PASADENA, Calif. — Among the things that get circulated on the Internet — and sometimes make it into the mainstream press — the rumor about who was actually writing the WB series "The Gilmore Girls" was decidedly strange.
Rumor was that Aaron Sorkin, the creator/executive producer/writer of the Emmy-winning "West Wing," was also writing "Gilmore Girls." Which came as a bit of a shock to Amy Sherman-Palladino, the actual creator/executive producer/writer of the latter series.
"Actually, Aaron Sorkin and I are the same person," Sherman-Palladino joked.
She was, however, a bit taken aback when "Gilmore Girls" star Lauren Graham told her about the reports.
"Lauren said, 'My publicist just called me, and he got something off the wire that said that Amy Sherman-Palladino was a pseudonym for Aaron Sorkin. And he was really writing 'Gilmore Girls,' " she said. "And I'm like, 'Well, then I'd like him to show up because I have a script here, and I'd appreciate it if Aaron finished it for me so I could go shopping.'
"Yeah, it was weird. It was a weird sort of little rumor. And I'm going to start a rumor now that I actually write all the 'West Wings,' and Aaron Sorkin is really a gaffer over there, and I do it all."
Actually, perhaps the rumors were a bit of a compliment in an extremely odd sort of way. Sorkin is an extremely talented writer. And the fact that both shows are produced on the Warner Bros. lot may have helped mislead the easily misled.
But, frankly, anyone who's ever met Sherman-Palladino would instantly dismiss the reports. Graham's character, Loralai Gilmore, talks exactly the way the producer does. As do several other characters to a somewhat lesser extent.
But the weirdest part of those strange reports is that they went beyond suggesting that Sherman-Palladino was getting credit for Sorkin's work.
"What's funny is that the rumor wasn't even that I was fronting for him. It was l didn't even exist," Sherman-Palladino said. "Like, my whole existence was wiped out in a news thing. But I'm like, 'No, I'm real. I'm here. Look at me, world!'
"It was really weird. It's like one day you wake up and it's, 'Well, you're not real.' It was a very strange rumor that my parents probably planted."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com