not worth the money to me. Oh, I thought Rachel Ray was nice. Rachel Ray made sense in it. I like her. Honestly, an above average actress. That's true. Great point.

That's true. But I was just like, eh, we'd have spent money on something else. I don't know. Maybe like an extra 10 minutes of Suki, just because... Not because I like Wilson McCarthy. Honestly, I think that... Not to sign of Rachel Ray who I like and who taught me a great recipe for sesame noodles that I still make. But yeah, I think that it's probably gets you 30 seconds of Melissa McCarthy screen time if we're doing the finances.

And that's not a judgment on Rachel Ray as a person or value at all, but that's just talking about like how much money Melissa McCarthy makes, which is a ton of money. It was very nice to see them together. Yeah, absolutely. And it suddenly became alive in a way that made you realize. the chemistry was lacking other places. Yeah. And also, like, she, like, I know she cared about Michelle, but not, like, on a personal level more as, like, a token of, like, things remaining the same. And me having to invest in Michelle was annoying. Yeah. And whether Michelle's going to stay or not, that was very strange.

I loved the secret bar. That was really funny. Very charming. Yeah. That was very, that was, like, very cool Gilmore Girls, too. Yeah. That felt, that was great. I thought that everything with Emily and her maid was, like, incredibly offensive. and I can't believe that was like a running joke for the whole show. Yeah. That was bizarre. That was very 2002 in like a way that no one really stepped in. Like maybe these jokes won't play anymore.

Maybe they shouldn't have ever. But like, yeah. It was weird. That was weird. I completely agree with you. Just bizarre. And it's also just such a waste of Emily, who's my favorite character. Yeah.

Emily and Paris, I think. That's the other thing is that I realize that of the Gilmore girls and all the women on the show, I care about Emily and Paris a lot more than both Lorelai and Rory. And I understand part of that is that you don't have to be the engine of the show so then you can just be the fun part. By the way, Liza Weil, Wheel While. Liza Wild looks amazing. Yeah. She's not how to get away with murder, right?

Yeah, she is. So I was one, Danny Strong, I thought all the jokes. So Danny Strong, who plays Doyle is the co-creator of Empire. Right. He's like, and I actually watched an hour long, very low energy interview with the cast of GOMAR Girls from like two years ago at the Austin television festival, ATX or whatever, and they all like talk about how Danny Strong is like so successful and like more successful and richer than all of them.

And I feel like that's something that really must have hit home with everyone involved in GOMAR Girls because they made a lot of jokes about how he like became a screenwriter and all this stuff. But I like that he was on it. Like Danny Strong seems like a great guy. He does. And he was really embracing the total character. Sure. And I suspect some latent bitterness on the part of Sherman Palladinos.

Oh, for sure. With just with grace and made it really funny. Totally. That was great. I was a real bummer that I realized that they just got divorced and we have no resolution on Paris whatsoever. She just disappeared. No. Maybe she'll come back.

And then there was just like a running joke about the stairs in a brownstone. Yeah, I didn't really get that either. Yeah. I don't under the stairs on a brownstone are not. There aren't that many of them. No. they're not. Biggest shock.

Yeah. Miss Patty's weight loss. Amazing. Like 100 pounds? It was crazy. Yeah. Yeah. I did spend a minute being like, oh, wait, no, that is her.

Good for her. Yeah. Good for, you know, do what's healthy, make your own choices. Totally. I want to nominate Best Actor, the guy who plays Taylor, whose name I've never learned. He was very good. Like, he went right back into being Taylor Dosey, and I thought it worked out well. Yeah.

Tone-deaf Taylor. I thought Kelly Bishop was great even with, like, minimal to work with. Yeah, that's true. She was good. She was good. I thought they could have done more with the therapy plateline, which is hilarious, actually. And I don't know why they never. I mean, it makes sense that Emily Gilmore would not go to therapy until her husband died, and she doesn't know what else to do.

But they even could have had Rory in there. That would have been great. And it would have been one of those great kind of small episodes with all the family on the couch yelling at each other, which again, you didn't totally get this time around. totally um one one thing that you mentioned is that like now that you live in california it's like so obvious to you that's shot on a set so obvious the both bleat in california thing was when emily at emily's beach house it was like so obviously orange county like the sam i mean sorry the curve of the santa monica bay is so distinct and i was like okay so that's not that's obviously not the northeast she is in california and orange county which is fine but let's just call spade

spade here. Or choose a different shot that's like a little bit less obvious of where they are. I've watched the O.C. I know that coastline. I will be totally honest. I did not catch that. I mean, you know, I don't for a second think that they actually filmed on in Kentucky. No. But also just the, by the way, the finances on that plot line are just

not reasonable. Don't make sense. But anyway, I didn't catch that. I will be completely honest. The Burbank stuff was just glaring this time around. And I think I saw that even non-California people are kind of aware that in HD and with the wider screen, it does become more obvious.

