Gilmore Girls is an American family
comedy-dramaComedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
series created by
Amy Sherman-PalladinoAmy Sherman-Palladino is an American television writer, director, and producer who is best known as the creator of the television series Gilmore Girls.-Life:Sherman-Palladino is married to writer and producer Daniel Palladino...
, starring
Lauren GrahamLauren Helen Graham is an American actress and producer. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.-Early life:...
and
Alexis BledelAlexis Bledel is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rory Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls and Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.-Early life:Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas...
. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on
The WBThe WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on
The CWThe CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
. The show follows single mother
Lorelai Victoria GilmoreLorelai Victoria Gilmore is a fictional character in the WB/CW television series Gilmore Girls, portrayed by Lauren Graham. She is the main protagonist for the length of the series's seven year run from October, 2000, until May, 2007....
(Graham) and her daughter Lorelai "Rory" Leigh Gilmore (Bledel) living in the fictional town of
Stars HollowStars Hollow is a fictional small town in Connecticut featured on the television show Gilmore Girls. It is depicted as a close-knit small town with many quirky characters, located roughly thirty minutes by car from Hartford...
, Connecticut, located approximately thirty minutes from
Hartford, ConnecticutHartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
.
As signalled by its tagline "Life's short. Talk Fast", the show is known for its fast-paced dialogue filled with pop-culture references, which has drawn comparisons with the work of writers like
Aaron SorkinAaron Benjamin Sorkin is an Academy and Emmy award winning American screenwriter, producer, and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Social Network, and Moneyball.After graduating from Syracuse...
.
The series explores issues of family, friendship and romance, as well as generational divides and social class. Ambition, education and work also form part of the series' central concerns, telling Lorelai's story from pregnant teen runaway and high school dropout to co-owner and manager of the Dragonfly Inn. Rory's transition from public school to the prestigious preparatory school, Chilton, is similarly followed by the series, exploring her ambition to study at an
Ivy LeagueThe Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
college and to become a foreign correspondent. The show's social commentary manifests most clearly in Lorelai's difficult relationship with her wealthy upper-class parents, Emily and Richard Gilmore, and in the interactions between the students at Chilton, and later,
Yale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
The show placed #32 on
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
"New TV Classics" list, and in 2007 it was listed as one of
Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-
TIME."
History
The pilot episode of
Gilmore Girls received financial support from the script development fund of the
Family Friendly Programming ForumThe Family Friendly Programming Forum is a coalition of over 40 advertisers, all of whom belong to the Association of National Advertisers. They seek to increase the amount of "family-friendly" programming on U.S...
, which includes some of the nation's leading advertisers, making it one of the first network shows to reach the air with such funding.
The show was not a ratings success initially, airing in the tough Thursday 8pm/7pm
CentralIn North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
time slot dominated by
Survivor and
FriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
in its first season. When
Gilmore Girls moved to Tuesday, its rating surpassed its time-slot competitor, popular series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which moved to
UPNUnited Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
but retained the same timeslot.. In its fifth season,
Gilmore Girls became The WB's second most watched prime time show, with viewer numbers which grew by double digits in all major demographics. In its
syndicatedIn broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
release in the United States, the show airs on the
ABC Family ChannelABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
, and
SOAPnetSOAPnet is an American cable television channel that broadcasts current and past soap operas and primetime dramas, along with some original programming. The channel launched on January 20, 2000, and is owned by Disney-ABC Television Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
.
On May 3, 2007, The CW announced that the series would not be renewed. According to
Variety, "Money was a key factor in the decision, with the parties involved not able to reach a deal on salaries for the main cast members. Other issues, such as number of episodes and production dates, may have also played a role". Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has expressed an interest in pursuing a
Gilmore Girls movie. Lauren Graham has noted that a lot of fans "were disappointed with how it [the series] ended" and commented on the possibility of a follow-up movie.
