Speaker 1: I Am all In.
Speaker 2: Fowles you.
Speaker 3: I Am all in with Scott Patterson an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 4: Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am all In Podcast one
Speaker 4: alone Productions, iHeartMedia, iHeartRadio, iHeart Podcast. I Am all In
Speaker 4: Again begins now, Season one, Episode one, the pilot Air
Speaker 4: date October fifth, two thousand. This is the Amy Sherman
Speaker 4: Palladino written, Leslie Lincoln Gladder directed, and I am joined
Speaker 4: by none other than the very woman who stole this episode.
Speaker 1: Emily Carota played missus Kim.
Speaker 5: iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 1: Listen on the iHeart Radio app. Thanks for joining us
Speaker 1: and welcome.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Scott. Good to be here. Nice to revisit this.
Speaker 1: It is right. Yeah, So I watched the pilot again
Speaker 1: last night. It's maybe the third time I've seen it.
Speaker 1: You know what I noticed about it, other than it
Speaker 1: being incredibly perfect every way, it had a little bit
Speaker 1: of a slower pace, didn't it. It breathed a little
Speaker 1: bit more than you know, the episodes. As we went
Speaker 1: on in those seasons, everything got faster and faster and faster.
Speaker 1: This seemed to breathe a little bit and it again,
Speaker 1: it's kind of felt like a film to me, really
Speaker 1: great camera angles, terrific pacing, and it got fast when
Speaker 1: it needed to get fast. Yeah, one thing I noticed, Well,
Speaker 1: what did you notice about it?
Speaker 2: I agree with you.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, I was wondering maybe that that
Speaker 3: had something to do with it being picked up by
Speaker 3: Warner Brothers, because, you know, because we did take our
Speaker 3: time in developing the characters and the audience would know
Speaker 3: who we are and and I don't know, Yeah, I
Speaker 3: like that pace.
Speaker 2: Actually it got crazy after a while.
Speaker 1: It did, right, It seemed everything seemed to speed up,
Speaker 1: and I think for the benefit of the audience. But
Speaker 1: this particular episode, this is my favorite episode of the
Speaker 1: entire library of Gilmour episodes. Obviously, it's just so perfectly
Speaker 1: crafted and Lauren just cuts through this thing beautifully. It
Speaker 1: really was, you know, the coming out party for an
Speaker 1: emergent star. Yeah, because she just handled everything with such
Speaker 1: finesse and ease, and you know, hard to fall in
Speaker 1: love with her in that role in that in that episode,
Speaker 1: just a terrific coming out party for a lot of people,
Speaker 1: but I think especially for her. And I thought I
Speaker 1: thought you in particular stole the show. And the one
Speaker 1: thing that almost made me fall out of the couch.
Speaker 1: I will say now at this early juncture was when
Speaker 1: you when you told Rory, boys don't like funny girls.
Speaker 5: Oh god, all right, So anyway, so we uh, we
Speaker 5: begin with this great camera shot of Lauren walking down
Speaker 5: the street and into the diner with.
Speaker 1: That wonderful song, and we start off with a bang,
Speaker 1: her begging for a cup of coffee, and Joey arrives.
Speaker 3: Amy Brooke a lot of conventions, you know, because she
Speaker 3: was doing a yeah. So I really appreciated it.
Speaker 1: Very funny lines, Oh so soon, and she's sixteen by
Speaker 1: you know, take a hike. And I loved how that
Speaker 1: relationship began with mother and daughter where it was a
Speaker 1: little bit you know, Rory was being a little bit
Speaker 1: rebellious and she was quippy with her mother about having
Speaker 1: so much makeup. And and of course we have the
Speaker 1: Luke Lorelei moments where we can't really read Luke very well.
Speaker 1: He seems to be obviously hiding some feelings or he
Speaker 1: really feels like this woman is annoying. And I remember
Speaker 1: seeing it the first time going ooh, you know, and
Speaker 1: I don't like watching my own work. I don't know
Speaker 1: how you feel about.
