I Am all in Again, I.
Am all in Again with Scott Patterson and iHeartRadio Podcast.
Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am all in podcast. Actually that's the I Am all In Again podcast is a second go round water Leven Productions. iHeartRadio Media, iHeart Podcasts. We are going to break down Season three, Episode three, Application Anxiety with Stacy or Astano. Hi, Stacy, how you doing? Let me let me thanks for coming. You're an actress,
part of a year in the life Fall. You're portrayed Ali, one of the ladies Lorli meets on her Wild Journey might also or from her Rolla's Mindy Riggins on the television series Friday Night Lights and starring on ABC's Families butN Heads as Truly Stone. She also had a guest starring roles in Grace, Anatomy, Shameless, and Bull. You can also catch her recently on the Netflix series Kaleiscope. Stacey Welcome, How are you?
I'm good? Thanks? That As a rundown, I like it.
They were you are well ensconced inside the the the Amy Sharn Palladino universe.
I couldn't be happier to be in it.
And just grateful to have you. Rory and her mother seek advice on filling out an application of Harvard. Lane falls for a guy who answers her advertisement for a musician, the One and Only Adam Brody, and Taylor urges Luke to open a soda fountain. Directed by Gail Mancuso and written by Daniel Palladino, There's a lot to cover here. Rory gets her Harvard application in the mail and she and Laura l are are going over it like it's like it's no big deal. Actually they were. It was
like a big deal. So you think Rory and Laura La I are now starting to realize how hard it might be to thrive in the real world outside of stars Hollow.
Gosh, thrive in the real world. And then also the reality of like, oh, this is a thing, this thing, this,
this is a thing that might happen. I do have to tell you, when I first started watching last night this episode, I put it in and it was this this episode and they got the application, and then like when Netflix, I guess jumped and all of a sudden it was like she was just meeting Dean and we were just meeting the mother, and I was like, this feels weird because I've watched Gilmore Girls like eight hundred times and I was like and I was like, oh, okay,
I get it. Noe. So I had gone back to the pilot like Netflix had, and so I had to go back and I was like, Okay, this feels much more like calm, and I understand where we are right now. So then I was like back into the world and I'm like, no, okay, everybody's where I need them to be. I'm going to Harvard. I'm back in I can't.
And Paris and Rory air holding a seminar on applying to college, and the advisors are sharing mistakes Africans make. They get Rory worried because she was going to do exactly what they mentioned not to.
I would write an essay on Hillary Clinton. I love I do say.
I love that.
Paris says that when she first started writing her her first trial essay at twelve, because of course Paris would do that.
Right, right, right. And Emily's trying to get involved in Rory's college application. Rory arrives late Friday night dinner, freaking out that she isn't getting in because she's become a I guess in her eyes a cliche to the admissions office at Harvard, and Laurel I starts to freak out too. You know, that scene in the in Richard's office was really great. It was one of the It was one of the more fun scenes I've seen those two do what they're freaking out about.
Any anytime you get them on screen. I do. I want to know what I'm stuck on Paris. I want to know what Paris's essay is about, Like, who's she writing about? What of her thirty essays? Who is she writing about?
I don't know who was who was she? I don't know that they revealed that there's so many places you could go. I mean, should we speculate?
Oh my god, I'm not that smart. That's the thing.
Who do you think she's? Who do you think she looks up to?
It? She wants to he's so obscure.
Or Tom Stalin?
Who somebody like that? Or in the most charming way, it's herself, but like in a way that is perfect.
Lizzie Borden who Reilly?
You know?
Laurela meets with Headmaster Charles and he passed along Harvard alumnus contact and they go to Darren Springsteen's house to have lunch. Wh this was this was pretty good. One of the Springsteen kids isn't on the Harvard bound conveyor belt. You think Rory recognizes her? What was her name? Mary? I think Mary as someone similar to her own mother when she meets her, putting on her bunny costume.
Mother mother and a little bit herself too, like in a weird way, because she gets the funny the funny references, right, Is it okay to say creepy? The brother and the sister coming in from tennis were a little creepy, creepy.
And they play that game at lunch.
You know, I can't fathom. I was thinking about if I was at that lunch, how awkward I would be. I can do it?