In the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Gilmore Girls was initially screened on Nickelodeon from 2003. It remains the only hour long series to air on the channel to date. Only the first three seasons were shown, with episodes edited for content and some, like "The Big One," dropped entirely. The series was subsequently picked up by the
Hallmark ChannelThe Universal Channel is a television channel owned by NBCUniversal.The channel mainly broadcasts United States imports including drama series and TV movies such as House MD and Law & Order. However the channel also screens British dramas including Hustle and Spooks, and Australian series like Sea...
, which gave UK premieres to seasons four and five, and E4, which continues to show all seven seasons in rotation, however cuts are occasionally made to make the program suitable for its early time slot.
In 2003, the WB planned a spin-off featuring Luke Danes's nephew, Jess Mariano, called
Windward Circle, in which he gets to know his estranged father, Jimmy, and is befriended by California skateboarders. However, the network canceled the show before it aired, citing high production costs to shoot on location in Venice Beach.
Gilmore Girls season three episode "Here Comes the Son" was effectively a backdoor pilot for the unaired spin-off.
On September 15, 2010, Lauren Graham told Vanity Fair that a Gilmore Girls movie is a definite possibility: "people with power, people who could actually make it happen, are talking about it."
Cultural references
In addition to the fast-paced dialogue,
Gilmore Girls is known for its abundant popular culture references. Much of the dialogue is peppered with references to film, television shows, music, literature, and celebrity culture. The relative obscurity of some of these allusions resulted in the production of "Gilmore-isms" booklets included by the WB in many of the series' DVD sets. Subtitled "The 411 on many of the show's witty and memorable wordplays and pop culture references", the booklets also contain comments from the show creators.
Music
Music plays a large part in the show as a frequent topic of conversation between characters and in its appearance in scenes themselves. The musical tastes of most of the main and recurring characters are revealed at some point, and the two leads have notoriously eclectic but discriminating tastes: both mother and daughter dislike the "nondescript jazz" played at a babyshower, sculpt a snowman in
BjorkBjörk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
's image and proclaim
MetallicaMetallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
a "great band". Lorelai famously likes '80s music including
The BanglesThe Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :...
,
XTCXTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
, and
The Go-Go'sThe Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....
and her old bedroom at her parents' home has
Duran DuranDuran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
posters on the walls. Rory is often shown listening to alternative bands, like Pixies,
Sonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Belle and Sebastian and
Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
, and expresses her liking for P J Harvey and distaste for Smashing Pumpkins. Rory also swaps CDs with her mother, and credits her with introducing her to new books and music throughout her life in her address as Chilton's valedictorian. Lane is a music enthusiast, and her list of musical influences runs to five pages when she writes her "drummer-seeks-rock-band" advertisement, which included the
RamonesThe Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
and
Jackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
. Lane eventually forms her own band, Hep Alien, an anagram of the
Gilmore Girls producer, Helen Pai's, name. The band plays rock with different influences, and
Sebastian BachSebastian Bach is a Canadian heavy metal singer who achieved mainstream success as frontman of Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. Since his departure from Skid Row, he has had many television roles, acted within Broadway plays, and leads a successful solo career.-Early life:Bach was born Sebastian...
, formerly of Skid Row, appears as the band's guitarist, Gil.
Various musical acts made guest appearances on the show, from
The BanglesThe Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :...
,
Sonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and
The ShinsThe Shins are an American indie rock band comprising singer, songwriter, and guitarist James Mercer, guitarist/bassist Dave Hernandez, Eric Johnson of Fruit Bats, drummer Joe Plummer and bassist Ron Lewis. Their sound draws on several musical genres, including pop, alternative rock, indie rock,...
, to
Carole KingCarole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
, who re-recorded her 1971 song "
Where You Lead"Where You Lead" is a song written in 1970 by Carole King and Toni Stern.It first appeared on King's bestselling Tapestry album in January 1971. The song was inspired from the Book of Ruth, where it says: "Where thou lead, I shall follow"....
" as a duet with her daughter
Louise GoffinLouise Lynn Goffin is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Signed by record executive Lenny Waronker to Dreamworks in 1999, Louise released her critically acclaimed CD Sometimes a Circle on Dreamworks in 2002...
for the
Gilmore Girls theme song.
