BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. _ Just when we thought the Gilmore Girls had shuffled off to the TV bone yard, they are back, chatting like rappers on speed and proving you can go home again.
Creator-writer, Amy Sherman-Palladino, has assembled most of the original cast of the long-running "Gilmore Girls" series for four new 90-minute episodes. They transport the audience over the course of a year in "Gilmore Girls: a Year in the Life." The series begins streaming Friday on Netflix.
It's been 10 { years since the young single mom (Lauren Graham) and her precocious daughter (Alexis Bledel) bonded their way into adulthood, while on-again-off-again boyfriend (Scott Patterson) bided his time.
"It's not a story about a little girl anymore, who's in high school," says Graham, 49, who has since costarred in "Parenthood," "Web Therapy," "The Odd Couple."
"It's a story about a young woman and kind of the struggles she faces. Yet the dynamics ... between these two characters, they've grown up, but they're the same. And that kind of foundation of 'Here are the people you have to rely on' can take you through any age. I think that's what this show continues to tell us about family anyway," she says.
Sherman-Palladino didn't harbor much hope that her girls would ever see the quaint town of Stars Hollow again. "When Netflix popped up and decided to storm the world and just take over overnight, we thought, 'Well, what a great opportunity to delve into a different form, to tell stories in a different way using beloved characters that we loved'" she says.
"And we get back in a room with these three actors and to be able to go at it again, but in a completely different way ... There was no grand Master Plan. It was just, 'Hey, there's a Netflix now, which means we could do a billion minutes because we have a lot of words, and ... it was a different form.
"You're writing not to commercials or to sell soap or tampons. Nobody gives a s_. It's really just there to tell stories. And it was just such an exciting challenge, and form, and a way to get us all back together again and put on a show."
Bledel, who's 25 and has since costarred in "Mad Men," "Us & Them," "Jenny's Wedding," says falling back into the role was like riding a bike. "It really was as if no time had passed," she says.
"It's all on the page. Amy's writing just informs you right away. You know how it's supposed to be said, and it's all there for you ... It's amazing to know that people are eagerly awaiting the release of these episodes, and that they have loved the show all these years ... It's why we do this, to be able to communicate something that people are going to love and talk about and enjoy it together."
It's more than just enjoyment, says Patterson, 58, who has costarred in "Aliens in America," "Meth Head," "The Event." He says the original show has left its indelible mark on those we least expect.
"I was walking through the Austin airport, and a fellow walked up to me and just started crying, and he said he was in a sniper battalion in Iraq, in Fallujah, and he had done four tours. And they watched 'Gilmore Girls' obsessively. It's a safe place for them. It's like nothing bad can happen while they're watching that show. He even got his commanding officer on the cell phone, who was in Fort Bragg and about to be shipped back over. And he said, 'I'm standing here with Luke.' And he goes, 'F_ no!' I mean, it was just this huge reaction. It was kind of amazing."
"I do want to say what was so great about this (project) is I really feel like we got to do it together," says Sherman-Palladino.
"The first show was, like: You cast. You get on a plane. You don't know anyone. You're in Canada. It's cold. You're wandering around. It's like you're exhausted. There's elevensies. I don't know what it is, it's like 'Lord of the Rings.' And then you're in this whirlwind of production, and you're tired, and you're sick, and you don't feel well, and you're throwing up, and you don't remember when you got your hair done last, and then it's over.
"And this time I felt like, because we would talk, and we were all in contact, and it felt like we got to sit and say, 'Do we want to go on this journey together? Do we want to band together and like _ Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland, this s _?' And for me ... there will be nothing else in my career like what we got to do."
HOLIDAY SPECIALS FOR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND
There will be plenty of holiday specials to watch Thanksgiving weekend once that turkey has nestled in your stomach and you have begun to ease on down to the couch. ABC will feature "The Wonderful World of Disney: the Magical Holiday Celebration" at 8 p.m.
You can march to a different drummer with the "Thanksgiving Day Parade" on CBS or NBC in the morning. How about joining "The Simpsons" for their 24-hour marathon on FXX or recite along with the cast of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" on IFC?
Friday CBS will dish out two 30-minute "Frosty the Snowman" shows, CW will describe how "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." "Terrific Trucks Save Christmas' will skid over to Sprout and � in case you don't remember that far back _ "The '90s: the Last Great Decade" will air its marathon all day on NatGeo Channel. And don't forget that PBS sports a brand new version of "Anne of Green Gables" airing Thursday. (Check local listings).
ALAN THICKE TO HOST NEW SHOW
Alan Thicke will be back in the thick of things when he hosts "Entertainment Weekly Presents: '80s Stars _ Where are They Now?" (long enough title?) on REELZ starting Nov. 30.
Thicke, who starred in "Growing Pains" and hosted his own talk show, tells me he's done standup comedy too. "But that's really not my background. It's one thing to be witty or clever or fast. It's another thing to have the rhythm that's involved in the art _ and I do consider it an art _ of standup comedy. Those guys succeed where the rest of us fail. I was very successful in daytime in Canada with a (talk) type show because of the ability to react, be light on my feet and have a quip and whatnot _ but not to have to score all the time yourself _ being able to share spotlight with your guests."
DAMON WAYANS STARTED OUT ON THE WRONG FOOT
Damon Wayans and his partner Clayne Crawford are two of the most popular guys on TV with their new fall show on Fox, "Lethal Weapon." Wayans, who's known for his comedy timing and creativity from "In Living Color," says it all started out wrong for him.
"I got thrown out of three different high schools. 'Yea! I'm pretty funny.' I was the class clown and had a running commentary on everything, whatever anyone threw out I had a response. That came from insecurity. When I first started out in comedy you tend to do that, you want to prove your wit, everything someone says, you try to find comedy in it."