Yeah, yeah, that's that was something, all right. Now Dean gets insecure about him only going to junior college, and this is is this the beginning really of the destruction of Dean? It's the first Is this the first time we've seen Dean really start getting a little whiny because I haven't. He's been great so far, right, and then boy, he really just goes down, down, down, suggests that they break up if she goes off to college. Rory convinces him she won't. They brush it off and they continue
their date. But she's really like she's a little startled, isn't she. She's like, Wow, where did that come from? Where did that big dose of insecurity coming out of Dean?
It seems early to have that talk too, Yeah, going to Harvard yet, Like, what would that be that? Where are we in the timeline? It's still like what the beginning semester of schools?
Buddy, you gotta calm down, you know. And I think how you know her fix? Well, I'll study during the week and then I'll come home. I think I think her fix for that was completely unrealistic, which is why we have that scene. You know, she's not going to do that. She's not going to come home every weekend. She won't be able to. She'll make friends, she'll be busy, she'll be in clubs, she'll be doing a lot of reading and a lot of homework over the weekend. It's
the only time she probably can do it. So, Yeah, he was seeing the handwriting on the wall.
He just wanted to God bless him, Like maybe he's.
Not wrong, but he's not wrong, But it's like, not the way to play it. I guess tough for a kid, right. And then there's more red flags with Dean, but you know, he brings up their relationship status when she leavesn't and to suggest they break up. I mean this is to even bring that into the universe. I think it's not
the smartest thing in the world. But I guess he trusts her and he wants to talk openly about it and it's on his mind and he feels comfortable with her, and why not, right, I mean, the difference in priorities is a recipe for disaster coming. Why do you think Rory continues to anr the red flags with Dean?
Oh gosh, because when you're that age, you don't see them as red flags, right, You just it's popularve and you love the boy and he's very very cute and he's very very sweet, I think.
Is right.
He's like he's he's like the perfect boyfriend. Is he's acting like a mature man in an an evolved adult relationship and being great and he's a kid and he's doing it. That's really not the time to do it, is it.
It's impulsive, impetuous.
And really.
Elene is looking for a bandmate, and she places an ad for a bandmate. She's being particular about her influences. Uh, She's getting phone calls at Rory and Laurel's house. And finally, Dave Rigalski Okay leaves a messaged and and he and he approaches her Lane at the town after a town meeting, and she's very impressed with him. He lets her listen to a demo of his band and she lets slip out that she loves him. So she's finally following through
on her musical dreams. How do you think she's pulling this off from missus Kim? I mean, she's hiding all this from her mother. How's she doing that?
This Lane's musical taste is so impressive? And this is how I know that Dan Dan Sherman Palladino wrote this episode because I can hear his voice and his musical influences in it. But like Lane listens to a lot of music that her mother never finds out about. It's actually really impressive. But then, of course, like has Adam Brodie ever not been completely adorable? Like he's he's very very good at that.
Mm hmm right, I love him right, Well, there's instant sparks between the two of them, and I think we know what your first impression of him is. Yeah, he just came on and killed it and uh, you know, became that character that they wanted to retain. But I think the o c scooped him up before the Warners had a chance to to sign him to a deal. I guess you know, it's all those young guys. They all left the show, right, They all tried, They went off to bigger and better things, left us all holding
the bag. You know, here we are. We'll just take it from here. Guys, thanks a lot, Thanks for coming. All right, so now we can deal with Luke and the building next door. Lucy's Taylor taking photos of the building next door, which Luke's own. I thought that was particularly funny when when together, isn't that just one.
It's just he's so great, He's so funny.
Isn't Taylor just the best? And when he gets caught when he sees me spying on him, he just stands straight up.
So good two are good foes together. That's a good head to head match. I do love that Luke knew what what was it? A chocolate phosphorus was but not an egg cream or a black cow, or maybe Luke.
Was just chocolate phosphate. That is it a phosphate or a phosphorus.
I've never heard of it.
You think Taylor's being too harsh about the soda shop, you think he's being too persistent. It's Taylor, Yeah, that's Taylor, right maybe, but also now I think both of them are a little harsh, right, which makes it work.
So well, that's a hard headed man against a hard headed man.
Right exactly. And you know, these kids come in start ordering these you know, throwback soda drinks, and Kirk comes in, he orders a soda fountain drink, and then it comes to the diner, and then Luke catches on finally, so he confronts Taylor about it, and Taylor tries to convince him to open a soda shop, and Luke says, no way. Great scene.
