Gilmore Girls’ backlash shows reboot can go wrong
THE opening scene in the third episode of Netflix’s new Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life features Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and her daughter, Rory (Alexis Bledel) sitting by a pool in Stars Hollow, doing their usual quick banter. But the snappy dialogue turns obnoxious as they start mocking their fellow poolgoers.
“Belly alert,” Lorelai mutters as an overweight man passes by. “Holy moly,” Rory echoes. They scoff at a woman in a bikini (“Just go naked”) and then dub a heavy man in a Speedo “Back Fat Pat.” People drop by to welcome Rory back to town, since she moved home after a rough patch in her journalism career. “I’m not back!” she repeatedly whines to her well-wishers, even though it sure looks like she’s back for good.
The scene exemplifies the worst parts of the Gilmore Girls, the acclaimed WB series that ran from 2000 to 2007: Lorelai and Rory’s banter that could turn cruel and grating; Rory’s blindness to her unbelievable privilege; the main characters simply thinking they’re better than everyone else. This particular scene has got viewers backs up, with them decrying: The Gilmore Girls fat-shaming scene was unnecessary; and Gilmore Girls’ fans are dragging the revival for its ‘cringe-worthy’ fat-shaming.
While every great television series has its flaws, a problem with TV reboots is that they often focus a glaring spotlight on all of the show’s initial problems, which ultimately makes for subpar viewing – and threatens to tarnish the original series.
Make no mistake, the highly-anticipated Gilmore Girls revival, which landed on Netflix on November 25, was thrilling to many fans, some of whom can’t find a negative thing to say.
However, it has also garnered lots of criticism over the past few days, from diehard loyal viewers to people who never saw the original show but decided to watch the revival because of all the hype.
A disappointing revival, or even one that doesn’t live up to sky-high expectations, happens all the time.
Just look at Season 4 of Arrested Development, Fuller House, or even Heroes Reborn.
Worst-case scenario, they result in fans’ hesitation to rewatch the original series.
After all, it might look different now that they know how the characters turn out in the future. Why get invested in Luke (Scott Patterson) and Lorelai’s love story when they turn out to be such a boring couple?
And forget potential viewers who were curious about all the publicity about the revival and decided to tune in – if they can’t stand the reboot, there’s no way they’ll go back and watch the first seven seasons.
Therein lies the conundrum of TV reboots.
They’re essentially a fan service, so they’re destined to alienate new viewers.
But when the fans are also disappointed in the revival, there’s the risk of damaging the show that they loved all along. – The Washington Post