The early oughts gifted us with many teen dramas, but the one that my wife still rewatches multiple times a year is the singular Gilmore Girls. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, later of Bunheads and most recently Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, it tells the story of Lorelei Gilmore – a debutante who had a child out of wedlock at 16 – and her daughter, Rory, now 16 herself. Over the next 7 seasons and change we’ll watch them both grow and adapt to the sling and arrows of normal life, with the bond between them the thing that gives them guidance.
I recently went through and broke down the Gilmore Girls pilot (available in the Screenwriters Network Script Hub for all members) for a script I’m working on, and wanted to highlight some of the lessons on the page I took away over the next week. I also recommend you read and watch the pilot for yourself, since who knows what lessons you’ll learn for yourself.
Teaser
For this kind of show – low concept, relationship & character focused – it’s great to go with the thematic approach to your teaser. In these five pages, where an out-of-towner hits on first Lorelei and then Rory, nothing happens with any relevance to the plot of what follows. Instead it clearly sets up the central relationship (mother-daughter, very close, maybe too close) and the tone (verbose, quick, witty and filled with pop culture references).
There’s also a minor hook being laid here – Lorelei is a mother. It’s not often that we get TV shows about mothers who are 32 and have teenagers. The show is quick to remind you of that by having the whole scene hinge on this reveal. This isn’t what you thought it was! the show says, don’t you want to know more about this world? It’s not a JJ Abrams mystery box, but it also doesn’t need to be. It’s just enough to get the audience to lean in and keep watching.
But we also get one of the central thematic question of the show – motherhood. This is a show in constant conversation with how parents and children, especially mothers and daughters, shape each other. The boundaries of Rory and Lorelei’s relationship are blurred in ways most aren’t, as much friends or sisters as filial. Lorelei will wrestle in both the pilot and through the seasons to follow with the similarities and differences between her and her daughter, a character arc that will in turn impact her relationship with her own mother. And the seeds for that can be seen even here.
By knowing what your show is about, the operational theme as JGM would say, you can then let that influence and shape each of your individual scenes so they all feed into the same organizing question. We are seeing their relationship in action, both the things that make it specific and unique and interesting to watch, as well as the parts that will cause dramatic friction and animate seasons of tv.
You watch that teaser and you understand what show you’re about to watch, even if you don’t know the exact plot mechanics of what’s to follow. And that’s great writing.
Fred Pelzer
Managing Editor
On Spec