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The traditional U.S. time slot of the series, Tuesdays at 8 pm Eastern/7 pm Central, remained unchanged with the move to The CW from the WB.

The show follows single mother, Lorelai Victoria Gilmore (Lauren Graham), and her daughter, Lorelai "Rory" Leigh Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, roughly thirty minutes from Hartford. The series explores family, generational divides, and friendship, set in a close-knit small town with many quirky characters.

Gilmore Girls features intricate, extremely fast-paced dialogue, with numerous modern pop culture references, along with many other references to politics and high culture. It also has specific perspectives on social class, represented most regularly by Lorelai's sometimes contentious relationships with her wealthy blue-blooded parents. The show's wit and character-based humor have won it a loyal following of both critics and viewers.

Characters

Regular characters

• Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham)
• Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel)
• Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop)
• Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann)
• Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy)
• Luke Danes (Scott Patterson)
• Lane Kim (Keiko Agena)
• Michel Gerard (Yanic Truesdale)
• Paris Geller (Liza Weil) (seasons 2-, recurring previously)
• Dean Forrester (Jared Padalecki) (seasons 1-3, recurring afterward)
• Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) (seasons 2-3, recurring afterward)
• Jason Stiles (Chris Eigeman) (season 4)
• Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry) (seasons 6-, recurring previously)
• Kirk Gleason (Sean Gunn) (seasons 3-, recurring previously)

Recurring characters

• Patricia "Miss Patty" LaCosta (Liz Torres)
• Jackson Belleville (Jackson Douglas)
• Taylor Doose (Michael Winters)
• Babette Dell (Sally Struthers)
• Mrs. Kim (Emily Kuroda)
• Louise Grant (Teal Redmann) (2000 - 2004)
• Madeline Lynn (Shelly Cole) (2000 - 2004)
• Zack (Todd Lowe) (2002 - )
• Brian (John Cabrera) (2002 - )
• Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe)
• Andrew (Mike Gandolfi)
• Town troubadour (Grant-Lee Phillips)
• Gypsy (Rose Abdoo) (2002 - )
• Ceasar (Aris Alvarado) (2003 - )
• Colin McCrae (Alan Loayza) (2005 - )
• Doyle McMaster (Danny Strong) (2003 - )
• Finn (Tanc Sade) (2005 - )
• Morey Dell (Ted Rooney)
• Max Medina (Scott Cohen) (2000 - 2003)
• Tom (Biff Yeager) (2001 - )
• Glenn Babble (Ethan Cohn) (2003 - 2005)
• Tristan DuGrey (Chad Michael Murray) (2000 - 2001)
• Gil (Sebastian Bach) (2003 - )
• Joe (Brian Berke)
• Headmaster Hanlin Charleston (Dakin Matthews) (2000 - 2004)
• Dave Rygalski (Adam Brody) (2002 - 2003)
• Lulu (Rini Bell) (2003 - )
• Lindsay Lister Forrester (Arielle Kebbel) (2003 - 2004)
• Nicole Leahy (Tricia O'Kelley) (2003 - 2004)
• Liz Danes (Kathleen Wilhoite) (2003 - )
• T.J. (aka Gary) (Michael DeLuise) (2003 - )
• Janet (Katie Walder) (2003 - 2005)
• Tana Schrick (Olivia Hack) (2003 - 2004)
• Mitchum Huntzberger (Gregg Henry) (2005 - )
• Reverend Archie Skinner (Jim Jansen) (2002 - )
• Marty (Wayne Wilcox) (2003 - 2005, 2006 - )^{citation needed]}

Guest stars of note

• Norman Mailer, Madeleine Albright, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California), former Rep. Doug Ose (R-California), and Paul Anka have appeared as themselves.
• Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy, appeared following the cancellation of his show and prior to its resurrection in an episode late in season 2 and was heard speaking on a telephone during an episode from season 3.
• Carole King played music store owner Sophie Bloom and also is the composer of the opening theme for the show.
• Brandon Routh (the new Superman in Superman Returns) made a minor appearance in a 2001 episode, playing a boy at a Bangles concert who attracted the attention of Madeline and Louise, and the indifference of Paris and Rory; he is credited as "BJ Routh" in the episode's credits.
• Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of noise-rock band Sonic Youth play troubadours in the season 6 finale, along with their daughter Coco Gordon Moore. Also in this episode were Joe Pernice, Yo La Tengo, Sparks, Sam Phillips, and Mary Lynn Rajskub.
• Mary-Lynn Rajskub also appeared as an actress in Kirk's (Sean Gunn) short film in a second season episode.

