‘Windward Circle’: What Might Have Been
Working on the book last night, the subject of the Gilmore Girls spin-off, Windward Circle, came up. I hunted for it briefly online and found what seems to be a clip from the proposed pilot. (Actually, most people from the show agree that the real pilot was the episode of Gilmore where Jess travels to Venice to talk to his dad.)
Even from these few seconds of footage, you can see right away why this series wasn’t going to fly. Aside from some vague similarities to The OC (at least the setup), Windward Circle seemed in grave danger of drifting into the pretty-face navel gazing that typifies the teen dramas of the last 10 years. Still, it was very interesting to find anything on this series.
The Curse of Max Medina
It's Max, Max Medina! (With sincere apologies to Scott Cohen.)
OK, not my best showing so far, but I have an oddly Gilmore Girls-related excuse. (No cracks about excuses, Zoran.)
About a month ago, we found an abandoned black kitten in a park during a rainy day, and suckers that we were, we brought him home. Pushed to come up with a name for him, I called him Max Medina. (Actually, I first wanted to call him CatKirk, but that was politely voted down.)
And since then, the little fellow has become something of a terror, especially when compared with our own Max Medina. This morning, the little bundle of joy decided to wake us up at 3 in the morning. Whatever energies I could come up with for the day were quickly expended on the day job, leaving precious little in reserve for the book. Somehow, I just can’t see Scott Cohen behaving the same way, can you?
Words today: 142
Total word count: 15,544
Book Progress Today
An enjoyable bit of work on The Gilmore Girls Companion before hitting the day job stuff, this time on a section about Gilmore’s fans around the world.
As I tweeted earlier, if you’ve been posting on the book’s Facebook page, particularly the “Where in the world do you watch Gilmore Girls” discussion thread, please let me know if you’d rather not be in the book. Thanks again for all your insights on this!
Words today: 1,429
Total word count: 15,402
Book Progress Today
A delightful stroll down memory lane this morning; specifically recounting how the universally beloved Ed Herrmann came to be cast on Gilmore Girls.
Words today: 924
Total word count: 13,973
Congratulations to Patty Malcolm
The one thing you quickly learn putting together a book like The Gilmore Girls Companion is that for every story an episode of a show like Gilmore tells, there are a dozen real-life stories going on behind the scenes. And if you follow those real-life stories long enough, you can’t help but root for all the people involved.
For years, actress Patty Malcolm had the fascinating, yet in many ways thankless job of being Lauren Graham’s stand-in on Gilmore. As I’m sure you will appreciate once you read the book, that entailed so much more than most people outside of Hollywood, or indeed outside of the Gilmore Girls set, understand. (For a taste of that, check out this earlier entry.)
Patty put in her own grueling hours, learned her lines, and tackled many other tasks that most people never even think about, and did it without the accolades that come with being an on-camera actor. (“Welcome to our world,” I hear the Gilmore Girls crew shout in unison.)
Sure, she did turn up a few times on screen on Gilmore Girls for just a few seconds, but she went right back to her stand-in work. When Gilmore ended, she went on to other shows in the same capacity, waiting for that elusive break.
Which is why it was so great to hear that a few days ago she finally got the chance to shoot a co-star part on Criminal Minds. She’s quick to point out it’s only one line, but in this business, one line on screen can lead to big things later on, and represents a big step forward all on its own. For the most part, any actor you know on television today started somewhere with a single line or two.
So keep your eyes peeled for episode 5.7 of Criminal Minds, “The Performer.” You can also catch Bush frontman/Mr. Gwen Stefani Gavin Rossdale on that episode. And if you think Patty is the only Gilmore veteran on Criminal Minds, think again. Key set costumer Valerie Campbell, known to practically everybody she meets as a the female MacGyver for her ability to make anything out of anything, works tirelessly behind the scenes on that series, too.
Awesomeness alert over. Mind how you go.
Update: Yep, Patty’s definitely on a roll. News just came that she’s now booked the role of Ann Heron in episode 5.10 of Criminal Minds. “It’s a nice role.. I get attacked,” as she put it. This really is a crazy business 
