It’s officially been 25 years since we were first introduced to the fast-talking, pop culture-referencing mother-daughter duo of Lorelai and Rory on Gilmore Girls. Even now, though, fans will take any excuse to revive the debate that’s been going on for years about Rory’s boyfriends. In discussing the coming-of-age series’ anniversary, Scott Patterson weighed in on the Team Dean, Team Jess, Team Logan of it all, and I am obsessed with his blunt take on the matter.

Over the course of seven seasons and a revival comprising four feature-length episodes, Gilmore Girls fans watched Rory (Alexis Bledel) grow from precocious teenager to Yale graduate. We’ve seen her fall in love, suffer heartbreak, have affairs and ultimately, become pregnant, and you can bet we’ve got opinions on all of it. Somebody else who watched Rory grow up? Luke Danes, the often-grumpy diner owner, who would eventually become her stepfather, and Scott Patterson has a hilarious take on picking a team, joking to People:

This is spoken like a true father figure, despite the fact that Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) is Luke’s actual nephew. It’s totally believable to me that no man would ever be good enough for Rory in his eyes. The actor continued:

I guess we’ll put Scott Patterson down as Team Wookiee then?

I’ve got to say, he makes a really good point. I’ve always been a strong member of the Team Jess contingent, but it’s really unfair to limit Rory to three guys she met so early in life. Dean (Jared Padalecki) was her first love, so nobody can be blamed for carrying that torch, but do we really wish that had been endgame?

Then there’s Logan (Matt Czuchry), and I don’t care that Kelly Bishop — Emily Gilmore herself — thinks he was Rory’s best boyfriend, I just can’t see it. Czuchry couldn’t even fully deny his character’s shortcomings when asked if Logan was a bad partner.

I could defend Jess as the one who understood Rory the most, and it seems Scott Patterson may have sympathized with his on-screen nephew at one point, too, as he admitted to toggling between Gilmore Girls characters before coming to his ultimate conclusion. Patterson said:

So wise. This is why we need Luke (that, and for the coffee, of course). I’m not sure we’ll ever get more Gilmore Girls (or find out who the father of Rory’s child is), but the fact that we’re still debating her love life a quarter-century later speaks to how beloved this series is.

You can stream all seven seasons of the original show with either a Hulu subscription or Netflix subscription, while Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is available on Netflix.

Every fall, Gilmore Girls is one of the most rewatched shows due to its charming New England backdrop and whimsical soundtrack. This year also happens to be its 25th anniversary, giving extra incentive to return to Stars Hollow. So, Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore) and Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) honored their beloved show by reuniting onstage at the Emmys last month, despite never receiving the coveted award during its run on TV. Now, the last time the mother-daughter duo appeared together on our screens and in character was during the finale of Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life, and nearly a decade later, Lauren Graham is sharing her take on that polarizing final scene.

Fans were thrilled when Netflix revived Gilmore Girls for a four-part limited series in 2016, until they reached those four final words. Some fans didn’t like being left on a cliffhanger and still pretend the scene doesn’t exist to this day. All these years later, Graham tells Variety she still is confused by the mixed reviews:

I have no doubt it was wonderful to return to Stars Hollow with the original cast and creator to film A Year In The Life, and Lauren Graham must have been just as thrilled to see her Gilmore family reunite to support her last week as she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

As someone who has watched all of Gilmore Girls, I personally agree with the Mighty Ducks actress. I thought A Year In The Life was the perfect addendum to their story, and that the entire storyline, including the ending, was very full circle. There are plenty of fans who feel the same way, and I think many of the negative reactions stemmed from fans feeling frustrated over the shocking ending. Had they been promised another season, with answers as to who Rory’s baby daddy is, then I don’t think there would have been much backlash.

Despite trying to avoid negative reviews on her work, Graham did recognize that fans only react so strongly because they care so much about Gilmore Girls.

I certainly think writer Amy Sherman-Palladino knew what she was doing, though. Creating discourse among fans, whether it’s good or bad, is free publicity. The ending of A Year In The Life is certainly more memorable than the original Gilmore Girls ending, and I think that could have been her intention, for fans to never stop pondering the what-ifs. To me, it’s an iconic television mic drop.

Personally, I don’t feel the need to seek answers on the fate of the Gilmore Girls. It seems pretty clear to me that Rory is to be a single mother just like Loralei, with the father (who I think could be Matt Czuchry’s Logan) who is in and out of both his daughter's and Rory’s lives, similar to Rory’s own father, Christopher. Only this time, Rory has her mother, Loraelai, to lean on.

However, there are fans still seeking closure over the matter, and the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator and Twinless actress recently provided a sliver of hope to hang onto. Sherman-Palladino has repeatedly said that she will never close the Gilmore Girls door, with Graham also saying she would always “welcome coming back,” hinting that perhaps the end of A Year In The Life could also be seen as a new beginning. This would be the obvious angle for a reboot, seeing Rory’s child going through her own teenage angst, alongside Rory’s adult storyline. I’m here for it, but as of right now, there is no confirmed reboot in the works.

Until such a time, you can always get your nostalgic dose of autumn by rewatching both Gilmore Girls and Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life with a Netflix subscription.

No matter how long it’s been since Gilmore Girls aired, the debate centering on who Rory should have ended up with continues to be a hot topic. Since it's streaming with a Netflix subscription and is one of the most rewatchable shows ever, more and more people are either rewatching it or discovering one of the best dramedies for the first time, with more contributing their two cents to the discourse about Rory’s love life. This debate mostly centers around Team Dean, Team Jess, and Team Logan, but there's a camp of fans who are actually Team Tristin. Now, Chad Michael Murray, who played Tristin, has revealed whether his character could have captured Rory’s heart if he had stuck around longer.

Before starring on One Tree Hill, Murray recurred in the first season of Gilmore Girls as wealthy Chilton student Tristin Dugray. His crush on Rory was evident, but due to his ego and bad behavior, she mostly didn’t give him the time of day unless she was forced to. That didn’t stop him from still pining after her, though. While she did reciprocate those feelings at one point, things got complicated. And he was later sent to military school because of his behavior, with his final appearance on the show being in Season 2, Episode 9.

Considering Tristin's arc was cut short, could there have been more between him and Rory if military school had never been an option? While Murray was promoting Freakier Friday with co-star Manny Jacinto, the two were asked by Capital Buzz which project fans come up to them the most about. After Murray mentioned A Cinderella Story and One Tree Hill, he was asked if fans ever mention Gilmore Girls. He then shared his thoughts on the relationship, and I so wish Tristin had stuck around:

Even though Murray previously fired shots at Tristin, it seems like he's changed his tune. Having his character and Rory be endgame would have definitely changed the course of Gilmore Girls, and the storylines could have been interesting.

Rory was slowly warming up to Tristin, but due to her feelings for Dean and Paris’ feelings for Chad Michael Murray's character, nothing could really come from it. But being able to flesh out those complications and see how things would have turned out even with Dean still around would have been fun.

However, as someone who has been jumping between Team Jess and Team Logan for a while now, I’m not sure how I’d feel with yet another main guy in the picture. Maybe Team Rory was the right answer.

Everything worked out for the better, though, because just four years after being involved with a love triangle on Gilmore Girls, Murray found himself involved in a different love triangle that went on for several seasons on One Tree Hill. It may not have been the same, but it was obviously as entertaining as ever.

Unfortunately, fans couldn’t see if that first romance would have worked out even years later, as Murray was not able to return for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Whether another Gilmore Girls revival will ever happen is unknown, but perhaps Tristin might still have a chance. That is, depending on who Rory’s baby daddy is.

Spoilers ahead for the series finale of The Handmaid's Tale.

Every streaming service has its own huge hits, and for those with a Hulu subscription The Handmaid's Tale is definitely on that list. The book to screen adaptation has been an Emmy-winning hit, and finally came to its conclusion with the Season 6 finale. I had one request for the final season: to give us an update about Alexis Bledel's Emily. The last episode did that, and brought back more beloved characters.

While some folks figure out how to watch The Handmaid's Tale Season 6, I'm an OG fan who eagerly awaited each new episode. Bledel's departure from the show was a bummer since Emily was a fan favorite, and I was worried we'd never get any answers about her fate. I would have been happy with a few lines revealing what happened to the former Handmaid, but she actually showed up during the finale and got lovely scene mirroring her Season 1 work with Elisabeth Moss.

Emily's appearance was a huge surprise, considering it has been almost two full seasons without her on The Handmaid's Tale. But the latter half of the series finale had June reflecting on her long and violent journey, and Emily aka Ofglen was her first ally and member of Mayday that she met.

It turns out that Emily worked with Mayday as an Aunt for months, and has maintained a relationship with her wife Sylvia and son Oliver. When she left offscreen prior to Season 5, it seemed like perhaps she was fueled entirely by violent rage to hunt down and make Aunt Lydia suffer. It was a tragic fate, especially after finally reuniting with her family in Canada.

I was over the moon when Bledel's character appeared in the final episode of The Handmaid's Tale, but the show's creatives delivered even more than that. Because in June's fantasy of Boston we saw all of her friends from Gilead singing karaoke... including Alma and Brianna who died back in Season 4 during that horrifying train sequence.

Seeing the group together, and seeing Janine without having her eye taken out by Aunt Lydia, was a touching happy ending for the Handmaids... even if it was fictional. In her fantasy June sees the women in a world where Gilead never existed, allowing them to appear happy and carefree in a way that we never got to witness throughout the show's six seasons on Hulu. Alma was one of my favorite characters in the show, so it as a lovely surprise to see her back alongside Brianna.

With the flagship series ended, fans are looking forward to the upcoming spinoff The Testaments to continue the story. And those who read the books are expecting both Aunt Lydia and June's daughter Hannah to appear.

The streaming wars have been going strong for years, with each service buoyed by a few megahit original shows. Those with a Hulu subscription have been treated to years of the book to screen adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale, and we're currently in the midst of the sixth and final season. And while Season 6 has been thrilling, I am desperately needing one final update from a fan favorite character.

Fans are figuring out how to watch The Handmaid's Tale Season 6, and I'm looking forward to how the dystopian drama will end. The fans are invested in Gilead's stories, but my favorite character has been gone for over a season now. Yes, I'm talking about Alexis Bledel's Emily Malek.

The Gilmore Girls alum was an Emmy-winning scene stealer throughout The Handmaid's Tale's first few seasons. But Bledel left the show after Season 4, and Emily was promptly written off. While her returning in the final season might be a long shot, I'd at least like some exposition revealing the former Handmaid's fate.

Emily was the first Handmaid we saw violently resisting Gilead, and she was brutalized as a result of her actions. While Bledel's character was able to escape to Canada, she continued to struggle with violent rage towards her abusers. After Season 4's violent finale where she helped kill Fred Waterford, the actress left the show.

During exposition in the Season 5 premiere, Emily's wife (played by Clea Duvall) revealed that Emily went back to Gilead, in hopes of tracking down Aunt Lydia and getting revenge for her mutilation. She hasn't been mentioned, seen, or heard from since.

There's been no indication that Bledel was interested in returning to The Handmaid's Tale for its sixth and final season. And as such, I'm hoping the forthcoming series finale ends up offering some much needed closure.

Was Emily killed on her mission in Gilead? Did she somehow survive and manage to once again escape the tyrannical fictional country? I'd really like to know, especially considering the unceremonious way the fan favorite character was written off. And since Season 6 is going to be the final chapter, there's precious few episodes left for the show to provide answers.

If the final season of The Handmaid's Tale doesn't reveal that happened to Emily, there is the potential for closure somewhere else. A spinoff called The Testaments is in active development, and will adapt Margaret Atwood's sequel novel of the same name. If the show follows its source material, Ann Dowd's Aunt Lydia will be a major character. And as such, she could offer an update about Emily at some point during the spinoff's time on the air. I'm just spitballing, but I'm not the only fan passionate about this character.

The Handmaid's Tale airs new episodes Tuesdays on Hulu as part of the TV premiere list. We'll just have to wait and see the fate of all our favorite characters in these final episodes... including Emily.

Gilmore Girls will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, and it still remains one of the most popular shows on Netflix year after year. The picturesque fictional New England town of Stars Hollow provides the perfect backdrop for the relatable life challenges Lorelai and Rory Gilmore face. And fans can’t get enough of the mother-daughter besties. However, there is one storyline during the show’s 7 season run that even Lauren Graham isn’t a fan of, and I’m right there with her.

Throughout the course of the series, Gilmore Girls covered disapproving parents, being a single mom, typical teenage trials, and finding love and losing it. However, on the Call Her Daddy podcast, the Parenthood actress revealed there was one storyline she felt didn’t work well, and it involved a fight with her TV daughter:

The conflict in question happens when Rory decides to drop out of Yale in the Season 5 finale, after newspaper head honcho Mitchum Huntzberger tells her she doesn’t have what it takes to accomplish her dreams. Not to mention, she gets in a spot of legal trouble after a wild night with her boyfriend. Disappointed in Rory and not willing to watch her throw her life out the window, Lorelai cuts her only daughter off.

I’m surprised Lauren Graham doesn’t remember the reason for the explosive argument. For half a season, the mother-daughter duo lived separately and didn’t speak. This estrangement spanned months for the characters, with some pretty big milestones passing during this period, like Luke and Lorelai’s engagement and Rory’s 21st birthday.

I honestly feel so validated hearing the Parenthood actress say this out loud though. I personally refer to the majority of Season 6 as The Dark Ages of Gilmore Girls, because I really struggled to get through those episodes.

As someone who is a late-in-life Gilmore Girls fan, I binged it all with my Netflix subscription back in high school. I flew through the first few seasons up until this point in the series. I get what Amy Sherman-Palladino was trying to do with a conflict storyline, but this one just wasn’t it, and I think I know why.

Jess, Rory’s ex-boyfriend, sums it up best when he meets her and Logan for dinner in Season 6. This iconic moment in Gilmore Girls is part of the reason why he’s my personal favorite of her beaus, and he truly speaks what likely was on everyone’s minds:

The whole storyline felt out of character for Rory, and I think that was the main reason why it didn’t land with fans. Her careless attitude and actions were difficult to watch for everyone. I can’t say I blame Lorelai for giving her the cold shoulder. Oftentimes, when the mother and daughter fought, I found myself siding with Lorelai. Usually, the fights were over poor decisions Rory made that didn’t align with the character’s morals, like being the mistress in Dean’s marriage.

At the end of the day, what made the season less than enjoyable was that these actions were keeping the Gilmore girls apart. After all, it’s their dynamic, that witty and loving give and take, that was so relatable and comforting for audiences.

Thankfully, eventually, the duo made up, and the show carried on and even got a revival. Co-creator Amy Sherman-Palladino recently commented that she’s always open to the idea of more Gilmore Girls, and Lorelai herself admitted the 4-part revival didn’t feel like the end of their story. The original set still stands today, so all we need is a good idea and a green light. I will always tune in, so long as the Gilmore girls are together.

Gilmore Girls — the endlessly rewatchable series about the fast-talking, pop culture-referencing mother/daughter duo Lorelai and Rory — has remained so popular with fans that even after seven seasons and a four-part Netflix revival in 2016, they still want more. While Milo Ventimiglia has suggested that’s like asking for more cake after you’ve already had cake, it sounds like Lauren Graham and Amy Sherman-Palladino may feel differently, as they discussed another return to Stars Hollow.

Amy Sherman-Palladino — the brains behind the Gilmore Girls operation — and star Lauren Graham served up a piping hot cup of hope straight from Luke’s Diner (or, rather, PaleyFest 2025), as the producer answered questions about another revival (the first of which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription) by saying they never shut the door on more Gilmore Girls. Sherman-Palladino told TV Insider:

The fact that the Gilmore Girls cast and crew like each other so much is quite an important factor in whether or not they will reunite again after so many years. From Amy Sherman-Palladino’s comments, it doesn’t sound like anything is in the works, but with the first revival happening so unexpectedly, she knows better than to shut the door completely.

Lauren Graham, who also attended PaleyFest, certainly made no secret of her own feelings about reprising the role of Lorelai, as she said:

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life — four feature-length episodes that each represented a different season in Rory and Lorelai’s life — ended on what felt like a cliffhanger, with Rory telling her mom she’s pregnant. For the better part of a decade, fans have theorized over who Rory’s baby daddy is, so it makes complete sense that Lauren Graham would describe the revival as the “beginning” of something, rather than the end.

Amy Sherman-Palladino has previously said another revival would come down to the actors’ schedules (and that’s no small obstacle, given the Gilmore Girls cast member’s other projects). I kind of agree with Milo Ventimiglia that it feels a bit greedy to hope for more, but if Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel did ever come back together for more, I’d be the first one on that train to Stars Hollow.

For now, though, we’ll have to continue to make due with our rewatches. All seven seasons of Gilmore Girls can be streamed with a Hulu subscription, with the entire series and the revival available on Netflix.

Gilmore Girls was not just a hit that ran for seven seasons in the early 2000s, but a show that’s still beloved by fans to the point where a sequel miniseries was made in 2016 (which you can watch with your Netflix subscription), nine years after the original finale. It’s also one of the most rewatchable shows ever that gives fans a nostalgic experience, but if you’ve recently completed a binge of the family dramedy, then it’s good that we have a list for you of 32 movies and shows that feature the Gilmore Girls cast. Enjoy!

