The upcoming Gilmore Girls revival has fans of the fast-talking drama positively rabid about catching up with their favorite Stars Hollow characters. But one face that we’d nearly come to terms with not seeing was Melissa McCarthy’s culinary-minded Sookie St. James. But now, after months of no forward progress, it looks like the Ghostbusters star will indeed reprise her fan favorite role on the show.
And don’t worry about this possibly coming from some bunk source that heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend (who heard it from another that McCarthy was just messing around). The actress revealed the relatively shocking announcement herself during today’s taping of Ellen for an episode set to air tomorrow morning. This wasn’t any kind of a nefarious plot to keep fans in the dark, either, as the deal was apparently as spur of the moment as it gets in Hollywood.
Literally about an hour and a half ago, we figured out that I am going to go back and do it, and I am so excited. And they’re gonna be amazing. Amy Sherman-Palladino is gonna squeeze me in to do it, and I’m very happy to go back to Stars Hollow.
Methinks a lot of conversations were happening behind the scenes prior to that agreement being made. After all, it was only earlier today that an interview with creator Amy Sherman-Palladino came out and shined a negative light on communication-through-publicists and put out a last ditch offer for McCarthy to return. She said all that would be needed was 2 hours of the actress’ time, and that everything would be set up for her to quickly film her scene (or scenes) as stress-free as possible. And two hours of one’s time, even combined with the travel there and back, is not a lot to sacrifice to balance the waves and waves of publicity that has centered on her not returning to the show that led to her stardom.
Not that Melissa McCarthy can be actively blamed for her inability to just drop everything and take on a Gilmore Girls production, especially since Netflix’s extended episodes creates a different process than what she was used to during the show’s original run. She’s got her own hit show on CBS (that’s ending this year), as well as the comedy The Boss hitting theaters this weekend. Not to mention all things Ghostbusters and publicity for all those projects. A busy schedule just sometimes can’t be messed with, but she luckily will soon find the time to bring Sookie back to TV audiences everywhere, if only for a few minutes.
You can watch the whole Ellen clip below.
There have been so many returning cast members announced in recent months, including all of Rory’s boyfriends, that I’m not even sure if there’s anyone left to return now that Melissa McCarthy has agreed to appear. But that doesn’t matter, because now we just want to see Sookie and Jackson together again.
