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Sydney Morning Herald
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
From Gilmore Girls to Mrs Maisel: How one woman perfected comfort TV
No one makes TV like Amy Sherman-Palladino. Since the start of the century, she's created warmly welcoming, female-focused series about wonderfully eccentric communities. They have a distinctive look and sound. Whip-smart dialogue is delivered at screwball-comedy speed. Conversations between characters, typically loaded with pop-culture references, bounce back and forth like verbal ping-pong. Episodes are rich with lush colour and distinguished by a shooting style that frequently favours extended, elaborately choreographed camerawork. In her sunny fictional worlds, there are no mutilated bodies, missing children or rampaging creatures. She produces comfort TV of the best kind: not mushy, bland or glib, but happily surprising, like big bowls of festive bonbons. And fun. Chicken-soup-for-the-soul stuff. Loading A writer, producer, director and showrunner who works with her writer-producer-director husband, Daniel Palladino, ASP has given us Gilmore Girls (2000-07); its 2016 sequel Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life; Bunheads (2012); and her masterwork The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (2017-23). In 2018, with Mrs Maisel, she became the first woman to win Emmys in the comedy writing and directing categories. Now there's Etoile, a culture-clash comedy about a couple of elite ballet companies struggling with rising costs and declining audiences whose managers hatch a scheme to generate publicity and reignite interest in their endangered art form. For one year, the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in New York, run by Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby, Mrs Maisel's Lenny Bruce) and Le Ballet National in Paris, managed by interim director Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg), will swap stars. Famously fiery Parisian etoile (star) Cheyenne Toussaint (Lou de Laâge) will endeavour to put aside her contempt for American food, coffee and culture to headline productions in New York, while young ballerina Mishi Duplessis (Taïs Vinolo) will reluctantly return home to France, miserably clutching a plush toy of a bagel. ASP's series are invariably celebrations of their communities, whether it's the cozy east-coast town of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls, the Californian coastal hamlet of Paradise on Bunheads or the Manhattan of Mrs Maisel, with its clubs, theatres, diners and delis. Consistent through them is her fondness for smart, feisty and sometimes spiky female protagonists, as well as an affection for tetchy, formidable older women such as Gilmore Girls' Emily and Bunheads' Fanny (both played by Kelly Bishop). Now comes Bruna (Marie Berto), Cheyenne's mother, a woman of few gruff words who wears a workman's uniform and tinkers with goodness-knows-what in her trash-and-treasure-filled apartment. Ballet also features regularly in ASP's productions: while Etoile focuses on a pair of prestige companies, Bunheads is largely set in a small home-based ballet school, and one of the cornerstones of Stars Hollow is Miss Patty's School of Ballet. Showbiz is in Sherman-Palladino's blood. Her father was a comedian, her mother a dancer and, as a child, she trained as a dancer, recently telling Vanity Fair: 'I stopped dancing the minute I realised somebody was going to actually pay me to do something, and I could have a sandwich'. Etoile demonstrates that she reveres the qualities required to succeed in this sphere: grit, grace, discipline, dedication and endurance. At times, Etoile simply focuses on the extraordinary athleticism and sheer beauty of the bodies in rehearsal and performance. As well, ASP has explained, 'They're an odd, amazing bunch of people'. So, ideal for one of her shows. Her commitment to them extends to the authenticity sought in portraying their world and the attention to detail in evoking it. More than 1000 real-life dancers auditioned to fill roles in the two companies. Constance Devernay, the body double for de Laage, was a principal dancer with the Scottish Ballet for seven years; Vinolo dances with the National Ballet of Canada. Episodes are filled with shots of dancers going about their daily routines: stretching, chatting, napping, scrolling on phones, lacing shoes, bandaging feet. And when it comes to shooting the performances, the camera sits back respectfully, watching in wide shot, the directors understanding that there's no need to try to pump-up the action with fast edits or cuts to close-ups. Loading That laudable effort aside, Etoile – which has been green-lit for a second season – is no Mrs Maisel. It certainly has its charms, predictably to do with snappy dialogue and vibrant characters, as well as the visual pleasures of two photogenic cities. But it can be a bit clunky, lacking the sleek flair of its predecessor, and it's prone to overstatement, particularly