Series ends its seventh and final season

The era of the two Loreleis has come to an end.

The CW and Warner Bros. Television announced Thursday that the popular multigenerational family show starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel will wrap its seventh and final season on Tuesday, May 15.

"Announcing the final season of 'Gilmore Girls' is truly a sad moment for everyone at The CW and Warner Bros. Television," reads the joint statement. "This series helped define a network and created a fantastic, storybook world featuring some of television's most memorable, lovable characters. We thank Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dan Palladino, Dave Rosenthal, the amazing cast led by Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel, as well as the producers, writers and crew for giving us this delightful gem for the past seven years. We would also like to thank the critics and 'Gilmore' fans for their passionate support and promise to give this series the send-off it deserves."

Fears about the fate of the show have been plaguing fans for a while now, ever since Sherman-Palladino and her husband/collaborator Dan left the show at the end of the sixth season, when "Gilmore" was on the now-defunct WB. Graham and Bledel only had contracts for one more season with the CW, however, and the fledgling network similarly only committed to the series for a year, which appears is now up.

"Gilmore Girls" captured audiences with the close, playful yet heartfelt relationship between a single mother raising her daughter in the wacky town of Stars Hollow despite pressures from her own parents to conform to their country club ways and marry the baby daddy. The show was known for its rapid-fire dialogue, colorful characters and pop culture references. The show also launched the careers of Milo Ventimiglia ("Heroes") and Jared Padalecki ("Supernatural"), both of whom played Rory's boyfriend at some point during the show.

The show's two remaining episodes will see Rory (Bledel) receiving a marriage proposal, while Lorelei (Graham) sorts out her own love life. The season finale, titled "Bon Voyage," guest stars Rory's idol, CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour.