Amy Sherman-Palladino | |
---|---|
Born | Amy Sherman January 17, 1966 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, director, executive producer |
Years active | 1990–present |
Notable work | Gilmore Girls Bunheads The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel |
Style | Comedy drama, screwball comedy film |
Board member of | Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions |
Spouse | Daniel Palladino |
Amy Sherman-Palladino (born January 17, 1966) is an American television writer, director, and producer. She is the creator of the comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007), Bunheads (2012-2013), and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-2023).
Sherman-Palladino has received six Primetime Emmy Awards for her work, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Music Supervision, all for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She made history when she became the first woman to win in the comedy writing and directing categories at the Primetime Emmy Awards. [1] In 2019, she received the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America. [2]
Sherman-Palladino is the founder of Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions. She is known for her trademark rapid-fire dialogue, which is often full of pop culture references, and as well for her preferred master shot filming style. [3]
Amy Sherman was born in Los Angeles, California. [4] Her parents are comedian Don Sherman, who died in May 2012 (the first episode of Bunheads was dedicated to him), and dancer Maybin Hewes. Sherman was her father's stage name. [5] Her father, from the Bronx, was Jewish, and her mother was a Southern Baptist from Gulfport, Mississippi. She has stated that she was raised "as Jewish. Sort of." [6] [7]
She was trained in classical ballet since she was four [5] and took other forms of dance in her teens. Originally a trainee dancer, Sherman-Palladino had received a callback to the musical Cats , while also having a possible writing position on the staff of Roseanne in rotation. When she and writing partner Jennifer Heath were asked to join the staff of Roseanne, she left behind her dancing career — much to her mother's chagrin – and began writing for television. [8]
Sherman-Palladino became a staff writer on Roseanne during the show's third season in 1990. Among the storylines and episodes she wrote was an Emmy-nominated episode about birth control. [3]
She left the show after season six, in 1994, and worked on several other projects, including the failed 1996 sitcom Love and Marriage , the 1997 sitcom Over the Top , and writing several scripts of the NBC sitcom Veronica's Closet . [3]
Sherman-Palladino is best known as the creator and executive producer of Gilmore Girls (2000–07), a television comedy drama series that aired initially on The WB network and concluded on its successor network, The CW. A four-episode revival aired on Netflix in 2016. In selling the show, Sherman-Palladino says that during her pitch meeting for landing a script order, Gilmore Girls was presented as a last-ditch effort thought up on the spot due to a lacking response from the network executives towards her other ideas. She presented this last hope as a "show about a mother and daughter, but they're more like best friends" and the executives were all sold immediately. During a trip to Connecticut, she and husband Daniel Palladino were inspired to center the show there, allowing a rich setting for a small-town community and the divide from the WASP y social setting of Hartford, Connecticut.
In producing the show, Sherman-Palladino and her husband wore many hats as the creative forces of the show, writing a large number of the episodes and also acting as directors, producers and show runners for six years of its seven-year run. [9] [10] [11]
On April 20, 2006, it was announced that Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel could not come to an agreement with The CW to continue their contracts. As a result, the Palladinos' involvement with Gilmore Girls came to an end. The official statement was as follows: "Despite our best efforts to return and ensure the future of Gilmore Girls for years to come, we were unable to reach an agreement with the studio and are therefore leaving when our contracts expire at the end of this season. Our heartfelt thanks go out to our amazing cast, hard-working crew and loyal fans." [12] Writer and producer David S. Rosenthal replaced them.
The couple did an interview with TV Guide writer Michael Ausiello, where they went further into their reasons for leaving the show. [13]
In a 2012 interview with Vulture , in which Sherman-Palladino was asked to reflect on the issue, she responded
It was a botched negotiation. It really was about the fact that I was working too much. I was going to be the crazy person who was locked in my house and never came out. I heard a lot of 'Amy doesn't need a writing staff because she and [her husband] Dan Palladino write everything!' I thought, That's a great mentality on your part, but if you want to keep the show going for two more years, let me hire more writers. By the way, all this shit we asked for? They had to do anyway when we left. They hired this big writing staff and a producer-director onstage. That's what bugged me the most. They wound up having to do what we asked for anyway, and I wasn't there. [8]
On August 1, 2006, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the Fox Network had ordered a pilot of a new comedy project from Sherman-Palladino. The untitled comedy, which received a pilot commitment from the network, was about two sisters who come together after years apart, when one of the sisters agrees to carry the other's baby. [14] Sherman-Palladino wrote, executive produced and directed the pilot.