Supernatural (2005-2020)

Sure, this list could have started anywhere, but why not start with the portrayer of (mostly) sweet Dean, Jared Padalecki? His supporting role on Gilmore Girls couldn’t have prepared fans for his hugely successful run as the creature-of-the-night hunting Sam Winchester on Supernatural. The series ran for 15 seasons and has tons of amazing episodes, especially if you enjoy spooky stuff.

How To Get Away With Murder (2014-2020)

Overall, most of the players from GG saw a boost in their careers after the show, and likely helped make it possible for Liza Weil, who played the ever-stressed Paris Geller, to eventually make her way to a major role on the thrilling ABC hit, How to Get Away with Murder.

The O.C. (2003-2007)

Is bringing up Fox’s early aughts mega-hit teen drama The O.C. this quickly a bit of a cheat? Sure, but we can’t deny that without the popularity of his Dave Rygalski in Season 3, we might never have gotten actor Adam Brody as the funny, loyal, Summer-obsessed Seth Cohen in one of the defining teen shows of all time.

The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-2021)

Much like viewers were probably not prepared to watch Padalecki fight monsters after his time on Gilmore Girls, I doubt most could have expected to see star Alexis Bledel take on Dr. Emily Malek, the strong-willed and rebellious Handmaid first known as Ofglen. She won an Emmy Award for her role, so this is one drama not to miss.

Parenthood (2010-2015)

There might be no character more strong-willed, funny and quirky than Lorelei Gilmore, who was brought to life so exceptionally by Lauren Graham. If that character description sounds a lot like Sarah Braverman-Holt from NBC’s family drama, Parenthood, then you get why Graham was a perfect fit for both.

Bride & Prejudice (2004)

A small role is a role nonetheless, and if you check out the amazing Jane Austen-inspired rom-com, Bride & Prejudice, you’ll see Bledel as Georgie Darcy, Will’s younger sister.

The Good Wife (2009-2016)

Say what you will about being Team Logan, but the Huntzberger boy still has his supporters even today. This is probably because Matt Czuchry did such a good job portraying him, much like he did the charming go-getter Cary Agos on CBS’ legal drama, The Good Wife.

Fire Country (2024)

As one of the biggest dramas on CBS, Fire Country is hard to miss and even harder to dislike. That’s why it’s the perfect show to check out to see Jared Padalecki as the still-grieving firefighter Camden Casey during Season 3.

Saw IV (2007)

Honestly, were you expecting to see something as horrific as Saw IV on this list? Well, you might be even more surprised to know that Scott Patterson, who played Luke Danes, appeared in a total of three Saw films as determined FBI agent Peter Strahm.

This Is Us (2016-2022)

Can you imagine if anyone has forgotten This Is Us? NBC’s family drama was an immediate success, with the trailer for the very first season racking up a staggering number of views. Of course, you can revel in your Team Jess status by watching Milo Ventimiglia portray loving patriarch Jack Pearson.

13 Reasons Why (2017-2018)

13 Reasons Why is a teen drama that made major waves during its run on Netflix, but you might not know that Keiko Agena, who brought Lane Kim to life on GG, spent the first two seasons playing the kind and protective communications teacher, Pamela Bradley.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024)

If you can be in the mood for a holiday film all year long, then 2024’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever should be added to your viewing calendar. In it, Lauren Graham brings her signature charm to the role of Beth Bradley.

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

Of all the GG actors who one might have expected to appear in a giant blockbuster franchise, few fans would likely have bet on the actor who gave us the wonderfully nice but odd Kirk Gleason, Sean Gunn. After a supporting role as Kraglin in the original Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, he’s now reprised the part in seven MCU films and TV series.

Bridesmaids (2011)

For the first time on this list, we get to Melissa McCarthy, who played beloved chef Sookie St. James. She was in several projects after Gilmore Girls ended, but the comedy hit Bridesmaids, where she played the loyal but crude and somewhat erratic Megan, launched her career into the stratosphere. She received an Oscar nomination for her work, so it’s not to be missed.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (2020-2021)

The jukebox musical dramedy series, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, was a treat, but if you missed its two seasons on NBC, know that Lauren Graham played a major role in Season 1 as Zoey’s strict boss, Joan.

The Cleaning Lady (2022-Now)

Any show about gangsters needs a good cop investigating and trying to bring them down, and Liza Weil has starred as confident and cunning FBI agent Katherine Russo on The Cleaning Lady for the thriller’s entire run so far.

The Heat (2013)

Need a wild action comedy about two mismatched officers (one a prim, by-the-book FBI agent, and the other a crass, quick-to-anger, by-any-means-necessary local cop) who have to get along enough to get a drug lord off the streets? Then you should watch Melissa McCarthy as police detective Shannon Mullins ASAP.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (2021-2022)

This follow-up to The Mighty Ducks film franchise hit Disney+ and brought GG fans more of Lauren Graham, as she starred as Alex Morrow, who forms and then coaches a new underdog hockey team after her son is cut by the Ducks.

The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants (2005)

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a two-film franchise that still means a lot to those who were young women at the time it was released. There’s no better time than now to revisit (or watch for the first time) Alexis Bledel as Lena in both films.

An Unmarried Woman (1978)

Here’s a throwback for you. The 1978 romantic comedy-drama, An Unmarried Woman, features a performance from none other than Emily Gilmore herself, Kelly Bishop, as Elaine, a good friend of the title character.

The Lost Boys (1987)

Alright, this one’s technically a throwback, too, it just doesn’t go back quite as far. But, The Lost Boys is a definite teen horror classic, along with talents like Kiefer Sutherland and Corey Feldman, stars Richard Gilmore actor, Edward Hermann, in an important role.

Prodigal Son (2019-2021)

This Fox crime drama may not have lasted long, but it certainly had a dedicated fanbase, and some of that was likely because of Keiko Agena’s work as the kind, trusting, and socially awkward medical examiner, Dr. Edrisa Tanaka.

Sullivan’s Crossing (2023-2024)

The family drama, Sullivan’s Crossing, came to The CW with a treat for Gilmore Girls fans, as it brought Scott Patterson back to the network as the estranged father, Sully, of the lead character, big city neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan, who returns to her small Nova Scotia town after a scandal.

Mike & Molly (2010-2016)

The long-running comedy Mike & Molly is another of Melissa McCarthy’s post-GG projects. This CBS hit saw the titular couple fall in love after a health-related meet-cute, and work on their relationship while attempting to deal with their often wacky families and friends, and life’s many ups and downs. Check it out for McCarthy’s Emmy-winning performance.

Sin City (2005)

Based on the comic book series of the same name, Sin City is a noirish, action-filled crime drama that just so happens to feature Alexis Bledel as a…well, not entirely trustworthy participant in the rampant criminal shenanigans that abound in the sinful city of the title.

The John Larroquette Show (1993-1996)

One of the very few series to take place in St. Louis, Missouri, The John Larroquette Show was a sitcom that saw the actor portray the night manager of a run-down downtown bus station, with Liz Torres, who played the bubbly and gossipy dance teacher Miss Patty on Gilmore Girls, as his secretary. Torres received two Emmy nominations for her work here, so it’s definitely worth a watch.

The Resident (2018-2023)

Considering the number of medical shows that tend to fill the airwaves, it’s a bit of a surprise that it’s taken this long to get to one, but it is a pretty fine one. The Resident stars Matt Czuchry as the conceited (but still somehow charming) Dr. Conrad Hawkins, a third-year resident who practices with unconventional techniques and a knowledge of the business of medicine who’s determined to stop younger residents from putting their chosen profession on a pedestal.

All In The Family (1971-1978)

If you haven’t yet watched the classic ‘70s sitcom, All In the Family, you’re missing out. Not only does the Norman Lear series use its humor to tackle a number of hot-button issues that are still very relevant for today’s audiences, but it also features Sally Struthers (she was Lorelei and Rory’s nosy neighbor in Stars Hollow, Babette) in her Emmy-winning role as Gloria, the somewhat childish, college-aged daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker.

Walker (2021-2024)

After his immensely successful run on Supernatural, Jared Padalecki moved right on to yet another show on The CW. This one, Walker, was a reimagining of the long-running Chuck Norris hit Walker, Texas Ranger, which saw Padalecki take on the lead role as he returned home after being undercover for two years while trying to reconnect with his teenage children and figure out how his wife really died.

True Blood (2008-2014)

Here’s one that’s easy to miss, even if you’re a die-hard Gilmore Girls fan. Among the many characters, human and supernatural, who populated the HBO vampire series True Blood for seven seasons, you see plenty of Merlotte's Bar & Grill short order cook, the kind but troubled Terry Bellefleur. But, did you know that he’s portrayed by Todd Lowe, the same guy who brought us Hep Alien’s dim, womanizing, guitar-playing, lead-singing wanna-be rock star Zack Van Gerbig? Well, now you do!

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Melissa MacCarthy was able to hit the Academy Awards red carpet as a nominee again when she starred in the biographical film Can You Ever Forgive Me? As writer Lee Israel. It’s based on Israel’s memoir of the same name, where she talks about her attempt to revive her writing career by forging letters from deceased celebrities and selling them. This critically acclaimed drama is one not to miss.

Spy (2015)

Last, but not least, we have another of Melissa McCarthy’s winning comedies in Spy. The movie follows CIA employee Susan Cooper, who is only allowed to assist her James Bond-esque partner via a desk job at the home office and an earpiece. But, when an operation goes wrong and leads to her partner’s death, Susan volunteers to go into the field and get to the bottom of things. Seeing as how this is a McCarthy film, you can bet that the situation gets hilariously out of hand before all is said and done, and you’ll be better for it!

As you can clearly see, while Gilmore Girls has been off the air for nearly 20 years, not only has it not been forgotten, but its stars have continued to keep us entertained in a number of other TV shows and movies, and hopefully will for many years to come!

As Gilmore Girls approaches its 25th anniversary next year, it feels like the show just gets bigger and bigger every year, especially now that the TV series just became available to stream with a Hulu subscription (along with a Netflix subscription). In celebration of a title that has gone down in history as one of the most rewatchable TV shows ever, Warner Bros. invited CinemaBlend to experience a very special day in Stars Hollow this week. As a huge fan of the series who grew up watching it over and over, I need to talk about my experience that included a cast reunion and speaking with Luke Danes himself!

On Wednesday, I had the incredible opportunity to go to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood’s annual “Holidays Made Here” event which is happening in Burbank, California from now until January 5. Opening day of the event had tons of fans like myself lining up for coffee at Luke’s Diner, taking holiday photos around Stars Hollow and watching some of the original cast reunite to reminisce about the iconic show. Here are my main takeaways from the day.

I’m So Happy The Original Set Still Exists, And Can Be Experienced By Fans

For a show that has been off the air for over 15 years (minus the 2016 Netflix revival A Year In The Life), it’s pretty amazing to see Stars Hollow is very much intact on the Warner Bros. lot for visitors from around the world to walk around and enjoy. This isn’t new information, as the set has been made available to the public for quite some time, but getting to walk around and inside and feel like you’re really having an afternoon in the fictional Connecticut town is pretty magical. I especially loved going inside places like Kim’s Antiques, Doose’s Market and the Dragonfly Inn.

Funny enough, that day, even though we were very much in December, and California has been acting like it, it was into the 80s Fahrenheit. I ended up trading my sweater for an adorable “Stars Hollow Books” T-shirt and a smoothie from one of the counters (aptly titled “The Luke,” since it had coffee in it) to cool off. Being on the actual set gave me a real appreciation for how the production was able to completely fool me into transporting me to another side of the the United States when I watch it, even though it was technically being shot just hours away from me when it was being filmed.

The Gilmore Girls Cast Genuinely Seem Like A Family, And That Extends To The Fans

As a fan, I also got a kick out of seeing the fandom interact with not only the sets, but some of the cast members during the Warner Bros. holiday event. If you didn’t know, the actor behind Luke Danes, Scott Patterson, has had a Gilmore Girls podcast since 2021 called I’m All In, where he watched the entire series for the first time. After recently finishing his watchthrough of the whole show, he announced he’d be recording more episodes of his commentary rewatching it (“I’m All In… Again”), but this time he'll have celebrity guests on with him, including his fellow cast members.

For this event, he did a podcast taping, which had him reuniting with Michael Winters (Taylor Doose), Ted Rooney (Morey Dell), Gregg Henry, (Mitchum Huntzberger), Rose Abdoo (Gypsy) and Emily Kuroda (Mrs. Kim) on a stage in the middle of Stars Hollow for fans to watch them talk about the making of the show. It was so sweet to see how comforted and happy both the cast and the fans were. The fans would often help out the actors on specific episode moments with more details, and when they took audience questions, one fan said “they raised” her. During the event, I witnessed fans point out places in the town where certain events in the series happened, and there was also an engagement.

One Gilmore Girls Debate Is Alive And Well With The Fandom, But I Was Surprised About The Cast’s Thoughts On It

A large conversation around Gilmore Girls has always been regarding who Rory should be with. The fans are split into three camps on the topic: Team Dean, Team Jess and Team Logan. They actually were offering free buttons with one of these distinctions for fans to parade around with. Of course, the cast members who were there were asked who they think Rory’s baby daddy is (from the ending of A Year In A Life), and every one of them said Logan – except for Winters, who said he had no clue, and Henry, who provided a funny “I don’t condone this situation.” Kelly Bishop once said she was Team Logan once, too!

I obviously need to rewatch Gilmore Girls now, because I’ve lost the plot on what “Team” I am nowadays aside from Team Rory, but I was quite surprised that not a single person thought it might be Jess’s. When I watched the 2016 version, that was definitely what I got from it. I’m ok if it’s Logan’s, but I was surprised the cast wasn’t divided on it. Perhaps they know something we don’t.

The Impact Of Gilmore Girls Is Very Much With Scott Patterson, And He’s So Sweet About It

During the event, Warner Bros. also offered me the chance to spend a few minutes talking with Scott Patterson on his set, and that was surreal, particularly because Patterson was wearing a flannel T-shirt and a backwards cap on that very day to channel his character. When I asked him what it feels like to be back at Stars Hollow now that it’s an attraction. In his words:

The actor’s relevance as a Gilmore Girls icon has only grown since he shot the series in the early 2000s. When the show was made, creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has said they had “zero money.” You’d think it was Warner Bros’ biggest series these days, and as Patterson shared, being recognized as Luke is a regular part of life for him.

By the way, Scott Patterson was as genuine as can be. He's sincerely grateful to be a member of the Gilmore Girls cast and completely aware of how “meaningful” the series is to people.

And, The Cast Didn’t At All Shy Away From Offering Hope For Another Revival

That brings me to my final big takeaway from my nostalgia trip through Stars Hollow. During the Q&A, as you can imagine, one fan had to blurt out to them the question of whether another revival would be in the works. Patterson riled up the crowd with this answer:

I certainly hope so! It’s been almost a decade at this point since A Year In A Life, and we have questions about what’s next for all the characters. Here’s hoping it does come. Where you lead, we will follow! Holidays Made Here is happening now at Warner Bros. Studios, the show is streaming on two platforms now! While so many shows have tried to be like Gilmore Girls, wow, did this experience remind me again how special this series is.

As one of the most rewatchable shows ever, especially during the Fall TV season, Gilmore Girls has a very devoted fan base that has long debated who Rory should be with. The show ending with Alexis Bledel’s Rory declining Logan’s proposal left fans left wondering, and Netflix's limited revival gave new fire, especially with Matt Czuchry's Logan having an affair with Rory. Some loved seeing the pair together again regardless of circumstance, but others - including one of the original Gilmore Girls writers - were bothered by this major storyline scandal.

No one has ever claimed Gilmore Girls characters are perfect. In fact, many fans have acknowledged the main characters’ morals veered from hot to cold. Even so, some found the infidelity between Rory and Logan in Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life an unnecessary plot line that tainted their relationship. One such individual is former scribe Stan Zimmerman, who shared with People why this particular decision in the streaming series frustrated him so much.

That last statement, I’m not totally sold on. Let’s not forget who supported Rory leaving college (Logan) and who shook some sense into her with the ever-memorable “I know you” speech (Jess). Listen, I liked Logan and Rory together, and much like Czuchry's own opinions, I don’t think Logan was a terrible boyfriend. Many fans are Team Logan, including Emily Gilmore herself Kelly Bishop.

I thought each of Rory’s boyfriends related to different sides of her, and they were all good matches in their own respects. However, nobody is perfect, and Logan could sometimes be slightly egotistical with a habit of bending the rules, which he brought out in Rory. While Rory was not new to infidelity at the time of A Year in the Life, having slept with her first boyfriend Dean while he was married, a long term affair is an entirely different thing. It’s probably something Loralei would frown upon, and something early seasons Rory would have never pictured for herself.

However, after everything that happened during the original run from 2000-2007, I don’t think Logan’s affair with Rory was extremely out of character for the two adults. According to Zimmerman, it seems creator Amy Sherman-Palladino would agree. As he put it:

I agree with her. In fact, I think this affair needed to happen for a specific reason.

My Hot Take: The End Of Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life Was Actually Perfect

Before anyone protests, hear me out. It’s totally a full-circle moment. Rory’s pregnant, and Logan, the man she loves who is presumably also the baby’s father, can’t entirely be in the picture. Sound familiar? The mini-series ends with Rory posed to be a single mother like Loralei, with a baby daddy situation similar to that of her own father Christopher. So an affair was quite necessary to the plotline, despite its unpopular reception.