in terms of haughty French folk and their disdain for crass Americans. Where Mrs Maisel neatly avoids stereotypes and often surprises with its character developments, Etoile sometimes succumbs to clichés. Although it should be noted that Gainsbourg nails the tough manoeuvre of appearing both frazzled and chic. To its credit, it's not all colour, movement and frisky banter as the series also tackles questions about the uncomfortable union of art and commerce. The talent-swap initiative can only be achieved with funding from flamboyant billionaire Crispin Shamblee (Simon Callow). Described by Jack as 'a right-wing, boot-licking toadie for dictators', he's made much of his fortune from an array of dirty deals. Clearly having a fine time with the role, Callow is allowed to go over-the-top for comic effect. However, his confrontation with Cheyenne is chilling, as is his clear-eyed perception of the ugly realities of the world. Ballet might bring beauty, lift the spirits and allow its practitioners and those watching them to 'play in the clouds', as Cheyenne puts it. But without financial support – sometimes from people such as Shamblee – it might not survive. At its heart, Etoile aims to celebrate ballet and the unifying, uplifting joy it can bring. Sherman-Palladino has said: 'My whole life I've known [that], without ballet, the world is a lesser place'. Similarly, the TV world be poorer without ASP.
The Age
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Etoile review: How Amy Sherman-Palladino became the master of comfort TV
, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. No one makes TV like Amy Sherman-Palladino. Since the start of the century, she's created warmly welcoming, female-focused series about wonderfully eccentric communities. They have a distinctive look and sound. Whip-smart dialogue is delivered at screwball-comedy speed. Conversations between characters, typically loaded with pop-culture references, bounce back and forth like verbal ping-pong. Episodes are rich with lush colour and distinguished by a shooting style that frequently favours extended, elaborately choreographed camerawork. Rachel Brosnahan stars as Midge Maisel in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. In her sunny fictional worlds, there are no mutilated bodies, missing children or rampaging creatures. She produces comfort TV of the best kind: not mushy, bland or glib, but happily surprising, like big bowls of festive bonbons. And fun. Chicken-soup-for-the-soul stuff. Loading A writer, producer, director and showrunner who works with her writer-producer-director husband, Daniel Palladino, ASP has given us Gilmore Girls (2000-07); its 2016 sequel Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life; Bunheads (2012); and her masterwork The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (2017-23). In 2018, with Mrs Maisel, she became the first woman to win Emmys in the comedy writing and directing categories. Now there's Etoile, a culture-clash comedy about a couple of elite ballet companies struggling with rising costs and declining audiences whose managers hatch a scheme to generate publicity and reignite interest in their endangered art form. For one year, the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in New York, run by Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby, Mrs Maisel's Lenny Bruce) and Le Ballet National in Paris, managed by interim director Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg), will swap stars. Famously fiery Parisian etoile (star) Cheyenne Toussaint (Lou de Laâge) will endeavour to put aside her contempt for American food, coffee and culture to headline productions in New York, while young ballerina Mishi Duplessis (Taïs Vinolo) will reluctantly return home to France, miserably clutching a plush toy of a bagel. Rory (Alexis Bledel) and Lorelai (Lauren Graham) in the fondly remembered Gilmore Girls. Credit: ASP's series are invariably celebrations of their communities, whether it's the cozy east-coast town of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls, the Californian coastal hamlet of Paradise on Bunheads or the Manhattan of Mrs Maisel, with its clubs, theatres, diners and delis. Consistent through them is her fondness for smart, feisty and sometimes spiky female protagonists, as well as an affection for tetchy, formidable older women such as Gilmore Girls' Emily and Bunheads' Fanny (both played by Kelly Bishop). Now comes Bruna (Marie Berto), Cheyenne's mother, a woman of few gruff words who wears a workman's uniform and tinkers with goodness-knows-what in her trash-and-treasure-filled apartment. Ballet also features regularly in ASP's productions: while Etoile focuses on a pair of prestige companies, Bunheads is largely set in a small home-based ballet school, and one of the cornerstones of Stars Hollow is Miss Patty's School of Ballet. Showbiz is in Sherman-Palladino's blood. Her father was a comedian, her mother a dancer and, as a child, she trained as a dancer, recently telling Vanity