Speaker 2: Watching I'm with you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, do you really you just despise it? Yeah? Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: It makes me very uncomfortable. And when I saw this
Speaker 1: the first time, I I was like, ooh, I overplayed
Speaker 1: this and he's he's a little too edgy right there.
Speaker 1: But it kind of worked out.
Speaker 2: Oh it was perfect, Scott, Are you kidding?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think it was best. And I remember making
Speaker 1: that choice, like, don't show a thing. In fact, go
Speaker 1: the go the other way with it and take that
Speaker 1: risk because it's gonna pay off, and you know it's
Speaker 1: gave you that journey, right exactly. But anyway, wonderful opening.
Speaker 1: An hour at the end and Michelle's on the phone
Speaker 1: wall flipping through the mail and we're thinking, who's this guy? Right?
Speaker 1: And yeah, like what a great way to introduce all
Speaker 1: of these characters and another another character you just do
Speaker 1: not expect that he's going to be, you know, this
Speaker 1: moody and this negative and this condescending and snobby and
Speaker 1: ill tempered and you just love him right away. How
Speaker 1: does Amy know how to create characters? I know? All right?
Speaker 1: So now we're Rory and Lane, and this is when
Speaker 1: I especially noticed the pace when Rory and Lane were
Speaker 1: walking outside starts hollow and they're walking to school. The
Speaker 1: pace was slower, it was different, it was more relaxed, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: And she explains that they have a date, establishing that
Speaker 1: they're best friends, and that Lane has you know, a
Speaker 1: nightmare mom in how Rory defines things in her terms.
Speaker 1: And she's being set up on a date with the
Speaker 1: doctor and going on a hay ride, which is what's
Speaker 1: wrong with that? And isn't an interesting how young everybody looks.
Speaker 2: It was decades ago.
Speaker 1: It was decades ago. We're pushing we're like into the
Speaker 1: middle of the third decade of being past this thing,
Speaker 1: so I should be surprised. One of the funniest bits
Speaker 1: of the whole thing is Alex Borstein, who was originally
Speaker 1: cast as Suki. She's pushing a harp, a giant harp
Speaker 1: into the fourier, and she's telling people rudely, guests to
Speaker 1: get the heck out of the way, big harp coming through,
Speaker 1: you know. And so Laurlai, this is how we Madrella.
Speaker 1: So Laura I rushes into the kitchen after hearing pots
Speaker 1: and pants crashing. Now, Suki, as originally written, was hell
Speaker 1: bent for leather if you will. She was going to
Speaker 1: injure herself in every single episode. I wonder why. I mean,
Speaker 1: as I recall, she got more coordinated and less a
Speaker 1: danger to herself as the series went on. Right, But
Speaker 1: this was one of the gags right away.
Speaker 2: I loved it.
Speaker 3: And I didn't know whether, you know, Amy, you put
Speaker 3: that in for alex Or because they're friends, right, And
Speaker 3: if they adjusted it for Melissa.
Speaker 2: I don't know, But yeah, I kind of missed it.
Speaker 2: I thought it was hilarious.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought it was hilarious too. It really gave it.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was one of the most clever devices
Speaker 1: I saw on the pilot. Is this poor woman who's
Speaker 1: so gifted, a chef who's who's just gonna and she
Speaker 1: bumps her assistant in the head. Fine, it was like
Speaker 1: watching an episode of The Three Stooges. Almost all right,
Speaker 1: Now we get to where the rubber really meets the road.
Speaker 1: Kim's antiques. All right, So Lane and Rory go into
Speaker 1: your antique store home slash home. You shout from the
Speaker 1: back that everything is half off as the girls try
Speaker 1: to find you in the store. So Rory thanks missus.
Speaker 1: Kim hates her. Lane tells her she doesn't like Laura
Speaker 1: I because she doesn't trust unmarried women. Tell us about
Speaker 1: those scenes that you played with Lauren and what it
Speaker 1: was like.
Speaker 3: You know, it was really weird because we never really
Speaker 3: had to rehearse it.
Speaker 2: It just came naturally.
