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Lauren Graham knows which Gilmore Girls storyline didn’t resonate with fans.
Graham, 59, starred on the beloved series as thirty-something single mother Lorelai Gilmore, navigating small-town living and solo parenting her teenage daughter Rory (played by Alexis Bledel). The show ran for seven seasons between 2000 and 2007 — plus a Netflix follow-up miniseries titled Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life — and has developed a massive following.
Speaking to People, Graham recalled fans being displeased with the long feud between Lorelai and Rory that started at the end of season five and continued through half of season six.
“There was that season when Rory and Lorelai were in a fight, and I would hear from people, ‘We don’t like that. It’s going on for so long.’ But when you do a long-running TV show, you have to have conflict,” she said.
“It can’t all be walking around the gazebo. We got to have some drama.”
Graham previously said that the storyline was a bit difficult to get behind.
In a 2025 appearance on Call Her Daddy, Graham said: “We would talk about it, and Amy [Sherman-Palladino, creator] was like, ‘You know you can’t do a show for this long and not have conflict.’”
“I forget even what the conflict was but it went on for a while, and that’s the one that I would hear from people that they didn’t like,” she said, of the fan reaction.
After Rory makes the decision to drop out of Yale University and move back in with her grandparents at the end of season five, Lorelai and her daughter stop talking as the show explores the controversial decision in season six.
The strained relationship meant that Gilmore Girls strayed from the themes that made it a fan-favorite show.
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Meanwhile, Graham and Melissa McCarthy, who played Sookie St. James on the hit series, were recently reunited atVariety‘s 2026 Power of Women ceremony.
McCarthy was being honored for her work across TV, film, and philanthropy, and Graham presented her with the award.
“I met Melissa playing her pretend friend on Gilmore Girls, and we got to become friends in real life,” Graham said in the speech, per People.
McCarthy told Variety that fans still recognize her from the series, despite her other credits.
“What a thing to get to do something that gives people comfort like that,” McCarthy said of how fans still cherish Gilmore Girls. “It’s the coziest! I felt lucky doing it, and I feel lucky to have been a part of it.”