The Netflix original ends immediately following the pregnancy twist, leaving a lot of questions unanswered. If you are a Gilmore Girls fan, you have a pretty good guess how the story goes. I think the best endings are bittersweet and leave you thinking about the show long after you’ve finished it.

That being said, I wouldn't mind those questions being answered in another revival down the line. Perhaps Rory’s kid (it would have to be a girl, right?) is high school age, about to go to Chilton. Would we see the return of Jess to Stars Hollow, poised to be what Luke was to Loralei? So many possibilities.

According to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creator, a Gilmore reunion could happen again when the timing is right. I’ll hold out hope until then, while also grabbing a blanket and coffee for an epic autumn Gilmore Girls rewatch, available to anyone with a Netflix subscription.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants really is one of the best movies about female friendship out there. Not only because four friends use a pair of pants to connect with each other to fight long-distance, but because of the real-life chemistry these co-stars have with one another. Now, all these years later, America Ferrera reunited with Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn at an event, and the Barbie actress shared what it meant to her.

Fans understandably freaked out seeing The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants women come together for a public appearance to celebrate America Ferrera’s Barbie performance. Ferrera may not have worn the iconic vintage jeans during this event, but there was no need because the girls were all smiles and laughter as they posed for selfies together. The Superstore actress spoke to ET on the red carpet of the Palm Springs International Film Festival about how great it felt for her sisterhood to come back together again, saying:

It’s very beautiful to have a friendship that lasts for decades. Just like the four characters in the Ann Brashares-adapted film series, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel all live busy lives. Throughout the years, they’ve had film and television projects piling up. However, it doesn’t mean they don’t make time now and again to see each other without the use of a pair of pants. 

They had an adorable reunion to celebrate New Year's in 2018, and they were seen cuddling each other and donning comfy clothes. The former co-stars may not be teenagers anymore, but it proves you’re never too old for some quality gal time. 

Unfortunately, there was no mention in America Ferrera’s ET interview about whether or not audiences will get a third Sisterhood movie. As Ann Brashares’ Sisterhood Everlasting book concluded the adventures of the four friends as they reached adulthood, we could use a third movie to see Carmen, Tibby, Bridget, and Lena together one more time. After all, we know Blake Lively would be down for a Sisterhood 3 movie as long as it honored the story and legacy the four actresses created together.

Why we haven’t seen more Sisterhood films could be based on the schedules of everyone after the second movie. Bledel wrapped up six seasons of Gilmore Girls, Ferrera was starring in Ugly Betty, Lively began her six-season run on Gossip Girl, and Tamblyn became a series regular on House. 

In 2022, Tamblyn said while the project is constantly in the works, nothing has come to fruition due to the complications of all the women being mothers now with new projects to work on. With the friendship between the four still holding strong, I’d like to believe eventually we’ll get the long-anticipated movie.

On the bright side, the Gotta Kick it Up! actress did give us a glimmer of hope for another reunion between her and her “girls.” After it was brought up that next year would mark 20 years since the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie, Ferrera remarked that she’d be open to commemorating that with her friends and co-stars. Now, I’d just like to see if everyone can still fit into those “magic” pants after all of these years. 

The way America Ferrera talks about getting to see her Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars again really warms my heart. It shows how they’re there for each other in moments when it matters most with a friendship that’s spanned over almost 20 years. I’m still crossing my fingers in hopes that Ann Brashares’ fifth book will eventually be adapted one day. Until then, you can watch the sequel as well as Ferrera in Barbie with a Max subscription. 

Dig up some magical jeans and get your mailing labels ready, because The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is alive and well! All four actresses from the 2005 coming-of-age book adaptation and 2008 sequel -- Blake Lively, America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn -- made a public appearance together, and obviously, the internet is not OK! 

MTV and Comedy Central movie journalist and podcast host Josh Horowitz took to Instagram on Friday night to share the unexpected reunion. Check out The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants stars all together:  

While the stars of the Sisterhood movies have reunited before, we typically learn about it through photos of their private hangouts. This time they came together for a public appearance in celebration of America Ferrera’s performance in the Barbie movie. Ferrera thanked her “sisterhood” for coming to support her. Here’s more from the reunion: 

Blake Lively even came in a fitting hot pink dress in support of the film that has brought Ferrera into the awards conversation this year, even though she was recently snubbed by the Golden Globes. Amber Tamblyn wore a gorgeous light pink suit, whilst Alexis Bledel went more muted with her Barbiecore, wearing a magenta pencil skirt paired with a black blouse and heels. Check out how the internet reacted to the reunion on Twitter: 

• “This is a lot to take in. I need a minute.” -dianeb31
• “These women together and individually have shaped my life.” - @lakimberlytz
• “THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME” - @cadlymack
• “Trust me when I say that these four women could start their own brand of jeans and I would buy every pair.” - @kaydeepurry
• “Sisterhood of the traveling pants 3 needs to happen!” - @estheween
• “this is my Roman Empire” - @allisonlanza

Over the years, the group of talented actresses have not been shy about their continued admiration for one another and real-life friendship even though we didn’t see more Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies. Amber Tamblyn and Blake Lively are particularly close, between social media birthday exchanges and Tamblyn once admitting she has had Lively’s breast milk before. Check out this photo of the four friends from 2016: 

Back in 2016, Lively said the four of them are “such strong friends.” At that time, she even shared her interest in making a threequel if the story would explore the characters with their current ages in mind. 

It’s kind of perfect that the stars of the dramedies would come together for Barbie considering Greta Gerwig’s movie not only comments on the importance of female relationships, but because America Ferrera literally says “You're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood” during her now iconic monologue late in the film. Of course, she’s got a real sisterhood beside her, and it’s adorable to see these four stars still supporting one another 15 years after their last Sisterhood movie together. 

Gilmore Girls was a quirky-yet-popular series when it initially hit the airwaves. It’s lived on thanks to some major streaming runs and also a spinoff series Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life –a program you can still catch with a Netflix subscription. However, while the series has lived on, not everyone is a fan of the show. In fact, a tweet recently went viral absolutely ripping on Lauren Graham's Lorelei and Alexis Bledel's Rory, and I have to to admit it rings true. 

In a tweet that has a whopping 119K+ likes and more than 6,000 retweets, Gilmore Girls watcher Ellie Schnitt revealed exactly why she feels the series is the worst. (Tweet text updated with capitalization.)

A few things:  I am a giant fan of Gilmore Girls and all of its drama, to the point where I do have a favorite of Rory’s boyfriends (despite Amy Sherman-Palladino telling me not to.) However, despite my deep appreciation of the quippy dialogue and the juicy storylines, the show is built around characters who can often be selfish and in moments deeply distressing because they are not making choices that are the healthiest. Life is messy, but I see why some people are not here for the drama, at all.  

While there are a  lot of likes on the post, there were plenty of people offended by the Tweet’s premise. A lot of the responses focused on loving the side characters -- some of whom blew up after Gilmore Girls  wrapped -- and small town feel of Stars Hollow. Others said they liked the dramatic vibe and the tweet ripping on the show just does not get the appeal of the series. A few samples: 

• Flaws and all, I just want to move to Stars Hollow and attend a town meeting, gossip at Luke’s Diner, and dance under twinkly lights in the gazebo at an adorable town festival. Since I can’t really do that, I’ll rewatch the series a million times and pretend.
• I think it’s the town that’s so comforting. I think we all long for a community like that. 
• YES IT IS A CHAOTIC RIDE THAT I ENJOY EVEN IF IT FEELS IM GONNA CRASH EVERY TWO SECONDS.

So the viral tweet's main case is that Lorelei and Rory are constantly making toxic decisions for themselves, but just in case you wondered, Schnitt also says she's not giving Lorelei's parents Richard and Emily a pass. 

Here, here. I think the basic gist of this series is that most of the main characters are complicated. They have major pros and cons that can lead them to make dramatic (and sometimes bad) choices, which is probably how Gilmore Girls managed to make it to a 20+ episode count every season during its network TV run. (A Year in the Life is only four episodes.) 

Lorelei makes dramatic decisions in regards to her relationships, and she's kind of a jerk to her parents, who by the way, help her out majorly through the events of the series. This is particularly true in regards to Rory, whose schooling is paid for by them. And in exchange all they have to do is show up once a week for dinner, which Lorelei also complains about. She's constantly picking fights and pushing people away who are close to her, a fact some others have commented on in the same viral Twitter thread. 

Rory shouldn't get a pass here, either. She's inherited some of her mom's reckless decision-making genes. When it comes to the grandparents, the running joke on the series is that Emily is so finicky she constantly fires her housekeeper and has to replace her. She's also not prone to being open about her emotions, which makes her come off as hard. 

Don't even get me started on Dean, Jess and Logan's issues. I'm just saying the crux of this viral tweet is true. Wholeheartedly so, in fact, but that hasn't deterred me as a fan in the least. I love how complicated the characters are and how they get some moments right and botch others completely. It's endearing, it's enduring and I can't wait to see if there are more stories from Stars Hollow in the future. 

Spoilers ahead for the Season 5 finale of The Handmaid's Tale.

Every streaming service has a few breakout hit shows. And for Hulu one of those is definitely the dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale, starring Elisabeth Moss as the title character. The fifth season recently ended, and creator/writer Bruce Miller spoke to CinemaBlend about all things Gilead. And he also hinted at what Emily might have done in Season 5 if Alexis Bledel didn’t depart the Emmy winning series. Because who doesn’t miss the former Handmaid?

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 was a doozy, and followed as tensions in Canada rose while June and Luke attempted to find their daughter Hannah in Gilead. The premiere also addressed the departure of Alexis Bledel’s Emily, revealing that she’d returned to Gilead with Mayday to hunt down Aunt Lydia after helping to kill Waterford in No Man’s Land. I had the privilege of speaking with Bruce Miller about all things Handmaid’s Tale, where I asked what might have happened to Emily if the Gilmore Girls alum stayed for the fifth season. While not going into specifics, he told me:

There you have it. This comment has the potential to give some much-needed closure to Handmaid’s Tale fans who were disappointed with watching Season 5 without fan favorite character Emily. While the premiere handled her exit well with a strong performance featuring Clea DuVall as her wife Sylvia, this vague tease helps to show what Alexis Bledel might have been up to in the latest series of episodes made available with a Hulu subscription.

Bruce Miller didn’t get into the details of where Emily’s story would have gone in Season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale, but it sounds like the macguffin that took her out of the series would have factored in. Namely the character’s lust for more blood and violence, especially for Aunt Lydia aka the woman who ordered her mutilation.

While Alexis Bledel was absent throughout the show’s fifth season, the finale episode “Safe” did feature a nod to her signature character. Because when Janine was taken away by The Eyes alongside one of Waterford’s Marthas, the scene played out a lot like Emily’s abduction back in Season 1. Later in our conversation I asked Bruce Miller is this was a purposeful choice, and he confirmed, saying:

Points were made. It’s unclear where Janine was headed in the Season 5 finale of The Handmaid’s Tale. But she stood in her power after confronting Naomi, and took time to comfort the crying Martha who was in the same van. Emily did something similar with the unnamed Martha she had an affair with, comforting her before she was hanged in one of Season 1’s most chilling sequences. 

Indeed, there were a ton of cliffhangers in the final episode of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5. So unfortunately for fans like myself, we’re going to have to wait a while before any answers are provided by the folks at Hulu. Although with Season 6 already announced as the final installment and the spinoff The Testaments looming, anticipation is high. In the meantime, check out the TV premiere list to plan your next binge watch, although I doubt most shows will provide the same level of anxiety as June’s journey. 

Spoilers ahead for the premiere of The Handmaid's Tale Season 5.

Upon its launch as a streaming service, Hulu had a few hit original shows. Chief among them was The Handmaid's Tale, which was based of the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. Since the show's first season back in 2017, Gilmore Girls alum Alexis Bledel was a fan favorite character as Emily. She even won a Primetime Emmy in the process for Season 1. And it's for this reason why fans were so disappointed to hear that Bledel wouldn't be returning for Season 5. To honor the character and actress, I've compiled Emily's most iconic moments from the first four season of The Handmaid's Tale.

The Handmaid's Tale Season 5 began a few weeks ago, with the writers tasked with a way to write off Alexis Bledel's character, given the actress' absence. It turns out that after the violent events of Season 4's finale, Emily retuned to Gilead to hunt down people like Aunt Lydia. Her wife Sylvia had a fascinating give and take with June, seemingly ending Emily's story in the process. And while we mourn the loss of that character, here are some of the most iconic (and often quite violent) moments to come from Bledel's former Handmaid.  

Ofglen's Joyride (The Handmaid's Tale Season 1)

The first season of The Handmaid's Tale was a brutal but captivating one, with each episode bringing those of us with a Hulu subscription into the oppressive world of Gilead. While Offred/June originally didn't trust her walking companion Ofglen, Alexis Bledel's character slowly revealed that there was much more to her. We watched in horror as Ofglen's Martha lover was hanged before our eyes, before she was mutilated by the Aunts.

Following this ordeal and being given a new station, Alexis Bledel's character ends up being the first Handmaid we see truly rebel against Gilead. She introduced herself to June as Emily, before carjacking one of The Eyes' vehicles in view of the other Handmaids. She eventually kills one of these guards, before being apprehended and taken away. This was truly the tip of the iceberg regarding the show (and the character's) violence, but will always have a place in the history of the narrative, and stand out for those who watched Season 1 back in 2017. 

Emily kills a wife in The Colonies (The Handmaid's Tale Season 2)

After killing an Eye, Emily was sent to live and work in The Colonies, doing manual labor with radioactive waste until she died. Her time there is a truly grim set of episodes in The Handmaid's Tale Season 2, and further shows the way Gilead brutalizes and dehumanizes those it deems as sinners. Alexis Beldel's character is shown as a makeshift nurse, helping to bandage up the wounds of other women who are trying to survive this deadly environment.

Before Janine joins Emily and gives her someone to look after, we see a Wife named Mrs. Connor (played by the one and only Marisa Tomei) join The Colonies. While Emily seems to take her under her wing, it soon becomes clear that she's got more vengeful plans in mind. She gives Mrs. Connors poison disguised as medicine, and leaves her to die alone on the bathroom floor-- punishment for Mrs. Connor's part in the ritual raping of her own Handmaid. Given how much of Emily's story has been about violence, it certainly gives her Season 5 exit a bit more context.

Emily and June's reunion (The Handmaid's Tale Season 2)

While Emily and Janine were expecting to die in The Colonies, Ofglen #2's bombing of  the Red Center in Season 2 left Gilead needing more fertile women. As such, those two characters were brought back and given new postings. Emily reunites with Offred and the other Handmaids at Loaves and Fishes, where the two finally have a proper meeting. June and Emily's relationship has been a strong narrative throughout The Handmaid's Tale's first four seasons, with the two sometimes not even having to use words to communicate. 

June finally sharing her name with Emily starts a chain reaction in this iconic scene from Season 2. Elisabeth Moss' character introduces herself to more Handmaids, who follow suit and connect with their sisters for the first time in this way. It's a beautifully shot and edited sequence, all started by a scene featuring Alexis Bledel's now-departed character. 

Emily attacks Aunt Lydia (The Handmaid's Tale Season 2)

Season 2 of The Handmaid's Tale introduced some new characters, including Bradley Whitford as Commander Lawrence. Emily is assigned to be his Handmaid, taking on the mantle Ofjoseph. She and the audience alike were relieved to see that she'd no longer have to endure The Ceremony, and that she was treated with some respect in the house. Unfortunately, Ann Dowd's Aunt Lydia was not one of those people to treat Emily with kindness.

In the Season 2 finale "The Word", Aunt Lydia visits Emily at the Lawrence home and taunts her. When Alexis Bledel's character refuses to answer, Lydia cruelly says "It's as if I  cut out your tongue," a vicious reference to the mutilation she endured in Season 1. That was enough to make her snap, with Emily stabbing and striking Lydia, before she fell down the stairs. It was a rare moment of comeuppance for Ann Dowd's signature character, and a scene that left Handmaid's Tale fans talking in the break between seasons. 

Escaping Gilead And Saving Baby Nichole (The Handmaid's Tale Season 3)

The Season 3 premiere of The Handmaid's Tale picked up immediately after the events of the cliffhanger finale. As June returned to the Waterfords, Emily was tasked with escaping Gilead and and making her way into Canada with baby Nichole. It's a tense and thrilling sequence, with the fan-favorite character carrying the crying baby through wood and water in her bright red Handmaid robes. 

Eventually the pair of refugees safely make it across the border, and taken into the safety and care of Canada. Emily is shown entering a hospital with Nichole still in her arms. As they're given care by the medical staff, she's given a touching round of applause by those working in the facility. It's an emotional sequence, one that is admittedly hard to watch knowing the character would eventually return to Gilead willingly. 

Emily's Reunion With Her Family in Canada (The Handmaid's Tale Season 3)

Emily's family appears a few times throughout The Handmaid's Tale run on Hulu, starting with a flashback back in Season 2. We watch as Alexis Bledel's character was separated from her wife Sylvia (Clea Duvall) and their son Oliver while trying to flee America as Gilead took power. So when she finally made it to Canada safely, we were treated to an emotional reunion in the Season 3 episode "God Bless the Child." 

After seeing Sylvia and Emily timidly reunite, eventually their son Oliver appears on screen. It's a heart breaking scene that shows how much time has gone by since she was abducted and became a Handmaid. Emily breaks Gilead law by reading to her son, as Clea Duvall's character silently weeps while watching. Like Emily's escape, it's a scene that is even more tragically beautiful given the character's decision to leave her family behind in search of her own violent justice. 