Speaker 3: Lauren was just so easy to work with and so quick,
Speaker 3: so it just it just happened and we navigated. I mean,
Speaker 3: the set was crazy because they actually had stats and
Speaker 3: stacks of chair that was kind of kind of dangerous
Speaker 3: and paths that we and the cameras on a city camp.
Speaker 3: But we found the little holes to talk through and
Speaker 3: it just Lauren.
Speaker 2: Didn't you think Lauren was just a dream to work with.
Speaker 3: It was like intuitive, yeah, and there was a mutual
Speaker 3: respect well you know me hating her.
Speaker 1: All right, So now you ask the girls how school
Speaker 1: was Roy jokes about a student glowing from pregnant because
Speaker 1: your line was, no girls got pregnant today. You know,
Speaker 1: you've formulated your opinions of American high schools and behavior obviously,
Speaker 1: and that's when you delivered the great line. Can you
Speaker 1: deliver that line for us, please? It's better if you
Speaker 1: do it.
Speaker 2: Okay, boys don't like funny girls. They don't they don't.
Speaker 1: Give me your overall impression of the pilot. Do you
Speaker 1: remember when you first saw it?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, I was so proud to be a part
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2: It was magical. I think she how she could set
Speaker 2: up this the groundwork for the series, you know, with
Speaker 2: each character.
Speaker 3: And like with you, you know, it started off rough, but
Speaker 3: then she planted that seed towards the end of the
Speaker 3: episode where you look good. She planted the seed that
Speaker 3: you know, it's gonna something's going to grow from that.
Speaker 3: And the mother daughter relationships were so powerful. Yeah, so
Speaker 3: it was clearly how much they love each other, which
Speaker 3: is why how much, which is why they hated each
Speaker 3: other so much sometimes, you know, And it was so rich.
Speaker 2: So I was so pleased.
Speaker 3: And I think after seven years, I think there was
Speaker 3: only one recast that we had to do. But Amy's
Speaker 3: intuition about Buddha casts it was brilliant, I think, because
Speaker 3: everybody's instinct seemed to just click with the characters and
Speaker 3: we all work together so well. It was magical, I thought,
Speaker 3: And I think that's why it's lasted so long.
Speaker 1: We Yeah, isn't it such a treat that after almost
Speaker 1: two and a half decades now the show seems to
Speaker 1: be and continues every year to grow and get larger
Speaker 1: and get a new generation of fans as they discovered
Speaker 1: on Netflix and download and binge. It's just an extraordinary experience.
Speaker 1: Did you know? And I'll throw out a little factoid
Speaker 1: that from September two to September eighth, the Nielsen ratings
Speaker 1: came out as they do every week for streaming shows,
Speaker 1: which are downloadable shows. So basically they're talking about all
Speaker 1: the streaming platforms because it's well, anybody does anymore? And
Speaker 1: the number eight show in the world Gilmore Girls, and
Speaker 1: we've been off the air since two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: five hundred and seventy six million viewer minutes in that
Speaker 1: week alone, placing us number eight. And that was the
Speaker 1: real highlight of the headline from the trades is that
Speaker 1: I think Nicole Kidman and Leave Schreiber's the perfect couples
Speaker 1: number one with I don't know one point five or
Speaker 1: six billion viewer minutes. And it's a wonderful ROMP eight
Speaker 1: episode limited series. And it's true. Have you seen it?
Speaker 1: It's Oh, it's wonderful. It's just so beautifully written and
Speaker 1: beautifully acted. But to be on that list continue to
Speaker 1: be in the top ten. It's just it's wild to
Speaker 1: even think about it. So anyway, Yeah, each year that
Speaker 1: goes by, the luckier I feel that I was a
Speaker 1: part of this, and it's just, you know, it's just
Speaker 1: hitting you every single day. Yeah, yeah, we got pretty lucky.