Appearing as different characters

The show has had several guest stars appearing in two separate notable roles, including:

• Alex Borstein played Drella, the inn's harpist, in season one, and in subsequent seasons, Emily's wardrobe advisor, Miss Celine. Borstein also played Sookie in the series' original pilot; her real-life husband, Jackson Douglas, plays Sookie's on-screen husband.
• Marion Ross played Richard's mother, Lorelai "Trix" Gilmore, who died in season 4, as well as her niece Marilyn.
• Sherilyn Fenn played Sasha, the girlfriend of Jess's father, Jimmy (Rob Estes), in the 2003 episode "Here Comes the Son," which was largely set in California and was a backdoor pilot for a Jess-centric series (Windward Circle) that was not picked up. Beginning in 2006, Fenn played Anna Nardini, Luke's ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter, April (Vanessa Marano).
• Sean Gunn played Mick in the first episode before taking on the regular role of Kirk.

Plot

Lorelai's conflict with her wealthy parents is central to the back-story for the series. Her headstrong mother, Emily (Kelly Bishop), and her father, Richard (Edward Herrmann), had high hopes for their only child, Lorelai. At the age of sixteen, she was a college-bound student attending an elite prep school. Lorelai dashed their hopes, however, by becoming a teenage mother, without marrying Rory's father, Christopher (David Sutcliffe) (a match approved of by everyone but Lorelai). Lorelai ran away from home when Rory was about a year old. Lorelai supported herself and Rory by working as a maid at the Independence Inn in a small town about half an hour away from her parents' house. Lorelai eventually becomes general manager of the inn, her position at the start of the series, and tries to minimize her parents' contact with Rory.

The first season of the show begins with 16-year-old Rory's acceptance to Chilton, an elite prep school in Hartford, Connecticut. Lorelai knows that she cannot afford the high cost of tuition and reluctantly decides to ask her parents for help. They give her a loan on the condition that Rory and Lorelai must join Emily and Richard for dinner at their Hartford mansion every Friday evening.

Lorelai's various romantic entanglements also play a role in the show. Her relationship with Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) finally grows from friendship to a romantic relationship at the end of the fourth season, and they get engaged in the sixth season premiere. Prior relationships included Max Medina (Scott Cohen), Rory's Chilton English teacher, to whom she was engaged, as well as Jason "Digger" Stiles, Richard's much younger business partner. Lorelai's periodic reconnections with Christopher, another child of a wealthy family and Rory's father, also play a part in the series.

Lorelai's career as the manager of The Independence Inn is pivotal to the first few seasons of the show, as well as her aspirations to open an inn of her own. After years of planning, she and her best friend, chef Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy), open their own property, the Dragonfly Inn. Sookie and Lorelai are joined at the Dragonfly by their co-worker Michel Gerard (Yanic Truesdale), a Frenchman with attitude to spare.

Rory's coming of age is complicated by her close relationship with her mother. Rory is fifteen in the first episode (although Lorelai says she is sixteen in the pilot, she celebrates her sixteenth birthday several episodes later). She and Lorelai regard each other more as best friends than mother and daughter. Rory's burgeoning adulthood and occasional need to pull away begin to complicate this relationship, although the closeness between them remains a constant on the show.

Rory's academic aspirations also complicate matters. Rory had wanted to attend Harvard University since kindergarten; to achieve this she transfers to the private (fictional) Chilton Academy from the public Stars Hollow High at the beginning of her sophomore year. There, she encounters an unfamiliar world filled with rich and high-strung peers. Rory ultimately decides to go to Yale, her grandfather's alma mater, after making extensive pro and con lists and receiving her mother's blessing.

