amy sherman-palladino

It looks like Gilmore Girls. It certainly sounds like Gilmore Girls. And it's just as funny, fast-paced, and quirky as Gilmore Girls. This is a good start.

Every fan on the planet was worried about their favorite mother-daughter team when show creator Amy-Sheman Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino left the show last spring in a contract dispute with Warner Brothers. Even though the new show-runner, David Rosenthal, had experience on the show, fans were worried he wouldn't be able to capture the classic Gilmore Girls "voice." Most of all, fans were also worried that season seven wouldn't strike the show's signature lightness, which even the Palladinos had trouble capturing last year.

Well, I saw the Season Seven premiere over the weekend, and I've got to tell you, GG fans, you don't have anything to worry about... at least not yet.

Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls has signed a deal to create a sitcom pilot for Fox. The half-hour pilot is going to be about two sisters who reunite after a number of years apart. The twist is that the reunion happens after one sister agrees to carry the other's baby. She is set to write, produce, and direct the pilot, which is a lot of work. But remember that AS-P and her husband Daniel left GG earlier this year after the couple and Warner Brothers couldn't come to terms on a new deal, so she'll have time.

Knowing Amy's writing style, I'm sure there will be lots of references to current and past pop culture, with band names popping up from time to time.

[via Netscape]

In case you've missed it -- perhaps you were killing Jonathan Toomey for not liking Pearl Jam -- here are some highlights from the last week at TV Squad:



American Idol coverage

• 'Tis not the ponytail that brought down fair Ace.
• Page Six claims Bo Bice took a swing at an ex-NFL lineman.
• Ace gets eliminated; Chris moves to bottom 3.
• Before the results episode, Bob said that Kellie should be voted out.
• Good songs, bad clothes abound during performance show.
• USA Today article examine's AI's show-killer status.
• Bucky says that Simon Cowell is useless.
• Kelly Clarkson launches summer concert tour.
  

Breaking News

• Starbuck reveals some BSG secrets for the next season.
• Henderson Forsythe dead at 88.
• You'll never believe who's attached to the Transformers movie.
• Denise Richards gets restraining order against Charlie Sheen.
• Scrubs renewed; so was 7th Heaven (wha?)
• Watros signs on to Tom Cavanagh pilot.
• Is Watros' new role good news for Sons & Daughters fans?
• NBC is wooing Mike Wallace, according to Page Six.
• Smigel defends "Disney vault" cartoon.
• J.J. Abrams will direct the next Star Trek movie.
• California Supreme Court sides with Friends writers in harrassment case.
• Vanna White gets a star on the Walk of Fame.
• Eva Longoria not planning on renewing Desperate contract.
• Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino to leave Gilmore Girls.
• Gary Gray dead at 69.
• NBC cancels Celebrity Cooking Showdown.
• Now you can watch TV while pumping that $3 gas.
• HBO orders second season of Big Love.
• Scott Brazil dead at 50.
• Katie Holmes gives birth to an already-brainwashed girl.
• A new reality show will pick the new Elvira.
• Adult Swim to air Saved by the Bell reruns.
  

Discussions

• Listen to our tenth APB podcast.
• This Arrested Development poster looks very... familiar.
• Michael Cera of AD chats with boston.com users.
• Bill Maher is a sensitive, skilled lover... who knew?
• Lost's Boone and Shannon are dating. Gross!
• What happened to Eyes?
• Rich finds that there are a lot of 90210 alumni on TV these days.
• Which show should move: Housewives or Grey's?
• Christopher Gorham talks to me about the shelving of Out of Practice.
  

The Five

• Bob's all-time favorite TV lineups.
• Ways we've mishandled The Unit.
• Characters Bob would like to see come back.
• Best TV shows about TV shows.

Opinions

• Saturday night... ABC... Pretty Woman?
• Adam considers a Cartoon Network with live-action shows.
• I don't think the Gilmore creators' departure is such a bad thing.
• Adam comes up with a new "naming scheme" for celebrity babies.
• Those VW safety ads freak Anna out.
  

Episode Reviews

• Survivor: Exile Island: "Medical Emergency"
• MythBusters: "Bullets Fired Up"
• South Park: "A Million Little Fibers"
• Alias: "S.O.S." / "Maternal Instinct"
• Gilmore Girls: "I Get a Sidekick Out of You"
• Veronica Mars: "Never Mind the Buttocks"
• What About Brian: "Two in Twenty-Four"
• The West Wing: "Requiem"
• The Sopranos: "Live Free or Die"

Bob beat me to the punch with the news that Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino are going to leave Gilmore Girls at the end of the year, so I didn't get to post my reaction to the story. Well, I've read Mike Ausiello's story, digested the comments, and slept on it. After all that -- and I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats -- here is what I think of the move:

Eh.

Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Dan have left the WB show because they couldn't come to an agreement on their contracts with the studio. They are going to leave at the end of this season.

It looks like the show will go on though. Dave Rosenthal, a producer and writer on the show already, will take over when the show returns next year (?) on the new CW.

[via Lee Goldberg]

As much as I like Gilmore Girls, I was never happy with the Rory/Lorelai feud that dominated the first half of this season. Why? Because the interplay between Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel, the cornerstone of the show for its first five seasons, was forcibly removed. Not that I didn't support the storyline; Rory had to come of age at some point and had to separate herself from her mother/best friend to become a healthy adult. But to stretch that out for half a season turned the show into a big drag.

Many fans and TV critics felt the same way I did. Now we know we weren't alone. According to this article by David Bauder of the AP, Graham wasn't happy with the storyline either, mainly because she missed working with Bledel every day, but also because she felt it was out of character for Lorelai to freeze out her daughter/best friend for so long.