When Gilmore Girls coined the phrase, “It’s a lifestyle. It’s a religion.” (in season 1, episode 14, and no I did not need to look that up), nobody could have predicted how that phrase would go on to describe not only the enduring fan culture of the show itself but the extended body of work by Creator, Writer, and Executive Producer Amy Sherman-Palladino.
On March 29th at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, PaleyFest LA 2025 concluded with “The Amy Sherman-Palladino Multiverse” event, where stars and fans came together to celebrate Sherman-Palladino’s television masterpieces, including Gilmore Girls, Bunheads, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and the upcoming series Étoile premiering April 24th on Prime Video.
From left to right: Gideon Glick, Dhana Gilbert, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Lou de Laâge, Luke Kirby, Daniel Palladino, Rachel Brosnahan, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Lauren Graham, Kelly Bishop, Alex Borstein | Photo credit: Emily Joe
The panel featured Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Kelly Bishop (Gilmore Girls, Bunheads, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Étoile), Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Alex Borstein (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Étoile), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Étoile) and Lou de Laâge (Étoile) in addition to Sherman-Palladino herself alongside husband and creative partner Daniel Palladino. It is no coincidence that there is so much crossover between the casts. Since the beginning of her career, Sherman-Palladino has fought for each person she envisioned in a role. Over the course of the panel, she revealed that she got Sutton Foster and Bishop out of their contracts with Anything Goes to film Bunheads, wrote the Maisel role of Susie Myerson specifically for Borstein (who hilariously refuted that claim), and even made a trade with NBC in order to secure Graham for the role of Lorelai Gilmore. And any Palladino fan can tell you that she famously reuses her supporting cast members, with the majority of the Stars Hollow “townies” and friends appearing in at least one if not all of her subsequent projects.
From left to right: Alex. Borstein, Rachel Brosnahan, Lauren Graham, Kelly Bishop | Photo credit: Emily Joe
My ears perked up when Graham told the story about being traded because that is literally the plot of the upcoming Étoile – two struggling dance companies in Paris and New York City trade their top talent in order to keep ballet alive. One of the most frequent questions Sherman-Palladino and her casts get asked in interviews is why exactly her shows stand the test of time and are so addictively rewatchable. While there may not be one definitive answer, seeing all of her creative worlds on one stage made it clear that it is Amy herself – her voice and her lived experience – that is woven and sprinkled so cleverly into these characters that what we’re all getting addicted to is her. Whether in a Parisian ballet studio, a 1950’s comedy club, or a small-town Connecticut picnic basket bidding festival, we are getting to know and love Amy more and more through every episode and every rewatch.
Case in point, at one point during the panel, Sherman-Palladino mentioned how she never intended to be a writer and that her mother was insistent that she be a professional dancer. Seconds later, her mother Maybin Hewes was on her feet, waving her arms and yelling something inaudible towards Amy on stage. Banter ensued between the two of them and it was immediately clear where the inspiration for the Lorelai and Emily (Gilmore Girls) and the Midge and Rose (Maisel) dynamics came from. It turns out what she was yelling was “I hope [your writing career] pays off!” and it could have easily been a scene in either show. At their core, each Palladino show is about women carving out a life for themselves that differs greatly from the one laid out for them. And that is exactly how Amy’s television career began when she chose a writing gig on Roseanne over a touring production of Cats. With Gilmore Girls having recently surpassed 500 million viewing hours on Netflix, hopefully her mother can now sleep at night.
So what can we expect from Étoile? Sherman-Palladino and Bishop spoke during the panel about the discipline, grit, and extreme love of the craft that it takes to succeed in the dance world, and with the budget now being given to Amy as a 22 time Emmy winner for Maisel we are in for a cinematic treat. From the trailer alone, it is clear that the relationship between the two dance companies will play out in the beautiful, complicated, comical, and infinitely wordy way that has been comforting all of us for these 25 years and counting in Amy’s multiverse. I can’t wait to see where the story lands us next.
Check out all of our red carpet interview from the event over on Instagram.