>> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. hello, everybody. it is booze day tuesday. spanky tuesday, november 29th, but also much more importantly known as giving tuesday. that is "rhythm inside" by callum scott. >> yeah, we've got a great, great show today. talking about it for months. now it's finally arrived. you've been waiting. the "gilmore girls" series is on after nine years. we're going to find out what

lauren graham, alexis bledel and kelly bishop, and happy alexis is here, because she was -- >> both: stuck in traffic. >> coming to new york, put in an extra hour. >> i think she did. it was like the rain. >> raining, too. >> you're right. donald trump is in town. so you get those three things. >> can't get anywhere around here. >> can't get anywhere. okay. also in the spirit of giving, a story that will warm your heart for the holidays. how one family with 16 children is making sure children of fallen ser m forgotten this christmas and how you can help share kindness while spreading holiday cheer. >> plus, our beauty testers at it again. this time trying out the best drug store makeup products. we've got the ones that are in top marks that will make great stocking stuffers. again, the "today" show and "people" magazine teaming up all for under $13. >> ah. when i think how much we spend. you know? >> i know. >> these products are out there. adam richman graces us in the

dishes he says will impress even the most demanding guests. >> he's the second chef we're having on. >> in my series called -- >> "cook for me: i'm hungry." >> adam, all right. >> you know what, this is something i like to encourage everybody to do every year. it's calmed "operation christmas child" all part of samaritan's purse. franklin graham, billy graham's son has been doing it. they've raised -- i think they've sent -- wait a minute. inside we all need the same thing ? >> let's just listen for a moment. this is nancy lamont. ? and maybe we'll find if we are there for each other ? >> pretty. ? that together we'll weather whatever tomorrow may bring ? >> beautiful! >> it's a gorgeous, gorgeous song written by our friend david, of course who does all

>> david friedman. but this is how we can start. this is something that they've sent over 130 million of these to children all over the world. it's just -- gives them -- these kids, sometimes in their lives have never had a gift. never had a gift. it could be anything. >> socks -- >> crank it one more time. ? we can be kind ? ? we can take care of each other ? >> one of the greatest voices every one of her albums is amazing. either a boy or girl. stuff that -- for people who have nothing. >> yeah. >> you send them something. anything. >> yeah. >> anything. just to let people know that they are loved. >> how sweet. >> god bless franklin. he does such great work with this organization. >> very sweet. >> yeah. again, since 1993 they've been doing this. if we can -- >> awesome. >> finish up with that. sorry. >> it's like --

? maybe we'll find ? >> here's the key -- ? true peace of mind if we always remember we can be kind ?? >> ah. beautiful! >> download that. >> nancy lamont. >> definite download. >> thank you. you know how that song came to be? >> how? >> she came in -- they were having a meeting about an album or something and everything went wrong trying to get to the apartment. people were rude and people were nasty, took her taxi and da, da, da. walked in, david, could you maybe write a song how, could we just be kind to one another and that's how he sat down and wrote this song. >> wow. that is a beautiful one.

everybody. sorry we took so much time for that. >> it's important. >> let's stay on that note. the ten tenors, a great group, did a performance at st. jude. our christmas benefits, and made a special stop at st. jude to perform for the kids. that cd, by the way, is it's on sale with amazon.com. pre-order the album right now. >> lovely about all -- every penny, every penny goes to st. jude's which does, you know, nobody ever gets a bill at st. jude's. >> it's one of the most beautiful places. >> oh, my god. >> look who's in our kitchen. >> "gilmore girls" gracing us with their presence. hello, ladies. >> oh, my gosh! we're happy you made it through traffic to come see us. is that one of those days? >> this has been one of those mornings. >> you know what? we're about to peak, at 10:00,

refrigerator behind you if you care. >> we're so excited. the "gilmore girls" is -- >> everybody's talking about it. >> yes. thanks for coming. >> thank you, guys. the cma christmas schedule was last night and a lot of country stars came together for a special christmas at the grand ole opry. jennifer nettles, one of our favorites. showed off her dance -- look at her. >> dancing skills. >> showed some skin too. >> such a sweetheart. and he >> the thing, a lot of big country stars, the kids stole the show. check out this 11-year-old pianist prodigy accompanying kelsea ballerini and the song called "my favorite things." >> you know the one. >> yeah. >> look at this kid. >> from "the sound of music." >> look at him. ?? >> and then 10-year-old j.t.

singing "the little drummer boy." he was a finalist on "so you think you can dance." country music invited the kiddies on. >> cute idea. really cute. >> can we talk about -- >> "gilmore girls" is not the only remake. do you know they're making a "beaches." >> yes! >> remaking "beaches." with idina. >> what do we think? first of all -- >> adina is in it? >> she's playing the barbara hershey role. >> i'm in >> and nina is playing -- >> other way around. >> fantastic. >> if you guys don't know "beaches" because you said, my mom, my aunt, they watched it. this is going to be for you. so, in the trailer you hear idina singing "wind beneath my wings." take a look. ? did you ever know that you're my hero ? ? everything i wished i could be ?