Paying for Rory's education is another recurring theme of the series that binds the main characters. Lorelai repays her parents' loan for Chilton just before Rory's graduation, but weeks later discovers Yale is not offering any financial aid for Rory, putting her education in financial jeopardy once again. This time, Rory goes to the elder Gilmores and asks for tuition money, once again in exchange for the continuance of the Friday night dinners. Emily and Richard agree and continue to pay for Yale until the spring semester of Rory's junior year, when Rory's father, Christopher, begins paying her tuition. This creates tensions with her grandparents, but ultimately the Friday night dinner tradition continues.

As with Lorelai, Rory's romantic attractions also play a part in the show. Rory meets Dean Forrester (Jared Padalecki) during the first season and maintains a relationship with him for the first two seasons. She does break up with Dean briefly in the first season, when Rory isn't able to say "I love you." It is during this time apart that Rory kisses Tristan Dugrey (Chad Michael Murray), a boy she has a love-hate relationship with at Chilton. However, by the end of the season, she is back together with Dean. She meets Luke's nephew, Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia), during the second season. They become friends, but their relationship grows, and Rory kisses Jess in the second season finale. Early in the third season, Rory is torn between Dean and Jess, but she chooses Jess and remains with him throughout the third season. In season four, after Rory and Jess break up, she has a fling with now-married Dean, which ultimately ends his marriage and creates a short-lived rift between her and her mother. At Yale, Rory becomes involved with Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry), an underachiever whose wealthy family owns a newspaper empire and immediately disapproves of Rory. Logan's father, the infamous Mitchum Huntzberger, hires Rory as an intern. His crushingly negative evaluation of her work leads to her leaving Yale temporarily at the end of the fifth season.

In the sixth season premiere, Lorelai and Rory are estranged and Rory is living with her grandparents. She is taking time off from college and serving community service for stealing a yacht with Logan. Eventually, the mother and daughter reunite after Jess makes her realize her mistake. Logan gets upset at Rory and leaves without resolution. Rory then returns to Yale for the spring semester of the 2005-2006 school year. Lorelai, who is now engaged to Luke, is frustrated by his keeping his newly-discovered daughter (April) from her, and their relationship is on the rocks. Rory's relationship with Logan is on-again-off-again, after she attends the wedding of Logan's sister to discover that he slept with some of the bridesmaids during their brief "break up" earlier in season 6. The next episode, Rory takes Logan back, although she has not forgiven him. Logan leaves for three days on a Life and Death Brigade event. Meanwhile, Rory visits former love interest Jess and kisses him and apologizes because she loves Logan. During the trip Logan is seriously injured. Rory takes care of Logan after his accident, and their relationship is repaired.

At the end of the season six finale, Logan leaves for London to work for his father's newspaper. Rory confronts Mitchum Huntzberger about sending Logan away and he tells her it is time for Logan to grow up. She does not disagree and later she and Logan have a tearful farewell. Meanwhile, Lorelai is upset with Luke when he refuses to elope. She spends the night with Christopher and the episode ends with a shot of her in bed with him.

Rory's friendships with long-time best friend Lane Kim (Keiko Agena)—a first-generation Korean American from a strict background—and Paris Geller (Liza Weil), a friend/rival at both Chilton and Yale, are also themes in the show.

Episodes

Main article: List of Gilmore Girls episodes

Production

History

The pilot episode of Gilmore Girls received financial support from the script development fund of the Family Friendly Programming Forum. It was the first network show to reach the air with help from funding provided by that organization, which includes some of the nation's leading advertisers.

The show was not a ratings success initially, airing in the tough Thursday 8pm/7pm Central timeslot dominated by Survivor and Friends in its first season, but has grown a following that eventually saw it outdraw its timeslot competitor, popular series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the ratings after it moved to Tuesday nights in September 2001 in the wake of Buffy's move to UPN, along with Sunday night encores of the first season in 2001-2002 under the banner Gilmore Girls Beginnings. Several of the writers of Buffy have been prolific writers on Gilmore Girls.

In its fifth season, Gilmore Girls blossomed into The WB's second most watched primetime show, with a fan base which grew by double digits in all major demographics [1]. In its syndicated release, the show airs exclusively on the ABC Family Channel. These reruns have helped draw viewers to the first-run broadcasts on the WB/CW.