Speaker 1: So lucky. I mean, just think of all the shows
Speaker 1: that you know, I think of all the work I
Speaker 1: did before I got Gilmore Girls and where I could
Speaker 1: have ended up, and the things that I was going
Speaker 1: for and was so disappointed that I didn't get, you know,
Speaker 1: because I was in the running for, oh my god,
Speaker 1: so many things and how a career goes and you know,
Speaker 1: I was it was between me and Michael Madsen for
Speaker 1: Mister Blonde and Reservoir Dogs, and imagine what that could
Speaker 1: have done for a career, right, And it just you know,
Speaker 1: I really believe that you get the thing that you're
Speaker 1: ready for, you know, you really do. And I don't
Speaker 1: think I was ready for that role. I think Madsen
Speaker 1: was the better choice, right, I mean, I was probably
Speaker 1: would have been a good choice, but Madsen is a
Speaker 1: much better choice. He had the resume, he had the experience,
Speaker 1: and he had the look that, you know, it was
Speaker 1: all kind of perfect. So it's got to be perfect, right.
Speaker 1: Casting is so ultra specific, and that's what I think
Speaker 1: you're talking about with Gilmour Girls, is just how specific
Speaker 1: everything is and how each character tailors and conforms to
Speaker 1: Amy's vision of what that character should be and how
Speaker 1: she sees it in her head. So that's how it
Speaker 1: works for her. And when you walked into the room
Speaker 1: and did your thing, Bam, no questions asked. That's missus, Kim.
Speaker 1: She's the same thing with me. She did the same
Speaker 1: thing with everybody. Everybody like he knew, she knew and
Speaker 1: she and that was a time when uh, you know,
Speaker 1: film stars were jumping over into TV and that was
Speaker 1: becoming a thing in two thousands. You know, it was
Speaker 1: like so when I got this script, I don't know
Speaker 1: how you felt, but I read this script and I thought,
Speaker 1: this is just too good to be. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to get this, uh, And that's part of
Speaker 1: the reason I got it, because I just threw it away.
Speaker 1: I mean, I worked on the audition. I went and
Speaker 1: I gave a good audition, but I was giving a
Speaker 1: good auditions every day, three times a day, and I
Speaker 1: just stopped caring. I was like, it doesn't matter, or
Speaker 1: just throw it away. You know, you're not going to
Speaker 1: get the offer, but you're you know, this is your
Speaker 1: time to develop a fan base amongst the casting community,
Speaker 1: which is what it takes, you know, because they all
Speaker 1: talk and said, you know, he came in for me
Speaker 1: a couple of times and he's really doing a good job.
Speaker 1: Maybe you should hire him, and let's bring him in
Speaker 1: for this, and you know, he's just so so there,
Speaker 1: ready to go. And you know, I think that's a
Speaker 1: very common experience for people who you know, finally break
Speaker 1: through with the right thing. And yeah, I think this
Speaker 1: was the role for me. And I think I got
Speaker 1: it because I was ready for it, because I had
Speaker 1: that you know that what do they call it, the
Speaker 1: dumb courage of the truly burnt out. Yeah, it's good.
Speaker 1: I just didn't care anymore because I knew what the
Speaker 1: answer was going to be. At the end of the day.
Speaker 1: You know that I loved you, but it's just going
Speaker 1: another way. I mean, how many, Emily, how many times
Speaker 1: have you gotten that phone call? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Right, but it's good to go in like like, well,
Speaker 3: what the heck you know, and not caring that much
Speaker 3: and just.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I think that helps.
Speaker 2: In a way because you're relaxed. I was relaxed. It
Speaker 2: was like another one. I'm just kind of whatever.
Speaker 1: You know, right, Is that is that how you approached
Speaker 1: it too? Oh yeah, I just didn't care anymore. I
Speaker 1: mean I was respectful. I was happy to be there.
Speaker 1: I liked everybody in the room. You know, Gavin was there,
Speaker 1: Amy was there, Leslie Lincoln Glotta was there. Casting person
Speaker 1: was there. It wasn't it wasn't the people that were
Speaker 1: casting season two through the end. It was another casting team.
