Gilmore Girls fans everywhere have been celebrating the show’s 25-year anniversary, but the milestone exposed a harsh truth about the beloved show. This past Sunday, October 5, marked 25 years since Gilmore Girls premiered and instantly hooked us with its fast-talking, over-caffeinated mother-daughter duo, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.
The show is constantly finding new fans, whether it’s from landing on popular streaming platforms like Netflix or Hulu, or autumn lovers discovering Gilmore Girls’ coziest fall episodes. The fact that Gilmore Girls is still such a huge part of pop culture speaks to universal love for the series — but when it was on the air, Gilmore Girls certainly didn’t get the love it deserved.
Gilmore Girls’ Much-Celebrated 25-Year Anniversary Exposes How Little Emmys Love The Show Got
When a series receives as much attention for a milestone anniversary as Gilmore Girls, it’s typically a show that was showered with awards when it was on the air — shows like The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad. But Gilmore Girls isn’t like these series in that it only received one Emmy win and nomination — for Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic) for season 7’s “The Festival of Living Art.”
This, quite frankly, is outrageous. Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Gilmore Girls dialogue is sharp, distinct, and recognizable, and should have taken home Emmys every year she was on the show. Lauren Graham’s best performances as Lorelai Gilmore are some of the funniest that TV has ever seen, but also speak to the tragically flawed nature of her character. She deserved awards love, too.
Gilmore Girls’ critics have dismissed it as fluffy and inconsequential, but that’s incredibly narrow-minded because a show can be poignant and speak to the human condition while also being cozy and sweet. The amount of excellent cozy shows like Gilmore Girls that followed is a testament to this.
Gilmore Girls’ 25-year anniversary has also inspired an upcoming documentary. From Ink On Paper Studios, Drink Coffee, Talk Fast will examine Gilmore Girls’ impact on pop culture and its community of fans, and offer exclusive interviews from several members of the show’s cast and creatives.
Everyone involved in this project sees how special Gilmore Girls is, and knew it back then, too, so how could awards voting bodies not see the same? Now, a lack of trophies and accolades certainly can’t take away Gilmore Girls’ magic and staying power, but from 2000-2007, Emmy voters got it wrong, and the show’s recent milestone is a harsh reminder of that.
Lauren Graham’s Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star Proves Gilmore Girls Is Getting Its Due
Unless Gilmore Girls gets another revival, it’s too late to do anything about the fact that it’s won so few awards. But that doesn’t mean Hollywood isn’t getting with the program in recognizing how great Gilmore Girls is.
On Friday, October 3, two days before Gilmore Girls’ 25-year anniversary and on the very same day Taylor Swift dropped her hotly anticipated 12th studio album, Lorelai Gilmore actress Lauren Graham was honored with her very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the television category.
In a press release, Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez said, “[Graham’s] charm, wit, and talent have made her an icon for audiences worldwide, and her role on Gilmore Girls has left an indelible mark on television history. We are proud to celebrate her incredible contributions to the entertainment industry.” (via People)
The fact that it took 25 years for Graham to get her star further speaks to how much the Hollywood powers-that-be have snubbed Gilmore Girls, but they can no longer ignore the actress or the show. When Graham posted images of her ceremony to Instagram, she received thousands of well-wishing comments, including Sookie St. James actress Melissa McCarthy wishing her, “Congratulations!!!!!!!🍾”
Several of Graham’s Gilmore Girls co-stars were also in attendance at the ceremony itself, including Scott Patterson (Luke Danes), Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore), Matt Czuchry (Logan Huntzberger), and Yanic Truesdale (Michel Gerard). The ceremony was hosted by Amy Sherman-Palladino.
The fact that so many Gilmore Girls stars were present for Graham speaks to not only their support for their lead actress but also how much love they have for the series, award wins or not.
Patterson hosts Gilmore Girls rewatch podcast I Am All In, Bishop’s recent memoir is called The Third Gilmore Girl, and many of the stars are in the upcoming doc. Maybe they didn’t get awards glory, but they make it clear that working on Gilmore Girls was a glorious experience.
Gilmore Girls Paved The Road To Emmys Glory For Other Female-Driven Shows
If there’s any silver lining to be taken from Gilmore Girls’ repeated Emmy snubs, it’s that it proved that female-driven shows could be taken seriously, be successful, and yes, even be worthy of awards. It took over a decade for the Primetime Emmys to recognize the unmatchable talent of Amy Sherman-Palladino, but recognize it they finally did.
11 years after Gilmore Girls’ series finale, Sherman-Palladino took home a whopping five awards for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2018, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Though Maisel had a much higher budget and production value than Gilmore Girls, the former series’ fingerprints are all over the latter, particularly in its depiction of fast-talking, flawed women.
This was no flash in the pan as, since Maisel’s Emmys sweep, female-driven series like Fleabag and Hacks have taken home the Outstanding Comedy Series statuette, along with wins for their lead actresses. Both shows are certainly grittier and more explicit than the cozy Gilmore Girls, but at their core, they’re about absolute hot messes of humans with big hearts and even bigger charm. Sound familiar?
Basically, Gilmore Girls walked so these shows could run, and if Lorelai Gilmore were a real person, she’d hardly be upset that her life story didn’t take home the gold. If anything, she’d be bowled over at how much her show embraced and inspired not only a fandom, but myriad series that came after it.