After Those Comments From Gilmore Girls' Creator, I'm Convinced Another Revival Will Happen To Fix A Year In The Life's Mistakes

Although I was disappointed by A Year In the Life, I’m pretty confident that Gilmore Girls will get another revival after hearing creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s recent comments. The cast of Gilmore Girls was a big part of what made the original series such a success, so it was exciting news when Netflix announced that most of the show’s original stars would return for 2016’s revival miniseries A Year In the Life. Sadly, although my most hated Gilmore Girls story came long before the revival, the miniseries was plagued by major problems.

A Year In the Life failed to recapture the cozy tone of Gilmore Girls, alternately feeling too sad and cynical or too goofy and lightweight. The miniseries rarely felt like the original show and many subplots, like Rory’s aimless romantic relationship with her new boyfriend Paul or her shapeless career, felt like they went nowhere. As frustrating as some of Rory’s earlier Gilmore Girls plots were, A Year In the Life felt uniquely disappointing because the show offered viewers their first trip to Stars Hollow in almost a decade. Fortunately, the revival may not be the last.

Amy Sherman-Palladino's Comments Make Me Confident Another Gilmore Girls Revival Will Happen

The Show’s Creators Seemed Interested In Revisiting Stars Hollow

In a shared interview with TV Insider, Sherman-Palladino, Bishop, and Graham gave their thoughts on the revival and the prospect of another visit to Stars Hollow in the future. Sherman-Palladino noted that the show’s stars and creators never originally intended to do a revival before the 2016 miniseries came together, but felt compelled to after meeting for a panel. Per Sherman-Palladino, “I love Stars Hollow. I love Lauren Graham more than life. I love Alexis, and Kelly Bishop is my ‘Contessa.”

I didn’t share the frustration some fans felt over Rory announcing her unexpected pregnancy at the end of A Year in the Life.

These comments seemingly bode well, as Graham soon reaffirmed she actively wanted another revival, and Bishop said she would love to see how the creators of the show handled Rory raising a child in her dysfunctional, multi-generational family. Although Lane’s Gilmore Girls pregnancy was one of the show’s most regrettable twists ever, I didn’t share the frustration some fans felt over Rory announcing her unexpected pregnancy at the end of A Year in the Life.

Lauren Graham's Lorelai smiles in a Gilmore Girls promo photo

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The line was pretty shocking but, after a listless and lackluster revival that needed a lot more drama, this injection of high stakes was a fun last-minute surprise. As some online commentators noted, Rory could well have been acting as a surrogate, considering her desire to find a purpose outside her career and her close friend Paris’s work as a fertility specialist. However, even if she did have a child of her own after A Year In the Life’s ending, I don’t think this would be a bad setup if the twist facilitated another revival.

Gilmore Girls Needs A Continuation After A Year In the Life

A Year in the Life Left The Gilmore Girls Story Frustratingly Unfinished

One thing is for certain, and that is that Gilmore Girls needs another revival after A Year In the Life.A Year In the Life should not be the final Gilmore Girls outing since the miniseries feels like an even less fitting swan song for the series than season 7. While season 7 might have included Christopher and Lorelai’s ill-advised Gilmore Girls marriage, the outing at least ended with the sunny Rory feeling optimistic about her future. In contrast, A Year In the Life featured Rory at her most uncharacteristically dour.

The cheerful, determined optimism that defined Rory's character seemed snuffed out in A Year In the Life.

Although this prompted a lot of discourse about whether Rory was always reliant on external validation and lacking in ambition, I don’t think that these critiques captured the main issue with A Year In the Life. The problem wasn’t just that Rory felt more entitled, which was a charge that could also have been levied her way during seasons 5 and 6. The main issue was that she felt more hopeless and amoral than ever before, and the cheerful, determined optimism that defined her character seemed snuffed out.

What Gilmore Girls' Next Series Needs To Do Differently Compared To A Year In the Life

A Year in the Life's Mistakes Are Surprisingly Easy To Avoid

Although there are manyGilmore Girls storylines viewers could live without, the show still needs to return at least once more to iron out the issues that A Year In the Life created. Whether Rory ends up with Logan, Jess, or someone else entirely, the next revival must offer viewers a glimpse of her life after the unfulfilling chaos of her thirties.

Rory should finally get to achieve some stability in her personal and professional life in the next Gilmore Girls revival, even if this requires her to change and grow as a character. There are many more minor issues the show must resolve, from depicting Luke and Lorelai’s married life now that they have finally tied the knot, to bringing back Gilmore Girls supporting stars Michel and Sookie for more substantial roles. However, fixing Rory’s A Year In the Life’s story would be the new revival's most important change to the current ending of Gilmore Girls.