Yeah. It almost helps, though. If they definitely played up the snow globe. There's even a snow globe joke at one point. Yeah. So it almost like if you're going to play that up, which maybe they just anticipated it being more obvious, smart to like write it into the script. Yeah.

What a world that we have like current Gilmore Girls material to be discussing. And we'll almost certainly have future Gilmore Girls material, right? I know, isn't that crazy? I mean, so we need to talk about the four words for a second. First of all, it was three. Mom, I'm pregnant, is three words. Mom, yeah. I'm pregnant.

Oh, yeah, is one of them. Yeah. Oh, I didn't even think about that. Okay, you're right. It was four. It was four words. My bad. It was four words.

The crucial, yeah. I don't want to, I mean, I don't really think it's even worth bragging about the fact that this seemed very obvious multiple years ago. Yeah, I know. Because it's the most natural way to extend the show. Yeah. Another girl. Right. You can bring it, you can call it bringing it full circle, or you can

call it like teeing up a sequel. I don't think the things are mutually exclusive. But yeah, I'm sorry because Lorelei is the age that Lorelei was when the show started. Yes, exactly. I'm sorry that you had them spoiled for you, but I didn't find them to be totally shocking. Yeah. The thing that I think was probably the most different was her scene with Christopher because I would have assumed it was like material for the book instead of her like, should I tell Logan? Yeah, that's a great point. The thing I was most surprised about is just how they did soprano style cut to black. Yeah.

Which, again, that's definitely a choice that they made. But they're trying to make you feel shitty about it somehow. I know. I don't know. I don't understand. Are we supposed to feel excited? Like, this is another generation of magical mother-daughter support and lights in the world happening. Are we supposed to feel like, oh, Rory, fucked up?

I don't know. I mean, the way that Lorela responds is, I think, more the latter, that she fucked up. Like she just looks so shocked. Yeah. But maybe she's just shocked. It's not like disappointment or whatever. Maybe she's just mad that she ruined her wedding day. The thing is like now it's about me again.

Right. Which is a really bratty thing to do. That's true. Can't you just wait a day? Like one day. That's a great point. I hadn't thought about that. The other thing that just occurred to me, maybe this was intentional,

is that Rory is like so ill-equipped to be a mother right now. She has no money. She has no job. I guess she'll get like a book deal. That's like the plan, which I guess is kind of still. similar to Lorelei, who was a mess as well. But I don't know. I guess I just never would have guessed that Rory would be,

not necessarily like a mom unmarried, like, who cares, this 21st century, but more just like emotionally ill-equipped to be responsible for someone else. She doesn't seem ready for it. Not at all. And the show seems, and it's not even like the show thinks she's ready for it and we don't, which, you know, I think even loyal viewers of the show can agree that in watching some of the episodes, there is a disconnect between what the show finds cute and endearing and what you think is just, like, really annoying. Laura and Roy are really annoying people.

I love them. I have watched the show a million times. I will continue to watch it. I'm invested, but they're annoying as shit. I don't think the disconnect is there this time. They really just, like, did a who shot J.R. A cliffhanger about a baby daddy. What?

How much cliffhanging is there? There's none. I mean, that's the thing. Yeah. If it's not Logan, like, then. They left something out. I mean, the other, it's the wookie or Logan. Right.

I mean, if it's the wookie, that's... Or maybe it was like, you know, when Jess is leaving the house and he does that long stare and we're supposed to like Casablanca style, like, understand that sex was implied, which I think is bullshit. I mean, particularly on this show and they're so explicit about pretty much everything. That's true. There were no sex scenes. No. But with, I mean, it was obvious with her and Logan.

Yeah. We got a Logan. Last night was amazing. We got a little. Last night was perfect. We got Logan in the bench shirtless, which like, thank you. I'm fine with that. Looks great.

Shout out to Mad Zuckery. It looks like he could have a long career in front of him now. The anti-Christopher. Yeah, that's true. So anyway, the weird tone of it aside, it seems like they're absolutely setting up a new series. I hope so. I hope so, too. Yeah.

