Gilmore Girls‘ Amy Sherman-Palladino: The Revival Post Mortem Interview You’ve Been Waiting For
The following 2-page post mortem contains massive spoilers about all four chapters of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Proceed at your own peril
Gilmore Girls fans, chances are very good that you’ve seen all four installments of Netflix‘s A Year in the Life and you have about a dozen or so questions burning a hole in your brain. Questions about the final four words. Questions about the father of Rory’s unborn child. Questions about that mysterious letter. Questions about Luke and Lorelai’s wedding date. Questions about the possibility of a second revival.
Well, at at around 11 am on Wednesday, I grabbed my tape recorder, called an Ooooooober and travelled to an undisclosed coffee shop here in New York City to meet with series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and get the answers you crave. Herewith are highlights from our illuminating chat.
TVLINE | The original plan was to have Rory get pregnant right after college?
Yes, like at 22-years-old.
TVLINE | Which is very different than Rory being pregnant at 32. Let’s first talk about the original plan that would’ve had Rory being a very young, potentially single mom.
I always wanted [the story] to end in a Life Repeats Itself kind of way. The daughter following in the mother’s footsteps. I always thought that was an interesting way to go, with these women who are so tied to each other and who make slightly different choices, but find themselves in interesting situations together. Because they are not like any normal mother and daughter. I wouldn’t have made her a teenage mother. But I thought [it made sense that] after college and right before she’s about to embark on her life that this would happen.
By the way, Rory doesn’t have to keep the baby. There are choices here that she can make. It’s just the left turn. It’s that curveball that life throws you. I will say, weirdly, that I like it much more now. I still think it would’ve been cool [to do in Season 7 had]. I still would’ve listened for the [fans] screaming out the window. But there’s something about Rory being the same age as Lorelai was when we first met Lorelai [in the pilot] that has a lot more symmetry and means a lot more. And the fact that Rory has gone through this whole journey of trying to figure out what the f–k her life is going to be and thinks, “OK, I figured it out.” And then, “Nooo, I haven’t.” It’s also the time to be thinking about having a baby if you’re going to be thinking about it.
TVLINE | So you didn’t intentionally want to leave things on a cliffhanger?
No. The thing about these women is their lives keep going. And keep changing. I like that we end with Emily being calm and settled. Lorelai, for the moment, is calm and settled. And Rory is, “Holy s—t. What the f—k?” That’s more real than if all three of them had lovely endings and we tied it up with a bow and everyone went home with a unicorn.
TVLINE | Luckily, Season 7 didn’t screw up your plans.
Right. When Dan and I started breaking these stories, we didn’t know how Season 7 had ended. So we had no idea if they already had done something like this. Rory could’ve had a pregnancy scare in Season 7. They had Lane get pregnant, which was the only thing I was a little disappointed in.
TVLINE | Over the summer you told us that the writers who took over in Season 7 stepped on one thing you wanted to do in the revival. Was it Lane’s pregnancy?
Yes. That was the one thing. It was a totally valid story point. I’m not saying it was executed poorly. It was just the one thing I was like, “Damn.” I would’ve preferred that Lane not have kids, only because it would’ve given us more options. The one thing you couldn’t do with Lane and Zack is have them be sh–ty parents. So them having kids sort of dictated them still living in Stars Hollow. It changed things ever so slightly. They’re still rock and rollers. They’re still the cool parents. But the Rory thing they left wide open for me, which I was very happy about. I’m very pleased with how it ended.
TVLINE | It can’t come as a surprise that the ending left fans wanting more.
No. The old adage is you always want to leave them wanting more. You don’t really want someone to walk away from something you worked so hard on going, “Alright. I can move on.”
TVLINE | So, on that topic, what will it take to have another revival?
No one is talking about that right now. We’re all very tired. I have to finish this Amazon pilot [The 
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel], which I’m very proud of. Dan and I have been in a Gilmore cocoon for a year and a half. It’s been very intense. So we’re stepping back now. We’re happy it’s out. We’re happy we can talk about it.
TVLINE | But you’re not ruling it out.
I don’t rule anything in my life out. When people were talking about a Gilmore movie [after the original series ended] I was always like, “That’s not going to happen.” But I wasn’t going to say no. Because… why say no to anything?”
TVLINE | Has it even crossed your mind where the story could go next?
No. Not at all. People have asked me, “What is Rory writing in the book?” And I’m like, “I don’t know what the hell she writes in the book.” [Laughs]
PROCEED TO NEXT PAGE FOR SCOOP ON THE FATHER OF RORY’S BABY, THAT INFAMOUS LETTER, THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LUKE AND LORELAI’S WEDDING DATE AND MORE
Continue Reading: Gilmore Girls‘ Amy Sherman-Palladino: The Revival Post Mortem Interview You’ve Been Waiting For
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It seems like there is GG article every day now lol
Isn’t it wonderful?
