{"id":2432707,"date":"2025-05-09T01:33:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T05:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/etoile-a-promising-misstep-from-the-team-behind-gilmore-girls\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T01:36:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T05:36:42","slug":"etoile-a-promising-misstep-from-the-team-behind-gilmore-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/etoile-a-promising-misstep-from-the-team-behind-gilmore-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018\u00c9toile\u2019: A promising misstep from the team behind \u2018Gilmore Girls\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fetoile-a-promising-misstep-from-the-team-behind-gilmore-girls%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2432707&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the new show *\u00c9toile*, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, who are best known for their acclaimed series *Gilmore Girls* and *The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel*. *\u00c9toile*, which explores the ballet world, follows the story of two ballet companies that swap stars to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tebow-time-former-qb-works-out-with-nfl-team-eyes-return-as-tight-end\/\" title=\"Tebow Time? Former QB Works Out With NFL Team, Eyes Return As Tight End\">boost ticket sales<\/a>. Despite the strong cast and some humorous moments, the show struggles to capture the charm and engaging qualities typical of Palladino&#8217;s previous works. <\/p>\n<p>It features dancing and discussions about the importance of ballet, but lacks the depth and creativity that viewers may expect. the characters frequently enough come off as unlikable and repetitive, with many relying on worn-out tropes. While the potential for improvement exists as the series progresses, the first half of the season feels slow. The article expresses cautious optimism for the show, noting that it could evolve into a better series if it finds more focus and originality. *\u00c9toile* is deemed a fine but flawed entry in the Palladino portfolio, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-ufcs-dana-white-tired-of-doing-podcasts-walks-out-not-even-30-seconds-into-it-after-comments-from-howie-mandel\/\" title=\"UFC&#039;s Dana White walks out of podcast after Howie Mandel&#039;s comments\">leaving viewers eager<\/a> to see how the story develops in its upcoming seasons.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">&lsquo;&Eacute;toile&rsquo;: A promising misstep from the team behind &lsquo;Gilmore Girls&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2113901\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Twenty-five years ago, Amy Sherman-Palladino burst onto the scene with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/magazine-life-arts\/2583539\/the-natalist-streak-running-through-amy-sherman-palladinos-shows\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><em>Gilmore Girls<\/em><\/a>, which earned critical acclaim for its quirky characters and rapid-fire dialogue. After <em>Gilmore Girls<\/em>, it took Sherman-Palladino a while to land another hit. She and Daniel Palladino, her husband and creative partner, created <em>The Return of Jezebel James<\/em>, which was canceled after just three episodes. Then came <em>Bunheads<\/em>, which developed a cult following but only lasted one season.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, in 2017, <em>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel <\/em>premiered on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/amazon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Amazon Prime<\/a>. Like <em>Gilmore Girls<\/em>,<em> Mrs. Maisel <\/em>features a plucky heroine, beautiful set pieces, and lightning-fast dialogue so loaded with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/culture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">cultural allusions<\/a> it could make your head spin. The move to streaming seemed beneficial for the Palladinos. They had more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">money<\/a> and more creative control. The costumes are better, the episodes are longer, and some of the plots are more outlandish. When <em>Mrs. Maisel <\/em>concluded its fifth season in 2023, it did so to great acclaim.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3401505\/does-thunderbolts-make-sense-never-seen-marvel-movie\/\">Does Thunderbolts* make sense if you&#8217;ve never seen a Marvel movie before? I went to find out<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3404451\/hollywood-tariffs-bailout-unworthy\/\">Hollywood doesn&#8217;t deserve a tariff bailout<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/3405100\/oan-voice-of-america-broadcast\/\">OAN feed to broadcast on Voice of America<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>So, when it was announced that the Palladinos would return to Amazon Prime, fans were thrilled &mdash;&nbsp;all the more so because their new show, <em>&Eacute;toile<\/em>, marked a return to the world of ballet, which Sherman-Palladino, a classically trained ballerina, first explored in <em>Bunheads. <\/em>The plot has all the makings of a hit: two ballet companies, one in New York, the other in Paris, agree to swap stars for a season in a desperate bid to boost ticket sales. Jack Macmillan (Luke Kirby), the hangdog director of the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre, gets Cheyenne Toussaint (Lou de La&acirc;ge), the bad girl of Parisian ballet. In exchange, Genevieve Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and Le Ballet National get eccentric choreographer Tobias Bell (Gideon Glick) and Mishi (Ta&iuml;s Vinolo), a French ingenue Lavigne had cut from her company and shipped off to Manhattan.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&lsquo;<em>&Eacute;toile<\/em>&lsquo; marked a return to the world of ballet. (Philippe Antonello\/Amazon Prime)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Unfortunately, the Palladinos seem to have fallen once again into a kind of sophomore slump. <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><em>&Eacute;toile&nbsp;<\/em>has a solid cast and some funny moments, but lacks the engaging plot, charm, and wit we&rsquo;ve come to expect from a Palladino production.<\/span> In their defense, dance is a hard art to make a television show about. Most of us aren&rsquo;t familiar with it and don&rsquo;t know how to think about what we&rsquo;re seeing.<\/p>\n<p>This is not an insurmountable problem. Another Amazon Prime offering, <em>Mozart In The Jungle, <\/em>circumvents the fact that most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-gets-lambasted-after-announcing-desperate-cash-grab-in-bid-to-turn-company-around\/\" title=\"CNN Gets Lambasted After Announcing Desperate Cash Grab in Bid to Turn Company Around\">viewers don&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t know anything about classical music by having characters talk about classical music: how to whittle an oboe reed, how to conduct a symphony, and what being a professional musician is actually like. In so doing, the show gives every viewer the requisite background knowledge to appreciate the medium at its heart.