--- title: What Gilmore Girls Would Have to Do to Stay Relevant description: The main characters would have to branch out from their small-scale feminism and represent a broader worldview canonical: https://time.com/4081176/gilmore-girls-reboot/ author: Darlena Cunha article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-21T20:54:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:57:45.619Z article:section: Ideas og:title: What Gilmore Girls Would Have to Do to Stay Relevant og:description: The main characters would have to branch out from their small-scale feminism and represent a broader worldview og:url: https://time.com/4081176/gilmore-girls-reboot/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07a2284379a9ced3/698868ee428a9ec52dccfb04/gilmore-girls.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2083 og:image:height: 1172 og:image:alt: New Warner Bros. TV Stills og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Gilmore Girls Would Have to Do to Stay Relevant twitter:description: The main characters would have to branch out from their small-scale feminism and represent a broader worldview twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07a2284379a9ced3/698868ee428a9ec52dccfb04/gilmore-girls.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What _Gilmore Girls_ Would Have to Do to Stay Relevant > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Darlena Cunha](https://time.com/author/darlena-cunha/) ## Darlena Cunha Oct 21, 2015 8:54 PM UTC  Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham star in Warner Bros. TV series "The Gilmore Girls." Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham star in Warner Bros. TV series "The Gilmore Girls."Warner Bros. by [Darlena Cunha](https://time.com/author/darlena-cunha/) ## Darlena Cunha Oct 21, 2015 8:54 PM UTC The news broke Monday that _Gilmore Girls_ [might be coming back](http://time.com/4079000/gilmore-girls-netflix-revival/), and fans immediately began speculating about what we could [expect](http://time.com/4079535/gilmore-girls-revival-questions-netflix/). But more than whether Lorelai marries Luke or whether Rory stays a journalist, I would curious to see how the show tries to stay feminist and relevant in today’s society. In 2000, when the show first aired, I was a fresh-faced, new college student, away from my friends and family back in Connecticut for the first time. It was an exciting time, but scary as well, and throughout my constant struggles with calculus, my job at the campus library and my midnight jogs, [_Gilmore Girls_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238784/) was there. The story of a young single mother who turned away from the posher side of Connecticut’s wealthy privileged was right up my alley. I was just discovering what it meant to me to be a feminist, and I felt an affinity toward Lorelai. She had gumption, conviction, spunk and an incredible work ethic. And she was doing it on her own. It comforted me that a woman who had gotten pregnant so young (a huge mistake in my young mind) could get her life together with such grace and aplomb. Yes, she continued to struggle, but she and her daughter Rory had a bond I’d always wanted in my own life. As a teenager, Rory was a good, hard-working, tenacious girl, like I considered myself to be at the time. (And eventually a journalist, to boot.) With the Gilmores each week, I formulated my own ideas about what life could be like if I tried hard enough and believed in myself. I learned what I could potentially be capable of if I forsook the patriarchal ideals I had been raised with and confidently put myself out there as a woman, but more important, as a person. I learned to take risks for what was important to me, and to stand up for others and for my beliefs. _Gilmore Girls,_ with its fast-talking, quirky, fictional world, helped teach me these lessons. By the time the show ended in 2007, I was no longer watching. I had “grown up.” I was working overnights on a television news show. I had found the love of my life. I didn’t need aid in exploring my femininity. So I didn’t see the final season. I don’t need [four 90-minute episodes](http://tvline.com/2015/10/19/gilmore-girls-revival-netflix-new-episodes/) on Netflix to satisfy a desire to have the show end with more closure, as many want. I would watch for different reasons. Our society has changed in the past decade. Feminism means more than a self-made woman who knows when to lean on the support system that has always been there for her when it comes to her child. It means more than working our way up from metaphorical maid to metaphorical innkeeper and owner. It has always meant more than that, but for many of us who watched the Gilmore Girls grow up and learn together, its definition within our own hearts and minds has changed. It’s become more inclusive, broader, more important. After such a long break, can the Gilmores keep up? Others have pointed out that previous reincarnations of shows have failed to recreate the exact mood and persona of their past iterations, notably _Arrested Development_, which came back with a less quirky and more hardened edge. But I don’t want to go back to 2007\. I want to see the idealism slightly diminished and the struggles deeper, more brutal. I want to see the laughter and closeness that death and financial instability can bring. I want to watch Lorelai and Rory take on the world as full-fledged adults who have sorted out their issues. _Gilmore Girls_ can shine. It can be worthy and relevant in our day and age, particularly if the main characters branch out from their small-scale feminism and represent the broader worldview that would naturally come with age and experience. With [Amy Sherman-Palladino](http://www.tvguide.com/news/team-palladino-interview-8523/) and her quick-witted, flexible genius back at the helm, viewers can be sure the script will pick up where it was meant to pick up, as well as adapt to the current times. 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