The Handmaids (Including Emily) Kill Waterford (The Handmaid's Tale Season 4)

Speaking of violent justice, that's exactly where we last saw Alexis Bledel's Emily in the flesh. After struggling with her rage throughout Season 4 (including celebrating a former Aunt killing herself in Canada), eventually she joins other former Handmaids in the Season 4's brutal cliffhanger ending.

After doing a prisoner exchange, Nick hand delivers Commander Waterford to June in No Man's Land. There she lets a whistle blow, revealing her now violent mob of refugees, largely Handmaids. Emily is there, and is at the head of the pack as the women chase down and brutally tear Fred apart. Making out the specifics of the violence is difficult because it's so dark, but it looks like she might have even held his face as June brutally bit it. 

In the end, Fred Waterford's death would be the final time we'd see Alexis Bledel as Emily in The Handmaid's Tale. The actress departed the show shortly before filming began, with the writers needing to quickly find a way to write her out. In the end I found her exit successful despite these circumstances, largely thanks to the scene shared between June and Sylvia. And given how much violence she's both endured and enacted, her fate does make logical sense. 

The Handmaid's Tale airs new episodes Wednesdays on Hulu. In the meantime, check out the fall premiere list to plan your next movie experience. 

Spoilers ahead for the premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5.

Since its inception, The Handmaid’s Tale has been one of Hulu’s most wildly successful original shows, getting some Emmy nods along the way. One of the performers that got a ton of love from Academy voters and fans alike was Gilmore Girls alum Alexis Bledel, who won her own Primetime Emmy for the show’s first season back in 2017. Fans were disappointed when it was revealed that she wasn’t returning for the upcoming fifth season. And I can personally say that Bledel’s departure as Emily is an emotional rollercoaster.

Alexis Bledel appeared in a total of 20 episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale throughout its first four seasons on Hulu. Emily quickly became a fan favorite character during that time, and is the first Handmaid who we got to see rebel against Gilead. I had the privilege of seeing the first two episodes of Season 5 (both directed by Elisabeth Moss) while attending the Toronto International Film Festival, and the way the premiere handled Bledel’s exit was really a journey.

Much of The Handmaid’s Tale’s Season 5 premiere focuses on the aftermath of the Season 4 finale’s wild cliffhanger ending. Namely June, Emily and the other Gilead survivors killing Fred Waterford with their own hands. While the audience will watch as Elisabeth Olsen’s protagonist grapples with that act, the episode also reveals that Emily left Toronto and returned to Gilead following Waterford’s Salvaging in no man’s land. To be clear: this isn’t because she missed being a Handmaid, but because she’s seemingly become even more bloodthirsty and is on the lookout for others like Aunt Lydia. 

The way this news is broken is with one quick line of dialogue between June and other survivors from Gilead. At first this really grinded my years, as I thought the series was unceremoniously writing off one of the most popular characters without giving her a proper sendoff. But luckily for myself (and fellow fans) there was more to come with Alexis Bledel’s goodbye to the gritty apocalyptic series.

Because while the beloved Gilmore Girls icon wasn’t present in the Season 5 premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale, we got to see the exciting return of a familiar face: Clea Duvall as Emily’s wife Sylvia. She was noticeably absent throughout the entirety of Season 4, but luckily her return (and reaction to Emily’s departure) helps to give some much needed closure. And it’s a scene that’s sure to tug on the heart strings of those watching.

It remains to be seen how large of a hole Alexis Bledel’s absence will have in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5. The Hulu original has always been an ensemble series, where characters like Emily would be absent for episodes at a time. Still, it’s hard to see such a beloved OG character depart without one last scene.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 will debut on Hulu September 14th. In the meantime, check out the fall premiere list to plan your next binge watch. 

One of the most lasting pastimes to enjoy with a group of friends is going shopping together. And in 2005’s Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, four best friends found a unique pair of jeans that could fit all of them, despite their variety of body types and heights. The young women played by Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Blake Lively and Amber Tamblyn then decided to trade the pants throughout their first summer apart and write to each other about their adventures. Over fifteen years since the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies debuted, they remain to be favorites among those who grew up with them. But, why didn’t we see more? 

There’s a troubling trend in Hollywood when YA books become movies. In the past we’ve broken down what happened to the cancelled Percy Jackson franchise, the axed Divergent films, broken down the journey of the Maze Runner trilogy and Narnia’s unfortunate goodbye. Now let’s look at the history of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies and why the story has yet to continue. 

How Many Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants Movies Have We Seen?

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies began in 2005 as the YA titles written by Ann Brashares were popular on bookshelves and continued to unfold between the pages of the series. Ken Kwapis helmed the dramedy from Warner Bros following his success with 2003’s About A Boy. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants assembled a talented cast that included Amber Tamblyn as the blue-haired outcast Tibby, Alexis Bledel as shy artist Lena, America Ferrera as hot-headed Carmen and Blake Lively as soccer player Bridget. 

The first movie was succeeded by a 2008 sequel called The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, which was helmed by music video director Sanaa Hamri. Both films were written by Elizabeth Chandler. Whereas the first movie was based on Brashares’ first book, the second film jumped to storylines from the fourth Sisterhood novel Forever In Blue along with incorporating elements of the first sequel The Second Summer of the Sisterhood and the third book Girls in Pants. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 could have acted as an ending to the series, but the characters’ storylines could have continued. But following the 2008 movie, there have been no other Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies to further the YA franchise. 

Were There Plans For More Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants Movies? 

When the actresses at the center of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies , Alexis Bledel was 22, Amber Tamblyn was 20, America Ferrera was 19 and Blake Lively was 16 playing high school students. Following the release of the sequel, they were each five years older, which would turn their YA characters into adults. It’s understandable that not all four books could be adapted into movies in this case, and screenwriter Elizabeth Chandler seemed to compensate for this by drawing heavily from the last book of the first four Sisterhood books, Forever In Blue for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. 

In the case of these movies then, the movie franchise skipped past the novels and chose to tell the story in two movies rather than adapting all four books separately. That being said, three years after The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 was released, Sisterhood author Ann Brashares published a fifth book called Sisterhood Everlasting. This installment of the series sees Tibby, Lena, Carmen and Bridget as grownups with careers and romances, and longing to reunite their sisterhood, despite the jeans being long gone. The existence of Sisterhood Everlasting has brought about the desire for another movie past its YA roots. 

Why We Haven’t Seen More Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants Movies

Both Sisterhood films made about the same amount of money at the box office, making around $43 million each at an average of a $26 million budget. Both of them were met with overall positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The main corner the franchise seems to have been backed into is the issue of time and the decision to fuse multiple books into the 2008 sequel. Following The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Alexis Bledel had just wrapped seven seasons her successful show Gilmore Girls, Blake Lively had just begun her six year journey on Gossip Girl, America Ferrera was in the midst of starring in Ugly Betty and Amber Tamblyn was on the brink of a regular role on House. 

Unlike some other YA book to movie stories, the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies don’t necessarily have a sad ending, just a short and sweet one. These movies remain beloved to its audiences and the actresses’ roles in the movies made these young women stars in their own right even today. And yet, Sisterhood Everlasting remains on the shelf yet to be adapted. 

Will There Be Future Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants Movies?

While there has yet to be any more Sisterhood movies, throughout the past few years there have been hints that Hollywood is attempting to revitalize these movies. Back in 2014, The Hollywood Reporter shared that there were plans to adapt Sisterhood Everlasting into a movie directed by Ken Kwapis once again from a screenplay by Liz Garcia. Like the book, the movie would pick up with the four friends a decade after the events of the fourth summer with the traveling pants as adults with a girls trip reunion. 

Since then, the movie has yet to be made, but Bledel, Ferrera, Lively and Tamblyn remain close friends, sharing pictures of their reunions every so often. In 2016, Ferrera shared this photo of the Sisterhood women back together: 

In 2016, Blake Lively spoke to the potential of a third Sisterhood movie, telling SiriusXM there was a “strong” chance it could happen, also saying this: 

And in 2018, Alexis Bledel shared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon that she had “just pitched a third movie” and was hoping it would come together. Blake Lively continued to echo those sentiments the same year, sharing they were “trying to get it made” on Live with Kelly and Ryan. Earlier that year, Deadline reported that a stage musical based on the story was being developed as well. In 2021, Blake Lively and Amber Tamblyn spent July 4 together, posting this:

The most recent update comes from America Ferrera in November 2021, who got cryptic on Sirius XM, sharing that a third Sisterhood movie is “unofficially, officially, unofficial that it is officially unofficially in development.” Given the four women at the center of the franchise are truly good friends and they’re interested in returning to their roles, we have hope Sisterhood Everlasting will happen someday, but for the moment, those jeans are still lost and waiting to be found once more. 

Usually, the job of comic book movie actors is to smoothly transcend their character away from the pulpy graphics and bring them into the real world. However, that was not quite the case for Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Alexis Bledel, and the rest of the Sin City cast, because Frank Miller and co-director Robert Rodriguez did more than just adapt his series of gritty, noir-inspired graphic novels into a film. They brought them to life.

The critically acclaimed 2005 hit stays remarkably faithful to the source material - not just to the stories and character motivations, but also (and most importantly) the minimalistic, grayscale aesthetic that results in one of most refreshingly original and visually stunning films of its time. Many Sin City cast members would later appear in more straightforward superhero movies, including Rosario Dawson and Benicio del Toro, to name a few. To see what else the star-studded ensemble has been up to, read on.

Jessica Alba (Nancy Callahan)

After rising to fame with the 1999 horror-comedy Idle Hands and the sci-fi series Dark Angel, Jessica Alba played Nancy - a club dancer with a disturbing past - in Sin City the same year she starred in the first of two Fantastic Four movies as Invisible Woman. She would re-team with Robert Rodriguez for 2010’s Machete, the fourth installment of the Spy Kids movies in 2011, and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, in which she returned as Nancy. 

The mother of three and founder of The Honest Company more recently partnered with Gabrielle Union on the Bad Boys movies spin-off series, L.A.’s Finest, and is currently starring in and producing the upcoming thriller Trigger Warning.

Bruce Willis (Det. John Hartigan)

Also appearing in the Sin City sequel, once again as Det. John Hartigan, was Bruce Willis, who seems to be busier now than ever. He already released six titles in 2021 alone (such as Midnight in the Switchgrass with Megan Fox), with three coming out later in the year (including Fortress, which already has a sequel in the works). 

The Die Hard movies star also had a busy and successful 2019, reprising David Dunn in Glass, playing Edward Norton’s mentor in Motherless Brooklyn, and playing himself in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and Between Two Ferns: The Movie. Willis has five 2022 movie releases scheduled, including A Good Day to Die (not to be confused with A Good Day to Die Hard) which also features his Cosmic Sin co-star, Frank Grillo.

Devon Aoki (Miho) 

“Deadly little Miho” was recast in the sequel with Jamie Chung, but was portrayed in the original Sin City cast by Devon Aoki. She broke through two years earlier as Suki in 2 Fast 2 Furious before playing one of the four main teen heroes of D.E.B.S. in 2004. 

In 2006, she played another samurai-sword wielding warrior in the video game movie D.O.A.: Dead or Alive, had a small role in the lighter comic book movie, Zoom, appeared alongside Jason Statham and Jet Li for War in 2007, and entered a future war in Mutant Chronicles the following year. After 2009’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead, the model and mother retired from acting, but has appeared in a few music videos - most recently one for her half-brother, Steve Aoki.

Benicio Del Toro (Lt. Det. Jack “Jackie Boy” Rafferty)

Miho’s most memorable kill in Sin City would have to be the crooked cop known as “Jackie Boy,” played by Academy Award winner Benicio del Toro in his comic book movie debut. Years later, he appeared in the Marvel movies as “The Collector,” whom he reprised most recently on Disney+’s What If…? in 2021. 

That same year, he re-teamed with Traffic director Steven Soderbergh for HBO Max’s No Sudden Move, and worked with Wes Anderson for the first time in The French Dispatch. Del Toro has a couple of dramas in the works (including White Lies from Oliver Stone), a comedy from writer and director Jamie Foxx called All-Star Weekend, and a Cuban Mafia biopic called The Corporation.

Rosario Dawson (Gail)

Also part of the MCU (if Netflix’s Marvel TV shows still count) is Rosario Dawson. She actually made her comic book movie debut with Josie and the Pussycats four years before playing Old Town’s Gail in Sin City. 

The “Geek Goddess” has since become especially prolific for comic book character roles, including Wonder Woman in several DC animated movies, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in The LEGO Batman Movie, Catwoman in HBO Max’s Batman: The Audio Adventures podcast, and Ava DuVernay’s upcoming DMZ series adaptation. The Dopesick cast member is is re-teaming with Kevin Smith for Clerks III and will soon lead her own Ashoka Tano TV show - a miniseries spun-off from The Mandalorian - on Disney+.

Clive Owen (Dwight McCarthy)

Gail’s lover - the mysterious, hard-nosed Dwight McCarthy - was first played in the original Sin City by Academy Award nominee Clive Owen. He has probably never played a more badass character, even though his earlier role in The Bourne Identity and later performance in Inside Man offer worthy options. 

After returning to comic book adaptations with 2017's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and playing the enemy of two Will Smiths in 2019’s Gemini Man, the British actor reunited with his Children of Men co-star Julianne Moore for Apple TV+’s Stephen King-inspired miniseries Lisey’s Story in 2021 and, that same year, joined the Impeachment: American Crime Story cast as Bill Clinton. Owen is reportedly planning to head to France to shoot a new TV series called Monsieur Spade, on which he will play Humphrey Bogart’s famous detective character from The Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade.

Alexis Bledel (Becky)

One of the more notably younger Old Town girls is Becky, played by Alexis Bledel - who was best known at the time as Rory from the Gilmore Girls cast, and from her debut film Tuck Everlasting in 2002. This past year, she reprised her Emmy Award-winning role as Emily Malek in The Handmaid’s Tale cast for Season 4 and will reportedly reprise her character from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies in a third installment.

Jaime King (Wendy/Goldie)

The twin sisters who led Old Town in Sin City, Wendy and Goldie, were both played by Jaime King, who would also star in another visually unique comic book movie from director Frank Miller called The Spirit. A year later, 2009’s 3-D My Bloody Valentine remake made her a bit of scream queen (further proven by her lead role on the Netflix original zombie show Black Summer). 

Of course, the model and actress is also known for lighter roles, such as Lemon Breeland in the Hart of Dixie cast or in 2018’s Ocean’s Eight as herself. King recently reunited with Bruce Willis for the 2021 action movie Out of Death and will play the title role in the upcoming assassin thriller Banshee. 

Mickey Rourke (Marv)

Moments before her untimely death at the beginning of Sin City’s first segment, Goldie captured the heart of an extremely tough, but compassionate, criminal named Marv. I would personally rank this character right underneath Mickey Rourke’s Academy Award nominated role in director Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler on a list of his strongest performances. 

After returning to comic book movies with 2010’s Iron Man 2 and the Sin City sequel in 2014, the Angel Heart star would also return to horror movies, such as the Shudder original anthology Nightmare Cinema in 2015 and upcoming titles like The Seeding and She’s Still Here alongside Dexter: New Blood cast member Jennifer Carpenter. Of course, his biggest role in recent memory would have to be on The Masked Singer Season 4 as Gremlin. 

Carla Gugino (Lucille)

Marv’s parole officer, Lucille, is played by Carla Gugino in her fourth collaboration with Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez. She also did several comic book adaptations directed by Zack Snyder, including Watchmen as Sally Jupiter and all of his DCEU installments as the voice of the Kryptonian ship. 

The Jett star is best known lately for appearing in several projects from Mike Flanagan, including Gerald’s Game, his Haunting Collection on Netflix, and a brief cameo in the Midnight Mass cast as a judge. The Gunpowder Milkshake cast member’s next project, a TV series thriller called Leopard Skin, is now in post-production.

Elijah Wood (Kevin) 

Giving one of Sin City’s creepiest performances (without saying a word) as the cannibalistic Kevin is Elijah Wood. The former child actor became an icon as Frodo in the Lord of the Rings movies, a sitcom star with FX’s surreal American remake of Wilfred, and a horror movie actor (i.e. his inventive 2012 remake of Maniac) and producer (i.e. the brutal revenge tale Mandy from 2018 starring Nicolas Cage). 

In 2021, he played the FBI analyst to whom Ted Bundy revealed the details of his crimes in No Man of God and leant his voice to the video game Psychonauts 2. Speaking of video games, he has a movie about the dark side of video game programming called L.A. Rush in the works, along with his upcoming Toxic Avenger remake.

Nick Stahl (Yellow Bastard)

Perhaps the creepiest and undeniably grossest character in Sin City, however, is Roark Jr., otherwise known as “Yellow Bastard” due to his unique complexion, who is played by Nick Stahl. Also a former child actor who made his film debut in 1991 with Mel Gibson’s The Man Without a Face, he is best known as John Connor in 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines or as the lead of HBO’s Carnivale cast. 

In 2021, he joined the Fear the Walking Dead cast in a recurring role and made a guest appearance among the ruthless Animal Kingdom characters on the TNT drama. He is currently filming a live action adaptation of the hit anime, Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac, expected for 2023.