Yes!
I’ve been waiting for an interview with ASP – so thank you Michael! However, what makes me sad that ASP goes on and on about shippers not being concerned just about Rory…but it seems most fans are truly upset with how Rory was handled. Of course I wanted more Jess, but Rory’s character is almost unrecognizable and I’m so disappointed with what happened to. Her career, this pregnancy, the affair. It’s sad.
To be fair the affair was completely in character (see Dean) as was the life crisis (see when she dropped out of Yale) as were Lorelai’s commitment issues (see all the boyfriends she had during the series). What disappointed me was the fact the the only character in all the series that seemed to have not been frozen for 10 years was Dean. It was perfect, from top to bottom, but frankly I did not at any point asked myself what they did for the last 10 year, because it could very well be 2006 and nothing would have changed.
All of this. This is why the series was such a disappointment for me. Everything was perfectly in character, but there was absolutely zero growth.
I think Paris grew a lot, she’s still the same person. And the evolution of Emily Gilmore was Frakkin amazing!
Except for Emily and Paris. They were both a riot!
I love how Kirk’s storyline ended. :)
ASP was too caught up in her ending that she lost her grip on the story and its characters. I can’t believe the revival went the way it did. Bizarre and disappointing.
I think you really touched on something here. Perhaps had ASP not been so focused on her original plan it would have been a more comfortable revival. The whole thing was enjoyable but off/awkward. I think this was a big reason why. She couldn’t drop it.
Yes, she was still technically “in-character” but I would have hoped by 32 that Rory would have learned from her cheating mistakes. She was 18 when that happened with Dean. I hated that, but Rory had always been so perfect…it made sense she would mess up big time eventually. But at 32, having an affair with someone who is also engaged? That was a mess.
Total mess. I’m the same age as Rory now and had far less resources and safety nets available to me and still have so much more sense than she does at 32. Her character was so used to life being handed to her and everyone fawning over her and I guess that is how she got to be so clueless at this stage. Also, so hard to root for someone who carelessly stayed involved in an affair and for so long…blegh.
32 year olds aren’t allowed to be a mess? How old are all you people? Protip: you don’t figure things out like that. Things don’t get wrapped in a little bow. 32 is still young and much is unsure and unknown and crazy. Actually 10 years on and you realize your career isn’t what it should be is the perfect time to have a messy crossroad situation.
Rory was *never* perfect. That was one of the points of the show.
I didn’t see an option to respond to Vs directly but yes, 32 year olds don’t need to be living life with a neat little bow but I am that age now and I could not see why she was living like a confused 21 year old. She was making so many bad decisions and the stability of others is the only reason she was making it by. Her line of thinking and decision making just didn’t jive whatsoever with the Rory we saw at the end of the original series, especially when her brain should have matured a bit by now.
Perhaps she could not help herself because Logan was her one true love and soulmate😊
Yeah, no. 😁
And I mean look at the guy!! I think they are meant to be together. I’m 30 right now and married with kids and I am STILL lost sometimes. I think it was great, all of it.
What I find interesting is ASP doesn’t want us to look at Rory in relation to the man in her life and then ends the series with her pregnant… You know who didn’t get het pregnant? Her career.. her relationships with family, or any of the other things she wants us to look at regarding Rory…. That makes sense.. :: eye roll ::
Bingo. How can she fuss so much about all the interest in Rory’s romances, when she’s the one who spent so much time on them??
I think Rory was quite in character. Since Yale she did develop a sense of entitlement. BUT FEELS LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED DURING 8 YEARS! As a professional, you may at first dismissed jobs as not what you want or knowing you are worth more. But you don’t wait 8 years to figure out maybe you should lower your standard. Ok, she may not have to worry about money because of her family’s wealth, but the longer you wait to have a steadi-ish job, the harder it will get later when people see you have not been up to anything. Freelancing is valid for not steady, but you still got to get stuff out somehow. So really, if this had happen when she was 25-27 ish, it’d be fine. Or she had done something other than just 1 article, and that didn’t work out. Same with Lorelai her relationship was frozen with the same communications problem.
I agree with all of this.
