Logan Roy & Mitchum Huntzberger: Inspired from the Sulzbergers

It's intriguing to consider the parallels between two of television's iconic characters, Logan Roy from Succession and Mitchum Huntzberger from Gilmore Girls, both of whom are said to be inspired by the same real-life family: the Sulzbergers, the longtime publishers of The New York Times. This connection is confirmed by Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls, who openly acknowledged that the Huntzberger family was modeled after the Sulzbergers. “It wasn’t even veiled — the word ‘berger’ is in there,” she remarked, making it clear that the Huntzberger legacy wasn’t just coincidental but deliberate, reflecting the kind of upper-echelon family dynamics involved in running a media empire.

The Sulzbergers’ story, like that of the fictional Roys and Huntzbergers, spans generations and includes a "changing of the guard." In both Gilmore Girls and Succession, the focus is often on familial power struggles and the responsibilities that come with inheriting a vast empire. For Logan Huntzberger, introduced toward the end of Gilmore Girls, the weight of family legacy is ever-present, as he steps into the role of future heir to his family's media conglomerate. His journey of succession is mirrored in the real-life transition when A.G. Sulzberger took over from his father at The New York Times in 2017.

What is perhaps even more fascinating is how these two television series — with very different tones and narratives — both tap into the same rich vein of familial and corporate tension. In Succession, Logan Roy is a ruthless patriarch who plays his children against each other in a power struggle for control over the company. This is a more extreme dramatization of what Mitchum Huntzberger embodies in Gilmore Girls: a wealthy, demanding father who also wields immense power over his offspring, particularly Logan, shaping his life and career path.

The real-life Sulzberger family, who have had control over The New York Times for over a century, reflect this delicate balance between familial legacy and corporate interests. The parallels in wealth and power are unmistakable. At one point, the Sulzberger family’s holdings in Times stock were valued at $1.2 billion, though this drastically fell to $95 million by 2009. Despite the financial fluctuations, the family’s control of the paper has remained strong, reflecting their deeply rooted influence, much like the fictional Huntzbergers and Roys.

What makes these characters so compelling is how they channel a broader societal fascination with dynastic families and the intersection of wealth, media, and power. Both Gilmore Girls and Succession explore how privilege and legacy can either empower or trap individuals, particularly the heirs of these empires, forcing them to grapple with both personal identity and familial duty.

By drawing from the real-life Sulzbergers, both shows capture something essential about the nature of power: it is not just inherited, but contested and redefined with every generation. Whether it’s Mitchum pressuring Logan Huntzberger into becoming the future of the family business, or Logan Roy manipulating his children to secure his own legacy, these characters represent the push and pull of legacy, privilege, and responsibility.

The awe-inspiring connection between Logan Roy and Mitchum Huntzberger is ultimately a testament to how television, even in vastly different genres, can reflect the complexities of real-life power structures. Both characters serve as windows into the burdens and expectations of those born into wealth and influence, a concept made even richer by their grounding in the history of the Sulzberger family.