Fair: 'I stopped dancing the minute I realised somebody was going to actually pay me to do something, and I could have a sandwich'. One of the dance scenes – performed by professional ballet dancers – in Etoile. Credit: Philippe Antonello/Prime Video Etoile demonstrates that she reveres the qualities required to succeed in this sphere: grit, grace, discipline, dedication and endurance. At times, Etoile simply focuses on the extraordinary athleticism and sheer beauty of the bodies in rehearsal and performance. As well, ASP has explained, 'They're an odd, amazing bunch of people'. So, ideal for one of her shows. Her commitment to them extends to the authenticity sought in portraying their world and the attention to detail in evoking it. More than 1000 real-life dancers auditioned to fill roles in the two companies. Constance Devernay, the body double for de Laage, was a principal dancer with the Scottish Ballet for seven years; Vinolo dances with the National Ballet of Canada. Episodes are filled with shots of dancers going about their daily routines: stretching, chatting, napping, scrolling on phones, lacing shoes, bandaging feet. And when it comes to shooting the performances, the camera sits back respectfully, watching in wide shot, the directors understanding that there's no need to try to pump-up the action with fast edits or cuts to close-ups. Loading That laudable effort aside, Etoile – which has been green-lit for a second season – is no Mrs Maisel. It certainly has its charms, predictably to do with snappy dialogue and vibrant characters, as well as the visual pleasures of two photogenic cities. But it can be a bit clunky, lacking the sleek flair of its predecessor, and it's prone to overstatement, particularly in terms of haughty French folk and their disdain for crass Americans. Where Mrs Maisel neatly avoids stereotypes and often surprises with its character developments, Etoile sometimes succumbs to clichés. Although it should be noted that Gainsbourg nails the tough manoeuvre of appearing both frazzled and chic. Rachel Brosnahan as Midge Maisel and Luke Kirby, who also stars in Etoile, as Lenny Bruce in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. To its credit, it's not all colour, movement and frisky banter as the series also tackles questions about the uncomfortable union of art and commerce. The talent-swap initiative can only be achieved with funding from flamboyant billionaire Crispin Shamblee (Simon Callow). Described by Jack as 'a right-wing, boot-licking toadie for dictators', he's made much of his fortune from an array of dirty deals.
Business Upturn
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
Is ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life' returning for Season 2? Everything we know so far
By Aman Shukla Published on May 19, 2025, 19:30 IST Last updated May 19, 2025, 13:39 IST Fans of Gilmore Girls have been eagerly awaiting news about a potential second season of the Netflix revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life , since its 2016 debut. The four-part miniseries left viewers with a cliffhanger—Rory Gilmore's pregnancy announcement—sparking speculation about whether Lorelai and Rory will return to Stars Hollow. With buzz from creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino, as well as the cast, here's everything we know so far about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 2. Is Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 2 Happening? As of May 2025, no official confirmation has been made by Netflix or the show's creators regarding Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 2 . However, the door hasn't been closed on a potential revival. At PaleyFest 2025, Amy Sherman-Palladino expressed her love for Stars Hollow and the cast, stating, 'We never said 'never' because we didn't actually intend to do the [first revival] for Netflix.' She hinted that a continuation could depend on timing and the cast's availability, but emphasized there are 'no talks right now' for a new season. Dan Palladino, co-creator and executive producer, also teased the possibility of more episodes in an April 2025 interview with Us Weekly , suggesting there could be future opportunities to revisit the Gilmore family. Potential Release Date for Season 2 Without official confirmation, predicting a release date for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 2 is challenging. The original revival took nearly a decade after the 2007 series finale to materialize, suggesting that any new season could require significant planning and coordination. If a second season were greenlit in 2025, production timelines (filming, post-production, and Netflix's release schedule) could point to a release in late 2026 or 2027, assuming no delays. Expected Cast for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 2 If Season 2 happens, the core cast is likely to return, given their enthusiasm for the series. Based on the 2016 revival and recent comments, the following actors are expected to reprise their roles: Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore Scott Patterson as Luke Danes Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I'm a Buffy the Vampire Slayer superfan and I'd be devastated by a reboot
What have we learned from Charmed, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Twilight Zone, Heroes and Roswell? All together now: Reboots. Don't. Work. From the perversion of childhood classics to the destruction of otherwise perfect TV series with famously enduring cult followings, the list of failed adaptations, reboots and sequels which have fruitlessly attempted to capture the magic of the originals is disturbingly long. Meanwhile, brilliant new adaptations are getting cancelled left, right and centre despite largely positive reviews. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different outcome, and you don't have to be psychic to understand that it's impossible to recreate the glory of something that was, and remains, so inherently of its time. How this isn't overwhelmingly obvious to all those who sign on to such doomed projects is entirely beyond me. According to Variety and Deadline, Sarah Michelle Gellar is said to be joining the rumoured Buffy The Vampire Slayer follow-up as an executive producer alongside Gail Berman. The 90s superstar all but confirmed her involvement yesterday when she shared a snap wearing Buffy's famous 'yummy sushi pyjamas'. Fran Kuzui and Kaz Kuzui will executive produce via Suite B and Dolly Parton will do so via her production company Sandollar (bar Gellar, all of the aforementioned were EPs on the original show). Nora Zuckerman and Lila Zuckerman will write, show run and executive produce, while Oscar-winning Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals) is attached to direct. Described as 'the next chapter in the Buffyverse,' fans are reading between the lines to make the important distinction that the show isn't going to be a re-vamp, if you'll pardon the pun, but rather a follow-up to the original series. Since it's more than likely that Gellar will be the only returning OG, this means that the remainder of the all-star cast will probably be replaced; thus destroying any potential for nostalgic charm. They'd be better off starting fresh with a new, contemporary storyline with SMG on board solely as an executive producer to keep things in tip-top shape. Indeed, the litany of beloved original cast members who won't be able to join the project alongside SMG is so sizeable that any attempt to re-capture the lighting in a bottle that was the original Buffy series is futile. Vampires don't age – James Marsters (Spike) is 62 and David Boreanaz (Angel) is 55. While The Shanshu Prophecy uncovered in Angel's spinoff dictates that vampires with souls can become mortal, would their characters have the same heart? Nicholas Brendon (Xander) has ongoing health issues and has been involved in a myriad of scandals. Tara (played by Amber Benson) dies in season six, and we lose Anya (Emma Caulfield) in season seven. Charisma Carpenter's character Cordelia dies in season five of the spin-off, Angel. Perhaps most importantly, the original show's creator, writer and producer Joss Whedon – once hailed as a paragon of Hollywood feminism – has come under fire in the last few years for misogynistic behaviour and for creating a toxic environment on the show during its six-year run. While many fans think Whedon should be cancelled, Buffy simply isn't and cannot be Buffy without him. One Redditor on a post discussing the reboot said, 'I know it's not exactly Kosher to say it, but Whedon's writing made the show what it is.' Another added, 'His idiosyncratic style is such a huge part of the original show's DNA that I'm highly sceptical of anyone else being able to capture what made the show special.' Giving Buffy a 2025 makeover will strip it of its marvellous late 1990s, early 2000s charm. Part of the joy in watching/ re-watching the show is enduring the horrifyingly bad special effects (cutting-edge at the time), obvious cuts to wig-wearing stunt doubles, and the hilariously obvious SFX vampire prosthetics. What's more, how is an entire generation of Gen Z-ers expected to take the term 'slay' seriously in a modern setting? Buffy was undeniably of its time. From showcasing the gradual shift toward the technological golden age (the show is credited with inventing the phrase 'Google it') to showcasing the height of new millennium fashion through the sartorially supreme protagonist – altering what is widely considered a perfect show with a satisfying ending runs the risk of retroactively ruining it for superfans like myself for the sake of a money grab. I have endless questions regarding Buffy Take Two that I don't necessarily want the answers to. Just one, really: when will money-hungry production executives with no value for historical, cultural zeitgeist learn to leave well enough alone? As the notoriously misunderstood Cordelia once said in Season 2, episode 18, "Tact is just not saying true stuff. I'll pass.'
