Kelly Bishop, who played the role of Emily Gilmore, Lorelai's mother, on the 'Gilmore Girls,' has released a memoir about her time on the show, and talked to TIME about her favorite moments from the beloved series.
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00:00Well, my very favorite Emily moment was the first line I had with Lorelai, Lauren Graham.
00:16When she knocks at the door, I open the door, she's standing there and says,
00:21Hi, Mom.
00:22Lorelai!
00:23My goodness, this is a surprise.
00:27Is it Easter already?
00:29Because later, Edwin Herman comes in, in the same scene, and sees her and does the other
00:34one.
00:35What is it?
00:36Christmas already?
00:37That was one of my favorites, because I thought that that line said so much without having
00:42to explain anything about exposition.
00:44Simply seeing your child and thinking it's a major holiday means that you don't see
00:49your child very often.
00:51So I thought it was very, very cleverly written.
00:54Everyone seems to love the spa episode when Lorelai and I went off to a spa and then we
01:00stole a robe.
01:01Part of the reason I like that, it was one of those rare times when Emily got to expose
01:08her vulnerabilities to her daughter by way of almost apologizing for not understanding
01:15how to be friends with her and being envious of the fact that she had such a good relationship
01:21with her daughter.
01:22So it was that vulnerability.
01:24And then later on, when she talks me into stealing a robe, which is just horrifying
01:30to me until I find out that she's never done anything like that with Rory.
01:34So it's something secret we have together.
01:36I particularly like an episode where my character discovers that her husband's mother, who has
01:43just died, had written him a letter the night before our wedding, begging him not to marry me.
01:48My dearest Richard, it is with heavy heart that I write you this letter tonight.
01:53But I cannot stand by and let you make a terrible mistake.
01:55Until now I had thought, hoped, prayed that you would come to the same conclusion that
01:59I have.
02:00But you have not, and therefore I feel it is my duty as your mother to beg you to reconsider
02:04your impending marriage.
02:07Which sent me off into a whole downward spiral of drinking during the day and doing who knows
02:13what.
02:14I was so messed up by that thing.
02:17The DAR scene, that was in The Year in the Life, those last four episodes we did, when
02:25I just gave up the DAR.
02:29I gave up them and their pretense and whatever else they thought they were doing.
02:34And I also got to swear.
02:37What the hell is going on?
02:38I can't do it anymore.
02:39Can't do what?
02:40I can't spend any more time and energy on artifice and bullshit.
02:44Why do you love that word so much?
02:47And I remember Amy telling me when I read that script and that Emily seemed to have
02:53kind of a foul mouth every once in a while.
02:55And she said, we decided since this is not regular television and you can say whatever
02:59you want, you can use swear words, we decided the only person in the show who swears is
03:06Emily.
03:07It's funny.
03:08It was just another outrageous move on Amy Sherman Palladino's part.
03:17It's funny.
03:18It's funny.
03:19It's funny.