Yes, it seems like the point was that Rory would follow in her mom’s footsteps and get pregnant as a single woman. I was actually thinking about this yesterday Wed. Nov. 30) that I bet the original intention was for GG Season 7 to end with Rory graduating from Yale with multiple journalist job offers, only to have to turn them down because she was pregnant. It seems that’s where they “kept” Rory because they never had any plan for her to actually work in journalism. It can be fixed if they do make another Netflix revival and show Rory’s career through eight years (given the fact in RL journalism has floundered and the jobs just aren’t there it does make sense that Rory isn’t make a great living at it) and how she and Logan rekindled things (perhaps Logan’s finance was sleeping with her college boyfriend in Paris before she moved in and they are both settling down to please their families and because in their 30s it’s time). I actually envision a sequel where Luke/Lorelai are doing more of the raising of Rory’s kids (twins Richard and Lorelai aka Lori) more so than Rory is – this would be a good way to start with a major falling out where Lorelai yells at Rory to get her act together and grow up and be a real mother to her kids. The Lorelia and Rory fight should happen at the twins second birthday and on top of it Logan and his wife (who just suffered a miscarriage) see Rory with the twins and he puts two-and-two together and is angry she didn’t tell him about the babies. Flashbacks to Rory’s life after the 2008 Obama campaign then show her career trajectory and What happens in Vegas style relationship with Logan (convinced it was Rory’s idea). Then we can get back to the present and see where Rory goes with her mom, Luke and Logan all mad at her and how she rebuilds her life in the way she wants to and finds reception with the people she’s hurt (now that is the Lorelia and Emily and Richard and Christopher story).
Redemption. And Lorelai. Sorry about the grammar errors, this website makes it difficult to check, not to mention stupid autocorrect and no edit feature.
Glad I’m not the only one who remembered they did end season 7 with her employed on the campaign trail.
You have this so thought out! Like seriously look no further the next revival has been written!
If you remember…Logan did refer to his upcoming nuptials as the dynastic marriage. It is as good as an arranged marriage. He is only marrying this woman because of family obligations. The Huntzberger dynasty heir to marry into another family dynasty and royalty to boot!.
I think people forget that for Rory she probably spent years on the Barak Obama job, she was living in a NY apartment and working then decided at 32 to focus more on her freelance. She was not just some kid out of college pounding the pavement looking for a steady job. She got a job right out of school that lasted, most likely, at least 4 out of the 8 years according to her description of the job when she first got it (season 7). Also, when “winter” opens she is in the midst of co-authoring a book along with being on the verge of meetings with a major publication. This is not a person who has been flitting around for 8 years, it is a person who has decided that now is her time to be uprooted and flitty because she probably never has been in her life until recently.
Yes, as an original fan who still watches GG reruns when I can catch them, I am completely disappointed in how Rory was handled. I understand that life happens, that you aren’t necessarily as successful as you want or think you will be. And yeah Rory’s storyline would have been completely in character for Rory if no time had passed, but it has been 8 years since the original finally. And for Rory to have no growth in that time is ridiculous. Rory wanted to be SOMEONE, be Christiane Amanpour, be a writer for the New York Times. She wanted to travel and write. She wanted to be successful. For her to fail to live up to her potential, without any explaination is what gets me. If Rory would have been happy with her vagabond existence or if there had been some explanation for it, even at 32, would have been fine with me. But there wasn’t.
For her not to end up with anyone is also fine with me. It fits the theme of the show. but then why was there so much focus on rory’s relationship? If ASP wanted it not to be about the boys and which one she ended up with, Why was there so much focus on it. Why not focus on Rory having a suscessful career? Why treat Rory like she is 22 and has no idea what she wants for her life? Why at 32, is Rory completely unhappy with what her life has become with no explanation.
There was an explanation. She has worked fairly steadily, but just never caught on anywhere permanent and finding a job in the journalism field is hard. That was pretty much it. There didn’t need to be some long drawn out 20 minute scene explaining why she didn’t have a steady job. As for Rory wanting to be SOMEONE, so what. I want a million bucks for sitting on my butt. It’s my life dream. It still hasn’t come true. Just because she really, really wanted it doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. Which explains why it seemed like there was no growth in her character. People regress when life doesn’t work out how they plan all the time. It’s really common. Why do you think all of these millenials are living with their parents after college? Because life isn’t working out, they can’t find a job that they want, and they are regressing to a safe time in their lives. Part of that safe time in her life was starting up with Logan again. Just because all of this wasn’t spelled out explicitly doesn’t mean that it wasn’t addressed if you looked for it.
Journalism is not that HARD right now. There are more outlets to write for than ever before. Aside from the reputable dailies, which ALL still exist, there are the Huffington Posts, the Buzzfeeds, the Elite Dailys, etc in the world. Where you can make of your career/you writing what you’d like, even if it’s not the almighty NY TIMES right off the bat. Arguably, there are MORE opportunities and outlets to share your writing than there ever were before. And even though we know that Rory was much more into print than on-air stuff – and as much as people say that TV news is dead – that’s not true. Last time I checked, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX (ew) etc etc still exist. They till have anchors and reporters and overseas correspondents and 60 minutes and local news and affiliates.
Amy and Dan had a vision – and it was, quite simply, NOT to give Rory a happy ending. Period. And for many of us, this vision seems sad/awful, given what we were presented with in the early seasons. It’s not thoughtful and artistic. It’s just plain bleak.
