Behind the Episode: 'Presenting Lorelai Gilmore'

"Gilmore Girls" writer Sheila Lawrence on Emily/Lorelai fights, the magic of the Stars Hollow set, and the problem with Luke Danes.

Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore in “Presenting Lorelai Gilmore.” (Warner Bros.)

Welcome to Behind the Episode! For our new series, we’re interviewing the writers behind some of our favorite episodes of television and getting a deep-dive look at how they brought those stories to life. 

We are so excited to kick off our inaugural interview with Emmy-winning Gilmore Girls writer and producer Sheila Lawrence, to discuss all things “Presenting Lorelai Gilmore.” For those of you who aren’t currently on your one millionth rewatch of the coziest show that is and ever was — created by husband-wife writing duo Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino — here’s a quick recap of the episode: 

Rory (Alexis Bledel) takes part in a debutante ball at the request of her grandmother, Emily (Kelly Bishop). As Rory finds herself navigating the strange new world of Hartford’s high society debs, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) navigates unresolved feelings for Christopher (David Sutcliffe), and Richard (Edward Herrmann) grapples with being edged out by his insurance company.

It’s a signature Gilmore Girls episode in every way, managing to pack so much into forty-five minutes — intimate, beautifully written family dynamics, small but mighty moments of heartbreak, whip-smart humor and, I’d argue, one of the best last scenes of the show. Below, we talk bringing real-life experiences into the Gilmore world, the infamous fan dance and much more.

For starters, what did the creative process look like when it came to writing a Gilmore Girls episode? 

The writers would start about six weeks before production people came on board. We would get a general idea of the first 13 episodes and then start breaking the episode, which is where you figure out all the beats of the story and then fill in the details. Gilmore was very different from what I was used to — I had only written for half-hour shows and I remember it being very hard to gauge what was enough story because so much of Gilmore isn't heavy, plot-driven storytelling. 

When we broke [“Presenting Lorelai Gilmore”], Amy and I both looked at the board and she said, “Yeah, that’s it.” I was like, “...I don’t understand, Is there enough?” She said, “Oh yeah! This is enough.” And of course, for Amy, it is because her mind works in such a wonderful way where she sees whole worlds — something I see as one line of dialogue, she can craft a beautiful scene out of. 

Then, with that episode, and all episodes, the writer takes the breakdown, which is very, very detailed by the way, it usually fills multiple gigantic dry erase boards —

Is that unusual for a writers’ room? 

Yes, highly. No other show I’ve worked on has come anywhere near that level of detail. Usually it’s more like bullet points or a sentence or two, per scene. [Sherman-Palladino] shows, those scenes are choreographed. I mean, you leave the writers’ room knowing what the scene will literally look like…like, you know that Lorelai and Rory walk into Luke's and they order blueberry pancakes. 

L to R: “Gilmore Girls” writers Jane Espenson, Janet Leahy and Sheila Lawrence on set during Season 4. (Photo courtesy of Sheila Lawrence)

How did the idea for “Presenting Lorelai Gilmore” come about? 

I'm 99% sure that was an Amy idea. I know that a debutante ball would have existed nowhere in my brain. It’s not something I had any experience with whatsoever. I was frankly surprised that they still exist. It was a smart idea, because it was such a great way to show Rory and Lorelai’s differing relationships with Emily and with the Gilmore traditional world. I remember having to do a lot of research on the things that happen at a debutante ball, like the fan dance.