In December 2006, at the Hollywood Radio & Television Society's Hitmakers luncheon, Palladino revealed the name of her new sitcom: The Return of Jezebel James . [15] The series debuted on March 14, 2008, on Fox starring Parker Posey. The show was subsequently cancelled on March 24, 2008, after only three episodes were aired. [16]
ABC Family picked up Sherman-Palladino's pilot, Bunheads , to series. [17] It premiered on June 11, 2012. [18] The series stars Sutton Foster as a Las Vegas showgirl who, after impulsively getting married, moves to the sleepy coastal town 'Paradise' and winds up working at her new mother-in-law's dance studio: The Paradise Dance Academy. Kelly Bishop, who portrayed Emily Gilmore in Gilmore Girls , plays the recurring role of Fanny Flowers, her mother-in-law. [19] On July 22, 2013, five months after the end of Season 1, it was announced that Bunheads would not be renewed for a second season. [20]
In October 2015, it was reported on TVLine that Netflix struck a deal with Warner Bros. to revive the series in a limited run, consisting of four 90-minute episodes. [21] [22] Sherman-Palladino was in charge of the new episodes, titled Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life . [23] The four episodes are named after the seasons, and all four became available on November 25, 2016.
In June 2016, Amazon ordered an hour-long pilot from Sherman-Palladino entitled The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel , about a 1950s housewife who decides to become one of the first female stand-up comics. [24] On August 5, 2016, it was reported that Rachel Brosnahan had been cast in the lead role as Miriam "Midge" Maisel. [25] Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle were later cast as the parents of Brosnahan's character, Abe and Rose Weissman, [26] [27] with Michael Zegen joining as her husband, Joel Maisel. [28] On March 2, 2017, Entertainment Weekly reported that Alex Borstein would be playing Susie Myerson. [29] The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was made available to watch on Amazon on March 17, 2017, as a part of Amazon Studios' spring pilot season, with viewers having the option to vote for it to be ordered to series. [30] On April 10, 2017, it was announced that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel had received an "unprecedented" 2-season order from Amazon. [31] The series was critically acclaimed; it won a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy at the 75th Golden Globe Awards, [32] and a Peabody Award in "Entertainment" at the 77th Annual Peabody Awards. [33] Sherman-Palladino won Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. [34] The success led to an overall deal at Amazon Studios. [35]
Sherman-Palladino is married to Daniel Palladino, who has served as co-executive producer, writer, and director on all of her shows.[ citation needed ]
Dialogue in Sherman-Palladino's work involves heavy use of pop culture references, delivered in a fast repartee, screwball-comedy style. Palladino is also very particular with her selection and use of music in her work. In an interview with OutSmart magazine, she explained how lazy and instructional its use is on most television shows:
I think music on television is just uniformly dreadful. It is mundane, it says nothing. They use it to say, "Here's a funny moment!" ... you know? It's not an extension of the drama, it's distraction. It's like, "I'll distract you, so you won't know how shitty the show is...like a laugh track. That, to me, is what music on television is. They score everything from beginning to end so that after a while the music is just like white noise. It's not giving it its due, its place. Everything has its place. Shows would go by, and we wouldn't put a lot of music in because to me the music was an extension of the drama, so if you just throw it in under everything, it's like throwing a washing-machine sound effect in there, it's not the point of it. It's like having two characters have a long, not very interesting discussion for no other reason except to fill up screen time. [36]
She has cited comedians Erma Bombeck, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Elaine May, and Norman Lear as influences. She has also cited Barbra Streisand, Stephen Sondheim, Tony Kushner, Carole King, and Bob Fosse as pop culture inspirations. [37] [38] She has also stated her love of classic musicals such as Easter Parade (1948), Singin' in the Rain (1952), and The Band Wagon (1953). [39]
Year | Title | Writer | Director | Executive Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | City | 1 ep. | No | No | |
1990–1994 | Roseanne | 13 ep. | No | 36 ep. | |
1995 | Can't Hurry Love | 3 ep. | No | No | |
1996 | Love and Marriage | 5 ep. | No | Yes | executive producer, writer |
1997 | Over the Top | 1 ep. | No | 12 ep. | as consulting producer |
1998–1999 | Veronica's Closet | 2 ep. | No | Yes | executive producer |
2000–2007 | Gilmore Girls | 52 ep. | 15 ep. | Yes | also creator |
2008 | The Return of Jezebel James | 4 ep. | 2. ep. | Yes | also creator |
2010 | The Wyoming Story | Yes | Yes | Yes | The CW Made for TV Movie |
2012–2013 | Bunheads | 8 ep. | 5 ep. | Yes | also creator |
2016 | Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life | 2 ep. | 2 ep. | Yes | also creator |
2017–2023 | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | 23 ep. | 21 ep. | Yes | also creator and showrunner |
TBA | Étoile | Yes | Yes | Yes | also creator; pre-production |
Leslie Ann Phillips, better known by her stage name Sam Phillips, is an American singer and songwriter. Her albums include the critically acclaimed Martinis & Bikinis in 1994 and Fan Dance in 2001. She has also composed scores for the television shows Gilmore Girls, Bunheads, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Gilmore Girls is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. Gilmore Girls ran for seven seasons, the final season moving to The CW and ending its run on May 15, 2007.
