We need coffee in an IV.
We have reached peak “Gilmore Girls” hysteria and we’re still more than a month out from the Netflix premiere of the revival, “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” (Only 50 days until Nov. 25 but who’s counting?) There is so much to report. For instance, today, on the 16th anniversary of the show’s debut, Netflix dropped a little featurette designed to make you weep into your coffee bowl.
See them then, see them now—isn’t your heart full? But wait! There’s more.
Variety reported that Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel each made $750,000 per episode, which is more than the stars of “Game of Thrones” make. That’s almost “Friends” money, people.
But should you need more proof that the demand for Stars Hollow is at an all-time high, look no further than your local Luke’s Diner. In honor of the revival, Netflix converted over 200 coffee shops across the country into Luke’s for the morning. Chicago was graced with two such pop-ups at Osmium Coffee Bar (1117 W. Belmont Ave.) and Elaine’s Coffee Call (1816 N. Clark St.). Both opened at 7 a.m. for its plaid-and-baseball-cap-wearing employees (one was in an apron!) to begin serving cups of Luke’s coffee, but people reportedly began lining up around 6:30 a.m.
We arrived at Osmium at 9 a.m., which was perhaps a little naive of us. The line stretched down the street and around the block, and it was madness. We saw both men and women in flannel and ball caps, people in Luke’s Diner T-shirts and, most adorably—a baby in a plaid skirt and a sweater vest with a Chilton crest on it. Well played, Lakeview mom.
Tragically, around 10:30 a.m. an Osmium employee informed the line that they had totally run out of Luke’s cups and coffee sleeves. People were still able to enjoy the Luke’s sign hanging out front and the cutout of our favorite diner owner with a sign of updated Luke’s rules. In addition to no cell phones, 2016 Luke is apparently also against man buns, taking pictures of food and headphones.
But let’s be real. The idea of people waiting in line for hours to get coffee with a sleeve from a TV show would kill Luke. He’d be ranting about it for days.
@lchval | laurenchval@redeyechicago.com
