Oy with the poodles! An official “Gilmore Girls” documentary is coming to HBO.
It has been 26 years since viewers were first introduced to the quirky denizens of Stars Hollow, including mother/daughter duo Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. Now, for the first time, series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino is going to take fans behind the scenes with an official documentary about the beloved show.
According to the Variety article that broke the news, the documentary will include never-before-seen clips, outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage and lots of interviews with Sherman-Palladino and other cast members. It will also look at the larger success and wide fandom of the show. Sherman-Palladino and her husband, Daniel Palladino (the show’s co-creator) will be the main storytellers, and Lorelai herself — that is, Lauren Graham — will also be sitting down for interviews.
Most Jewish fans of the series are probably well aware of Sherman-Palladino’s Jewishness. The daughter of a Southern Baptist mom and Bronx-raised Jewish dad, Sherman-Palladino and her dad, a stand-up comedian, bonded over Jewish humor. “Anything even mildly Jewish was very important to me for a very long time,” she told Vulture in 2014. “The Borscht Belt, the comic, that whole sort of very rich history — it was a lot of that that I’d heard about through my dad.” She also identified Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks’ “The 2000 Year-Old Man” bit as an especially formative influence on her comedy writing.
The fast-paced, witty banter of these early influences is infused throughout “Gilmore Girls,” especially in Rory and Lorelai’s dialogue. Occasionally, more direct Jewish references peek through the WASPy Connecticut setting, like when Luke builds Lorelai a chuppah for her (ill-fated) wedding to Max. And who can forget the Stars Hollow Elementary School production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” in which Tevye is (obviously) played by Kirk?
Jewish viewers have another reason to kvell over the upcoming documentary, too. The doc is being directed by Bonni Cohen, an acclaimed Jewish filmmaker whose résumé could hardly be more different from the cozy, coffee-fueled world of Stars Hollow.
Cohen is known for hard-hitting documentaries. For instance, she co-directed “Athlete A” about the USA Gymnastics sexual-abuse scandal, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Documentary. Her documentary “Audrie & Daisy” won a Peabody Merit Award, and her work as a producer and director on “The Rape of Europa,” about the Nazis’ systematic theft and destruction of European art, was Oscar-shortlisted and earned nominations for Writers Guild and Producers Guild awards. Her latest documentary, “In Waves and War,” co-directed with husband and frequent collaborator Jon Shenk, follows ex-Navy SEALs who are turning to illegal psychedelics as a last-ditch effort to treat PTSD.
Cohen also has a particular connection to Jewish storytelling. According to her husband, their respective Jewish upbringings — and the specter of the Holocaust — has really impacted how they tell stories, especially in terms of their mission to look for courage within suffering. They are also active in the Jewish arts world, often participating in Jewish film festivals. Additionally, Cohen has served as a juror for Jewish Story Partners, an organization dedicated to supporting films about Jewish life and experience.
Bonni Cohen has spent years documenting difficult, emotionally complex subjects, so it will be interesting to see what happens when she turns that documentary sensibility toward a beloved fictional world that, to many viewers, feels like a second home. What does a documentary filmmaker who has spent her career excavating trauma and injustice see when she looks at Stars Hollow?
HBO has been pretty tight-lipped about the details, including the documentary’s release date. For now, fans will have to grab another cup of coffee, coffee, coffee and wait for more information.
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