Attention, Bunheads fans, it is time to make some noise. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gilmore Girls and Bunheads creator Amy Sherman-Palladino said that she would do a Bunheads revival "in a heartbeat" if Netflix, or someone else was interested. The one and done ABC Family series about a Vegas showgirl named Michelle (Sutton Foster), who moves to the small town of Paradise when she gets married on a whim was a hit with critics and its small fan base when it premiered. Thanks to its beautiful dance numbers, amazing cast, and signature Sherman-Palladino dialogue, Bunheads is impossible to forget, but Sherman-Palladino thinks people have done just that.
"Bunheads didn’t have the time to build a fan base, and I don’t know that it exists anywhere," Sherman-Palladino told Entertainment Weekly. To which I say, what? It is true that Bunheads didn't last long enough to become the cultural touchstone that is Gilmore Girls, but the show still has plenty of devotees. Just look at how well the primary cast is doing: Foster now stars on Younger, Julia Goldani Telles went from playing Sasha to the teen daughter on The Affair, and Bailey De Young is a breakout star on MTV's Faking It. Prior to Bunheads, only Foster had a following and it was confined to the Broadway set.
If a Bunheads revival is ever going to happen, then those who are passionate about the series need to let their balalaikas ring out. A Gilmore Girls revival seemed like a distant dream before the series hit Netflix, and the show became a major part of the pop culture conversation again. Bunheads is not currently on Netflix — or Hulu, or Amazon Prime — but it is easy to legally watch the entire series. It's streaming on the Freeform site and app (you know, the channel formally known as ABC Family).
Getting a revival to happen for any show is about fan engagement. If it is potentially profitable then someone will make it. What is so beautiful about Bunheads is that a revival could come in the form of a movie or a limited series, like Gilmore Girls. Michelle's students would be college aged by now, but maybe they all come home for a summer of bonding and dance numbers so evocative and amazing they will wonder why they ever stopped dancing with each other.
Everything from Prison Break to Greek is making a comeback these days, and I am certain neither of them, as wonderful as they were, had a scene as talked about as Sasha's "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" dance was in 2012. Even better, Sherman-Palladino clearly has a strong connection to the cast. The majority of the residents of Paradise were played by former Gilmore Girls cast members like Kelly Bishop, Liza Weil, and Rose Abdoo, and many of the key actors who were exclusively on Bunheads are now heading to Stars Hollow. Foster, De Young, and Stacey Oristano have all been confirmed for the Gilmore Girls revival.
Since Sherman-Palladino is clearly in and Foster would no doubt follow wherever she leads, the biggest thing standing between you and a Bunheads revival is buzz. Go forth and watch the show, tweet about it, remind the rest of the world how great it is and hopefully one day the Paradise Dance Studio will put on one more show.
Images: ABC Family; Giphy (2)