Josh Hartnett (The Salesman)

The first character we meet and the one who first refers to the film’s setting as “Sin City” is the mysterious, deadly “Salesman.” He is played by The Faculty cast member Josh Hartnett, who would star alongside Bruce Willis in Lucky Number Slevin in 2006. 

The following year, he appeared in a more brutal comic adaptation called 30 Days of Night and then, after an acting break, became the lead of the Penny Dreadful cast. After playing himself on Quibi’s Die Hart in 2020, Hartnett appeared in two cool 2021 thrillers (Wrath of Man and Ida Red), and is now working on the TV series The Fear Index.

There are many Sin City cast members who have, unfortunately, passed away in the years since the film was released - including Powers Boothe (Senator Roark), Michael Clarke Duncan (Manute), Rutger Hauer (Cardinal Roark), and Brittany Murphy (Shellie). However, they will forever be seen as a bright, delightful memory from an otherwise beautifully bleak and deliciously dismal masterpiece. 

The bedrock foundation of Gilmore Girls was, obviously, the relationship between Rory (Alexis Bledel) and her mom, Lorelai (Lauren Graham). It won countless Emmys, prompted a revival over a decade later, and ended up becoming a pop culture classic precisely because of how good that dynamic was. But it was also so captivating because of the goofy, eccentric Stars Hollow townsfolk who orbited their lives. Rory's best friend Lane Kim (played by Keiko Agena) was one of those characters. As it turns out, however, the actresses who played Lane and Rory weren't exactly besties off camera.

Many Gilmore Girls fans saw Lane Kim and Rory Gilmore’s friendship as perhaps a manifestation of something from real life. Scott Patterson, who played the one and only Luke Danes, has been revisiting the iconic series on his I Am All In podcast. On it, he asked actress Keiko Agena about her friendship with Alexis Bledel outside the show. Her answer was a bit of her surprise:

Disappointing though it may be for Gilmore Girls diehards, it isn't always the case that on-screen chemistry leads to a real friendship. Look no further than the Fast and the Furious beef between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson or Kim Cattrall’s absence from the rebooted Sex and the City. At least from what Keiko Agena is saying, there isn't any bad blood between the real-life Lane and Rory. There just simply weren't any legitimate bestie vibes.

On his podcast, Scott Patterson seemed equally as flummoxed by Keiko Agena’s assertion that she wasn't best friends with Alexis Bledel (who has since starred in the likes of The Handmaid’s Tale) beyond the eye of the camera filming Gilmore Girls. Because from his view, the dynamic between Lane and Roy appeared “effortless” and “great,” thanks to the two of them. He asked if they had “clicked right away,” allowing for the fictional relationship to translate somehow. Agena said:

So, there you have it. Lane and Rory’s friendship was purely instinctual and a credit to the actresses’ abilities to perform no matter what their real friendship was like off camera. It actually makes their performances on Gilmore Girls even more compelling, not less so, in my mind. (In a strange twist of fate, certain on camera rivals from the show actually have a pretty decent rapport off camera.)

Still, many Gilmore Girls fans saw Lane and Rory as hashtag friendship goals for a reason. This is just a necessary reminder, though, that work and play don't always mix. Fans can revisit the awesome, on-screen friendship by streaming the show on Netflix.

Spoilers ahead for Episode 8, from Season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale.

After an unexpected delay, The Handmaid’s Tale returned to Hulu for its fourth season. Diving back into Gilead didn’t disappoint, as Season 4 has been just as emotionally grueling as its predecessors. But one character didn’t have much screen time ahead of this week’s episode “Testimony.” Namely, Alexis Bledel’s Emily. Luckily, Episode 8 finally delivered for the beloved character.

Alexis Bledel made her debut in the first season of The Handmaid’s Tale, winning an Emmy Award for playing Ofglen/Emily. But she has been mostly missing in Season 4, living safely in Canada and working with Moira. That is until Emily came face to face with her Gilead trauma in “Testimony.” Literally.

In the most recent episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, the story finally focused back on Emily. When a former Aunt named Irene tries to make amends, we learn that she was the one who sold her out to The Eyes back in Season 1. This resulted in a Martha’s death, and Emily’s horrifying mutilation at the hands of Aunt Lydia. While Alexis Bledel’s character has seemingly withdrawn after finding safety in Canada, her rage is still bubbling within.

The Handmaid’s Tale has obviously changed greatly since Season 1, but Emily remains a fan favorite for many-- especially those of us who know Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girls. Her story is one of the show’s most tragic, from being mutilated to her time barely surviving in The Colonies. As such, it was overdue for her to finally unpack a bit more about the trauma she’s struggling with.

This past episode showed how different June is from the woman Luke married, and Emily has similarly changed forever. She killed multiple people while trying to survive in Gilead, and has suffered unimaginable emotional and physical abuse. And it’s still affecting her ability to go back to work and get close to her wife Sylvia (Clea Duvall). Each one of them women in Canada is coping differently, including Moira and Rita.

Rather than feeling bad for Aunt Irene, Emily admits that she’s happy she ended up hanging herself. The support group unites in their rage, at least partly thanks to June’s encouragement. It was an emotional scene, and it fixed Season 4’s ongoing issue with Alexis Bledel’s character. We’ll just have to see how much screen time Emily gets in the final two episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4.

I’m definitely eager to see acclaimed actress-filmmaker Clea Duvall return to the series as Sylvia sometime in the future. Smart money says she’s absent from Season 4 since so much of it was filmed under strict new COVID safety protocols. It certainly makes it harder to fly in guest stars.

The Handmaid’s Tale releases new episodes Wednesdays on Hulu. In the meantime, check out the 2021 summer premiere list to plan your next movie experience.

It is rare for a TV show to be carried, mostly, by a group of highly acclaimed and relatively well-known performers, which makes The Handmaid’s Tale cast a one-in-a-million kind of ensemble. Led by Golden Globe and Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss, the cast has effectively elevated the material first imagined by Margaret Atwood in her 1985 dystopian social commentary to astounding heights on the Hulu original hit that the author has approved as a top-notch adaptation, especially one made into a TV series.

Now, in honor of the premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, which you should have already noted in your personal list of 2021 TV premiere dates to remember, we take a look at the actors who have helped make this show the emotionally-investing, thought-provoking, and potentially world-changing success. The following is a retrospective on what these brilliant performers were up to before the show made them bigger than ever, starting with the fearless series lead.

Elisabeth Moss (June Osborne)

You could say Elisabeth Moss’ Golden Globe-nominated breakout role as Peggy Olson in the Mad Men cast was a fitting prelude to the patriarchal society she would be forced to navigate in Gilead. Earlier in her long career (which began when she was 8), Moss had a recurring role on the bizarre CBS crime drama Picket Fences, played schizophrenic burn victim Polly in Girl, Interrupted, and starred opposite her future The Handmaid’s Tale co-star Bradley Whitford from the West Wing cast as the youngest First Daughter, Zoey Bartlet. The 38-year-old LA native has become a bit of a Scream Queen, too, as a memorable supporting character in Us and the lead of 2020’s The Invisible Man remake, in addition to the horrifying circumstances she has endured as June Osborne.

Joseph Fiennes (Fred Waterford)

The man responsible for much of that cruelty is Commander Fred Waterford, played by Joseph Fiennes, who, like his brother - Harry Potter’s Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes - is a theatre-trained thespian, which translated well when playing the title role of the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love in 1998. The 50-year-old Englishman’s first time as a TV staple was on ABC’s short-lived, but well-received, sci-fi mystery Flashforward, before joining the cast of American Horror Story: Asylum, and infamously playing Michael Jackson in a controversial unaired episode of the anthology series Urban Myths. Other literary adaptations in Fiennes filmgraphy outside of the The Handmaid’s Tale include 2004’s The Merchant of Venice, a 2006 film based on Augusten Burroughs’ memoir Running with Scissors, and more recently voicing Sheriff Nottingham in the YouTube original animated miniseries Sherwood in 2019.

Yvonne Strahovski (Serena Joy Waterford)

Receiving a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for playing the Commander’s wife Serena Joy Waterford on The Handmaid’s Tale is the Australian-born Yvonne Strahovski, who became an instant sensation in the States when she played CIA agent Sarah Walker on Chuck for NBC. Following that action-comedy hit, she joined the Dexter cast as a fellow serial killer with whom Michael C. Hall’s title character becomes romantically involved. The actress and model is also known for lending her voice to the Mass Effect video game series, appearing in Shane Black’s 2018 sequel The Predator, and her acclaimed performance in the Netflix original miniseries Stateside in 2020.

O-T Fagbenle (Luke Bankole)

Playing Luke Bankole, June Osborne’s husband and father to their daughter, Hannah, is O-T Fagbenle, who wears a lot of hats in the entertainment industry when he is not on the set of The Handmaid’s Tale. You may recognize his face from HBO’s short-lived romantic dramedy, Looking, or his voice as “Calico” Jack Rackham in the Assassin’s Creed video games, but may not realize that he is the creator, producer, composer, and director on some episodes of his own satirical comedy series Maxxx, in which he also plays the title role. His abbreviated Nigerian name will surely become even better known when he appears in the Black Widow cast (possibly as Marvel villain Taskmaster) and as Barack Obama in the historical miniseries anthology The First Lady for Showtime.

Ann Dowd (Aunt Lydia Clements)

Also playing a United States president in an upcoming TV movie called The President is Missing is Ann Dowd - yet another The Handmaid’s Tale cast member who has received a Golden Globe nomination, in her case, for playing Aunt Lydia Clements, a character who has a few things in common with the oppressive cult leader she played on the bizarre, dystopian HBO series The Leftovers for three seasons. The 65-year-old actress has a stellar 30-plus-year career that includes one of the best Tom Hanks movies, Philadelphia, but she really began to become more prominent in more recent years, starring in recurring roles on series like Masters of Sex, Oscar-nominated hidden gems like Captain Fantastic, or Ari Aster’s masterful horror movie debut Hereditary in 2018. Dowd also recently appeared in the Netflix’s adaptation of Rebecca and joined the cast of the dark comedy series Search Party in 2021.

Amanda Brugel (Rita)

Yet another The Handmaid’s Tale star we could call a Scream Queen is Amanda Brugel, who made her feature film debut in Jason X, which sees the Friday the 13th movies villain go to space, in 2001. The Canada native would later go on to land some particularly small roles in otherwise big movies, such as a police officer in Room from 2015 and a National Security Councilwoman in 2016’s Suicide Squad before she was cast as former Martha turned Gilead escapee Rita. Brugel has also starred on additional TV shows during her Handmaid’s Tale run, including the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience and the series adaptation of Snowpiercer on TNT.

Madeline Brewer (Janine Lindo)

Another The Handmaid’s Tale star I would even more confidently give the Scream Queen title to is Madeline Brewer, known for three Netflix original horror titles, including the lycanthropic cult series Hemlock Grove, one of the best Black Mirror episodes (“Men Against Fire”), and 2015’s Cam, in which she plays an internet model who discovers she has a doppelgänger. She can also thank the streaming platform for giving the New Jersey-born actress her first break as part of the the Orange is the New Black cast, but she is not the only Handmaid’s Tale cast member who is also an alum of the hit prison-set dramedy.

Samira Wiley (Moira Strand)

Before winning an Emmy for playing Moira Strand on The Handmaid’s Tale, Samira Wiley won three Screen Actors Guild Awards in the Outstanding Comedy Series Ensemble category for Orange is the New Black, on which she played Litchfield inmate Poussey Washington. Earlier, the openly gay Juilliard graduate made her film debut in the 2011 Jonah Hill comedy The Sitter before playing a therapist to The Boys’ Aya Cash on the FX rom-com You’re the Worst, a cop on YouTube’s meta sitcom Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes On Television, and a small pat in Kathryn Bigelow’s powerful crime biopic Detroit in 2017.

Max Minghella (Nick Blaine)

Max Minghella actually has an interesting connection to his The Handmaid’s Tale co-star O-T Fagbenle, who made his film debut in 2006’s Breaking and Entering, which was directed by late Oscar-winning filmmaker Anthony Minghella, who was Max’s father. Minghella also debuted in one of his dad’s most famous movies, The Talented Mr. Ripley, before eventually becoming a more prominent talent in acclaimed films like The Social Network in 2010 and The Ides of March the following year, as well as the horror thriller Horns in 2013 and Mindy Kaling’s hit comedy The Mindy Project, of which he appeared in eight episodes. Minghella, who made his directorial debut in 2018 with the Elle Fanning-led drama Teen Spirit, also stars in Spiral: From the Book of Saw opposite Chris Rock.

Alexis Bledel (Emily Malek)

Alexis Bledel crossed paths with Elisabeth Moss during her three-episode stint on Mad Men before she was cast in the Emmy-winning role of Emily Malek on The Handmaid’s Tale. The 39-year-old became an instant household name as Rory in the Gilmore Girls cast before starring in other book-to-screen adaptations like Disney’s meditation on immortality Tuck Everlasting, Frank Miller’s inventive noir masterpiece Sin City, and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies, of which a third installment has been announced.

Bradley Whitford (Joseph Lawrence)

I have no doubt that three-time Emmy-winner Bradley Whitford has crossed paths with most of his Handmaid’s Tale co-stars several times prior over the course of his 30-plus year career, which of course includes being a series regular on the West Wing cast, followed by Aaron Sorkin’s short-lived Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the short-lived cop dramedy The Good Guys, and plenty more notable TV credits. The now 61-year-old is probably the best known Scream King of the Handmaid’s Tale cast having starred in the brilliant horror satire The Cabin in the Woods, Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning debut Get Out, and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, if you want to count that. In 2020, he starred in the Covid-19 inspired drama Songbird and will play Stephen Sondheim in tick, tick…Boom! - one of the upcoming 2021 Netflix movies to look forward to.

Sam Jaeger (Mark Tuello)

To prove my earlier point about the prolific nature of Bradley Whitford, Sam Jaeger did guest star on The West Wing early in his career before playing the real Nick Fisher in Lucky Number Slevin, joining the Parenthood cast as Joel Graham, and starring on ABC’s historical LGBTQ+ miniseries When We Rise to name a few. This year, he is becoming a series regular on The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 and will appear in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, an upcoming Jessica Chastain movie, as the titular televangelist’s second husband, Roe Messner.

It looks like The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 is bound to be a memorable new chapter to the story by the cast alone. However, is there a series regular you are especially excited to see return to the Hulu exclusive hit drama?

This poll is no longer available.

I am sure that you probably recognize Milo Ventimiglia from his Emmy-nominated work on This Is Us, or you know Melissa McCarthy from her Oscar-nominated work on Bridesmaids. Yet, unless you still stream repeats of the series on a loop, you may have forgotten what show was responsible for essentially kickstarting their careers: Gilmore Girls.

The one-hour dramedy about single mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), her teenage daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel), and the eccentric townsfolk they endure on a daily basis in Stars Hollow, Connecticut, ran for seven seasons on The WB (later The CW). For having a simple premise and an almost entirely dialogue-driven structure, its clever narratives and wonderful cast ensured it would be popular enough to garner a four-part sequel on Netflix almost a decade after it ended in 2007.

By then, much of the cast, from one-episode wonders to regulars from the beginning and behind-the scenes personalities had already gone onto bigger things. For some, much bigger. The following are just 10 stars whose resumes prove that Gilmore Girls was a fruitful breeding ground for celebrities in the making.

Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore)

From playing a young, but spunky, prostitute in Sin City, joining a sisterhood based on a pair of very durable jeans, and a college professor turned resistance agent on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale (for which she won a Primetime Emmy) Alexis Bledel is one of the most versatile and charming actresses of her generation. Of course, the former teen model’s most recognizable character remains her first ever credited role in Gilmore Girls, on which she made the social, romantic, and career-based aspirations of Rory Gilmore just as important to us as our own daily struggles.

Sean Gunn (Kirk Gleason)

Earlier, when I spoke of “eccentric individuals,” I was mostly referring to Kirk Gleason: a socially inept mama’s boy who held many jobs in Stars Hollow, and was played by Sean Gunn. Kirk is widely considered the actor’s best known character, which could be because his A-lister co-stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe often get the bigger pieces of the spotlight despite his dual roles in the MCU (Kraglin and Rocket Raccoon’s body double). He is also frequently cast by his brother, a little filmmaker you might have heard of named James Gunn.

Jared Padalecki (Dean Forester)

I must say, I find it hilariously ironic how Jared Padalecki initially rose to heartthrob prominence on Gilmore Girls as Rory’s first love, Dean Forester, and would later be cast in his defining role on Supernatural as Sam Winchester, who snuffs out paranormal activity with his brother, Dean. Now, with the fantastic fellow CW series nearing its end after 15 seasons, the 37-year-old “scream king” will star in the title role of Walker which is - you guessed it - a reboot of the Walker, Texas Ranger crime series originally headlined by Chuck Norris.

Melissa McCarthy (Sookie St. James)

Despite being a series regular for the entire run of Gilmore Girls as Independence Inn chef (and later co-owner of the Dragonfly Inn) Sookie St. James, Melissa McCarthy did not become much of a TV star until her Emmy-winning turn on CBS sitcom Mike & Molly. It was the following year, after earning her first Academy Award nomination for her supporting role in 2011’s Bridesmaids, when she became a movie star and one of the most sought after comedic actresses in Hollywood, leading to her casting as Ursula in Disney’s upcoming live action remake of The Little Mermaid.

