Gilmore Girls fans rejoiced this weekend to finally see their favorite cast reunited once again. It’s been 15 years since the show began, and it has now developed a new audience thanks to Netflix.

The reunion show, which was sponsored by Entertainment Weekly, began with a clip of the theme song on the big screen, which was edited to include every cast member who was present at the reunion. The gravity of seeing the theme play on the big screen in the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas was enough to overwhelm the audience with nostalgia and emotion.

Arielle Kebbel, who played Lindsay on Gilmore Girls introduced the founders of the ATX Television Festival, Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson to begin the panel. Then, moderator Jessica Shaw was brought on-stage along with show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and the Gilmore Girls themselves, Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, and Kelly Bishop.

Sherman-Palladino talked about how she came up with the concept of Gilmore Girls, which was ultimately inspired by a vacation in a small Connecticut town during what she called “leafing season” (or, you know, fall). She was surprised at how friendly everyone was, and how willing they were to talk to strangers.

Despite the fact that she was on another show at the time, Lauren Graham said she knew the part of Lorelai was for her because she couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else doing it.

Alexis Bledel also said she had an instant connection with the part of Rory, and it probably didn’t hurt that she was ready to move on from modeling after doing a fashion shoot that required her to have buckets of water thrown at her head.

As for Kelly Bishop, she remarked that she did things the old-fashioned way, and couldn’t contain herself from saying at the end of her audition how much she loved the script.

Bledel later talked about Gilmore Girls being her first time on a television show, which was quite the learning curve. For the “walk and talk” shots, it was Lauren Graham who apparently had to “man-handle her” while she learned how to properly clear the camera. Hey, what better way to build a relationship? No wonder they had such great chemistry.

The ladies were also asked which line gets quoted back to them most often. For Graham, the answer was “Oy, with the poodles already.” Obviously.

Bledel mentioned another favorite line, “Copper Boom!” though she had no memory of what it meant, and looked to the audience for help. As audience members reminded her of the line that grew from a misunderstanding, it actually reminded me a lot of the original scene in Season 4, when Rory was headed off to college.

The ladies also talked of Edward Herrmann, and Amy Sherman-Palladino shared that he was the first one who said he would do the panel. There’s no doubt the panel would have been something very different had he been able to be there.

Before bringing the remainder of the cast on stage, there was a moving tribute to Edward Herrmann that included some of his best scenes — golfing with Luke, Dean asking him to dance, and of course, dancing with Emily at their vow renewal. I’m not sure there was a dry eye in the theater. The rest of the cast then made their way on stage, filling every chair except for one.

The empty chair was for Ed.

Then, it was time get to important questions, like who was Team Dean, Team Jess, and Team Logan. Milo’s answer? He’s Team Dean, and Logan “was kind of a dick.” Both Jared Padalecki and Matt Czuchry, on the other hand, said they were ultimately Team Jess.

But it was Scott Patterson’s answer that the audience loved the most. “None of you are good enough for Rory,” he said, channeling the gruff yet fatherly role of Luke as he spoke out.

From there, the panel continued to include lots of laughter and fun stories. Each actor talked about where they imagined their character would be now, several offering some creative answers. Kelly Bishop remarked that now that Emily would be a widow, she isn’t sure where that would leave her. And Scott Patterson imagined Luke either doing the very same thing, or moving away to a lake to run a bait and tackle shop.

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