Sadly, Edward Herrmann, who played Richard on the series, died in 2014. Sherman-Palladino spoke with TVLine about how his absence will affect the show: "It's later in [the lives of the Gilmore women] and we're meeting up with them and finding out what they've been doing but, more than that, that all three of their lives are going to change," she said. "And for Emily, it had to be that Richard was gone. And what did that mean? What does it mean for all three of the girls? [A tragedy like that] brings up thoughts of, 'Where am I? Where am I going? What am I doing?' Because it's mortality. Something they loved is gone, which means things you love will not be around forever. And you can't take them for granted . . . It's walking onto that Gilmore set that is going to be a very different feel, because one piece is missing. So it looms large over the work that we'll do. And definitely the stories are of where the ladies are and where they're going."
