Did the critics like 'Gilmore Girls' on Netflix?

Reviews for the latest episodes of the TV show “Gilmore Girls” continue to be mostly positive following the Nov. 25 release of Netflix’s “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life." 

The show, which stars Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, and Kelly Bishop as three generations of women in the Gilmore family, aired on the WB, then the CW, for seven seasons. The final season was produced without creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. But Ms. Sherman-Palladino returned for the new Netflix episodes, which debuted nine years after the original show went off the air. The Netflix episodes consist of four hour-and-a-half installments and feature the return of almost every original “Gilmore” character.

TV critics have generally responded positively to the “Gilmore” revival, with Newsday writer Verne Gay calling the Netflix revival “a triumphant return.”

“Engineered – or rather re-engineered – for an emotional wallop as much as for laughs, this is a big-hearted, generous, deeply felt gift to fans who years ago were left wondering about all the what-might-have-beens,” Mr. Gay wrote. Even new viewers, Gay says, should "dive right in. The themes are universal, the water warm and welcoming.” 

David Sims of The Atlantic was also pleased, writing that “Gilmore” is “a rare TV revival that works … the show renews the witty spirit that has helped it endure since it went off the air. But the series is also unafraid to grapple with how much time has passed – and the inertia that needed to be overcome to recapture the magic.”

Daniel D’Addario of Time, however, is one writer who wasn’t won over, writing that the program is “disappointing … It’s not a throwback– it’s flat-out anachronistic … over the course of the series, sprawling running times encourage bloat more than they do momentum. Endless wisecracks, some dated but some not, just wither on the vine in scene after endless scene.” 

The revival has prompted some to wonder if this the end of “Gilmore Girls” or will more episodes be created?

Sherman-Palladino, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, was definitively ambiguous.  “We really had a very specific journey in our minds and we fulfilled the journey. So to us, this is the piece that we wanted to do. And the whole thought about, 'Is there more, is there more, is there more?' – this has to go out into the universe now. We've got to put this to bed. And then whatever happens, happens.”