‘Gilmore Girls’ Reunion: Laughs, Tears, Superfans, And Those Movie Rumors Put To Rest

Tonight at the Paramount Theater in Austin, the cast of beloved dramedy Gilmore Girls, finally took to the stage to celebrate their highly anticipated reunion at ATX Television Festival. Moderated by Jessica Shaw of Entertainment Weekly, creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino settled in with the Stars Hollow gang; including Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Kelly Bishop, Scott Patterson, Milo Ventimiglia, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale, Liza Weil, Matt Czuchry, Liz Torres, Jared Padalecki, Danny Strong, Jackson Douglas, Todd Lowe and John Cabrera. A seat was left open for the late Edward Herrmann, known for his role of Richard Gilmore, who passed away last December.

With the stage set as a mix of Luke’s, Miss Patty’s, The Dragonfly Inn, and other staples of Palladino’s fictional Connecticut suburb, the cast and creators answered questions from Shaw as well as the audience — some of whom flew half-way across the world to attend the reunion event. Here were some of the highlights we were able to capture.

UPDATE: Stream (almost all of) the Gilmore Girls reunion via Entertainment Weekly

First, this happened on the red carpet. No punches were thrown, but rather, a loving embrace between Jared Padalecki and Milo Ventimiglia, proving that offscreen, there’s no Dean and Jess rift whatsoever.

Then, we captured some of the sheer madness leading up to the panel discussion.

After festival founders Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson thanked the super fans for helping make this happen, the Gilmore Girls themselves took to the stage with creator Amy Sherman-Palladino.

Following a tear-jerking video by Sherman-Paladino dedicated to Edward Herrmann, the rest of the Gilmore Girls cast took to the stage.

In addition to deciding on their favorite episode (the general consensus is the pilot), the cast discussed the Netflix craze (surprisingly, no one from the show seems to have watched the series since its arrival on streaming), the unsatisfactory ending (Lauren Graham thinks that Luke and Lorelai would “be together 100%”), and those maddening movie rumors. Scott Patterson is the main proponent for an onscreen reunion while Amy Sherman-Palladino — who didn’t say it’s off the table! — wants to make sure they don’t rush into anything.

Fingers crossed! There’s no denying that ATX knows how to make television history and we cannot wait to see what they have in store for next year. Click here to see more of our coverage of ATX Festival.

RELATED: Scott Patterson on the Gilmore Girls Reunion and Why There HAS to be a Movie

RELATED: Kelly Bishop of Gilmore Girls Talks About the Show’s Legacy and Why She Wants a Movie Reunion

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