I want more. I liked it, ultimately. All right, we could talk about Gilmore Girls forever, but let's pause and talk about our sponsors. First, let's say thank you to Bose. They sponsored today's podcast, and they're the official sound of the NFL. Bose gets players closer to their peak performance and gets you closer to them. How? With powerful products like their quiet comfort 35 wireless headphones.

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I do too and I feel like I wasn't as, I was airing a lot of emotional feelings there. Thank you for everyone for going on that personal journey with me as I worked out how I felt about Gilmore Girls, which is an ongoing process. I continue to be grateful that the show exists. Absolutely. That's a great final note on Go Marr Girls. We'll see you again soon, girls. Let's talk about some celebrity goss.

Number one, Prince William released a statement supporting Prince Harry and Megan Markle, which is like unprecedented. It's really wild. They do not like talking to the press about their relationship. Yeah, it's really weird. Like, I don't really know what compelled him to do so except to like speak out against racism, which is great if that's why. I think that part's great and I continue to commend them for speaking out against racism. I think as I understood it, there were kind of unfounded rumors in the British tabloids that Prince William disapproved a Prentary statement.

And so it was more like, I've got your back, bro, literally, situation. I saw a picture of Harry yesterday where he was giving a speech in Granada. Like you do. Like you do. And his head is exactly the same as Williams now. It's like... In what way? Like he's losing his hair?

No, he still has his hair. But like his head shape is exactly. exactly the same. They've never looked alike, but now they have the same ovular head. It's really weird. Oh, that's a shame. Yeah. It's not great for Harry. The heads have become more oval as time goes on, which is a really interesting, is there anyone else who ages by just totally changing head shape? I don't know. You can change like a jaw line, or you can change kind of like the weight in the face or how it's distributed. But to actually, it's like they're changing cranial structure. I know. Is it helping that I'm just like grabbing my face right now as I do this? For the people at

home, I just, you know. Have you ever applied a Snapchat filter to your face? I haven't, actually. It does, like, a whole, like, a whole thing over you. Okay. To capture your head. It's very similar to what you were just doing. Okay.

Anyway, this is just big. Megan Markle is like, she's in. What if they get married? That would be great. Will they be a royal wedding, even though she'll never be queen? Yes, absolutely. Okay, great. I can watch it on TV.

Yeah, it won't. Yes, you'll totally be able to watch it on TV, and they'll do a whole thing. I'll never forget where I was for the royal wedding. April 2011. Oh, where were you? I was in San Francisco. It was 2 a.m. I was on the left phone with my mom. It was amazing. That's so nice. It was like 5 a.m. in New York and I was really tough. I definitely got up, but I watched the whole thing. I was also a little misinformed about when she would actually, like when the actual ceremony was going to begin and when it was just the pre-show. So I was up at 4 a.m. The patentedry was amazing. It was great. The pageantry for whoever Prince Harry Marys will not be as great as whoever Prince William Marys just because of he's

heir to the throne. But they'll make a to-do of it. Harry's number five. I mean, he can't get that much, you know? Yeah, but they got to put on a show. If they don't, like, what's the point in being royal, otherwise? Exactly. Also, if people aren't interested in the royal family, then there's no reason for the royal family to exist, and then they will

go away. Right. You know? The only reason that they exist is because people like to watch their fancy weddings on TV. Right. People like you and me. Yes, ourselves included, very much included like that. I was not, I did not mean to put anyone down for that. Well, then I really hope this works out between the two of them. I could go for some royal wedding.

How would that affect suits, though? It's a great question. I like to think that it wouldn't. I'd like to think that he's an accommodating husband who would let her continue. Although, how many more seasons of suits could we really have? I mean, we've had six. I mean, you were the expert on this. In Gina Torre, I just left. I bet there's going to be three more if I had to guess. So their marriage can definitely can withstand that.

Yeah. I'm confident. Historically, women who marry into the royal family don't totally keep working in a true professional capacity. But again, listen, everything they're doing right now is totally unprecedented and I commend them for it and it seems like maybe they'll just change what it

means to be. I know. They're evolving, just like the rest of the world. Yeah, that's beautiful. Also happening in England, Jamie Bell is dating Kate Mara, which I just found out about. How long have you known? At least a year. I don't know how I missed it. She's been she was jumping around for a bit.