Grant-Lee PhillipsGrant-Lee Phillips is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for his versatile voice, intense lyrical narratives and dexterity on the acoustic twelve-string guitar, a style that often sees him compared to Neil Young, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.- Background :Born in...
appears in at least one episode per season as Grant, the town
troubadourA troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
, singing his own songs and covers. Lorelai names her dog after singer
Paul AnkaPaul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
, and he later appears in her dream sequence in the season six episode 'The Real Paul Anka'. Though she only appears on-screen in one episode ("Partings", 6.22), much of the non-diegetic score is composed and performed by Sam Phillips. In 2002, a soundtrack to the show was released by
Rhino RecordsRhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
, entitled
Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore GirlsOur Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls is a 2002 soundtrack release from Rhino Records for The WB's Gilmore Girls. The album is a combination of selections from the score composed by Sam Phillips and the music of other musicians heard, mostly, during the first two seasons of the...
. The CD booklet features anecdotes from show producers Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino about the large part music has played in their lives.
Cast
The season(s) during which each actor has been included in the main cast are marked in black. When a starring actor has also appeared as a guest star in other seasons, this is marked in gray, with the number of guest appearances noted in italics. A white square indicates the actor does not appear in the season.
Main cast
| Actor |
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Lauren GrahamLauren Helen Graham is an American actress and producer. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.-Early life:...
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Lorelai Gilmore Lorelai Victoria Gilmore is a fictional character in the WB/CW television series Gilmore Girls, portrayed by Lauren Graham. She is the main protagonist for the length of the series's seven year run from October, 2000, until May, 2007....
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Alexis BledelAlexis Bledel is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Rory Gilmore in the television series Gilmore Girls and Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.-Early life:Bledel was born Kimberly Alexis Bledel in Houston, Texas...
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| Melissa McCarthy Melissa McCarthy is an American actress and comedian.From 2000 to 2007, she portrayed Sookie St. James on the The WB television series Gilmore Girls. From 2007 to 2009, she portrayed Dena on the ABC sitcom Samantha Who? She currently stars in the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, for which she...
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| Keiko Agena Christine Keiko Agena is an American actress known professionally as Keiko Agena.-Personal life:Agena, a Japanese-American, was born in Honolulu, and began acting at the age of 10. She attended Mid-Pacific Institute preparatory school on O‘ahu, and Whitman College for one year as a drama major...
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Yanic TruesdaleYanic Truesdale is a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of Michel Gerard in the television series Gilmore Girls, a role that prompted Daily Variety to name him one of "10 Actors to Watch".-Biography:...
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Scott PattersonScott Gordon Patterson is an American actor. He is known for his role as Luke Danes in Gilmore Girls and Agent Strahm in Saw IV, Saw V and Saw VI...
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| Kelly Bishop Carole "Kelly" Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best-known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls, and as the mother of Jennifer Grey's character in the film Dirty Dancing...
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| Edward Herrmann Edward Kirk Herrmann is a U.S. television and film actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of Franklin D...
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| Liza Weil Liza Rebecca Weil is an American actress. She is known for her role as Paris Geller in the television drama Gilmore Girls and has guest-starred on programs such as The Adventures of Pete & Pete, ER, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Grey's Anatomy, and The West Wing.-Early life:Weil was born in...
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| Jared Padalecki Jared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax...
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Milo VentimigliaMilo Anthony Ventimiglia is an American television actor best known for his role of Peter Petrelli on the TV series Heroes...
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| Sean Gunn Sean Gunn is an American actor, most famous for his role as Kirk Gleason on the television show Gilmore Girls .-Early life:...
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Chris EigemanChris Eigeman is an American actor best known for roles in the Whit Stillman films Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco....
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Logan Huntzberger |
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* In the second episode of Season One ('The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton'),
Sean GunnSean Gunn is an American actor, most famous for his role as Kirk Gleason on the television show Gilmore Girls .-Early life:...
played a character named "Mick", who worked for a telephone company as a
DSLDigital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
installer. Gunn did not return as Mick, but was given a part as Kirk.