By the way, yeah, that's when we first find out that you own that right space, right right?
Yeah? Yeah, I don't know why he's so upset about it. He owns the space, it's empty, rented out. What's the problem.
It's because it's Taylor. Anybody but Taylor, anything but that.
Yeah, And then we get the town meeting. That was a good town meeting.
I love the town meeting. I think about it if I was in the show, how much I would love to film those, although I bet they were probably like also not fun at the same time, just having everybody in.
The Why do you think they weren't fun?
Because it's a lot of people and a lot of just sitting, right, like a day of shooting. Way to do that in the football stands and Friday night lights and it was just like the stands forever, everybody's together in the same place.
But you're it's a nighttime. You're usually filling Friday night lights.
It's all in the nighttime, full like full nights in the morning.
Right, So it's so it's cold, right, it's cold at night in Texas, right, it can be. It can be. So you're sitting there all night doing those all those crowd.
Scenes, reaction shots.
Reaction shots all. Yeah, it takes forever. It takes forever. The thing about the thing about the town hall meetings is it's it's intensely hot in there because they you know, they shoot during the day and they shoot all day, so they tint it off and it's you know, it's Burbank. It's one hundred degrees. You're in winter clothes. It's it's one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty degrees in there. It's really it was really like, yeah, a lot of tissue.
They're going through a lot of tissue, just dabbing people. Yeah, blooding everybody, all right, And now we get to this uh, this wonderful Darren Springsteen arc. He leaves a message for Rory saying she is the perfect candidate and that she is basically in Harvard, and it's this this last beat Rory and Laurla I start to realize she's she's gonna leave it, and how will her being away from college
affect their dynamic? And there's that that Laura l after the town hall meeting looking after a daughter, and Dean walking into Luke's and realizing she's going to be gone. So it's a nice moment.
That's the through line of this episode. It's like jan realizes and then Jackson wants to use her room and put his tools.
In there, and like, oh my god, like it's so pick too. I like to put my my ancient hose and shovels and picks in.
Your like the heavy.
Can I store them in Rory's room? Well you're not going to need it?
God, yeah, put my rusty old tools in your.
Daughter's mister sensitive. Right, Thanks a lot there, Jackson.
Parking. Theme of this seems to be like everyone is starting to realize, like is going to go away.
Huh. But that's a Dan Palladino episode. I love his episode.
It's Dan Palladino episode. Dan used to on. Buttheads loved to give me a list and it was just a list of whatever. Like one time it was a list of news anchors or a list of like things that I loved, and it would be half a page. And he told me that he did it because it made him laugh to see me try to like memorize it, and like that was his that was his thing that he would do with me. So I would get a script and I'd be like, oh, God, here we go. What am I doing? What am I doing? This time?
Dan just loved to like throw lots of words.
Well you you went to college, right? Uh? And you went you went to college in the UK?
Right?
I did it? Went to a University of Manchester.
You remember all about the application process? What was that?
Like? I did a lot of application process in America because I assumed that's where I was going, So I did a lot of the essays and the sets and all of that. But I did this Thespian Convention audition and I won first place in a scholarship and from there, the dean of the Acting Center at the University of Manchester asked me if I wanted to maybe go there, and I said no because it sounded like really scary and I was going to go to TCU with all my friends and my dad was like.
No, You're going to go really really And what was that like? Going to Manchester, UK?
Terrifying? I'm from Texas and I like never left Texas and right, yeah, I'd definitely never been out of the country. But big culture, huge culture shock. But it took me two weeks to completely fall in love with the people and the style of acting and everything that I was doing there.
I didn't want to, right.
So You're a part of Year in Life, Laureli heads Off in the Wild and you renewed reunited with Amy Palladina after being part of the main cast of Bunheads. How did it feel to join the Gilmour universe I.
Remember going to that table aid and I am such it. So when I first got onto Bunheads, do you remember like years and years ago when actors would have generals with casting directors, Like we would have a general meeting and it wasn't like an audition. You would just meet with a casting director in chat. Then a casting director for Bunheads was like, hey, so there's this show coming up. It's like Amy Sherman Palladino and it's about ballet. And I was like, you just said two of my favorite things.