I can still buy a landline telephone. Just because its around doesn’t mean that its thriving. Reporter jobs are hard to come by. A quick Google search shows that CNN worldwide only employs about 200 actual reporters. The on-air personalities are not reporters and that isn’t what Rory wanted to do. CNN being the largest means that all of the other organizations employ probably even less. And who knows how that is broken down. How many of them are sports reporters because that would indicate even fewer jobs for her. The websites that you list aren’t really news outlets. For the most part they are commentary outlets where they take someone else’s work and comment on it which is something that she didn’t want to do. The ending wasn’t bleak if you follow the full circle theme. All of the things that the viewers wanted for Rory the Gilmores wanted for Lorelai. Just because neither of them got those things out of life doesn’t mean that the story is bleak. Was the life that Lorelai ended up with in Star’s Hollow bleak? That is the kind of life that Rory is probably going to end up with which doesn’t seem sad. It’s just different than what you wanted for her.
Beautifully said!
If I wanted a TV series to be as screwed up as life I wouldn’t try to escape by watching a TV series. I agree with most who were disappointed. It felt like this was more about ASP getting to force those 4 words or whatever they were and she greatly abandoned the fans. Rory had all of the opportunities to succeed then most of us have at 21 or 32 how to compare the average life with her is a mistake especially because Lorelau had Emily Gilmore as a parent and Rory didn’t. I for one was disappointed and found myself thinking that the most interesting characters were Emily and Kirk. I wish they would have never done the revival.
Life moves on – people change – and evolve – and no offense – but Amy Sherman Palladino created this character nad as it is her ART she decides where it goes – the problem here is you – and shippers as a whole – who somehow think you have ownership of characters – you do not – you are the audience – you are not the creators – if you want ownership of characters – create your own – breathe life into them – and stop fantasizing about fictional characters that YOU DO NOT OWN
Shippers in general tend to be irrational crazy people who can’t live their own lives – and your attitude demonstrates you know nothing about what is real in the world of ENTERTAINMENT
Agreed
Your new advertising makes the page impossible to read. I’d like to read this article on my iPad, but I can’t.
It’s actually not impossible, you just have to click wherever it says “go to article/skip ad and go to article” or something. Can’t remember exactly where it is, maybe the website’s right corner, but the same thing happens when I try to read articles on my phone or when I occasionally use my mom’s ipad.
If it doesn’t work or you can’t find it, you can click on ” <<Back to Tvline" and click on the article again, that usually works. :)
Agreed. It makes the page on my computer suddenly blink blank, then to the ad, and I have to “back” to get to the article. Happened to me three times trying to read this one. I don’t mind ads; I know they’re necessary for free content. But when it makes it this frustrating to get to the content, it becomes a problem.
THANK YOU for this!!
I’m frustrated that she won’t just say its Logan’s kid. I’m also frustrated that the revival was full of stories that were clearly hampered by time. It would make more sense story wise for it to take place a year after the finale (though I know that’s not possible). But 9 years later and Rory still can’t handle a pitch meeting? Luke and Lorelai haven’t discussed kids?
Regardless, I enjoyed it and it was a fun ride. But it needed more Paris! Always more Paris.
I’m frustrated she won’t say it’s Logan’s kid, either. “I’m not even trying to be cryptic.” Yeah, right.
Yea I call BS on that too. She was a cryptic as you can get. She probably doesn’t want to say because it gives her something to hang onto. The 4 last words have been used up, what she going to lord over GG fans for the next 9 years now? Oh, who’s the father.
She won’t say it’s Logan’s, she won’t rule out Paul. It should be the wookie’s baby to further the fiasco she has created.
I was also thinking the wookies baby! I highly doobt its Paul though. They coukd even have it play out as wairing to do the paternity test tonseenif its Logans or he wookies! Haha
Anyone else frustrated about how they literally only gave Patty like 2 lines in the entire revival??
I think Patty is really sick in real life so she didn’t have the strength to do to much
she did have a one night stand!
Jess is Rory’s Luke. The way he looked at her through the window. By the way Jess has grown enormously and did so even during the tail end of the original run. He is good for Rory even suggesting the book. He is her soul mate. He supports her personally and professionally as opposed to enabling her visa vie Logan.