<\/p>\n<p><em>&Eacute;toile <\/em>takes a different approach. Rather than engage in a single bit of exposition, the characters simply talk, at length, often insufferably, about how <em>important <\/em>ballet is.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here&rsquo;s an illustrative bit of dialogue:<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Have you ever met a ballet dancer before? We&rsquo;re weird. We do weird things. We stand on our toes on purpose. Why? I don&rsquo;t know &hellip; Our whole lives are spent in disgusting, unsanitary places. We smell &mdash; all the time &hellip; Dancers don&rsquo;t know what day it is, or what the weather&rsquo;s like outside. We are part of a cult.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s a lot of that. Cheyenne, the prima ballerina who delivers that little monologue, terrifies everyone she meets. Why? Because she&rsquo;s so committed to ballet. Why? Because she was born to do it.<\/p>\n<p>In a later episode, Cheyenne opens up and tells Jack that she&rsquo;s alone because ballet left no room for love in her heart. We&rsquo;re just supposed to take this as a given and something artists do.<\/p>\n<p>This would maybe be forgivable if the difficult artist weren&rsquo;t such a worn-out trope. But <em>&Eacute;toile<\/em>&lsquo;s<em> <\/em>biggest sin is that nothing is really original. Characters are either moody or quirky. Some are both. Tobias the choreographer dances in traffic, oblivious to the honking horns. Cheyenne&rsquo;s mother, Bruna, is, for some reason, a steampunk tinkerer who is mean to everyone. Rarely do we get a hint of motivation or backstory.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Palladinos&rsquo; strength is that their quirky, pigheaded characters are always balanced by realists. Lorelei Gilmore&rsquo;s blind faith in her daughter&rsquo;s perfection is neutralized by her parents&rsquo; hard-nosed realism, and the kookiness of Stars Hollow is cut by Luke, the surly diner owner. <em>Mrs. Maisel <\/em>strikes a similar balance between its protagonist and pretty much everyone around her.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that this is a delicate balance &mdash; one that the Palladinos seem to miss more often than not. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/netflix\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Netflix<\/a>&rsquo;s four-part <em>Gilmore Girls<\/em> revival, <em>A Year In The Life<\/em>, we see what happens when things tilt too much toward the quirky. The plot is thin, the characters are unbelievable to the point of absurdity, and the episodes have unnecessary Technicolor musical numbers.<\/p>\n<p><em>&Eacute;toile <\/em>has the opposite problem. Everyone is an unlikable purist, and it&rsquo;s a drab world. The Palladinos dropped their <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >trademark pitter-patter dialogue<\/a> and cool-kid cultural references. Things are so serious that, though the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marvels-wandavision-team-cut-doctor-strange-cameo-from-finale-to-avoid-white-guy-saving-the-day-mansplaining-magic\/\" title=\"Marvel\u2019s \u2018WandaVision\u2019 Team Cut \u2018Doctor Strange\u2019 Cameo From Finale To Avoid \u2018White Guy\u2019 Saving The Day, Mansplaining Magic\">show takes place<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/manhattan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Manhattan<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/paris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Paris<\/a>, we barely see much of either city. &Eacute;toile is dimly lit and grayscale, save for the intricate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/66720\/feminists-dont-care-about-the-gender-gap-in-ballet-why-should-we-care-about-the-one-in-tech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">ballets<\/a> mounted every few episodes. How&rsquo;s that for a central metaphor?<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/3052191\/who-are-the-tony-awards-for\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">WHO ARE THE TONY AWARDS FOR? <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Still, <em>&Eacute;toile <\/em>is a fine enough show. The first half of the season drags. However, once it picks up, it&rsquo;s as good as anything else on streaming, if not as good as what we&rsquo;ve come to expect from the Palladinos.<em> <\/em>Cheyenne&rsquo;s character takes some getting used to. But when she warms up, she&rsquo;s pretty funny. Kirby is delightful as Jack, though one wishes he had more to work with. And Simon Callow is absolutely sensational as Crispin Shamblee, an arms dealer turned ballet patron and the show&rsquo;s marginal villain, whose antics shine against the show&rsquo;s otherwise monotonous tableau.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, it feels wrong to render a final judgment on <em>&Eacute;toile. <\/em>Amazon ordered two seasons off the bat, and the eight episodes feel more like the first half of a season than a proper first season. There&rsquo;s plenty of room for the plot to advance, and the cast, which includes a number of the Palladinos&rsquo; favorite featured players, is top-notch. If <em><em>&Eacute;toile<\/em><\/em>  is a frustrating watch, it&rsquo;s only because the show has a lot of promise. You know it could be great with a bit more focus, like a promising young ballerina who has yet to master her <em>grand jet&eacute;.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Tim Rice is the deputy managing editor of the<\/em> Daily Wire<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2113901\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2113901\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018\u00c9toile\u2019: A hopeful but flawed effort from the \u2018Gilmore Girls\u2019 creators<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":317,"featured_media":2432708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/LA.TV_.051425.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[54905,54906,52130],"class_list":["post-2432707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-etoile","tag-gilmore-girls","tag-television-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/LA.TV_.051425.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/317"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2432707"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2432711,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432707\/revisions\/2432711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2432708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2432707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2432707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2432707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}