By the time of its fifth season, Gilmore Girls received an American Film Institute Award and two Viewers for Quality Television Awards, and was named New Program of the Year by the Television Critics Association.

The WB was originally going to air a spin-off featuring Jess as the main character, called Windward Circle, in which he gets to know his estranged father better and befriends a bunch of California skateboarders. (The Gilmore Girls episode 3.21 "Here Comes the Son" acted as the pilot for the show.) However, the network cancelled the show before it aired, citing high production costs to shoot on location in Venice Beach as the reason.^{citation needed]} It was originally picked up as a mid-season show, set for January of 2004.

The show's actors have received many awards for their work on the series. Lauren Graham was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama in 2002, but lost to Jennifer Garner from Alias. Graham received two consecutive nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series from the Screen Actors Guild but lost both times to Allison Janney from The West Wing. Graham won two Family Television Awards along with a Teen Choice Award for Best TV Mom. There has been much outcry and controversy as Graham has never been nominated for an Emmy award. Each year there has been talk about how she has been snubbed for the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.^{citation needed]} In 2006, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences redesigned their nomination process in an effort to give shows with a smaller viewing audience more equal footing in Emmy competition. The television community agreed that this would finally result in a nomination for Lauren Graham^{citation needed]}, yet she was snubbed once again. After nominations were announced, the producers of "Gilmore Girls" announced that they would no longer submit Graham in the comedy categories, but submit her for consideration for the award for Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Alexis Bledel has won a Young Artist Award and a Family Television Award. The series also won a Family Television Award for New Series, and was named Best Family TV Drama Series by the Young Artist Awards.

The show won an Emmy for its only nomination in six years: 2004's Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic)

The first season was released on DVD on May 4, 2004; the second season was released on December 7, 2004, the third on May 3, 2005, the fourth season was released on September 27, 2005, and the fifth season was released on December 13, 2005. All five seasons are framed in the traditional NTSC 4:3 format on the DVD box sets, despite the series transitioning to HDTV 16:9 framing in the fourth season; this was an artistic decision made by Sherman-Palladino to present the program as she visualizes it.

The sixth season of the series was released on DVD on September 19, one week before the season premiere for the seventh season on September 26 [2]. This season set will also be framed in 4:3.

Cultural references

In addition to fast-paced dialogue, Gilmore Girls is also known for numerous cultural references made by the characters. The references, which may point to anything from movies, television shows, music and books to quotes from celebrities, are frequently quite obscure and thus seem to be understood only by the characters.

To help the viewer understand what the characters are talking about, The WB has included "Gilmore-isms" booklets in the DVD sets of the seasons (except for season five and six, where purchasers of that set were referred to the site below). The booklets contain "the 411 on many of the show's pop culture references", along with comments from the show creators.

The "Gilmore-isms" booklets for seasons 2-5 can also be found on the series' DVD promotional website; the booklet files are in PDF format.

Music

Music plays a large part in the show. Most of the main or recurring characters on the show have had their musical tastes revealed at one time or another. Lorelai famously likes '80s music like that of The Bangles and The Go-Go's as well as Metallica, but Rory credits her with introducing her to new books and music throughout her life, and she and Rory often swap CDs. As we find out in 5th season Rory doesn't like the famous American singer Bob Dylan.

Lane is a true audiophile, and her list of musical influences ran to five pages when she was writing her "drummer-seeks-rock-band" ad. David Bowie, the Ramones, Jackson Browne (Lane: "Ah, see, cool people know that he’s more than a mellow hippie-dippy folkie, that he actually wrote some of Nico’s best songs and was in fact her lover before he bored us with 'Doctor My Eyes.' That will separate the poseurs from the non-poseurs." —Season 3, Ep. 3 "Application Anxiety"), the Accelerators , The Adverts, Agent Orange, the Angelic Upstarts, and the Agnostic Front. Lane's band, Hep Alien (which is an anagram of producer Helen Pai's name), plays rock with different influences, and Sebastian Bach, formerly of Skid Row, plays Gil, the band's guitarist.