I agree, and I said this after watching the finale. Jess is Rory’s Luke, and Logan is Rory’s Christopher. Its a common theme in storytelling; “reliving the sins of the father” so to speak. Rory grew up in a broken home, as did Lorelai. I’m not surprised she is having a crisis at 32. Lorelai’s storyline from season 1-8 is about her crisis. Now 48ish, she is finally going to therapy over her messy relationship with her mother and unresolved relationship with her father. They should have been going to therapy from the moment Lorelai got pregnant and left her family. They are broken people needing to resolve and receive healing for past wounds. Lorelai can’t discuss her real emotions, and uses sarcasm, rebellion and stuffing to cope. Rory acts out (sexually and acting without thinking) to cope. Richard and Emily yell and give the silent treatment to cope. Its actually interesting to compare Lorelai and Rory. They grew up differently, but are making the same life decisions. Lorelai’s response is to put on her big girl panties and pick herself up by the bootstraps, where Rory is lost and ends up moving backwards in life. Lorelai didn’t have her family to turn to for help with her pregnancy. She had to move forward and make a new life for herself. Rory runs and moves back home, makes the same old mistakes (affair), and goes back to her life when it was easy, the life she knows how to live and cope in. I would be interested to know more about Richard and Emily’s families. This show is like a study on Generations and Nature vs. Nurture, and the conclusion is that the family environment you grow up in greatly impacts your life. To some degree, they have all allowed their past to shape their future living as less than their potential.
Wait a minute. Lorelei did NOT grow up in a broken home. Dysfunctional, maybe. But not broken. Her parents remained together and loved her in their own way. Her running away is not what make a broken home.
Sorry I misspoke. My definition of broken home is different: a house containing a family that is set apart due to tensions and certain problems. Maybe dysfunctional is a better word like you suggested. Also, I didn’t mean it was a broken home because Lorelai left.
I don’t know what to say other than I loved the revival & so very thankful it happened.Really interesting that it was Lane’s story that steped on her plans, totally agree with her(¬ 1 but 2 Babies) The Paul joke made me laugh every time. Thank you So Much Amy & Dan,Lauren,Alexis,Scott & Kelly etc +Michael Ausiello for being the best reliable source & fellow fan to freak out with. If this is it TY GG will always mean so much to me & if more happens i can’t wait to go on the ride with you all.
Michael please, PLEASE I am begging you to mention to ASP that we GG fans, and you know us as die hards, would LOVE to see a spin-off of the Life & Death Brigade. I mentioned it months ago to Tanc Sade on his FB page and he replied by saying he wouldn’t have time back then since Roadies was still on and he was filming on Lethal Weapon. Well seems now is the perfect time! GG is fresh on our minds and a spin-off show with L&DB would be incredible. The fans know the characters already, we know the history of the major 4 involved. It could keep the GG fan base as well as grow a new one. So much fun waiting to be written. The Fall season of the revival was my favorite, as I am sure many others will agree, because the magic of the L&DB. I didn’t want it to end with them. My favorite moments on the show itself is when they are involved. So please, with your influence and fabulous connection to this show and ASP perhaps you could get her and crew thinking about it?
L&BD was the worst part of the revival. It’s not charming to see men in their 30s prance around throwing money away they didn’t earn. It’s disgusting.
Agreed. Too much time wasted on those entitled brats.
L&DB was the best part of the revival. Loved every minute of it.
No way. Those guys are all douchebags.
While I agree there’s no need for a L&BD show, it’s a bit unfair to judge who they are outside L&BD as they were going all out to have a last goodbye with Rory. Aside from Rory saying Colin buying things when he was drunk we don’t know they are doing this on a regular basis. And they all became quiet sad drunk by the time they got to the inn, which we never seen that before. Yes they are still all rich spoil brats but it could be a very small part of their life. They could be Wall Street tossers in their daily life and very depress about their existence for all we know.
I’m a super fan of the show and would never want to see this! How is it fun to watch spoiled, dumb, pretentious, immature, privileged, rich kids be fools? There was so much time given to characters like Finn and Colin that the revival really didn’t even need to include. That time could have been better spent on Jess, Christopher, Sookie etc. Really bogus characters. That whole segment felt so unnatural to the series. So over the top and completely unnecessary.
What? Girl, get a grip. Nobody liked those douchebags except you.
Speak for yourself. I loved that part.
Me too, but I’ve been avLife and Death Brigade fan from day one with the chick in the gorilla mask
Logan is my favorite and he doesn’t want to marry that Odette chick, that’s another Mitchum scheme
I am a huge and nearly lifelong GG fan, and the last thing in the world I want to see is a spin off about the damn Life and Death Brigade. God help us all. No thanks.
Hated it then, more so now. Why was it even in the revival! Complete waste.
Amy Sherman Palladino presents “Douchbags”.
What a colossal mistake and disappointment. In my opinion, as a fan since the pilot aired for the first time on Oct 5th, 2016 – this is the worst possible thing ASP could have done. I absolutely hate that she ended it this way – it breaks my heart and taints the entire original series. Even worse – she would have done it at 22! What in the actual….
Many of us thought that one of the major points of this show was that Rory was supposed to do better and be better because she had the support of her crazy/cool mom, steadfast grandparents, and quirky town. This totally destroys that turning Rory into an insufferable character who winds up a jobless, homeless, pregnant cheater. WHY? Honestly – why? Is this some sort of message about how no one is perfect and history repeats itself? Because it was more FUN for the Palladinos to do it this way? Because they want to hear us screaming out of our windows and think it’s funny that 16-year long fans are furious? It’s moronic. I get that Rory couldn’t be perfect because that would be boring, but as Alexis put it, I think they “overcorrected.”
