If there were an Emmy category for "Best Dose Of Nostalgia," the Gilmore Girls revival would certainly take home the trophy. Alas, that's not a thing — but we do now know what Emmy category the Gilmore Girls revival will fall under. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Netflix's Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life has officially been ruled a Limited Series by the Television Academy, despite it technically being an eighth season of the former CW series. Could the category decision have increased the four-episode season's chances at earning a nomination? It's possible.
The category won't guarantee a nomination, but it does mean the series will be competing with a smaller number of shows overall. That's because those in the Limited Series genre are relatively new and few — part of a subtle but growing trend towards miniseries that don't even need a sophomore season. After all, no longer do network shows have to have a whopping 24 episodes per season. And don't forget the rising popularity of anthology series — American Horror Story showrunner Ryan Murphy currently boasts four, including latest FX addition Feud — which fall into the Limited Series category, even though they have multiple seasons.
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Then there's the fact that, in 2016, only five Limited Series were nominated in the category. Comparatively, the Television Academy lists seven nominees in the Outstanding Drama and Outstanding Comedy categories. Still, there are plenty of limited series out there, from routine nominee American Crime to Murphy's tale of feuding movie stars.
Will the pleasant, nostalgia-producing Gilmore Girls find itself nominated among hard-hitting analyses of Hollywood sexism and America's modern-day racism? Honestly, it's hard to say.
That's not to say that Gilmore Girls doesn't deserve a round of applause: It already earned one with fans, who are desperate for more of Rory and Lorelai's chatty mother-daughter bonding sessions. And isn't pleasing the fans the real reward?