Yeah, the Max Mingello was really her anchor relationship for a long time. There were some photographs with Shia, though I was not clear whether that was just a Disney World or something. Yeah, but it could have been like an on set, just friendship type of thing. That's beautiful. Yeah, the Jamie Bell thing's been going. Do you want to read the really great quote? Sure. So she was on Conan and she said, somehow I ended up dating a lot of Englishmen. They like soccer, not football. My boyfriend right now, my boyfriend Jamie is amazing and he surprised me one day. When we first started dating, he spent a night where all he did was watch all the previous season of the Giants. Every game.

So the next time we watched a game together, he knew everything about it, which was amazing. He did his homework. Okay, some follow-up questions. Okay. Number one, is it possible to learn everything about football in one night? Definitely not. 100% no. Number two, is it possible to learn everything about football from watching the Giants?

No, although they did. If you watched the Super Bowl, maybe that could be like a good, the eight and eight seasons is a good one because a lot of both wins and losses. But anyway, no. Also, he could have watched the Steelers. I mean, I guess you really identified as more with the Giants because they won. one more recently, but I mean, come on, Jamie. If you're really doing your homework, go for both teams.

What sport would you be willing to watch? What sport that you don't follow would you be willing to... Watch for a guy? Yeah, a whole night of. For anyone in your life. Don't, you know. As an act of love. Yeah, sure. Definitely soccer.

I've always wanted to be a soccer fan. I've not been able to make it happen. Okay. I think that might be it. Hockey, no. I mean, football I watch anyway. It's soccer. I would like, for someone to find a way for me to actively engage with soccer on a daily basis. Would you watch golf? No. No. I mean, like, yes, but I would fall asleep. Would you watch tennis? Oh, yeah, for sure. Okay. Would you watch, I'm trying to think of other sports right now? Baseball slow.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. If those are your passions, that's a problem. Sorry. Okay. That's good to know. Yeah. I mean, I know that you watch football as an act of love. I've been opting out. You did watch football in active love. I did. I did. I did. And I did, and I did read some articles, but the Wenswagon kind of... Yeah, the wheels are coming off. Yeah. I don't know that they were ever really on them, to be perfectly honest, but in my house,

they were on until they're off, and it's just easier to not be around for that. Yeah, it's tough. Tough times. I guess I'm excited about Kate Marr and Jamie Bell. It's just more like I couldn't believe that I didn't know about it. So thanks for listening to me discuss it. It is exciting to find some sort of new celebrity gossip. Because the Maras are just also like endlessly fascinating because they're so rich.

But I do think we keep talking about we're sort of in a, we're in between celebrities right now. So you've got to find some new stuff. And it's really invigorating when there's a new power couple on the scene. Yeah. I know. Like in Kate Mara, you can just never count her out. Who knows what will be coming from her. Next up, I just heard Nile Horan of One Direction on Kiss FM this morning, which reminded me about Liam and Cheryl Cole, which we were discussing yesterday.

Have they acknowledged that he's the father? I think that last, so last night they appeared in an event in London together and she was wearing a tight dress and what was very clearly a baby bomb was on display. And this morning, people confirmed not from their publicists, but from sources who are probably their publicists who don't want to go on record, that she is pregnant with his kid, which is just mind-blowing today. He's 23, I think. He's 23. She's 33. You know what? The age difference doesn't matter to me at all. How was she only 33? I thought she was like 37 or 40.

Wow. She's been around a long time. Long than I realized. That's what I read in People Magazine, so maybe 33 is the age that she wants you to be. But listen, I just, I remember Cheryl Cole from Fight for This Love and from, it was Girls Aloud, right? Yeah, girls allowed. Yeah. And now she's having a one direction kid's baby. Like, the wheels of time keep turning. Also, she's already been married to two soccer players. Yes. Hello Magazine had a great time with both of those. Please come over to my house.

I'll show you the wedding spreads, which they sold for a lot of money. She's only Cheryl Cole because she was married to Ashley Cole. Yeah. Like that's not even her maiden name. Well, I think technically she goes by Cheryl now. Okay. Like Madonna? Yeah.

But she came into my life as Cheryl Cole, and that's who she'll always be. Sure. It is really wild. And also, this means that this is the second one. direction person to have a child, or third, no second. Liam has one. Yes. No, Liam will.

Louis has one. Yes. And then Harry, Zane, and Nile. I wouldn't be surprised if Zane had like a secret child. He's the wild one that kicked out of the group. Did he get kicked out? Is that what's happening now? That's the unofficial story, but Ryan Seagrots made a joke about it on KissFM with Nile.

So I think that's soon becoming the official record. Interesting. Yeah. I mean, I like that that's like a thing. And he's still dating Gigi Hadid, I believe. Yes. last I heard. Yeah.

