Amy Sherman-Palladino

Amy Sherman-Palladino is a television writer and producer best known for creating the hit series "Gilmore Girls." Born into a California showbiz family (her father is 1960s standup comic Don Sherman), she joined the writing staff of the hit sitcom "Roseanne" in 1990 as part of star and producer Roseanne Barr's campaign to get more female voices onto her show. In 1992, she and writing partner Jennifer Heath were nominated for an Emmy for an episode in which Roseanne's teenage daughter Becky begins taking birth-control pills. Sherman married another member of the "Roseanne" writing staff, Daniel Palladino, and changed her professional name in the mid-'90s. After stints as a writer and producer on other short-lived sitcoms, including the Kirstie Alley vehicle "Veronica's Closet," Sherman-Palladino was in the midst of an unsuccessful pitch meeting with the fledgling WB network when she spontaneously began describing an idea about a mother and daughter close enough in age that they acted more like siblings. That concept turned into the comedy-drama "Gilmore Girls," a critical success due in large part to Sherman-Palladino's distinctive rapid-fire dialogue, laden with multiple obscure pop-culture references. Sherman-Palladino and her husband left the series after six seasons due to a contract dispute. Her next series, "The Return of Jezebel James," starred Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose as estranged sisters; a critical bomb, it was canceled after only three episodes. She bounced back, however, in 2012, with the well-received ballet-themed comedy "Bunheads," featuring Broadway star Sutton Foster.