When asked why people have stayed so connected to this show, many of the actors say that it’s because there was a sort of nostalgic comfort to it. Well the revival blew this comfort to hell.
And don’t even get me started on wasting time with a Sutton Foster/LDB tribute when we could have been meeting Michel’s husband and getting to see scenes with Rory & Lane’s kids. I mean, she is supposed to be THEIR LORELAI. And not to mention the piss poor writing – long running jokes that were not even remotely funny (ie – Paul, “I’m NOT back!) Kelly, Lauren and Yanic scenes were the only ones that made thi garbage worth watching.
Totally pitiful. And most of the diehard GG fans I know (at least 10) hated the revival. I’m so surprised Ausiello and other folks at TVLine reacted the way they did. I really had my hopes up.
Thank you for this! This is how I felt. ASP slapped all her “loyal” fans in the face. Rory was driven. There is NO WAY she would have ended up drifting at 32. And no way pregnant at 32, LET ALONE 22. History does not have to repeat itself.
My final thought? ASP had this whole “Drifting” story line in mind for the final season but didn’t get to do it. It would have made more sense at 22. Now it’s just ridiculous. People grow. People change. Except ASP. She was bitter and made it known.
And still makes it known. Even in this interview you can hear the resentment dripping off of her about season seven.
YAAAAAAS!!!! GOD, YAAAASSSSSS!!!!!
She slapped us all in the face. And she slapped us hard. And she was laughing as she did it while muttering something about Season 7 under her breath.
I totally agree with you. I hated what they did to Rory she totally regressed as a character. They made 30 year olds look less mature then when Rory was when she was in high school seriously who behaves like that?! And that musical was just terrible and totally pointless what a waste of time just for a cameo that wasn’t even impressive.
Not everything has to be nice and pretty. I like that Rory doesn’t have a perfect life. It’s more REALISTIC!!!
complete agree!
People keep saying that it’s more “REAL” this way, which I also fundamentally disagree with. It’s not that REAL for a Yale grad, editor of the Yale Daily News and former online magazine writer for the Obama campaign to end up with almost nothing to show for 9 years of work. A few publications. I ‘m sorry – that’s not REAL. A talented person with those credentials would have opportunities. And that’s being REAL with you guys.
Maybe a quarter-life crisis at 25/26…okay, I’ll give her that, but being a completely unlikeabale failure in her personal, professional and romantic life at age 32, and getting pregnant by mistake – given her background, her age and her credentials, is NOT REAL.At all.
This might be my favorite comment ever…
Mine too srly
So, you wanted the unicorns…?
Um….no, not at all. I wrote in my original post that I get that Rory couldn’t be perfect. I get that conflict needs to exist in ordered for there to be a story. But there’s a difference between “UNICORNS” and the morally bankrupt, selfish piece of elitist arrogant trash that Rory is in the revival. There was absolutely nothing to like about her, except MAYBE for her rare moments of sympathy for Emily.
People keep saying that it’s more “REAL” this way, which I also fundamentally disagree with. It’s not that REAL for a Yale grad, editor of the Yale Daily News and former online magazine writer for the Obama campaign to end up with almost nothing to show for 9 years of work. A few publications. I ‘m sorry – that’s not REAL. A talented person with those credentials would have opportunities. And that’s being REAL with you guys.
Agreed. Everything you just said! I had high hopes, 1)this was hyped so much, 2)TVLine/Ausiello said it was worth the wait. I don’t think it was.
The only things I got out of this that I loved was Luke and Lorelei getting married, more time with Jesse, Paris, and Emily. There was so much wasted in the revival, as GGFan states. I’d also like to add a what the lame weak sauce was that scene with Christopher all about??? Why even bother? Rory didn’t even get a good answer out of him. I loved almost every scene with Paris except that melt down she had in the bathroom over fake Tristan. That was the most ridiculous scene of all I think. Oh wait, the musical was the most ridiculous, that I forwarded through. Sorry Sutton Foster you should have had better. And the scene with Dean was so bland. Guess I should be glad he and Rory kept their hands to themselves. At least he seemed to move on in life.
Ugg, I also know many GG fans that didn’t like it. There was just so many things wrong with it.
I agree with many points you made. I was surprised how Michael’s only criticism from a different article was that the musical was a tad too long. I know the series very well and just can’t give this effort some kind of A+ when it just wasn’t. There were good parts, of course wonderful to see the characters, but that did not make the storytelling flawless.
Thank you for this! I 100% agree. Thank you for speaking the truth. Interestingly Alexis who played Rory said she expected something different. Rory regressed. Yes she made some of these mistakes before, but u mature and don’t keep making those mistakes. And after a Yale education she would fall asleep during an interview and be so unprofessional. This Rory was more immature than the original and I too thought the whole point was with her mom’s love a support she would have an amazing life and success. Totally ruined the old show for me.