Where are your 1D power rankings right now? Well, Liam used to be my number one, but I don't know about Liam. You're skeptical of this? I don't know. I think Harry is number one. Harry, Nile, Liam, Louis, Zane. I don't like Zane. Can I ask you as our official one-direction correspondent?

Sure. Are they going to make any more music or is it over? It's over. They won't commit to being over, but it's over. Well, they need money, maybe they'll go back together. They'll do a reunion tour. Yeah. So Nile is.

on the solo circuit. So is Zane. Yes, obviously. Harry is doing Dunkirk. He's in Dunkirk, the Christopher Nolan film. Literally can't wait for that. I'm so excited. Are there plans for a solo album from Harry? Probably. He's a pretty good singer.

Yeah. Yeah. As far as, you know, I'm still thinking of the high notes on Story of My Life, which I'm just like. Story of My Life. Great song. Wait, can we do this once and for all? Sure.

We once had a, before we even were co-workers, we had a really enlightening conversation on Twitter about the song, The Story of My Life, which I would like to make public here today. What the hell is the story of my life about? Like, what are they singing about? To keep her, who is the she and story of my life? It, like, would make sense that it's about their moms, but it's not. Like, I don't know who it's about.

Like, it could be about Cheryl Cole for all I know. No, but it predates Cheryl Cole. Yeah, it does. I just don't understand what's happening in the story of my life. This is what happens when you write all of your songs on the road slash you don't write them yourself and record them in hotel rooms. It's just like, why is she cold? Why is she broken? It kind of reminds me of a leash of a candor in the light between oceans.

Cold. Yeah. What? Yeah. It doesn't make sense as a narrative to me. I've never been able to understand who they're singing about. None of their songs make sense, though. Like at all.

That's what makes you beautiful is at least a coherent statement that I can follow. I understand what they are. trying to communicate to the teenage girls of the world. The story of my life is really complicated by the video because it also is like all about their families. Yeah. But also like losing their family members. It's also about erasure, you know?

Sure. Raising where you came from. Oh, great. So let's bring some of the criticism into this. Yeah, you had explained to me that you thought it was about the moms based on the video. Yeah. But mostly that it's just incoherent. Completely.

Okay. That's not really their, I mean, is their fault so much as their names are on it, but really, they don't write any of their songs. They get credit, but they don't read them. Yeah, I don't hold them responsible. I'm not interested in their music. No. I like them as celebrities, though. Yeah, they were great celebrities. It was never about the music, which is honestly sort of the perfect distillation of what a boy band should be, which is just like, be really cute and be in the tabloids. Yeah. So they're doing it right. Yeah. Great job, guys. Yeah. Loving it. Um, do we hit one final note we wanted to discuss? Oh, I had one. Yes. It's not on the rundown,

but late breaking news. Uh, Amanda Saferead and Don from the newsroom. We're having a child. Congratulations. Thomas Siddoski, that's his name. Yes. Did you see that this morning? I did. I can't believe that of all of her boyfriends, this is the one with whom she has a child.

They're engaged, right? Yeah. It was pretty quick. Yeah. You know, and I feel for Justin Long in situations like that. Tough. You know, I don't want to speculate on the timing of the engagement first, the other news, but, you know, it's always important to think about all the scenarios.

Listen, I like kids. if you feel that you're in her position to have a child and it's what you want to be doing, congratulations. That's a great, great point. Congratulations, and I wish you well. That's all. All right, I do too. I don't know.

I can't believe she's having a kid. That feels like a bigger deal than Rory having a kid. I don't know if it is. I'm going to be perfectly honest. With all due respect to Amanda Seifred, who is a sister Amanda and one of the less embarrassing sister Amanda's that we have, it's not been a great run for us. She's got great hair, just beautiful hair.

Yeah. Thick, luscious, true blonde hair. She's beautiful. I rewatched half of Mamma Mia recently before I had to turn it off. Mama Mia. Bad movie. She looks pretty in it. Great clothes.

I love Big Love. Like, it's one of my favorite shows of all time. Is she? Yeah. She's the third one? She's the daughter. No, she's a Barb and Bill's oldest daughter. And she leaves, runs away with her teacher, Aaron Paul, with whom she has kids.

Okay. Well, life imitates art. Sarah Hendrickson. I wish them well. That's so nice. You know what? Let's end it right there. What a happy note. Thanks for listening.

Shout out to the GOMAR girls. And shout out to our sponsors. We'll be back in two weeks.