Recurring cast
| Actor |
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| S 1 |
S 2 |
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S 7 |
Sally StruthersSally Ann Struthers is an American actress and spokeswoman, best-known for her roles as Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy awards, and as Babette on Gilmore Girls.-Personal life:...
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| Emily Kuroda Emily Kuroda is best known for her role as Mrs. Kim on TV's Gilmore Girls, but she has had a long career on stage and screen and is a veteran of East West Players, Los Angeles' premier Asian American theater group.-Life and career:...
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| Liz Torres Elizabeth "Liz" Torres is an actress, singer, and comedienne of Puerto Rican descent.-Early years:Torres was born in the Bronx borough of New York City where her parents had settled after moving from Puerto Rico. There she received her primary and secondary education...
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| Jackson Douglas Jackson Douglas is best known for his role as Jackson Belleville in the television series Gilmore Girls, for which he's also directed the Season 5 episode To Live and Let Diorama and Season 6 episode Welcome to the Dollhouse...
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| Ted Rooney |
Morey Dell |
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| Michael Winters Michael Winters is an American television actor, best known for his portrayal of Taylor Doose on the dramedy television series Gilmore Girls....
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| Teal Redmann Teal B. Redmann is an American actress.-Life:She moved from Minnesota to Los Angeles at the age of 17...
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| Shelly Cole Shelly Cole is an American actress who has starred in the films Prey for Rock & Roll and Art School Confidential. She has also made numerous appearances on television shows, notably as the recurrent character Madeline Lynn on Gilmore Girls.- Filmography :-External links:...
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Chad Michael MurrayChad Michael Murray is an American actor, former fashion model and spokesperson. Murray is well known for portraying Lucas Scott in The CW young adult drama series One Tree Hill, in addition to the commercially successful films A Cinderella Story, Freaky Friday and House of Wax...
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| David Sutcliffe David Sutcliffe is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Christopher Hayden, Rory Gilmore's father and Lorelai Gilmore's on-and-off boyfriend, on the CW show Gilmore Girls....
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| Adam Brody Adam Jared Brody is an American film and television actor and part time musician. He began his career in 1995, appearing on Gilmore Girls and other series, and subsequently came to fame for his role as Seth Cohen on The O.C. Brody later appeared in several film roles, including Mr. & Mrs...
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| John Cabrera John Cabrera is an American actor and director best known for his role as Brian Fuller on the television show Gilmore Girls on The WB...
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| Todd Lowe Todd Lowe is an American actor from Humble, Texas, about fifteen miles from Houston. He is best known for his role as Lane Kim's husband Zach Van Gerbig on Gilmore Girls...
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Sebastian BachSebastian Bach is a Canadian heavy metal singer who achieved mainstream success as frontman of Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. Since his departure from Skid Row, he has had many television roles, acted within Broadway plays, and leads a successful solo career.-Early life:Bach was born Sebastian...
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Danny StrongDaniel W. Strong is an American actor and writer in film and television.-Early life:Strong was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, California. where he would rent videos from Video Archives, becoming friends with Quentin Tarantino who was then a clerk there...
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Wayne WilcoxWayne Wilcox is an American actor/singer who appeared in the film version of the musical RENT as Gordon, a member of Angel and Tom's AIDS support group....
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| Kathleen Wilhoite Kathleen Wilhoite is an American film and television actress, as well as a singer-songwriter. She also voiced the title character in the animated series Pepper Ann...
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Michael DeLuiseMichael Robert DeLuise is an American actor, film director, and film producer.-Early life and career:DeLuise was born in Los Angeles, the second son of actor and comedian Dom DeLuise and actress Carol Arthur, and the brother of actor, writer, director Peter DeLuise and actor David DeLuise.DeLuise...
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Vanessa MaranoVanessa Nicole Marano is an American actress. She has appeared on the TV series Without a Trace, Gilmore Girls, Scoundrels and The Young and the Restless, among others. She is currently a main character on Switched at Birth, where she stars as Bay Kennish.-Personal life:Vanessa Marano was born...
