Gilmore Girls


Gilmore Girls is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino. It stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as Lorelai Gilmore and Rory Gilmore, a mother–daughter pair living in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. The series also stars an ensemble supporting cast, including Melissa McCarthy, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale, Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop, Edward Herrmann, Liza Weil, Jared Padalecki, Milo Ventimiglia, Sean Gunn, Chris Eigeman, and Matt Czuchry. It premiered on The WB on October 5, 2000, and ran for seven seasons, concluding on The CW on May 15, 2007.
Set in a close-knit community of eccentrics, the series blends elements of family drama, romance, and comedy. It follows the personal and professional lives of its central characters as they navigate relationships, ambitions, and generational differences. It is distinguished by its rapid dialogue, literary and pop-culture references, and portrayal of women's relationships across multiple generations. The writing and performances received widespread critical acclaim, and the series has been recognised for its humor, emotional depth, and exploration of themes such as independence, education, and social class. Its later seasons garnered poorer reviews, particularly following Sherman-Palladino's departure after season six.
Gilmore Girls achieved strong ratings throughout its original broadcast, peaking in its fifth season as one of The WB's most popular series. Its audience and cultural influence have endured through syndication and streaming, particularly after becoming available on Netflix in 2014. The series has frequently been cited among the greatest television shows of all time by publications including Time and TV , and it is regarded as a cult classic of 2000s American television. In 2016, Sherman-Palladino and the original cast reunited for the four-part Netflix revival Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

Premise

Gilmore Girls follows the lives of single mother Lorelai Gilmore and her academically minded teenage daughter, Lorelai "Rory" Gilmore, living in the quaint fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Lorelai dreams of owning her own inn, and Rory plans to attend Harvard University. Eventually, Rory chooses Yale University, her grandfather's alma mater, while Lorelai opens and operates the Dragonfly Inn.
The show's pilot introduces Lorelai's wealthy estranged parents, Emily and Richard Gilmore, whom Lorelai must approach for assistance in paying Rory's tuition to attend the prestigious Chilton Preparatory School. They agree to a loan, on the condition that Lorelai and Rory have dinner with them every Friday. This arrangement sets up one of the show's primary conflicts, as the Gilmores are now forced to face their differences and complicated past.
Rory's best friend, Lane Kim, must conceal her "rebellious" interests from her authoritarian mother, Mrs. Kim, a strict, religious, Korean immigrant, who runs an antique shop. She finds ways, many peculiar, to secretly date, listen to rock music, and express her love for pop culture, while Mrs. Kim repeatedly attempts to set her up with a Korean boy who will be a doctor. After many setups, Lane falls in love with a member of her band, Dave Rygalski. Dave was written out in the following season to accommodate actor Adam Brody's exit. Lane then began dating another band member, Zach Van Gerbig, eventually marrying and having twin boys.
Sookie St. James is Lorelai's "best friend" and chef at the Independence Inn, which Lorelai runs. She has a bubbly personality and is accident-prone, but is known for her cooking skills. Later, she becomes romantically involved with the inn's vegetable supplier, Jackson Belleville. They end up marrying and having children together.
Also central to Gilmore Girls is Luke Danes, owner of Luke's Diner, where Lorelai and Rory frequently dine. Present for many of Rory's milestones, he becomes a surrogate father figure to her. Later, Luke and Lorelai begin a romantic relationship. In A Year in the Life, Lorelai and Luke marry in the last episode, Fall.
The townspeople of Stars Hollow are a constant presence—including the gossiping, flirtatious Miss Patty and the quirky Kirk Gleason. Along with series-long and season-long arcs, Gilmore Girls is also episodic in nature, with mini-plots within each episode, such as town events, problems at Lorelai's inn, or school projects of Rory's.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

  • Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore: Independent, 32-year-old single mom who runs a local inn with a deep love for pop culture and coffee. She gave birth to Rory when she was 16 years old.
  • Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore: Precocious and academically driven only daughter of Lorelai, almost 16 at the start of the show.
  • Melissa McCarthy as Sookie St. James: Lorelai's chirpy best friend and chef at the inn.
  • Keiko Agena as Lane Kim: Rory's best friend who lives a secret life, defying her strict, religious mother by becoming a rocker.
  • Yanic Truesdale as Michel Gerard: The grumpy French concierge at Lorelai and Sookie's inn.
  • Scott Patterson as Luke Danes: Grouchy but kind-hearted diner owner; Lorelai's friend and eventual love interest.
  • Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore: Matriarch of the Gilmore family, who lives as a high society housewife. She and Lorelai have a strained relationship.
  • Edward Herrmann as Richard Gilmore: Patriarch of the Gilmore family, who works in insurance. He and Emily aid in Rory's school fees and college fees.
  • Liza Weil as Paris Geller: Rory's feisty nemesis and eventual best friend throughout high school and college.
  • Jared Padalecki as Dean Forester: Rory's first boyfriend, who moved to Stars Hollow from Chicago.
  • Milo Ventimiglia as Jess Mariano: Luke's troubled nephew who falls for Rory and becomes an intense but short-lived boyfriend.
  • Sean Gunn as Kirk Gleason: Quirky resident of Stars Hollow who works numerous jobs around the town.
  • Chris Eigeman as Jason Stiles: a boyfriend of Lorelai and short-lived business partner of Richard.
  • Matt Czuchry as Logan Huntzberger: Rory's season 5–7 boyfriend, the heir of a New York Times-esque publishing family resembling that of the Ochs-Sulzberger family.

