It was a time for reunions during Sunday night’s 2025 Emmys.
Gilmore Girls stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel took the stage on a set that replicated their Stars Hollow home in the series. The former co-stars, who famously played mother and daughter Lorelai and Rory in the WB show, honored the 25th anniversary of the series that lasted for seven seasons and the revival Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
“Twenty-five years ago, a show called Gilmore Girls apparently took the season of fall hostage,” Graham said. (Based on several years of streaming data, fall is when a lot of people watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix.)
Paying homage to their quick dialogue and witty banter their characters had throughout the show, Graham and Bledel continued to reflect on how, despite being a legacy show, they were a “very small show” that “had nothing.”
“In spite of our autumnal dominance, Gilmore was actually a very small show, meaning we had no money,” Bledel said.
“If there was a birthday at The Drew Carey Show next door, they would send us their leftover sheetcake,” Graham said.
“We saved up all year long to have one snow episode,” Bledel said before Graham mentioning that E.R. also filmed on the same Warner Bros. lot. “And then ER would wet down their street and wash it all away.”
“They had Clooney! They could’ve let us have the damn snow,” Graham quipped.
In celebration of the show’s anniversary this October, a new documentary, Searching For Stars Hollow, is in the works with stars Kelly Bishop, Jared Padalecki and Chad Michael Murray, among others.
Stars from Law & Order, including Christopher Meloni, Ice-T, Tony Goldwyn, S. Epatha Merkerson and Mariska Hargitay also gathered on the Emmys stage to celebrate the show’s anniversary. The original Law & Order show premiered on Sept. 13, 1990, marking its 35th anniversary in 2025.
“We are your Law and Order dream team, icons, veterans, survivors of so many rooftop chases,” Meloni, said with Merkerson adding, “And we’re all here tonight with one clear mission.” Goldwyn continued, “To remind you that Mariska Hargitay has literally resolved more fictional crimes than most actual precincts.”
“She’s been on SVU for 27 years,” Merkerson joked. “That’s longer than some of you have been in therapy because of SVU!”
“Alright, alright, alright. Everyone settle, that’s enough,” Hargitay responded. “I love you all. I seriously do. But this isn’t the Mariska Lifetime Achievement roast.”
Elsewhere at the Emmys, co-stars starring on current or recent shows also presented together, including Jenna Ortega and Catherine Zeta Jones from Netflix’s Wednesday, Kathryn Hahn and Ike Barenholtz for The Studio, Walton Goggins and Parker Posey from The White Lotus, and Sterling K. Brown with James Marsden and Julianne Nicholson for Hulu’s Paradise. Brown revealed on his Instagram that he delayed surgery for his torn Achilles heel in order to attend the Emmys.
“So, [I] gotta have surgery,” he said, adding, “Gonna do it after the Emmys so I can motivate myself and go and try to celebrate with my cast and the producers of Paradise because we got recognized.”
American Horror Story stars Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters also joined the stage together and shared how they missed working together. Kathy Bates and Alan Cumming had a 25-year Annie reunion when presenting together. They both starred in the 1999 made-for-TV movie as Miss Agatha and her younger brother Rooster. Meanwhile, Ray Romano and Brad Garrett reunited and also went down memory lane, recalling how Everybody Loves Raymond won in the comedy series category over 20 years ago. They also compared their current careers, with Garrett joking that he’s appearing on The Dog Whisperer while Romano is starring in a Scorsese film.
“You wanna know something Ray, I just thought I would have been back here sooner,” Garrett said. “I just thought that after winning the Emmy I would have worked more. That’s all. Don’t think that if you win tonight your life is going to change.”
“The next time I’m on the Emmys, it will be in memoriam,” Garrett said. “Am I going to make the cut?”
The Apple TV+ series Severance led the nominees with a total of 27 noms, including best drama series. The Penguin followed with a total of 24 noms; followed by The Studio and The White Lotus with 23 apiece; The Last of Us with 16, Andor and Hacks with 14 each; and Adolescence, The Bear and The Pitt with 13 apiece. HBO and Max scored the most noms of all platforms.
The 77th Emmy Awards was telecast live from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles Sunday on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. Nate Bargatze hosted. See the red carpet looks here.