Speaker 1: They were there, and I remember I read for them
Speaker 1: and then they brought me to producers and I was saying,
Speaker 1: oh great, Yeah, so that's when I met Amy the
Speaker 1: first time. And uh yeah. I just remember it being
Speaker 1: you know, pretty relaxed and I like them. You know,
Speaker 1: you can feel people, right, so I just like, oh,
Speaker 1: these these are these are kind of my people. I
Speaker 1: kind of feel these people. You know. Other times you
Speaker 1: walk in rooms and you're like, wow, there's a wall
Speaker 1: up and it's like, I this is not right, this
Speaker 1: doesn't feel right. But I think I think the brave thing,
Speaker 1: the courageous thing for Amy to do for everyone in
Speaker 1: the cast was she had options that had main value
Speaker 1: attached to them for every single role. And I bet
Speaker 1: you every big agency in town, you know, the three
Speaker 1: biggies C A, I, C. M. And William Morris and UTA,
Speaker 1: four biggies who weren't being biggie at the time, but
Speaker 1: now they are. We're throwing all their top clients at
Speaker 1: the script. You had to figure that, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: and you feel that when you walk into most rooms
Speaker 1: that European they don't want you. Let's just get through
Speaker 1: this because I have to get back to the office
Speaker 1: and try to close this deal for the star name
Speaker 1: for this role. So they don't even want to be
Speaker 1: there half the time when you walk in because like
Speaker 1: who you know, who are you? And how are you
Speaker 1: going to make my life better? You're not all right?
Speaker 1: Get through the reading, fine, bye, get out here. And
Speaker 1: I know Amy and Dan were under the same kind
Speaker 1: of pressure, but they fought for us. They fought for
Speaker 1: every single person because I bet you the network was like, no,
Speaker 1: we're gonna go with star name, We're gonna go with
Speaker 1: this name, and Amy was like, no, these are the
Speaker 1: right care these are the right actors for these roles
Speaker 1: and she stood firm so fighting for us like that,
Speaker 1: and I knew that was the case. I mean, you
Speaker 1: talk about loyalty, oh my. And people wonder why people
Speaker 1: love Amy and Dan so much. This is the reason. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they fight for what they believe in. Uh, they fight
Speaker 1: for their artistic choices. They are uncompromising and you better
Speaker 1: believe they're uncompromising. And I know, but you have to
Speaker 1: respect that, you really have And Smike Gilmour. Girls is
Speaker 1: so great because two people or true artists, were under fire, uncompromising,
Speaker 1: stood their ground, got the people that they wanted, got
Speaker 1: the budgets they needed, and made magic comes down to
Speaker 1: two people, and they made all those decisions in the beginning,
Speaker 1: all the artartistic decisions. So they fought for it. I
Speaker 1: mean they and continued to fight for it.
Speaker 2: And I think that's that's why it lasted so long.
Speaker 3: That's why the quality was unheard of in television, unheard
Speaker 3: down to the flowers. Remember the flower, Amy said, no
Speaker 3: fake flowers. Little things like that make a big different
Speaker 3: difference in the field of the product. You know, Yeah,
Speaker 3: we had to be word perfect, but it made a different.
Speaker 1: I don't know if Amy will like this comparison. But
Speaker 1: you know, I read Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs,
Speaker 1: who created Apple with Steve Wozniak, and the same kind
Speaker 1: of personality, m super creative. Every detail of everything had
Speaker 1: to be perfect, perfect, perfect, the way he wanted it
Speaker 1: and envisioned it. It's like, this is the shape. You know,
Speaker 1: you walk into the engineers and he'd say that that
Speaker 1: you know the top people in the world, by the way,
Speaker 1: who all have opinions, and he said, this is the
Speaker 1: shape of this thing. Fix it, put it, make it work,
Speaker 1: conform your engineering to this shape. And that's what Amy did,
Speaker 1: said this is this is, this is what I want.