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Sherilyn FennSherilyn Fenn is an American actress and filmmaker. She came to international attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the 1990 cult TV series Twin Peaks...
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| Mädchen Amick Mädchen Amick is an American actress best known for playing Shelly Johnson on the cult television series Twin Peaks and its 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.-Early life:...
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Sherry Tinsdale |
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* In the twenty-first episode of Season Three ('Here Comes the Son'),
Sherilyn FennSherilyn Fenn is an American actress and filmmaker. She came to international attention for her performance as Audrey Horne on the 1990 cult TV series Twin Peaks...
played a character named "Sasha", the girlfriend of Jess Mariano's estranged father. Fenn did not return as Sasha, but was given a part as Luke's Daughter's Mother, Anna Nardini in Seasons Six and Seven.
Premise
The pilot of
Gilmore Girls sets up the premise of the show and a number of its recurrent themes as the audience learns that Lorelai became pregnant with Rory at sixteen but chose not to marry the father, Christopher Hayden. Instead, she moved to Stars Hollow away from her disappointed parents in Hartford and has had only irregular contact with them ever since. Later episodes reveal Lorelai and the infant Rory were taken in by the owner of the Independence Inn, Mia, where Lorelai progressed from maid to executive manager. In the pilot, Rory, who is about to turn sixteen, is accepted by Chilton Preparatory School in order to pursue her dream of studying at Harvard University. Lorelai, unable to afford Chilton's fees, strikes a bargain with her parents for a loan to cover the tuition in exchange for an agreement that every Friday night she and Rory will share dinner with Emily and Richard.
The tensions between Lorelai and her parents are central to the series, and the closer relationship Rory develops with her grandparents frequently draws attention to the choices Lorelai made at Rory’s age to leave the privileged world and follow her own path. Which path Rory chooses and whether she re-enters that world is similarly explored.
Lorelai's romantic life
Lorelai's various romantic entanglements also played a role in the show, which viewers watched from the start. Her first relationship on the series involves Max Medina (Scott Cohen), Rory's Chilton English teacher who becomes briefly engaged to Lorelai. She also has short relationships with a divorcee named Alex (
Billy BurkeWilliam Albert "Billy" Burke is an American actor. He is known for his role as Charlie Swan in Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and the 2010 film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. He is also known for his role as Gary Matheson in the second season of 24.-Life and career:Burke was born in...
) and her father's business partner Jason Stiles (
Chris EigemanChris Eigeman is an American actor best known for roles in the Whit Stillman films Metropolitan, Barcelona, and The Last Days of Disco....
), with whom she breaks up after Jason and her father have a falling out in their business. She also has an on and off relationship with Rory's father Christopher, which becomes even more complicated after he and his girlfriend Sherry have a daughter named Georgia (Gigi).
However, her relationship with local diner owner Luke Danes (
Scott PattersonScott Gordon Patterson is an American actor. He is known for his role as Luke Danes in Gilmore Girls and Agent Strahm in Saw IV, Saw V and Saw VI...
) is a constant throughout the series. They have a playful, close friendship until the fourth season when the two finally become romantically involved. Lorelai's disapproving parents encourage Christopher to win Lorelai back, which results in a brief break-up between Lorelai and Luke. Despite this, at the end of the fifth season, Luke and Lorelai become engaged. The couple splits at the end of the sixth season, after Luke finds that he has a 12-year old daughter named April (
Vanessa MaranoVanessa Nicole Marano is an American actress. She has appeared on the TV series Without a Trace, Gilmore Girls, Scoundrels and The Young and the Restless, among others. She is currently a main character on Switched at Birth, where she stars as Bay Kennish.-Personal life:Vanessa Marano was born...
). After Luke doesn't respond to Lorelai's ultimatum to elope, she spends the night with Christopher. In season seven Lorelai and Christopher impulsively get married on a trip to Paris. But after Christopher jealously sees that Luke and Lorelai still have feelings for one another, they end their marriage. In the last episode of the seventh and final season, Luke and Lorelai reconcile after Luke organizes a party for the graduating Rory. The last scene of the series mirrors the last scene of the first episode, with Lorelai and Rory eating in the diner and Luke behind the counter.