Spot on! Hard to pinpoint the good parts of the revival because the entire experience was enraging, awful and heartbreaking.
I’m so glad that it was 10 years later because if the late great Edward Herrmann (Richard) had still been alive then the entire story would have changed. Gilmore Girls has always been about the women, Emily, Lorelai and Emily and Emily and Lorelai would not have grown as they did if Richard was still around.
***correction – Emily, Lorelai and Rory
Can you ask her about Jess? What was going on with him at the end? Thank you!
Мы поможем взять кредит под залог автомобиля любого типа с
парковкой на охраняемой автостоянке.
Haha she is my favourite, she doesn’t care at all but still cares so much
I don’t get the full circle, well, crap, to be honest. This was the story of a mother and daughter. Lorelei, rightfully so, rejected the her controlling and emotionally disconnected parents and worked like hell to give Rory more. As other commenters have said, Rory was supposed to be more. All of Rory’s tenacity was stripped in this revival. This simply isn’t the Rory that AS-P showed us for 6 years. And for AS-P to say too much was made about the men in Rory’s life, well that’s on you – look at the writing! At times, Rory seemed desperate for Logan. That isn’t the Rory that I loveD.
Rory was always a flawed character. I find it weird that people were expecting her to be perfect living a perfect life. That’s never who she has been.
She was definitely flawed. I don’t think anyone expected her to be perfect. But to be on some sort of path that made sense. Her decision making, leaning on the connections/money/stability of others all the time made a lot of us dislike her and that’s not what you want in a revival. We should still want to root for her. I started to really dislike her and that’s not how a revival should make you feel at the end. She seemed to lack in emotion, drive, ambition, morality, etc which we should still see in her (especially in her 30s).
She was not always flawed. Until what seems to be her second semester at Yale, when she started to slowly become a brat, she was almost unreal, she was so perfect. This pure, beautiful, prematurely wise kid who read philosophy and said to her first boyfriend on their romantic evening in the junkyard “moments like these make you sad, because you know nothing can ever be this good again”, who couldn´t be bothered to care about money or fashion, who lived in books and liked a boy in silence. Ok, i understand that you cannot sell that kind of character to this day´s consumer public. I also understand you don´t stay a starry eyed child forever, but there were WAY better places to go from there then where she went in the revival, and even before that. I enjoyed the revival, i don´t call myself disappointed, but i was at a loss with what she had become.
I’m gonna go ahead and say it. I never liked Rory. Always thought she was weak, entitled, awkward and whiny. She is a product of extremes. So is Lorelai; her parents were cold and strict resulting in a strong, independent, quirky, flawed single mother. Rory was beloved by her mother, grandparents and town resulting in an entitled, self-absorbed, dependent, flawed single mother.
So if they are intentionally paralleling Lorelai and Christopher’s storyline with Rory and Logan, then Logan has to be the father of Rory’s unborn child. Why be so coy about who the father is?
I would have liked you to probe her more on the Christopher thing because beyond Logan doesn’t really have his character or his weakness. I don’t believe for a second he’s going to abandon Rory when he finds out. And he will find out. Logan will be waiting for that book of Rory’s.
Christopher didn’t intend on abandoning Lorelai either. He was ready to marry her and go work for Richard when Lorelai got pregnant.
Also he’s 32; not 16. I believe that Logan would have committed to Rory if she had asked him to. He proposed once. His pride got hurt. It was her turn to make the gesture
I don’t either. Everyone is calling him Rory’s Christopher. I don’t think Logan would just abandon her either. I realize Christopher wanted to marry Lorelei and work for Richard, but with just a small push for Lorelei he was gone. I don’t think Logan would do that. I think he would stick around. He may not have left Odette but I don’t think he’d be the disappearing dad either. Although I kept thinking if she’d just ask him to leave Odette and stay with her he would have. I read some kind of interview that Logan’s family was going to play a big part in the Revival, but I only saw Mitchem once. Maybe it was eluded to that Logan wasn’t with Rory because of his family. I don’t know.
I agree with you. I don’t buy Logan being Rory’s Christopher. They are such different characters. Not to mention Christopher appears to have been there full time for Gigi. AS-P seemed to ignore all the character development of Logan in season 7 and just pretend he was the d-bag he was in the beginning. However Matt Czuchry played it with as much compassion as he could. It really seemed to me like Logan was waiting for Rory to ask him to leave Odette. I think he would have dropped everything to be there for her and their child. Even if she didn’t want to be with him, which I doubt because she relied on him so heavily through this revival, Logan still would never abandon his child. AS-P should have let whatever bitterness she has about season 7 go and write a fitting ending
Fantastic interview! Did you get answer on why the opening song wasn’t used at all?
