Gilmore Girls ran from 2000 to 2007 for seven seasons on the WB and CW. Sherman-Palladino, 59, was the showrunner for the first six seasons but left the show when it moved to the CW. The show found new fans when it began streaming on Netflix, and the streamer greenlit a miniseries, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, which premiered in 2016.
Sherman-Palladino told THR that she never watched season seven. "I only know what happened because when we were writing the movies, I said to my assistant, 'Just tell me, did this happen in season seven because I won't put it in if it already happened,' " she explained. "But the lucky thing was the major plot points of where I wanted the two girls to land for the series, they hadn't touched. I was like, 'Great, I can now go in and end the show the way I want.' "
The way she wanted was with Rory telling her mother, in the last moments of the show, that she's pregnant. At the time, Rory is a struggling journalist, and during the series she revisits her exes Logan (Matt Czuchry) and Jess (Milo Ventamiglia). She also has a new romantic interest, Paul (Jack Carpenter), and even sleeps with someone who's dressed as a Wookiee from Star Wars. Who the father of the baby is remained a mystery to fans.
"The cliffhanger was intentional because the story was about history repeating itself and about mothers and daughters," Sherman-Palladino said. Lorelai got pregnant with Rory in high school and raised her in Stars Hollow as a single mother. "It really to me was much less about who the boy was, but more about what the circumstance was."
She continued, "My thing was: Always focus on what the girls are doing, and what's the story between the mother and daughter because that's what the show is."
She said the "boys" and "romances" were wonderful, but they weren't the point of the show. "I know people are very invested in them, and all the boys are extremely handsome and delightful to stare at, but honestly, the show is about the girls," she explained. "If neither one of them had a boyfriend in six years, it still would have been fine."
As for the father of Rory's baby, she said, "In my mind, I know who the father was and I know what the baby was, but that stays in my mind."
Still, in the THR article, some of the actors expressed their hopes to return to Gilmore Girls again. "I've always said a Christmas movie seems like a way to revisit the characters," Graham said. Kelly Bishop, who played Lorelai's mom Emily, also said she would return if Bledel, Graham and Sherman-Palladino were all on board and agreed a movie might be the best way.
Back in 2017, Graham, 58, weighed in on who she thought the baby's father was. "The first time I read it, I thought it was the Wookiee," she told PEOPLE.
"I honestly never asked the question and I didn't want the answer because I know that Amy and Alexis have an agreed upon truth," she said. "But I really methoded out on that one because I was like, 'Lorelai didn't know at the end and neither do I!' I think also, if there were ever even some sort of reunion, I would never want to blow that. Because she clearly didn't want to leave it completely answered."
In March 2023, costume supervisor Valerie Campbell who worked on the revival series shared a now-deleted TikTok explaining why she thinks Logan had to be the dad, and it all came down to the four seasons the show covered.
"Let's do the math," she said. "In winter she is sleeping with Paul, maybe, maybe not, I don't know, she might have forgotten to do it. Spring she sleeps with the Wookie, once, and if it was the Wookie she would definitely be showing and we never gave her a pregnancy belly. That is very, very important." She said she was never instructed to give Rory a pregnancy belly.
"The only obvious choice is, you guessed it, Logan," she said. "And Amy herself said, 'Why are people even questioning who the father is?' It's because it was supposed to be very, very, very obvious."
Still, it seems Sherman-Palladino won't give an official confirmation unless and until the girls reunite on-screen again.