Rory's romantic life
As with Lorelai, Rory's romantic attractions also run throughout the show.
Rory meets Dean Forrester (
Jared PadaleckiJared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax...
) in the first episode of the series. The two maintain a relationship for almost two and a half years, with Rory rejecting advances from Chilton classmate Tristan Dugray (
Chad Michael MurrayChad Michael Murray is an American actor, former fashion model and spokesperson. Murray is well known for portraying Lucas Scott in The CW young adult drama series One Tree Hill, in addition to the commercially successful films A Cinderella Story, Freaky Friday and House of Wax...
). Rory and Dean break up briefly on their three month anniversary date because Rory can't reciprocate Dean's feelings after he professes his love for her. Dean and Rory get back together in the end of season one. Rory and Dean break up again after Rory falls for the troubled Jess Mariano (
Milo VentimigliaMilo Anthony Ventimiglia is an American television actor best known for his role of Peter Petrelli on the TV series Heroes...
), Luke Danes's nephew. Although Jess is reviled by most of the town, Rory's deep-seated connection with him is undeniable, and she finds that the two share interests in music and literature and maintain a special understanding of each other throughout the series.
After Jess suddenly leaves town, Rory reunites with a now-married Dean, which ultimately ends Dean's marriage and creates a short-lived rift between her and her mother. Rory and Dean break up when he decides he can't compete with her life at Yale and her new Yale friends including Logan Huntzberger (
Matt Czuchry), whom Rory eventually starts dating. A negative evaluation from Logan's publisher father on Rory's future as a journalist causes a rift between the couple, causing Rory to temporarily quit Yale, become estranged from her mother and live with her grandparents. At the wedding of Logan's sister, Rory learns that while the two were separated previously Logan slept with most of his sister's bridesmaids and she is disgusted at his shocking behaviour. Rory moves temporarily in with Paris Geller, who goes to Yale and is great friends with Rory. Despite this, Logan convinces Rory to come back to the apartment that they share. For Rory's final year at Yale, the couple is in a long distance relationship due to Logan working for his father's company in London. Eventually Rory graduates Yale, and Logan proposes to her, asking that she move to San Francisco with him. Rory reluctantly refuses his offer because she wants to pursue her journalism career and the two break up, with Logan saying that it is marriage or nothing.
Rory's friends
Rory's friendships with long-time best friend Lane Kim (
Keiko AgenaChristine Keiko Agena is an American actress known professionally as Keiko Agena.-Personal life:Agena, a Japanese-American, was born in Honolulu, and began acting at the age of 10. She attended Mid-Pacific Institute preparatory school on O‘ahu, and Whitman College for one year as a drama major...
), a second-generation
Korean AmericanKorean Americans are Americans of Korean descent, mostly from South Korea, with a small minority from North Korea...
from a strict family, and Paris Geller (
Liza WeilLiza Rebecca Weil is an American actress. She is known for her role as Paris Geller in the television drama Gilmore Girls and has guest-starred on programs such as The Adventures of Pete & Pete, ER, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Grey's Anatomy, and The West Wing.-Early life:Weil was born in...
), a friend/rival at both Chilton and Yale, are also themes in the show. At the end of the sixth season, Lane marries Hep Alien band-mate Zach van Gerbig (
Todd LoweTodd Lowe is an American actor from Humble, Texas, about fifteen miles from Houston. He is best known for his role as Lane Kim's husband Zach Van Gerbig on Gilmore Girls...
), a sweet and slightly clumsy rocker. At the beginning of the seventh season, Lane discovers that she is unexpectedly pregnant and gives birth to twin boys (Kwan and Steve) later in the season. In the seventh season, Paris is accepted into
Harvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
(Harvard is the school she has wanted to go to for years, as her family are all alumni, but was not accepted for the undergraduate program during the third season). In season four, Doyle McMaster (
Danny StrongDaniel W. Strong is an American actor and writer in film and television.-Early life:Strong was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, California. where he would rent videos from Video Archives, becoming friends with Quentin Tarantino who was then a clerk there...