eagle ? >> cece, i'm really scared. >> hillary, we are not going to give up. ? you are the wind beneath my wings ? >> going to be great. >> it's on lifetime? >> premieres on lifetime january 21st. >> oh, my god. >> good stuff. my daughter is on the set right now with a lifetime movie i'll talk to you about later. they do good stuff. thing -- >> both: it's your mother. >> wonderful complicated relationships, from the beginning. three generations of the "gilmore girls" are with us. >> lauren, alexis and kelly. giving us the scoop on what's new coming up right after this. . down came the rain and clogged the gutter system creating a leak in the roof. luckily the spider recently had geico help him

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seven years, lauren graham, alexis and kelly starred in the hit series "gilmore girls" as a mother, daughter and grandmother relationship. >> well, guess what, after nine years off the air the show's highly loyal fans have gotten their loose ends all tied up with the long-awaited revival. >> both: "gilmore girls: a year in the life." >> as for relationships, still complicated. we want it to be. take a look. >> i was starting to feel claustrophobic. wake up feeling like the house was closing in on me like i couldn't breathe. you know? >> oh, yes, i know. >> she tells you have to take everything you own out and put

you pick up each possession and you hold it. if it brings you joy, you keep it. if it doesn't, out it goes. no joy. >> mom. he's taking the dining room chairs. >> they don't bring me joy. >> we always say our -- >> both: our joy is non-negotiable. >> welcome. >> how was it? back on the set, just like old times when you got there? >> a strange, wonderful, eerie combination of just like old times yet brand-new yet couldn't believe it. we talked about it for so long and to finally be there it was so emotional. >> tinged with sadness. because of your co-star's passing. >> lost ed hermann. you could feel his presence everywhere. he was the kind of person who always filled up a room. >> sure did. >> alexis, did you all keep in touch over the years or did everyone sort of splinter off and time to come back together and, hey, what's been going on? >> no.

potentially doing this but couldn't have anticipated we'd get a chance to actually do it, but, no, we would talk over the years and see each other. >> see each other at events, too. right? >> yeah. but still a lot of catching up to do. i mean, ten years. >> kelly, did you worry, it was such a magical time. did you think to yourself, wow, if we try to reboot this and it doesn't go over well, should have just left well enough alone? >> no. i'd been wanting to do this, i had been badgering amy for years. >> the original founder. >> we should do a movie. i was so jealous of "sex and the city." they got a movie! we want a movie. >> they got two actually. >> well, we've got four chapters. >> there you go. >> so, no, i was just so excited about it. >> and did get to finish it with amy. it always felt like we'd been left in midair, a little bit. >> yeah. >> a little weird.

some people have already binged it, you can sit down and watch the whole megillah. what do you think the way they're watching now? >> the creator of the series so wanted netflix to release them one at a time, because we all come from a time where you look forward to the next one. >> yes. can't wait. >> and sort of digest it, the first one. >> right. >> but this leaves it up to fans. so you can kind of do it the way you'd like to do it. >> this is an impatient civilization. we want everything instantaneously. >> the computer age is what it is. sort of started with the jet age. i'm a little older than you are. and then -- >> you look better. so you win. >> thank you. no. we are, our attention span is very short. >> yeah. >> but at the same time, i've noticed that dealing with younger people, they grasp very quickly. the things that took us like, oh, yeah. i see what you mean. oh, yeah. i got it. and then they're moving on so --

is about this particular show that captivated people years ago and is captivating people again today? what is it about it? >> oh, i think now it's particularly comforting, given the times we live in, but it always had this very comforting feel. the town that we live in is just a place where everyone supports each other and is kind. and helps each other out. that's something i think is just timeless, and you can always go back to it. >> those kind of communities still exist today. >> of course. >> when you live on the east coast, kind of hard to remember that exists in most of the country! >> yeah. >> and usually you need tension. like a horrible guy or somebody who everybody hates. that wasn't part of the drill of your show at all? >> it never was. our show was always about sparkly dialogue and people having the amount of joy. the loss of ed gave the story a little more weight this time, because we're all dealing with

90-minute episode. it needed something a little more cinematic, and -- and something with a little more weight to it. >> when this ends, at the end of these episodes, if you binge watch and see the very end, is there a period on it or is there -- >> she wants the question. >> there is an ellipses. >> ellipses. >> dot, dot, dot. >> in the business 40 years what is that? oh, the dot, dot, dot, dot. oh, okay. >> we learned something new >> do we have time to take one question from our fans? we had a bunch of fans who wanted to ask a question. hear one? oh, they're on the card? oh. we're reading it. glasses. greg from sacramento wants to know if you had to play another character on the show, who would you want to play? >> oh, a different character. >> if you had to switch characters. >> emily. >> i mean -- >> emily. >> really? both of you? >> i couldn't do it. i'm too, like, ooh -- ooh!

no joy. >> yeah. >> i think we each kind of have a part that we're very right for, hard to switch. >> one more question, ray from arkansas asks, do you get to keep the outfits you wear? >> no. we give them back. >> do you want to keep them? >> some of them. lorelai and i wore some wacky stuff in this last one. >> thanks for coming in. >> thank you so much. >> so glad you made it. >> we love you alexis. life" is streaming right now as we speak on netflix. get ready to stock up your makeup back, drug store finds under $20. >> and speaking of beauty, we're going to get up close and personal when we go fishing with "vikings" star travis fimmel. oh, gosh, he's cute. >> right after this. >> fine. (coughs) cough doesn't sound so good. take mucinex dm. i'll text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. one pill lasts 12 hours, so... looks like i'm good all night!

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