Milo Ventimiglia (Jess Mariano)

After several years of one small movie appearance or ill-fated TV role after another, Milo Ventimiglia’s career finally got a taste of stability after he joined the cast of Gilmore Girls in Season 2 as the troubled Jess Mariano, who was the nephew to Luke (Scott Patterson) and rival to Rory’s jealous boyfriend, Dean. After leaving the show in 2006, Ventimiglia was cast as a flying paramedic on NBC’s sci-fi cult favorite Heroes and, currently stars on one of the network’s biggest modern hits, This Is Us, in the three-time Emmy-nominated role of devoted late father Jack Pearson.

Adam Brody (Dave Rygalski)

After playing Lane Kim’s (Keiko Agena) love interest Dave Rygalski, a well-natured nerd, on Gilmore Girls for nine episodes, Adam Brody left the series to play Seth Cohen, a well-natured nerd, on the Fox teen drama The O.C. Fortunately, the 40-year-old actor has since avoided being typecast too often, taking roles such as a hard-partying fantasy football participant in The League, a grief-stricken, alcoholic descendant of a murderous family in Ready or Not, and The Flash in George Miller’s ill-fated Justice League project.

Krysten Ritter (Lucy)

Despite her short stint on Gilmore Girls, Krysten Ritter played a crucial part in one of the juiciest story arcs of Rory’s college years as Lucy, a fellow Yalie and friend who unwittingly dated a past unrequited admirer of Rory's named Marty (Wayne Wilcox). The actress would go on to have another short-lived yet memorable role as a tragic lover of Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad before landing the lead on the ABC sitcom Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, followed by nabbing the title role on the gritty Netflix crime drama based on Marvel hero Jessica Jones.

Danny Pudi (Raj)

In yet another instance of short stints on Gilmore Girls, Danny Pudi starred as Raj, a fellow staffworker at the Yale Daily News, who worked alongside Rory for a total of four episodes. The actor’s more memorable college-set role would come in the form of Abed Nadir, the self-aware walking encyclopedia of sci-fi knowledge, on Dan Harmon’s much-worshipped NBC comedy Community.

Rami Malek (Andy)

One of the most acclaimed actors in the world right now is Rami Malek. The Egyptian-American is the Emmy-winning star of Mr. Robot, Oscar-winning star of Bohemian Rhapsody, and scar-faced antagonist of the latest James Bond film No Time to Die. However, this remarkable actor debuted with a brief, single episode appearance in the fourth season of Gilmore Girls as Andy, a member of Lane’s bible study group, with three lines.

Amy Sherman-Palladino (Creator)

After getting her start as part of the writing staff of various comedies and dramas, none more successful than Roseanne, Amy Sherman-Palladino made a name for herself by creating her own show that incorporated both humor and true-life drama, which turned out to be Gilmore Girls. She would later find the biggest success of her career yet in creating The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an Amazon Prime original series that follows a Jewish woman who pursues a career in comedy in the 1960s. The series is currently in its third season has earned Sherman-Palladino five Emmys thus far.

What do you think? Are these the greatest careers to come out of Gilmore Girls or, for my next article, do you think I should lead where you follow instead? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for more information on this beloved series or updates on other television favorites here on CinemaBlend.

Spoilers ahead for the most recent episode of The Handmaid's Tale. If you haven't seen "After", look away!

Season 2 of The Handmaid's Tale has been going full tilt, showing more insane cruelty from within Gilead. Every Wednesday provides a new harrowing episode, with fans still eager for more emotional punishment. While "After" still had some very anxiety-ridden sequences, ultimately it ends on a surprisingly hopeful turn. And it's all thanks to the terrifying terrorist act brought on by Oflgen #2 last week.

The bombing of the new Handmaid facility claimed a ton of lives-- innocent and guilty. "After" opens with a Handmaid Funeral, with the surviving girls in uncharacteristic black uniforms. We learn that the bombing killed 31 Handmaids (and 26 Commanders), with Aunt Lydia memorializing the girls with their Gilead-issued names. And names are also where the episode ended, and provided one of the first happy cry moments in Handmaid's Tale herstory.

Since so many Handmaids perished during Ofglen's attack, Gilead brought back some of the former Handmaids from The Colonies. This is the saving grace that Janine and Emily needed, as they're finally taken out of the toxic fields and will presumably be able to recover from their exposure. While Janine had hope all along, Emily was far for realistic, certain that she would work and get sick until she died.

Emily is probably the show's fan favorite, as the original Ofglen proved there was still a strong, independent woman under the red garbs. She suffered horribly throughout Season 1, suffering genital mutilation after she was found having an affair with a Martha. Seeing her back in the red garments and reunited with June is something fans had been hoping for for well over a season, and it finally happened. June introduces herself, and the other girls follow suit, finally meeting with their given names for the first time. Praised be.

Aside from Janine and Emily's return to Gilead, "After" also showed a fascinating new dynamic within the Waterford household. With Fred recovering from his injuries and Commander Cushing vying for more power and martial law, it was up to the women and Nick to make a stand. With June's warning, Serena and Nick joined forces to forge documents and have Cushing charged with crimes, and therefore sent away. It was intense to see the three of them watch that creep get taken away, and Serena's rise to power is only continuing to grow. The final scene of the episode saw she and June pick up pen and paper to get Gilead "back to normal", allowing their rivalry and partnership to grow in a fascinating way.

Finally, "After" is the first episode of the season to include all of the characters and settings. While Moira and Luke are still isolated in New America, the Colonies storyline was wrapped up. At least for now.

The Handmaid's Tale released new episodes Wednesdays on Hulu. In the meantime, check out our summer premiere list to plan your next binge watch. Plus our Amazon premiere list and superhero premiere list to ensure you don't miss a single episode.

It's no secret that we're in the midst of a TV renaissance. There's a ton of exciting and challenging work being produced right now, bringing even the biggest of movie stars to the small screen. One of last year's biggest hits was Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, which made history as the first streaming series to win big at the Emmys. Anticipation for its second season has been at a fever pitch, and now the first trailer has arrived. One thing is clear: we've only seen the tip of the iceberg so far.

Take a second, catch your breath, and let's break down all the insanity we're being shown in this first trailer.

The trailer for Season 2 picks up right where The Handmaid's Tale finale left off. June aka Offred, has been escorted out of the house and into a van, and it's not clear what's going to happen to her. While she might be in trouble for her activities with The Commander or her involvement in Mayday, Nick also told her everything would be fine. Who exactly is going down, and where is she headed? The Commander and Serena Joy seem panicked, arguing among themselves about what they'd done.

From there things go truly bananas, and it's clear that The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 is going to introduce us to more terrifying aspects of Gilead. The characters look like they're in for a world of pain, especially the Handmaids. Their act of defiance in the finale may have saved Janine from being stoned to death, but Aunt Lydia made it clear that this would not be forgotten lightly. We see the Handmaids in a few precarious positions, the most terrifying being in rows of gallows.

The trailer also explains what happened to both Ofglen/Emily and Janine after their respective departures in Season 1. It turns out they were sent to The Colonies. This is a setting we've heard about but never seen, the place where former citizens are forced to do labor in hazardous conditions until they die out. Given the crimes committed by the two characters, it should come to no surprise that this was their fate--- despite being able to have children. Moira almost was sent there, but ended up choosing a life of prostitution at Jezebel's instead.

Speaking of Moira, it appears that both she and Luke are going to be fighting as hard as they can from the safety of Canada. Moira is shown confronting someone from Gilead that would presumably recognize her as a former Handmaid and fugitive. It seems like Luke is trying to work from within the system, but it's clear that people are trying to help get June to safety. The question is whether or not she's too deep in the system at this point, through both Mayday and the visit with the delegate last season.

June ends saying she's free, but exactly how? We'll just have to wait and see.

The Handmaid's Tale will return to Hulu on April 25th. In the meantime, check out our midseason premiere list to plan your next binge watch. Plus our Amazon premiere list and superhero premiere list to to ensure you don't miss a single episode.

It's been about a decade since the The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 hit theaters and it's been well over a decade since the original film in the franchise saw four young women share the same pair of jeans. However, while Blake Lively, America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn have all moved on to new and different acting gigs, it's nice to see they still catch up every once and awhile. You can check out the super cute The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants reunion, below.

The image features all four leading ladies from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants getting cozy on a couch to celebrate 2018. The New Year's celebration included comfy clothes and the ladies fawning over America Ferrera, who shared the image, noting the sisterhood is has some "work to do for the next generation. Earlier this week, Ferrera shared the news that she was pregnant with her first child in a cute announcement that included funky New Year's gear and an adorable onesie. She and her husband, Ryan Piers Williams, have been married since 2011.

Following the fun night in with her former movie co-stars, she also appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Colbert also asked America Ferrera this week whether the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants jeans would still fit her even when she starts growing in size due to her pregnancy. Ferrera had a great quip back, noting,

If you can remember that far back, the reason each of the jeans fit four women of different heights and weights is because they are magical pants that the ladies happen upon during a day of shopping. The women in the movie share the pants as they head to different places forth the summer during the first movie. It's the first real time each of the four ladies spent apart, and the pants become a symbol, a means of keeping the friendship bond between each of the four women during that time. The premise is silly, but it's sweet, too, and years later the ladies are still sharing breastmilk and spending time together.

America Ferrera currently stars in Superstore over at NBC and has How To Train Your Dragon 3 also coming up. He former Sisterhood co-stars area all up to different stuff, too. Alexis Bledel is currently part of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale cast. Blake Lively has a few movies, including spy thriller The Rhythm Section, coming up. Amber Tamblyn is also on the movie circuit, and has Nostalgia coming to theaters on February 16. Even though their live have taken them in different directions, the sisterhood lives on, even through marriages and break-ups and babies! And if the sisterhood lives on, perhaps one day we'll see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 3, after all.

Hulu's mightily acclaimed drama The Handmaid's Tale wrapped up its first season last week with a stunning finale that shined a new light on everything viewers had already seen, as well as opening up a brand new avenue for the story to go, now that it won't be tethered to Margaret Atwood's original novel. And it's been announced that Alexis Bledel, who played the name-changing Emily-Ofglen-Ofsteven, will not only return for Season 2, but she has been promoted to a series regular. While that's good for audiences, I can't imagine that character's upcoming story will be a joyful one.

Hulu put out the glorious confirmation that Handmaid's Tale fans will once again get to touch base with former-Emily, presumably still during her fraught-filled time within Gilead. As a somewhat heavily used guest star, Alexis Bledel appeared in 5 episodes of Season 1, and they were the first five, so viewers went through the entire second half of the season with neither hair nor hide of Ofsteven to be found. Largely understandable, given how others' stories were getting beefed up, particularly where Offred's past and family were concerned, but still disappointing.

But those disappointments can now be swept under the rug (inside a room where one's significant other has to knock before entering). The conversation can now flip from "Where is Ofsteven?" to "How horrifying is Ofsteven's life going to be when she returns?" Spoilers below for anyone who hasn't yet finished the entirety of The Handmaid's Tale Season 1.

Though initially pegged as a pious prude, then-Ofglen revealed her rebellious motivations to Offred not long before being carted off by the haphazardly protective Aunt Lydia and her soldiers, where she was forced to suffer a female genital mutilation surgery. She soon returned with a new family and a new name, as well as a more reserved manner of communicating. But once again, she was overtaken by dramatic impulses and, after stealing one of the guards' cars, she shockingly used it to intentionally run one of those same guards down. She was soon dragged away and put into a van, and her fate has remained a mystery ever since.

The Handmaid hasn't put a baby in harm's way, but Ofsteven's actions would almost definitely usher in some heinous form of punishment, since Aunt Lydia isn't someone who likes to let people get away with shitty behavior. So how will she return, and are viewers being set up for a tragedy here? My pessimistic side can easily see the producers promoting Alexis Bledel to be a series regular specifically so they can kill her off in a surprising manner at some point before the 13-episode season is wrapped. We hope it won't come down to that, though.

Unfortunately, we won't be seeing Ofsteven, Offred, Aunt Lydia or anyone else until some point in 2018. Season 2 is currently being mapped out between showrunner Bruce Miller and author Margaret Atwood, and production is set to kick off this fall, with next year's debut likely happening in the spring. There's a lot of TV coming between now and then, though, and you can discover a ton of it with our summer TV schedule.

The current mini-era of TV revivals has surprisingly offered up more successes than all-out failures at this point, and while many GIlmore Girls fans found reasons to gripe about the Netflix-housed A Year in the Life, it hasn't stopped everybody from vocalizing desires for the streaming service to order up another batch of episodes. Conversations of that sort are reportedly happening behind closed diner doors, but how would the stars themselves feel about returning once more? Here's Lauren Graham with a less-than-enthusiastic answer.

Setting up her answer like that -- with the enthusiastic promise of wanting to never leave the role under very specific circumstances -- was a good way for Lauren Graham to offer a nice bit of salt and lemon before burning viewers with the tequila shot of disappointment that followed. (I guess I should have made this more about bitter coffee than tequila.) Granted, the actress doesn't straight-up say that she doesn't want to be involved with any more seasons of Gilmore Girls, and it sounds as if she still has the baseline interest to reprise the fast-talking self-made woman for another season outside of a vacuum.

But she's definitely not torn over its chances of not coming back, going so far as to say while there's a way to continue Lorelai and Rory's stories, she doesn't know "if that's the best thing for them." It's a refreshing kind of honesty, even if it's equally damning to fans who want nothing more than to grow older with this TV universe.And as she also pointed out, she only found out about Netflix picking up more Gilmore Girls from news reports the first time around, so we never really know how anything will turn out.

During Sunday's "The Contenders" Emmy panel (via Deadline), Alexis Bledel sounded slightly less pessimistic about her views on playing Rory again, perhaps because her character has a much bigger arc to play out. In her words:

Alexis Bledel's answer quite sensible, as she would dictate her return based on if the story was good enough to warrant such a thing. That should always be the motivation for all TV shows, though it obviously isn't. and one assumes that creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has other interesting directions to take this story that would please both actresses and more. Other actors have expressed interest in returning, and Netflix is clearly interested in making it happen, but it all comes down to the details. Such as Lauren Graham being a part of a new project, as well as Sherman-Palladino's new Amazon comedy, since both of those things could create a scheduling nightmare.

While the future of Stars Hollow and its quirky population is still in question, fans can still watch the entirety of Gilmore Girls' first seven seasons and its A Year in the Life follow-up on Netflix, where everything is available to stream. There are tons of other shows hitting the small screen soon that you can fill your time with, though, and you can find them all with our midseason premiere guide and our summer TV schedule.

There was a time when Alexis Bledel, fresh off of the original Gilmore Girls, had a nice thing going in Hollywood. She popped up in the popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies and headlined several other big flicks. Still, in more recent years, she's been back in television, most recently starring in the Gilmore Girls revival. Now, we've learned Alexis Bledel has signed on for another big TV gig, signing on for the upcoming Hulu version of The Handmaid's Tale.

Per TV Line, Alexis Bledel is set to play the recurring role of Ofglen, who is another handmaid who knows Offred, who will be played by Mad Men and Top of the Lake actress Elisabeth Moss. On the outside, Bledel's character seems somewhat fragile and working within the system, but she's also a lesbian character who is described as "subversive." Handmaids in The Handmaid's Tale are expected to police each others' behavior in the totalitarian near future world that Margaret Atwood created, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out for Ofglen. Of course, if you've read the books, you may already know.

If you've been keeping track of this TV project, you may already know that it was in development a couple of years ago at HBO with Darren Aronofsky at the head of the project. The newer take on The Handmaid's Tale is obviously heading to streaming, although it has a really great cast. Joseph Fiennes, Ann Dowd, Samira Wiley (of Orange is the New Black fame), Madeline Brewer and Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski are all going to be in the new show.

The news of Alexis Bledel's casting is actually coming somewhat late in the process of making The Handmaid's Tale. The new series is expected to hit the schedule on April 26, 2017, so the series is extremely far in the development process at this point. Hulu has spent the last couple of years really beefing up its original programing lineup, with shows like The Path, The Mindy Project and Casual dominating the conversation. Hopefully, The Handmaid's Tale will also help to put Hulu on the map.

April is still a while away, so if you'd like to see what the streaming service, along with network and cable TV have coming up, take a look at our midseason TV premiere schedule.

The Gilmore Girls revival finally hit the schedule this past weekend, and reactions to the new series have been all across the board, although many of us can agree it was at least nice to see Rory and Lorelei back in action again. One of the most polarizing things about A Year In The Life has probably been the way the series ended on a cliffhanger. This week, Gilmore Girls lead Alexis Bledel appeared on The Tonight Show, where she told Jimmy Fallon exactly how she personally felt upon learning how the series would end. Here's what she had to say:

While talking with Jimmy Fallon---who is clearly a huge Gilmore Girls fan now that he's started binge-watching it---Alexis Bledel revealed not only that she was shocked about that ending but that show creators Daniel and Amy Sherman-Palladino also kept the huge cliffhanger from her until close to the end of filming the revival series. For his part, Jimmy Fallon tried to get the actress to say she's known the ending since the time when the original series wrapped, but it seems as if Sherman-Palladino definitely kept those final four words to herself for years before writing them into Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

There will be spoilers through the rest of this story if you haven't finished the Netflix's new Gilmore Girls specials, yet. If you've been watching the new Gilmore Girls at all, you probably already know that Rory is going through a rough patch when the series picks up. While she has always been a go-getter, her freelancing career isn't working out. This time she doesn't move into her grandparents' pool house; however, she does move home. Still, in her personal life, she's spending plenty of time with a very-engaged Logan and ends up being pregnant after one night out with the Life and Death Brigade.