Speaker 1: That's what we're doing. And she never gave an inch
Speaker 1: to anyone. That's why audience out there you get to
Speaker 1: enjoy these shows because you're dealing with two very very
Speaker 1: special talents in Amy and Dan Palladino, giving of themselves
Speaker 1: a two hundred percent every single day and fighting all
Speaker 1: those fights to make sure that their quote unquote and
Speaker 1: I hate to put it this way product is not
Speaker 1: tarnished by any outside influences because they owned it, they
Speaker 1: created it, it was theirs and they were going to
Speaker 1: die on that Hill defending it, and they did, and
Speaker 1: that's why, you know, we get some good episodes out
Speaker 1: of season seven. There are some terrific episodes. And I
Speaker 1: thought David Rosenthal did a very commendable job. But how
Speaker 1: are you going to compete with that? You know, it's
Speaker 1: an impossible task, an unenviable task. But thought he did
Speaker 1: a great job, So I want to I love writers
Speaker 1: so much. Writers to me are I don't know. I
Speaker 1: think the true Creator is the most courageous of the
Speaker 1: courageous because it's it's creating by themselves in a dark
Speaker 1: room months on end, years on end. Well, at least
Speaker 1: they had each other write Dan and Amy, but just
Speaker 1: love writers. Got into the business because of a writer,
Speaker 1: Patty Chefski. I loved his writing so much after seeing
Speaker 1: Altered States and the hospital and network. I just that's
Speaker 1: what made me want to be an actor. Is a
Speaker 1: great writer wanted me to be an actor because I
Speaker 1: wanted to say those lines. I wanted to say those
Speaker 1: lines that William Hurt said as a young actor in
Speaker 1: Altered States. I couldn't believe the dialogue that I was
Speaker 1: hearing and that I was believing it, and that it
Speaker 1: was sweeping me away and I was like, oh man,
Speaker 1: I want to do that. Oh oh, that's just great.
Speaker 1: So yeah, hats off to great writing. That's why this show,
Speaker 1: Ladies and Gentlemen, is what it is and why it
Speaker 1: delights you and heals you, and it goes around the
Speaker 1: world and makes help the world spin on its axis
Speaker 1: a little bit, you know, and makes a world a
Speaker 1: better place. So anyway, it's been great having you. Final thoughts,
Speaker 1: Emily Corota.
Speaker 2: It was hard work making each and entry one of
Speaker 2: those that's right.
Speaker 3: And I remember Saturday morning at five am and Amy
Speaker 3: going again, it's not right again, and Laura I say,
Speaker 3: I'm so tired. I'm not a robot, and Amy says, no, again,
Speaker 3: it's not right. And that's what made Gilmoorger such a beautiful,
Speaker 3: perfect show.
Speaker 1: That's right. Thank yeah, and I thank her for that. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what it takes. Sometimes you don't when you don't
Speaker 1: have anything left to give, and they still get it
Speaker 1: out of you.
Speaker 3: They got Yeah, she got it out of all of us,
Speaker 3: exactly what she needed for her vision.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think I think Lauren and Alexis experienced
Speaker 1: that more than everybody on the cast. You know that
Speaker 1: exhaustion that I just can't do it anymore. I can't
Speaker 1: go on. I need to just go home, home and
Speaker 1: go to bed right now. But now we need a
Speaker 1: couple more takes, you know. I mean, it's that level
Speaker 1: of dedication. And yeah, Amy demanded it, and she got it.
Speaker 1: She got it, and she got it from everyone. I know,
Speaker 1: she got it from everyone. Nobody said no, nobody said no. Anyway,
Speaker 1: it was a pleasure watching this episode and Emily, always
Speaker 1: great to see you, and the work is stunning, just
Speaker 1: absolutely stunning, great, great, great character actress, Emily Carota. And
Speaker 1: that's going to wrap it up here, everybody. We will
Speaker 1: see you next time. Best fans on the planet. Thanks
Speaker 1: for download and keep the cards and letters coming, and
Speaker 1: remember I am all in again, Stay safe everyone.
Speaker 3: Follow us.
Speaker 1: Dot game hey everybody, and to forget follow us on
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Speaker 1: at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com.