    Recurring

  • Liz Torres as Patricia "Miss Patty" LaCosta, the friendly and kind-hearted town dance teacher and gossip
  • Emily Kuroda as Mrs. Kim, Lane's strict Seventh-day Adventist mother who has a strained relationship with her daughter
  • Sally Struthers as Babette Dell, Lorelai's eccentric but friendly neighbor and town gossip - she is close friends with Patty
  • Jackson Douglas as Jackson Belleville, Sookie's husband and a local farmer. He and Sookie share two children, David and Martha, throughout the show
  • Michael Winters as Taylor Doose, the uptight town Selectman who often irrates Luke with his requests and rules
  • David Sutcliffe as Christopher Hayden, Rory's father and Lorelai's on-off love interest
  • Shelly Cole as Madeline Lynn, Paris and Rory's high school friend
  • Teal Redmann as Louise Grant, Paris and Rory's high school friend
  • Scott Cohen as Max Medina, Lorelei's first boyfriend on the show and Rory's English teacher at Chilton
  • Chad Michael Murray as Tristin Dugray, a wealthy Chilton student who has a crush on Rory
  • Dakin Matthews as Hanlin Charleston, Headmaster of Chilton and friend of Richard and Emily
  • Marion Ross as Lorelai "Trix" Gilmore, Richard's mean mother
  • Lisa Ann Hadley as Rachel, Luke's photographer and traveler ex-girlfriend
  • Alex Borstein as Drella, the Independence Inn harpist, and "Miss Celine", Emily Gilmore's seamstress
  • Rose Abdoo as Gypsy, the town mechanic
  • Carole King as Sophie Bloom, owner of Sophie's Music shop which Lane frequents
  • Biff Yeager as Tom, a Stars Hollow contractor
  • Emily Bergl as Francie Jarvis, a student at Chilton
  • Todd Lowe as Zach Van Gerbig, Lane's bandmate and eventual boyfriend
  • John Cabrera as Brian Fuller, Lane's bandmate
  • Tricia O'Kelley as Nicole Leahy, Luke's season 3–4 lawyer girlfriend and short-term wife
  • Arielle Kebbel as Lindsay Lister, Dean's girlfriend and wife
  • Adam Brody as Dave Rygalski, Lane's first boyfriend.
  • Sebastian Bach as Gil, Lane's older bandmate
  • Danny Strong as Doyle McMaster, Paris's boyfriend and one-time editor of the Yale Daily News
  • Kathleen Wilhoite as Liz Danes, Luke's flighty and irresponsible sister and Jess's mother
  • Michael DeLuise as TJ, Luke's dopey but kind-hearted brother-in-law
  • Wayne Wilcox as Marty, Rory's friend at Yale who has unrequited feelings for her
  • Rini Bell as Lulu Kuschner, Kirk's girlfriend
  • Alan Loayza as Colin McCrae, Logan's wealthy friend
  • Tanc Sade as Finn, Logan's wealthy friend
  • Gregg Henry as Mitchum Huntzberger, Logan's father and a newspaper mogul
  • Vanessa Marano as April Nardini, Luke's "long lost" pre-teen daughter whom he finds out about in season 6
  • Sherilyn Fenn as Anna Nardini, April's mother and Luke's ex-girlfriend
  • Krysten Ritter as Lucy, Rory's friend
  • Michelle Ongkingco as Olivia Marquont, Rory's friend

    Production

Background

, who came from a background of writing for half-hour sitcoms, had Gilmore Girls approved by The WB after several of her previous pitches were turned down. On a whim, she suggested a show about a mother and daughter but had put little thought into the idea. Having to create a pilot, she drew inspiration for the show's setting of "Stars Hollow, Connecticut", after making a trip to Washington, Connecticut, where she stayed at the Mayflower Inn. She explained: "If I can make people feel this much of what I felt walking around this fairy town, I thought that would be wonderful ... At the time I was there, it was beautiful, it was magical, and it was a feeling of warmth and small-town camaraderie ... There was a longing for that in my own life, and I thought—that's something that I would really love to put out there." Stars Hollow was inspired by and is loosely based on the villages of Washington Depot, Connecticut; West Hartford, Connecticut, and the town of New Milford.
Once the setting was established, Gilmore Girls developed as a mixture of sitcom and family drama. Sherman-Palladino's aim was to create "A family show that doesn't make parents want to stick something sharp in their eyes while they're watching it and doesn't talk down to kids." She wanted the family dynamic to be important because "It's a constant evolution ... You never run out of conflict." The show's pace, dialogue, and focus on class divisions was heavily inspired by the screwball comedies of the 1930s and Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy films. Sherman-Palladino was also influenced by the "acerbic wit" of Dorothy Parker.
The pilot episode of Gilmore Girls received financial support from the script development fund of the Family Friendly Programming Forum, which includes some of the nation's leading advertisers, making it one of the first networks shows to reach the air with such funding. The show was green-lit by The WB, and Sherman-Palladino exercised control over all aspects of its production. Her husband Daniel Palladino was a consultant and occasional writer for the first season, then agreed to quit his producer position on Family Guy to commit to Gilmore Girls; he became an executive producer with the second season and also played a major role. The show's third executive producer was Gavin Polone.