Amy Sherman-Palladino is a writer, producer, and director best known for her series Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel. She has focused her television career on telling women’s stories, most memorably in the beloved series Gilmore Girls. The daughter of Southern Baptist Maybin Hewes and Jewish comedian Don Sherman, Sherman-Palladino bonded with her father over their shared love of the comedy album 2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. She became a staff writer on Roseanne in 1990, where she was responsible for an Emmy-nominated episode about birth control. After leaving the show in 1994, she worked as a writer and producer on several short-lived TV projects. Then, in a pitch meeting with a studio executive, she suggested creating a show about a mother and daughter who were more like best friends, an idea that evolved into Gilmore Girls in 2000. The show, for which Sherman-Palladino both wrote and served as executive director, was notable for its female characters, witty dialogue, and references to both pop culture and great literature. After leaving Gilmore Girls in 2006, Sherman-Palladino created, wrote, and produced Bunheads, a 2012 show about a ballet instructor with a checkered past, and the 2016 reunion show Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. From 2017 to 2023, she wrote and directed the award-winning series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, about a 1950s housewife who becomes a stand-up comedian. She has received six Emmys and numerous other awards and nominations. As of 2023, Sherman-Palladino was working on Étoile, an upcoming series about struggling ballet studios.