At the end of the movie, Lorelei and Rory sit in the gazebo and the last four words are Rory saying, "Mom," Lorelei saying "Yeah," and Rory saying "I'm pregnant." I know, it's a huge doozy, and it ends the series on a big cliffhanger.

Alexis Bledel also explained more about how she personal was feeling about the revival series while shooting it, noting that she was so overly surprised about what happened she's still having trouble talking about it.

Those final, 90-minute episodes of Gilmore Girls cleared some things up (e.g. Lorelei and Luke finally tie the knot) but they certainly leave a lot of other plots open to interpretation. With that in mind, a lot of people have wondered if there will be more episodes. So far, the creative team has neither confirmed or denied more episodes, although getting the cast back together to film would be really hard.

While we wait to hear more, new episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon air on weeknights on NBC. If you'd like to keep an eye on what Netflix has coming in the new year, check out our premiere calendar.

Revivals, reboots and remakes have been extremely trendy on television in recent years. If a show has a lasting audience, there’s a good chance a network or streaming service is at least interested in pursuing new episodes. Not all of those projects ever make it to fruition, honestly, but there are several lucky former TV shows that are making their way back to the small screen, including the WB’s former series Gilmore Girls, which is coming back for a revival or shortened eighth season, depending on how you’d like to think about it. If you’ve been anxiously awaiting any news about the upcoming revival series, have no fear, we’ve compiled a handy guide relating everything we know about the return of Gilmore Girls, including who’s in and who’s out. In addition, we plan to update this puppy as time goes on and more Gilmore Girls secrets are revealed. So, stay tuned, and check out what we know, below.

When Will It Premiere?

Recently the network revealed that Gilmore Girls would be subtitled A Year In The Life. The show will finally hit the schedule on November 25, 2016 at the usual 12:01 a.m. PT. Filming began on the drama way back in early February on the Warner Bros. lot. Netflix has also revealed a plan to produce more than double the originals it currently has in 2016, which is probably why the revival got off of the ground pretty quickly. You can check out more Netflix premiere dates here.

Prior to the series hitting the schedule, some outlets have posted reviews of the series. Most have been fairly positive, although not overwhelmingly so. If you'd like to check out reviews, head here.

How Many Episodes Are Fans Getting?

Fans are only getting four brand new episodes of Gilmore Girls, which I know doesn’t sound like the best news ever. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, each of the four episodes will not be your average network TV episode in length. Instead, they’ll each be 90 minutes long, making them closer to two regular episodes of the original series in length. Each of the four episodes will represent one season in a year. Which means there will be a “Winter”, “Spring”, “Summer” and “Fall” episode, currently listed in that order.

The even better news? The creative team initially wanted to air each of these episodes separately; however, Netflix recently revealed that Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Live would be available for binge-watching. Apparently, the company was worried stagnating the episodes might annoy some viewers who were used to the normal model.

How Did It Come Together?

Some time ago, the interwebs began buzzing that Gilmore Girls could eventually get a revival of sorts. Then, Paleyfest actually got a good chunk of the cast to reunite to talk about fond memories from the time when they were shooting the network TV series. During that panel, showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino said nothing was in the works officially, but other cast members had expressed interest in some sort of onscreen reunion. A few short months later and the rumor mill seemed to indicate Gilmore Girls could come back. Eventually, that led to Netflix’s official Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life announcement. The rest is history.

What Have We Seen So Far?

A full trailer was finally released for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, and it certainly harkens back to the original iteration of the show. It also features some interesting cameos and kind-of updates us on everyone's lives. Take a look, below.

Oh, see? It's just awesome and funny and just like the Lorelai and Rory of olden days. I can't wait for this to premiere on November 25. I might just watch it more than once.

The Cast: Lauren Graham’s Lorelei Gilmore

Obviously, there could be no Gilmore Girls without Lorelei Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham. Graham conveniently just ended a run on NBC’s Parenthood last winter. She’s popped up in a few things since then, but her schedule was open enough to allow her to come back for Netflix’s Gilmore Girls.

We currently don’t know much about what to expect from Lorelei during the Gilmore Girls revival, but as the series left things uncertain between herself and Luke, expect that to be addressed. In addition, Lauren Graham has been very open about how emotional returning to the set has been. She even gushed about “The House” being recreated for the drama.

Sidenote: There's almost no chance Paul Anka is around a decade later, right? (Update: In the shocker of the week, Paul Anka will definitely be back.)

The Cast: Alexis Bledel’s Rory Gilmore

Gilmore Girls was always a story about a mother-daughter relationship, and Rory Gilmore is just as key to the drama as Lorelei is. Alexis Bledel is also going to be back for Season 8, and she’ll probably be one of the most-changed characters, considering there is a huge difference between the time when a person is just finishing college and getting her career off of the ground and being in her mid-thirties and hopefully having a few more things figured out.

After Gilmore Girls ended way back in 2007—yes it was that long ago—Alexis Bledel has had some work in the movies and briefly appeared in TV stuff like Mad Men and Motive, but she hasn’t been in a ton of projects, TV or otherwise. In fact, her big TV comeback, Us & Them, was cancelled before it even hit the airwaves. Suffice to say, we’re happy to see her back on the small screen.

Scott Patterson’s Luke

Scott Patterson was one of the original cast members to support a potential comeback for Gilmore Girls, so it’s no shock he will be back for Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life. His character, Luke Danes, was another big key component on the original show and his on-again, off-again romance with Lorelei was one of the reasons people watched. We know that a new version of Luke’s diner has been built already, so presumably, not a lot has changed in Luke’s life over the years. We’ll let you know as soon as we learn anything more.

Team Logan, Team Dean or Team Jess?

As Luke proved, romance was certainly an important part of Gilmore Girls. While Lorelei swapped off between Luke, her ex Christopher, and a slew of other gentleman suitors to keep our attention, over in Rory’s world, she had three main love interests: Dean Forester, Jess Mariano and Logan Huntzberger. Over time, each of these three generally attractive young men showed both pros and cons, and each were ultimately dumped by young Rory so she could go pursue her career. (You go you, girl!)

The thing is, now Rory is nearly 10 years older and 10 years wiser, and we’re just going to go ahead and presume she hasn’t found the love of her life at this juncture. Luckily, we do already know that Jared Padalecki, Milo Ventimiglia and Matt Czuchry have all made time to at least cameo in the new episodes, although details are mum about when or for how long they will appear. So pull out your team whoever t-shirts, as it's good news each of the actors will at least be able to show up.

Matt Czuchry’s Logan

Logan was Rory’s serious college boyfriend. An overprivileged and whip-smart playboy, Logan wasn’t really a satisfying boyfriend when the two first started dating, but he could be charming and he was far more dazzling than Rory’s high school beaus. Later in the series, he did seem to buckle down and want to stick it out with Rory, even proposing to her. Unfortunately, it was just as she began to want to spread her wings and fly off into her own career.

In the time since Gilmore Girls ended, Matt Czuchry has had plenty of other work, most notably on CBS’ The Good Wife, where he has been for the past seven seasons. The show is ending this spring, and Czuchry was able to work Gilmore Girls in.

Jared Padalecki’s Dean

Obviously, Dean was Rory’s first real love interest, although not her first sort-of flirtation. Dean was a pretty staunch guy and even refurbished a car for Rory when they were together, but later he scorned her, got married young and then subsequently cheated on his wife with Rory, whom he clearly wasn’t over. Ten years later, I’m assuming he’s back to being a steadier personality, and it was great that Jared Padalecki could find time between shooting Supernatural Season 11 episodes on the CW to pop in.

Milo Ventimiglia’s Jess

Rory dated Jess while she was still in high school, despite the fact her mother disapproved of the match. He was scornful and pretty angry when they were together, thanks to having an unstable home life, but Rory really did seem to bring out the best in him. The two characters even got some closure later in the series when Rory went to visit him at his new publishing job. We haven’t seen him in a while, but a lot of people who love Jess are probably hoping he has continued his path into adulthood with aplomb. We have no idea if he’ll appear in multiple episodes, but we are happy he found time to appear.

Kelly Bishop’s Emily Gilmore

Kelly Bishop was in both Gilmore Girls and Bunheads, but she’s obviously more notable for her character on the former. When last we left Emily Gilmore, she was living happily with her husband, Richard, and things were going okay in her relationship with her daughter and granddaughter. Obviously, with the actor who played Richard, Edward Herrmann, passing away, things are going to be different with Emily when the show picks up. The actress has called her character in A Year In The Life a little “manic” and “desperate to push through” her grief related to her late husband. It sounds a little bit similar to when Richard’s mom, Trix died, and Emily found that letter noting Trix had never wanted Richard to marry her. Only this should be more connected to grief than regret and hurt feelings, and should be all the more raw for it.

On the bright side, this may have a good effect on Lorelei and Emily's relationship. The two have struggled throughout the years to get on the same page, but recently, Lauren Graham mentioned that some "healing would be happening between the two characters.

We can't wait to see how this particular plotline pans out!

Which Other Cast Members Will Be Back?

In addition to Lorelei, Rory, Luke, Dean, Jess, Logan and, of course, matriarch Emily Gilmore, a slew of other fun names have been added to Gilmore Girls Season 8. That includes Sean Gunn, who played Kirk during the show’s original run and who was one of the first actors who was listed as coming back. Keiko Agena, who played Rory’s friend Lane, will also be around for A Year In The Life, as will Yanic Truesdale’s Michel, who worked at the Dragonfly Inn. Liza Weil, who has a gig on How To Get Away With Murder, will also be back. The trailer also revealed that Carole King is going to be involved in the new iteration. Go ahead, get a little excited!

This brings us to Melissa McCarthy, who played Sookie on the original series. The actress broke big after her role on Gilmore Girls ended, and initially was saying that she wasn’t even asked to return for Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life, although the creative team for the Netflix series isn’t saying that’s the case. Alls well that ends well, however. The team eventually worked out a way to have her pop onto the set to film a scene, and McCarthy seems stoked to be back for the revival. More recent reports have indicated that McCarthy filmed one substantial, 10-page scene.

We’re obviously presuming some unconfirmed names will still be around Stars Hollow, too, but there are some originals who will not be back. That includes Scott Cohen and Wayne Wilcox, who played romantic interests for both Lorelei and Rory on the original show.

Are There Any New Cast Members?

Yes! I’m sure we’ll see several new faces when the show eventually hits the airwaves. However, there has been one big casting for Gilmore Girls. The first non-original cast member to be signed on to the revival is none other than Sutton Foster, who currently stars in TV Land’s Younger and formerly starred in the other quirky series from Amy Sherman Palladino, Bunheads. There’s no word on how she’ll fit into the Gilmore Girls universe, but we’ll keep you posted as soon as we know.

More recently, former Scandal actor Dan Bucatinsky also admitted he will be a part of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life on Netflix. More info here.

How Will Gilmore Girls Address Edward Herrmann’s Death?

As we noted prior in this article, Edward Herrmann died just after the Christmas holiday in 2014. He was only 71. Obviously, his death was devastating for fans, and instead of trying to recast, Gilmore Girls does have plans to pay tribute to the actor by dealing with his character’s death on the TV series.

A few months ago, we learned the show would address Richard Gilmore’s passing in order to write in a reason for Edward Herrmann’s absence. Early on, the show will be a little bit about mortality and grief, and obviously Emily will be hit the hardest by the loss of her husband.

Where Will Gilmore Girls Season 8 Be Set?

We are definitely heading back to Stars Hollow, Connecticut the fictional location where much of Gilmore Girls was set before Rory went off to Yale. Leaked set photos have revealed locations being built on the Warner Bros. lot, including Miss Patty’s Dance Studio and more!

Where Did Gilmore Girls Leave Off?

When last we saw the Gilmore Girls cast, the town of Stars Hollow was very much up to its usual meetings and the like, planning a going away party for Rory, who had just accepted a job on Barack Obama’s campaign trail after graduating from Yale. Logan had proposed to her, but she had turned him down, deciding to put her career first. Although she ended up losing a valuable internship, she ended up gaining a job, so it all worked out. Lorelei was still in Stars Hollow, running the Dragonfly Inn, although she promised to still see her mother Emily on Fridays for dinner. Although Lorelai’s brief marriage to Christopher did not work out, she seemed to finally be reconciling with Luke during the last episode of the series, and things seemed as if they might work out. Lane had become a mom of twins and got to say goodbye to Rory along with the rest of the town before she left. Everything wrapped up at the end of Season 7, although I wouldn't say neatly, and the Netflix series should have plenty of directions to go in when it does eventually return. It should be a blast.

Do We Know Any Other Juicy Tidbits?

Yes! While the cast and crew have been pretty tight-lipped about where the plot is going during A Year in the Life, new images from the set show that Rory seems to be back in Stars Hollow, possibly for good. There's the awesome photo above, which shows her teaching English literature at Chilton, a fitting position for the young lady if there ever was one. Other new images have shown Luke and Lorelei holding hands and attending town hall meetings together. While some things have changed, others haven't, at all.

Are There Any Other Juicy Tidbits?

Yes, absolutely. Amy Sherman-Palladino has been talking a lot about the revival over the past few months and she recently revealed she was less familiar with Season 7 than you might guess. (She didn't work on that season over at the CW.) Why is this so important for the revival. Well, the show creator says that while she tried to stick with canon, she did make at least one big change that she thinks fans might notice when we watch. Although she's not expressly saying what that change is, we do know to keep our eyes peeled for an Easter egg when Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life hits the schedule.

Over the last several months, we've heard a lot about what to expect from the Gilmore Girls revival, subtitled A Year in The Life. While we've known for a while that all of Rory's main squeezes will be returning, what parts they will play in the new series has been a little more unclear. However, this week Alexis Bledel accidentally told us exactly how much former beau Dean, who is played by Jared Padalecki, will be on the series. In fact, it's not much at all. Here's what she had to say in a recent interview:

One scene! Jared Padalecki has only been credited for one episode of Gilmore Girls' unofficial eighth season on sites like IMDB, so many people have known for a while that his role would be limited in the four-episode series. Regardless, since every episode is 90-minutes long, it's still news that he's only popping in for one scene---at least with Rory. Clearly Alexis Bledel didn't mean to tell US Weekly the scoop, but now it's out there, and we know Dean will only have a minor role.

It makes sense that Jared Padalecki would only be in one episode. He's a busy actor who stars in Supernatural over on the CW and because Supernatural produces a whopping 23 episodes every season, he doesn't have a ton of downtime. In addition, Rory and Dean have really been over for a long time. Their relationship was budding in high school, but after Dean cheated on his wife with Rory while she was in college, it definitely complicated things. It would be hard to start afresh after that sort of sticky situation, and it looks as if Gilmore Girls won't really be trying.

If you've been sleuthing on the Internet, you may already know that Milo Ventimiglia---who is also super busy filming This Is Us for NBC---is reportedly going to be in three episodes of Gilmore Girls, according to his IMDB resume. He played Luke's nephew and Rory's suitor Jess during the show's original run. Not to be beaten, Matt Czuchry is currently listed for all four episodes of Gilmore Girls: A Year in The Life, and he was the closest to actually marrying Rory during the show's original run, even proposing to her just as she was graduating--although he now says she was right to say no. Obviously, IMDB is not always exact, but it does make us interested to see what plotlines Gilmore Girls has hatched for Logan and Jess.

Last week, show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino spoke out about the upcoming revival, telling fans to stop being so obsessed about the boys in Rory's life. After all, Rory's always been more career-focused than she has been relationship focused, and there's always a good chance that her future does not involve Logan, Jess or Dean.

You can find out for yourself when the Gilmore Girls revival hits the schedule on November 25 at 12:01 a.m. PT, only on Netflix. To see what Netflix has coming up at the end of the year, head here. In addition, our full what we know guide should keep you up-to-date regarding what is coming in Netflix's unofficial Season 8.

By now, most people realize that TV actors who have regular gigs on popular shows make a lot of money. Really, a LOT of money. As in, these guys make more money for just one episode of TV than a significant number of us regular slobs could make in a whole year. Well, now we might know what streaming service Netflix pays some of its top talent.

A new survey from Variety has estimated the salaries for the top talent in TV right now, and those numbers include the estimated earnings for a number of big names involved in Netflix projects. And, it looks like the streaming service is sparing no expense to make the stars of its original series feel wanted. Take a look at the numbers for some of their top actors, and keep in mind that these are all per episode figures.

Wow, those are some impressive numbers. And, it would be fair to say that some of these paydays are really surprising. The estimates, which have not been confirmed by Netflix or any of the actors on the list, come from a survey that Variety did of various industry professionals who are in the know about what top TV talent gets paid nowadays, including actors, executives, attorneys, agents, managers and others who represent actors. All the numbers are for current seasons of television shows, meaning that, in many cases, the first season shows haven't even hit the streaming service yet, and some of these numbers include backend fees that the stars get paid for things like profit participation for their show. None of these numbers, though, include money earned from side business ventures like licensing, merchandising or spokesperson deals.

Well, the first thing I can say about this list is damn, Netflix was serious about getting Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel back on board for Gilmore Girls. They each netted a very healthy sum for returning to their roles as Lorelai and Rory Gilmore in the rebooted series, and I think many people would be surprised to see that they each probably made more money per episode than Kevin Spacey did in the current season for his critically lauded lead role on House of Cards.