Alexandrea Borstein is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is known for voicing Lois Griffin in the animated comedy series Family Guy (1999–present), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She gained further acclaim for starring as Susie Myerson in the comedy-drama series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023), which earned her two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Liza Rebecca Weil is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Paris Geller in the WB/CW comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007) and its Netflix revival series Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016). She is also known for her roles as White House aide Amanda Tanner in the ABC political drama series Scandal (2012) and as attorney Bonnie Winterbottom in the ABC legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020).
Kelly Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls and as Marjorie Houseman, the mother of Jennifer Grey's Frances "Baby" Houseman in the film Dirty Dancing. Bishop originated the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line for which she won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She is currently starring as Mrs. Ivey in The Watchful Eye (2023).
Lorelai Victoria Gilmore is a fictional character in The WB dramedy television series Gilmore Girls. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and portrayed by actress Lauren Graham, she appeared in every episode of the show from 2000 to 2007.
Emily Gilmore is a fictional character who appears in the American comedy-drama television series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007) and its revival Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016) as the matriarch of the eponymous family. Portrayed by actress Kelly Bishop, the character was created by series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino in order to add a tragic element to the show's light-hearted nature. Emily has had a complicated relationship with her daughter Lorelai ever since the character ran away at sixteen to raise her newborn daughter Rory on her own. They remain distant for several years until Lorelai asks her parents to help pay for Rory's schooling, to which Emily agrees on the condition that her daughter and granddaughter visit them for dinner every Friday evening.
Jane Marie Lynch is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series Glee (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recognition for her roles in Christopher Guest's mockumentary films: Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006).
Daniel Palladino is an American television executive producer, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his work on the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023), which earned him a WGA Award, two PGA Awards, and four Primetime Emmy Awards.
The Return of Jezebel James is an American sitcom television series, starring Parker Posey as a successful children's book editor who, unable to have children herself, asks her estranged younger sister to carry her baby. The series was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino of Gilmore Girls fame, who also directed the pilot, and executive produced the show with her husband, Daniel Palladino. The show was produced by Regency Television and Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions.
Jennifer Ann Kirkman is an American stand-up comedian and screenwriter, podcaster, and actress. She is known for her regular appearances as a round-table panelist on Chelsea Lately for 70 episodes from 2008 to 2014.
Bunheads is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Lamar Damon that aired on ABC Family from June 11, 2012, to February 25, 2013. Starring Sutton Foster, the show centers on a Las Vegas showgirl who gets married on a whim and winds up teaching alongside her new mother-in-law at her ballet school. On July 22, 2013, ABC Family canceled the series after one season.
Rachel Brosnahan is an American actress. She is best known for playing the title role of an aspiring stand-up comedian in the Amazon Prime Video period comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2018 and two consecutive Golden Globe Awards in 2018 and 2019. She has also appeared in the political thriller series House of Cards (2013–2015) and the drama series Manhattan (2014–2015).
Helen Pai is an American television writer, director, and producer.
Gilmore Guys is an audio podcast that follows comedian Kevin T. Porter and writer/performer Demi Adejuyigbe as they watch every episode of the television series Gilmore Girls. The show represented two points of view, as Porter was a longtime Gilmore Girls fan and Adejuyigbe was watching it for the first time. They started the podcast in October 2014, the same day that Gilmore Girls became available on Netflix, and released their final regular episode in June 2017.
"Wedding Bell Blues" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of the American comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls and the show's 100th episode overall. Written and directed by series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, the episode was originally broadcast on The WB in the United States on February 8, 2005. The episode features the renewal of vows by Emily and Richard Gilmore. Their daughter Lorelai Gilmore and their granddaughter Rory Gilmore serve as maid of honor and best man, respectively. "Wedding Bell Blues" received positive reviews from television critics.
"Bon Voyage" is the original series finale of the American comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls. The episode serves as the 22nd episode of the seventh season and the show's 153rd episode overall. Written by David S. Rosenthal and directed by Lee Shallat-Chemel, the episode was originally broadcast on The CW in the United States on May 15, 2007.
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is an American comedy-drama television miniseries created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. It is the unofficial eighth season and a sequel to the television series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007).
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is an American period comedy-drama television series that was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, and premiered on Amazon Prime Video on March 17, 2017. It takes place mainly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with flashforwards to later decades in the final season, and stars Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam "Midge" Maisel: a New York housewife who discovers she has a talent for stand-up comedy and pursues a career in this field. It also stars Alex Borstein, Michael Zegen, Marin Hinkle, Tony Shalhoub, Kevin Pollak, Caroline Aaron, Jane Lynch and Luke Kirby. The pilot episode received critical acclaim and the series was picked up by Amazon Studios. The fifth and final season premiered on April 14, 2023, and concluded on May 26, 2023.
"We're Going to the Catskills!" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American comedy-drama series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the twelfth overall. It was written and directed by Daniel Palladino. The plot follows Midge and her family's trip to a Jewish resort in the Catskill Mountains for the summer. Susie poses as an employee of the resort while booking gigs for Midge. Midge meets Benjamin, a bachelor physician who is also vacationing at the resort.