Then later she brought me in for the audition for Bunheads and she was like, oh, also Sutton Foster and I was like, stop saying things that I love doing that show was amazing. And then so going to the table read for Gilmour Girls, which was like two or three years after that, I was fan girling out because I was such a fan.
Oh wait, so you were in that room.
Yeah, in the table raid for what was it?
Autumn was the one that I did, So that were you? So it was in the it was in the uh you know, you came to the executive suites and went upstairs, went in that conference room. Wasn't a huge conference room, but it was big enough.
It was there was a lot of people there.
That was the initial table read seeing you and oh okay okay.
And all of these people that I loved, And I clung onto Kelly Bishop with all of my mc because she was the only person in the room that I knew, and I loved it with all of my heart. And I was like, I was like, I don't know what I'm doing in Shi goes Stacy, you belong here, And I was like, oh my god, I was fan girling the entire time.
Is so cool.
It was.
Uh yeah, that was a nice That was a nice table read. That was like fancy table reading. All right, So it's the twenty fifth anniversary Gilmore Girls this year. Have you watched all of.
The series at least five times over.
At least five times?
Go This and West Wing are my my go back comfort shows, Like I mean, you need something that you know really well and the world is a little too much and you just want to like get cozy. Yeah, I'm fan.
And you were also on Friday Night Lights, another iconic show. You were Mindy. That is another like you know, super fan driven show. So let's compare which fans are more dedicated. Friday Night Lights fans are Gilmore.
Girls fans girls fans. Yeah, yeah, Friday Night Lights fans are super cool and chill and it's just like a head nud like hair, like the show. I really like Friday Night Lights. But like you More Girls fans, they go to the like festivals and they I want to like meet your guys and like they're they're in it. They had you guys for so much longer too.
We went around.
We weren't around that long.
How many How many seasons did you shoot? To that show live?
But we got struck by the writers strike the second season, so the rest of our seasons were only sixteen episodes.
Okay, wow, how often do you get recognized as mindy.
Less and less? Because I'm older? But when I'm around my best friend Derek Phillips, who played my husband Billy Riggins, when we're together, you recognized more. Right, Oh, you know what I get A lot like this is what I get. I know you did we go to high school together? And I don't know, probably not, but I never wanted to be like I was on.
I'm like, no, no, no, Well, Gilmore Girls was able to come back for revivals. Do you think you'd be open to the same thing for Friday Night Lights? Is there any talk of it?
We talked about it a lot. There was this script floating around of the like the same crew coming back and we're sort of to split into two camps of yes and a no. And as much as I couldn't turn down the job, I don't want to tell any more of that story. Our series finale to me was perfect and it's a perfect ending, and I think that's it for that story. I don't think anyone needs to be.
Told right right right now. You're also a podcaster. It's called Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Friday Nights, Friday Night Lights rewatch. What was it like going through all that? Again?
I do not watch anything that I'm in, so we share that I never watched Friday Night Lights. And Derek, who plays my husband, my best friend. We got offered this podcast and it was during pandemic and like we weren't working and it was an opportunity for us to connect every week and like chat and then we brought on our friends and chatted to them on the show. So it was like, yeah, I think I want to
do this, so I did. I had to sit down and watch the show, and it was probably eight ten years after we had done it, so it was enough that I wasn't like freaking out, except then I was like, holy crap, it's a really good show. Like I knew it was good, but I didn't know it was that good, and I was so fully invested in it. It's a really good show.
I had the same experience with Gi. I had no idea how good the show was.
You love it?
Oh, yeah, I too. It's like, wow, I think it's great. It's it's always a really fun forty minutes it does.
It goes my fast because it's so quick I was watching. I sometimes put on close captioning just because I'm getting older now and Gilmore girls sometimes, especially when it's Laura Lies. She talks so fast that the closed captioning can't keep up with it. And it makes my heart happy because I'm.
Alogy has not been updated to deal with Laurla. That's funny. Well listen, it was great having you on. Appreciate the time. Good luck with a podcast and anything that's coming up in the future. Remember Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Friday Night Lights rewatch, Stacy, thank you so much, and the best fans on the planet and Stacy confirmed it best fans on the planet. Keep those cards and letters coming, Thanks for all the downloads, and remember where you lead. We
will finally see you next time. Season three, episode four, One's got class and the other one dies. Remember to stay safe, all the best.
June, Hey, everybody to forget.
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