Emma Stone and Jonah Hill are very much current movie stars, so it's no surprise that they each got an estimated $350,000 per episode for their new Netflix show Maniac. But, it might shock some people to know that Drew Barrymore, who hasn't exactly been at the top of her movie making game lately, netted so much more than Naomi Watts for the per episode earning in their respective shows, especially considering that Watts has two Oscar nominations to her name.

The biggest shock here, by far, though, would have to be the realization that Joel Kinnaman, who starred the Netflix show The Killing and was most recently seen in Suicide Squad is making the same as those big movie stars for Altered Carbon. Kinnaman only has one big movie to his name right now, and, even though he was a co-lead on The Killing, he wasn't the main focus of that series, so he's never really had his own show. Apparently, Netflix has some major faith in his ability to help pull in viewers for his new series, or they wouldn't have even considered giving him such a payday.

Well, what do you think of the list? Does it seem like everyone is getting paid the right amount of money to you, or are you convinced that someone should be getting more (or less)? Let us know in the comments below.

Ever since we found out that all of Rory's former boyfriends will be appearing in the Netflix reboot, every Gilmore Girls fan under the sun has been wondering if she's destined to get back together with one of them. Now, thanks to Alexis Bledel, we have a hint as to what's going to happen. It looks like, at the very least, fans will be treated to some closure with each of those past relationships.

Well, color me intrigued. It sounds like whether you're Team Dean, Team Jess or Team Logan, you will be treated to some fine Rory-and-her-former-boyfriend scenes. With the exception of Logan, Rory's last interactions with her former loves each went, well, if not easily, then at least not totally adversarial. She parted from Dean and Jess in a way that suggests that they would be able to either stay friends, or at least be friendly whenever they ran into each other. Her situation with Logan was different, of course, since the last thing we saw her do was refuse his marriage proposal so she could follow Obama on the campaign trail as a reporter. I bet any interactions she may have had with him over the past eight years were probably a bit chilly.

So, we're going to get closure, and that's great and all, but what kind of closure are we looking at for Jess, Dean and Logan here? If Alexis Bledel's words to Us Weekly are accurate, and I can only assume they are, then each guy is getting something different, which makes total sense, seeing as how each relationship was very different.

Rory and her first love Dean started off as the perfect young couple. Sure, she was way smarter and more ambitious than him, but they adored each other, despite her grandparents feeling that he could never be good enough for her. The relationship went pretty well, until bad boy Jess comes into town and manages to steal Rory's heart away. Jess is smart enough to really tango with Rory intellectually, but he's too troubled for their relationship to be anything but tumultuous. After some time apart, though, they manage to become friends once Jess begins to get his life together. She and Dean find their way back to each other in the worst way, and he eventually leaves her when he realizes they've grown too far apart.

Rory and Logan's relationship was marred by the fact that she was on the outs with her mom Lorelai for a significant portion of it, even though Logan was, for a time, her grandparents' dream come true for her. He introduced Rory to the life of privileged rich kids she'd never really known well, and led her in many directions that Lorelai hated. After a very adult college relationship, though, they parted with that proposal denial I mentioned above.

Alexis Bledel makes it sound like we can expect some very different moments for Rory and each of her former boyfriends, but it doesn't exactly sound like she's going to be getting back together with any of them. Her use of the word "closure" does make it sound like each of these relationships is a former chapter in her life that can't, or won't, anyway, be relived. And, maybe that's for the best. Many fans who really examine these relationships usually feel like a man who combines the best traits of all the guys is really best for Rory. Now that she's a career woman in her thirties, maybe she can finally settle down enough to find exactly that.

TV roles come and go, sometimes leading to other big opportunities for the actors and actresses that star in the show. The entertainment business can be fickle, however, and sometimes big names have trouble finding new TV gigs once a major series has ended its run. Other times these actors will pop up in a multitude of shows without landing another memorable or lengthy gig. So, we've scoured the internet, avoiding actors and actresses who have managed to land another big TV role and put together a list of actors who we feel should be on another TV show, like as soon as possible. Without further ado, here are 12 former TV actors and actresses who deserve another shot on television.

Ioan Gruffudd

Ioan Gruffudd hasn’t been traditionally known as a TV actor, but that all changed when the actor starred in ABC’s Forever during the 2014-2015 TV season. The role gained the British actor plenty of female fans and many thought the show would be renewed. While the cancellation was a huge letdown for Forever’s niche fanbase, it proved Gruffudd is a charming leading man. Someone find him another gig, quick!

Patricia Richardson

Patricia Richardson has popped up in a slew of made-for-TV movies in recent years, but the former Home Improvement mother hasn’t landed a hefty TV gig since she appeared in nine episodes of The West Wing back in 2006—and that’s not even a starring role. Richardson is one of the most likable wives in the history of sitcoms. She also has really good emotional depth, in addition to her comedic timing, as seen during later, more serious seasons of Home Improvement. Tim Allen’s earned another life on television, and Richardson should, too.

Rutina Wesley

Fresh off her stint on True Blood, Rutina Wesley landed gigs on NBC’s Hannibal and the pilot Broad Squad. Unfortunately, Hannibal is cancelled and Broad Squad was passed over by ABC, leaving Wesley back at square one. If anyone deserves a leading role in the TV series, it’s the unforgettable Wesley, who brought plenty of pizzazz to the role of the stubborn and strong Tara on True Blood. While we’re at it, can someone give Nelsan Ellis his own TV series, as well?

John Cho

John Cho is one of the most likeable actors in Hollywood, and because of this skill set, he’s been given several opportunities to play a leading man on TV, including in FlashForward and Selfie. Unfortunately, none of those opportunities worked out in Cho’s favor. Still, the likeable actor deserves another bat at starring in a TV series. With the right project, we’re confident he’ll stick around for years and years to come.

Patrick Warburton

Patrick Warburton is mostly known for bit parts and side roles in a slew of programming, but he was the lead in The Tick way back in the early 2000s. By 2007, he’d traded up and joined the cast of Rules of Engagement. However, he hasn’t had a big role on TV since (unless we’re counting Family Guy). It’s high time Warburton landed back on television. Catching him during the Soarin’ over California pre-show is just NOT enough.

Tim Meadows

Another man with a long and storied TV career, Tim Meadows has just never managed to land a gig on a TV series with longevity. Still, he’s popped up in a ton of series recently, including playing Kevin 1 in Marry Me, as well as voicing Mike in Bob’s Burgers, and small roles in The Goldbergs and Suburgatory. But if anyone with a dry sense of humor deserves to be on TV in a regular role, it’s Tim Meadows.

Alexis Bledel

Alexis Bledel was great as Rory Gilmore on the WB’s long-running series Gilmore Girls. She wooed us with her poise and charm, and her ability to get audiences to like a teenaged character going through growing pains. Unfortunately, Bledel’s movie career fell a little short after Gilmore Girls ended, and a shot at a comedy series didn’t end up panning out. The best TV bet? Let’s team her up with Amy Sherman-Palladino for another series. Or better yet, let’s get on that Gilmore Girls reunion the cast has talked about.

Tim Roth

Tim Roth has a pretty incredible pedigree, having appeared in prestigious flicks like Selma and Reservoir Dogs. However, we learned he could be a leading man on TV when he starred in Lie To Me and basically played a human lie detector. It may not have been the best use of his skill sets, but prestige TV practically screams the actor. He’s a busy man and mostly works in the movies, but fans would no doubt be pleased to see him back on television, again.

Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr has been in plenty of reality TV shows in recent years, but it strikes us as strange that the popular nineties sitcom actress and writer never gave another comedy series a chance. There are so many outlets for comedians out there right now, and even if Barr wasn’t interested in playing the network game any longer, I could totally see her playing the lead in an oddball FX or IFC series. If the dream ever becomes a reality, remember you heard it here first.

Minka Kelly

Minka Kelly was an it-girl for a hot minute, appearing in shows like Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, as well as movies like Just Go With It. The success at those activities led to roles in Charlie’s Angels and Almost Human, but just like John Cho’s projects, those didn’t stick. Kelly deserves to be more than celebrity arm candy, and we hope her next TV role works out.

Benjamin Bratt

Benjamin Bratt is another dude on this list with a long and storied TV career. We’ve even seen him fairly recently, thanks to a stint on 24:Live Another Day. But the actor has probably been most known for playing Manny’s usually absentee father on Modern Family, and that, my friends, is something we need to rectify. There has to be a procedural being written somewhere that is the perfect fit for the leading man.

Lacey Chabert

Remember when young Lacey Chabert became famous for playing young Claudia Salinger on the hit series Party of Five? And then remember when she starred in Mean Girls and all the other mean girls went on to have movie careers? Ms. Chabert, on the one hand, has done some voicework for TV, but she really deserves another shot at a TV show.

Fox has made quite an impression over the years by cancelling beloved series against the wishes of millions, but they usually give those series time to attract an audience before dropping the axe. That’s sadly not the case for the long-troubled romantic comedy Us & Them, which has already been pulled from their schedule without having aired a single one of its six produced episodes. Gilmore Girls fans will have to wait just a while longer for Alexis Bledel to return to TV.

According to TV Line’s sources, Fox will officially put Us & Them out of its misery by shelving it altogether. An Americanized reworking of the smart British comedy Gavin & Stacey, Us & Them starred Bledel as Stacey, who meets Gavin (Jason Ritter) through online dating, but the bigger relationship is between their completely opposite families. Those family members were made up of a stellar supporting cast, which included Michael Ian Black, Jane Kaczmarek, Ashlie Atkinson, Kerri Kenney and Kurt Fuller. To give credit where it’s due, the project was co-written and executive produced by the original series’ co-creators/stars James Corden and Ruth Jones.

This is just the latest and most damning in a line of confidence-destroying moves from Fox, which originally ordered 13 Us & Them episodes with the pilot, but production was halted halfway through for script work, and it just never went back into production at all. Still, Fox said at the time that they planned on airing the completed episodes, but I guess they have better things to fill their schedule with. This wasn’t even the first time Us & Them had problems; ABC and NBC had already gone through failed adaptations in previous years. Is this some kind of a TV white whale?

Some other network could feasibly step in and air the existing episodes, in the hopes of drawing an audience for more in the future, but the material would have to be pretty strong to convince anyone to do that. Fox was apparently skittish about the series’ tone, though I’m unsure how complex a tone a network romantic comedy can produce. Check out a behind-the-scenes look at Us & Them for a good idea of what might have been.

I’m guessing it won’t be long until Fox starts cancelling series in the middle of their announcement press releases.

When a popular book is about to become a movie, invested fans want to see the absolute most perfect actors cast in the roles of their favorite characters. So it's no surprise that fans would be particularly vocal about the recent casting news for the feature adaptation of E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey. The books have continued to grow in popularity since the first one was published in 2011, and with the movie on the way, fans are eager to see the story brought to life on the big screen. But many of those fans aren't so thrilled with the casting choices for lead characters Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. Ben and Kate's Dakota Johnson has signed on to play Ana, while Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam will play the wealthy businessman Christian.

Fifty Shades fans have taken to the internet to complain about the casting of these two actors, even going as far as to start a petition (Via CBS News) filled with lots of caps locked words demanding White Collar's Matt Bomer and Gilmore Girls' Alexis Bledel play the leads.

The petition hit the 2,000 signature mark on September 2, the day the casting news broke, and has since increased to almost twenty-thousand signatures. But will it make a difference? It seems unlikely. And to reinforce that theory, we have these tweets from producer Dana Brunetti:

Brunetti makes valid points. As much as fans want to dream-cast their most anticipated movies, when it comes down to it, actors are people with schedules and their own preferences for what roles they're willing and interested to play.

In terms of the preference for Bomer and Bledel, I'll admit, on looks, they would make a very pretty couple and it's not hard to picture them in the lead roles. With that said, even if they were available and interested in playing the roles -- I've seen no confirmation on that for either actor -- we don't even know if they would have had the screen chemistry with one another to pull it off. While readers may have an easy time picturing their faces in the the roles of Christian and Ana, there's no way to know if they'd actually click on screen, and it seems like that should be as high a priority as their looks are, if not higher, given the nature of the story.

It's been reported that Hunnam and Johnson did a "chemistry" test so they could confirm that the two worked well together on screen. With that in mind, it seems evident that the producers are looking to capture the same chemistry and romance that gelled in the book. We'll find out if they're right when the film hits theaters August 1, 2014.

From the first shot of this first trailer for Geoffrey Fletcher's Violet & Daisy, which features James Gandolfini framed in a cross-hair and voice-over by Alexis Bledel, I knew we were in for something visually interesting, but I did not see things going off the handle like they did in the last half. What's up with the flight attendants dancing in the wreckage? Where is the silhouetted woman standing when that fleet of planes flies over head? This certainly doesn't look like your run of the mill teenage girl assassin thriller.

We've been following the development of this film since September of 2010, so you know it's taken the long path to a theatrical release. Violet & Daisy actually premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival back in 2011, but spent all of last year touring around other international festivals. Now, however, the movie has been picked up by Cinedigm Entertainment Group, who have given it a June 7th release date. This puts it against Shawn Levy's The Internship and smaller summer releases like Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing and The Purge, but is only one weekend away from Man of Steel and This Is the End. So if it's going to make any money, it needs to do it in its first couple of days in theaters.

In addition to the trailer, Yahoo! has also released a new poster for the movie, which you can see below.

Violet & Daisy stars Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan as the titular characters, two expert teenage assassins who find themselves in trouble when they go after an abnormal target (James Gandolfini). The film is Fletcher's directorial debut, though you may know him as the Oscar winning writer of Lee Daniels' Precious.

It may be a match made in Mad Men hell, but Alexis Bledel and Vincent Kartheiser have gotten engaged. The couple met on the set of AMC’s hit drama, where they shared a tryst before Bledel’s character, Beth, became even more depressed than she was to begin with and opted to get some electroshock treatment. Talk about a mood killer. Still, the two made it from doomed onscreen couple to extremely happy real life couple, which will be a funny story to tell the grandkids years from now.

The couple’s rep confirmed the big news on Wednesday to US Weekly, with the outlet noting the two officially announced they were dating in June but originally got together several months prior to that. Things seem to have worked out well for the couple, and Bledel has apparently earned a “huge” ring out of the deal.

While both Bledel and Kartheiser have been linked to some heavy hitters in the past, this will be the first marriage for both the 31-year-old actress and the 33-year-old actor. Prior to linking up on the set of Mad Men, Bledel had a long-term relationship with another actor she shared small screen time with on Gilmore Girls, co-star Milo Ventimiglia, who she dated for three years. Kartheiser has also dated actress Rachel Leigh Cook.

Pop Blend would like to wish the couple the very best as they delve into wedding planning and all the big decisions that need to be made when two households become one.

Believe it or not, Alexis Bledel is 29 years old as of September 16, and yet the Gilmore Girls star looks like she'll be getting consistent work playing a teenager until her mid-40s. The latest role to come her way is opposite Saoirse Ronan in Violet and Daisy, in which we're assuming Bledel will play a fellow teenage hitgirl on a mission that seemed easy but gets extremely complicated. Variety doesn't specify which role Bledel will play, but with shooting starting next week in New York, odds are she's snagged that second lead.

James Gandolfini is also starring in the film, presumably as yet another spin on the Tony Soprano gangster figure, with Precious writer (and Oscar winner) Geoffrey Fletcher writing and directing. After hitting what was to be career rock bottom with the intolerable comedy Post Grad, Bledel has been popping up all kinds of unexpected places, from a small role in Robert Redford's The Conspirator (which debuted in Toronto and is coming at some point next year) and now as a teen assassin. I've never exactly bought her as a especially talented actress, much as I may like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, but good on her for keeping that teen dream alive even as she pushes 30. We should all be so lucky to stay young forever.

Life after college isn’t easy, and in Alexis Bledel’s case, life after Gilmore Girls isn’t great either. See what happens when she steps out of Rory Gilmore’s shadow and leaves her "traveling pants" behind when Fox Home Entertainment releases Post Grad on DVD and Blu-ray January 12th, 2010.

Bledel plays Ryden Malby, a spirited college grad thrown into the reality of joblessness and disappointment. After losing her dream job to her archrival, Ryden is forced to move back in with her parents. With her best friend Adam (Zach Gilford) by her side, she’s got to devise a new path to achieving her dream of becoming an editor at a renowned publishing company.

There’s no way to ignore Post Grad’s monumental failure amongst the critics and at the box office. You don’t want to go wasting your money on a poor film, but in the light of the current job market, there might be a dejected college grad who can find some solace in a movie like this. If Ryden’s story doesn’t do it for them, they can always revel in the fact that Bledel, an established actress, is having a rough time, too.

These jobless 20-somethings aren’t going to be dropping the cash for this one themselves, so it looks like the $29.98 for the DVD or the $39.99 for the Blu-ray will have to come from the goodness of your heart. Both come with a whopping eight featurettes, deleted and alternate scenes, and Gilford’s “One Day” music video. Check out the full list of extras below:

• Real Life Advice with Alexis Bledel and Zach Gilford
• Know Your Strengths: Career Advice
• How Not To Get A Job
• A Guide To Moving Back Home
• Dress For Success
• Find Your Match! The Best Job For You
• What Not To Wear
• Post Grad Confidential
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes
• Zach Gilford's "One Day" Music Video