Yeah I was a little bummed that they didn’t use the opening theme song until the very end credits of “fall”.
Thank you!! Love Amy, love her writing and speaking (and hat) style. This article was needed and necessary. Wishing the Palladinos luck with the Amazon pilot! And then we can discuss the revival of the revival…
Also, ASP, if you didn’t want people to focus on Rory’s relationship status, you should a) have her do something of note in those 8 years; b) during the show, had her actually spend an extensive period of time single, instead of always being with a guy; and c) not have her do so many dumb things, like sleeping with the wookie LOL.
Yes, I am so tired of hearing ASP go after shippers when in the revival Rory only focused on her affair with Logan, was horrible to Paul, and we know nothing about her career in the past 10 years.
Oh, that running Paul joke was so stupid. I can’t believe they went with that for all 4 episodes. So she strung this guy along for 2+ years. How dumb was he? How dumb was that story line?
SO dumb
The revival wasn’t even good. Rory is a mess at 32. Being Logans mistress isn’t appealing.
Well, I hope it met Netflix’s expectations and they ask her to do some more. Maybe in a couple years. But soon enough that we can pick up pretty much where we left off.
My four words: Liking season seven more.
Wow, and that’s saying something.
Me too! Season 7 felt like GG. This was a bunch of crap!
YUP…yup yup.
Obviously she is bitter about Season 7, but I actually enjoyed that season and thought the finale was a great way to end it. I recently rewatched the whole show, so I have a fresh memory about those last seasons and thought S7 was more enjoyable than the seasons where ASP had Rory and Lorelai fighting fooor sooooo long.
I agree. Everyone is so focused on how bad season 7 was because ASP left, but season 6 was worse in my opinion as well. I didn’t like the Lorelei and Christopher getting married thing, but I also kind of feel like they had to try at some point or it would have been a hanging question mark forever. But the fighting between Rory and Lorelei was worse and keeping them apart past her 21st birthday. And Rory dropping out of school like that….it was all just so wrong.
Seriously. Season 7 didn’t introduce us to characters like April, TJ, etc. They got dealt the odds of Lorelai sleeping with Chris etc. It wasn’t a perfect season but it had cute parts like Lane’s shower, Chinchin’s funeral, the graduation party etc.
While season 7 doesn’t have the same feel and tempo as ASP’s, all the story lines are logically progression of the characters. Lorelei and Christopher has to happen before Lorelei can move on from that what-ifs. Lorelei and Luke finding their way back together because Lorelei realizing how much Luke will always quietly loves her and her kid. Rory doesn’t fight Mitchum and her not asking Logan to have their own life together, are all consistent with Amy’s story in the revival. If anything all the characters seem to have mature and developed more in that single year span then the 8, 9 years since in the revival.
If you can, please ask about why Luke & Lorelai are still having the same problems (“April’s mine”, communication/lying etc.) as they were 10 years ago & why ASP thinks a wedding is a satisfactory answer to those problems. Thanks Michael!
Thanks! I’m so pissed at Luke for that comment on April’s mine when he says he feels like “Rory was always a little bit of his”. His attitude with keeping April for him made them broke up last time in season 6.
Exactly! Marriage and having kids are never the solution to relationship problems. Lorelai and Luke not communicating after all these years together its just wrong. And Lorelai and Rory treating April at arm’s length was just weird after all these years. Even if they are not close they would have know April is more nerdy than Rory and completely clueless about popular culture and probably life in general. The way Rory live text April and Rory’s conversation to Lorelai is just cruel.
Have watched year twice already, and loved it, slightly less for the musical, but reading this I think I’m missing something. WHAT LETTER!!
When Emily and Lorelai are in therapy Emily mentions a nasty letter Lorelai sent her years ago. Lorelai denies ever sending any such letter. It isn’t brought up again though so we don’t know what was in the letter or who really sent it–I believe it was in Spring.
I was torn on the revival (being a fan from the pilot and having watched the series probably 3 or 4 times over the years). But my one big issue is the look between Mitchum and Rory at the restaurant. I interpreted as (Mitchum’s thought) “I told you you didn’t have it kid” (Rory’s thought) “He’s thinking how he told me long ago I didn’t have what it takes to be a journalist” and I was thinking this revival has proved Mitchum right….and I never wanted that for Rory!
While I enjoyed the revival very much, Rory’s professional life disappointed me the most. ASP could have Rory achieved or on her way to her life plan, but feeling lost and unsatisfied triggered by the death of her beloved grandfather and decide to try something new like co-writing a book with someone crazy like Naomi. Disappointed after getting what she thought she ever wanted and than decide to change career path would shown Rory’s agency, rather than proving Mitchum was right. And for her to first said no and then ask Logon to ask Mitchum for a favor, that just make her proud and stupid.