The Great Gilmore Rant

Okay, so everyone on the planet knows by now that Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband, Dan, are out as the showrunners of the show they created. I wanted to take some time to digest this before offering my own opinion. I also needed to read the exclusive interview Michael Ausiello had with Team Palladino. Believe me, it's a doozy, and you must read it. Go ahead, I can wait...

So, after reading the interview and the 5+ pages of reader responses, one thing is very clear to me. GG had quite a tremendous following, and the show is not going to be the same without its creators. Now, as to whether this is a bad thing or a good thing is one of the things I'm actively debating. I mean, how can the show go on without its creators? Well, as I've been told many times in my life, no one is irreplaceable. Just ask Aaron Sorkin and what happened to him with The West Wing.

The main gist I got from the Palladinos is that they wanted the folks at the WB to stop stringing them along on a series of one year contracts. Back in January, they went to the studio and asked for a two year commitment. This way, they would be able to as Dan said, "see more than 300 days into the future". But see, here's my problem with the two year deal they wanted. Yes, I do understand that part of the deal would involve development, but for the most part, they seemed to want the two years to be for GG and not another show. And, while this is all well and good, it's pretty much common knowledge that show stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bleidel are going to want the forthcoming 7th season to be their last. And along those same lines, none of the cast is contracted beyond next year. So, from the studio's perspective, giving the Palladinos a two year contract didn't make much sense if the show is going to end after next season. Now, it would have been a sign of good faith to give them what they wanted, but the studios are usually more interested in dollars and cents than keeping people happy.

Looking at it this way, wouldn't it have made better sense for Amy and Dan to swallow their pride for one more year to see their creation come to the end that they've been planning for since day one? I mean, what's one more year when you've already been doing it for six? And you'd have to think that if they'd done this, then the CW would have been more receptive to any new shows the Palladinos were developing because of how well GG has performed in the ratings and on DVD. The Palladinos could have seen the show to the end and gained much needed brownie points with the suits.

I know that being the heart and soul of a show has been hard on ASP, and I won't claim to fully understand everything it takes for her to see a season through to its completion. However, this only backs up rumors I've heard about Amy being a control freak. She complains about not having a writing staff or a director on staff, but do you honestly think she'd relinquish some of her control to a staff, even if she'd have script/story approval? She says it would have given her more time do work on other aspects of the show, but I think it would have driven her nuts to not be involved in every minute detail of the show, which is part of the problem. Quite frankly, I think an actual writing staff (among other things) is much needed on GG, and I would have said this even if the Palladinos had stayed.

GG is a show in dire need of a fresh voice, as evidenced by some of the head scratching plots of the past two seasons, most notably the totally unnecessary introduction of Luke's heretofore unknown daughter. This plot has only served to drive a wedge between Luke and Lorelai (which I guess was the intention) and has not really added anything to the show. I mean, how many of you out there are happy to see April in a given episode? That's what I thought.

The show just reeks of soap opera plotting these days...Luke's long-lost daughter, Logan's brush with death, Rory losing her virginity to a married man (okay, so that was last season), Christopher suddenly becoming wealthy, and so on. GG is supposed to be a show about the little things in life. When done right (see Lane and Zach's crazy wedding from last week), the show is one of the smartest and funniest on TV. But when done wrong (see Rory's half-hearted attempt to cheat on Logan with Jess and her lukewarm admission of how much she loves Logan), it can be god awful. And if the spoilers are to be believed, Lorelai will end up in bed with Christopher in the season finale. I do realize that Chris has gotten his act together this season, but why in god's name would Lorelai go running back to him? Okay, so they share Rory, and Chris probably will always love Lorelai, but I thought the whole purpose of the last two seasons was to build toward Luke and Lorelai getting married. And now, with Amy and Dan going, who knows what's going to happen next season?

I do not envy new show runner Dan Rosenthal. He's in a no-win situation, and he's going to find it hard to please anyone because, fair or not, he will be continually compared to the Palladinos, no matter how good next season is or is not. And he knows he's in a lame duck status since it's all but a done deal that next season is the last for GG. So, it will be up to him to put the proverbial bow on the lives of Lorelai and Rory and not piss off the loyal fan base that has been built the last six years. I recommend that Rosenthal buys lots of Maalox. He's going to need it.

So, with the sixth season finale only a few weeks away, all of us GG fans are going to have to get used to life without the Palladinos. Did I want them to leave? No, not at all. But did I want them to make some changes to the direction they'd taken the show? Absolutely. There are some who will say that Team Palladino's departure will ruin GG. Others will say that it's the best thing for the show. I say that the real truth will be somewhere in the middle but that we won't know for sure until well into next season. It's much to early to judge one way or the other.

And with that, I'm off to watch tonight's episode as the countdown is on to the end of the season and the last episode of the Palladino regime.

~Sara