The Bangles made a guest appearance in the Season 1 episode "Concert Interruptus" while The Shins guest-starred in the Season 4 episode "Girls in Bikinis, Boys Doin' the Twist" (also, their 2000 single "Know Your Onion!" is heard in season two "Like Mother, Like Daughter", while their album "Chutes Too Narrow" later appears). Carole King, who re-recorded her 1971 song "Where You Lead" as a duet with her daughter Louise Goffin as the Gilmore Girls theme song, appears occasionally as music store owner Sophie. The original score to the show is performed by Sam Phillips. Grant-Lee Phillips appears in at least one episode per season (up to season 6) as Grant, the town troubadour. Kim Gordon & Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth appeared in the 6th season finale along with their daughter Coco. The famous singer Paul Anka appeared in season 6th as himself in the episode "The Real Paul Anka". Joel Gion, formerly of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, also appeared in an episode, playing tambourine for Zack's side project while Hep Alien is on hiatus.

In 2002, a soundtrack to the show was released by Rhino Records, entitled Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls. The CD cover of the album features anecdotes from show producers Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino covering the large part music has played in their lives.

Food and drink

Food is another important part of the show. Lorelai and Rory are coffee addicts and they love all kinds of junk food. (Actually, actress Alexis Bledel hates coffee. What is truly in her coffee mug is soda, tea, water, or nothing at all.)

Luke: So what'll you have?

Lorelai: Coffee, in a vat.

Rory: I'll have coffee also. And chili fries.

Luke: That's quite a refined palate you got there.

—Season 1, Ep. 1 "The Pilot Episode"

It is a running gag that the two of them can eat copious amounts of junk food but never seem to gain weight. When they aren't eating at Luke's Diner or having refined Friday night dinners at Emily and Richard's they often order pizza or take-out Chinese food. Sookie, the chef at the Inn, is very passionate about cooking and often obsesses over the menu. Lane Kim's mother, Mrs. Kim, is a fan of health food, and Luke's healthy eating habits are sometimes contrasted with Lorelai's junk-food diet.

DVD Releases

International

• Argentina - Warner Channel
• Australia - Nine Network, Arena TV
• Austria - ORF1
• Brazil - Warner Channel ; SBT, title in Portuguese "Tal Mãe, Tal Filha" - "Like Mother, Like Daughter"
• Belgium - VijfTV
• Canada - Global Tuesday at 10pm E/P (8:00pm AT) and Fox44 Tuesday at 10pm ET Montreal area
• Croatia - HRT2
• Czech Republic - TV Nova
• Denmark - Kanal 4
• Finland - YLE TV1
• Germany - Vox
• Greece - Star Channel
• Hungary - MTV1, title in Hungarian "Szívek szállodája" - "Hotel of Hearts"
• Ireland - RTÉ 1/Hallmark Channel
• Israel - Channel 10, Hallmark Channel - "בנות גילמור"
• Italy - Italia 1, title in Italian "Una Mamma per Amica" - "A mother as a friend"
• Latin America - Warner Channel
• Malaysia - premiered on TV3, moved to 8TV.
• Netherlands - Net 5
• Norway - TVNorge
• Poland - TVN7(TVN Siedem)
• New Zealand - TVNZ TV2
• Philippines - Studio 23
• Portugal - FOX and FOX Life, title in Portuguese "Tal Mãe, Tal Filha" - "Like Mother, Like Daughter"
• Romania - Acasă
• Serbia - RTV Pink
• Slovakia - Markiza
• Slovenia - A Kanal
• Spain - La 2, FOX, title in Spanish "Las chicas Gilmore"-Gilmore girls
• South Korea - OnStyle network
• Sweden - Kanal 5
• UK - Nickelodeon/Hallmark Channel
• US - CW and Fox44 Burlington & Plattsburgh
• Turkey - CNBC-E

External links

• Gilmore Girls official site
• WB's site for DVD sales — includes PDF versions of the DVDs' "Gilmore-isms" booklets.
• High Quality Version of the New Season 7 Promo
• Gilmore Girls on TVGuide.com