) storms onto the show as the
Yale Daily NewsThe Yale Daily News is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878...
editor. He and Paris start dating in the fifth season, after Paris's relationship with a much older Professor Asher Fleming (
Michael YorkMichael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
) ends with his sudden death.
DVD releases
| The Complete First Season |
| Set Details |
Special Features |
- 21 Episodes
- 6-Disc Set
- 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
- Subtitles: English, Spanish and French
- English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround)
|
Additional Scenes
- "Love and War and Snow"
- "Forgiveness and Stuff"
- "Emily In Wonderland"
"Welcome to the Gilmore Girls" — Making-of Documentary of the First Season
"Gilmorisms Montage"
Gilmore Goodies & Gossip: On-Screen Factoids — "Rory's Dance"
"Guide to Gilmorisms" booklet |
| Release Dates |
| North America |
United Kingdom |
Continental Europe |
Norway |
Australia |
| May 4, 2004 |
February 6, 2006 |
November 16, 2005 |
November 16, 2005 |
April 5, 2006 |
| The Complete Second Season |
| Set Details |
Special Features |
|
22 Episodes
6-Disc Set
1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
Subtitles: English
English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround) |
Additional Scenes
- "Sadie, Sadie"
- "Presenting Lorelai Gilmore"
- "There's the Rub"
- "I Can't Get Started"
"A Film by Kirk"
"International Success" featurette
Gilmore Goodies & Gossip: On-Screen Factoids — "A-Tisket, A-Tasket"
"Who Wants to Argue" shouting matches
"Guide to Gilmorisms" booklet |
| Release Dates |
| North America |
United Kingdom |
Continental Europe |
Norway |
Australia |
| December 7, 2004 |
March 13, 2006 |
March 15, 2006 |
March 8, 2006 |
April 5, 2006 |
| The Complete Third Season |
| Set Details |
Special Features |
|
22 Episodes
6-Disc Set
1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
Subtitles: English, Spanish and French
English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround) |
Additional Scenes
- "Swan Song"
- "Say Goodnight, Gracie"
- "Those Are Strings, Pinocchio"
All Grown Up: a Documentary with the Cast about their Childhood Experiences
Who Wants to Fall in Love: a Montage of the Best "Love Moments" from Season 3
Our Favorite '80s: the Cast and Crew Show off their Favorite '80s Dance Moves
"Guide to Gilmorisms" booklet |
| Release Dates |
| North America |
United Kingdom |
Continental Europe |
Norway |
Australia |
| May 3, 2005 |
July 17, 2006 |
April 12, 2006 |
June 28, 2006 |
July 5, 2006 |
| The Complete Fourth Season |
| Set Details |
Special Features |
|
22 Episodes
6-Disc Set
1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
1.78:1 Aspect Ratio (International)
Subtitles: English, Spanish and French
English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround) |
Additional Scenes
- "Ballrooms and Biscotti"
- "The Reigning Lorelai"
Who Wants to Get Together: A Montage of Season Four's Most Romantic Moments
Gilmore Goodies & Gossip: On-Screen Factoids — "Girls in Bikinis, Boys Doin' the Twist"
Stars Hollow Challenge Trivia Game
"Guide to Gilmorisms" booklet |
| North America |
United Kingdom |
Continental Europe |
Norway |
Australia |
| September 27, 2005 |
July 27, 2009 |
June 14, 2006 |
November 15, 2006 |
July 5, 2006 |
| The Complete Fifth Season |
| Set Details |
Special Features |
- 22 Episodes
- 6-Disc Set
- 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
- 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio (International)
- Subtitles: English, Spanish and French
- English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround)
|
Commentary by: Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino on "You Jump, I Jump, Jack"
Gilmore Girls Turns 100 – Featurette on the 100th episode
Behind-the-Scenes of the 100th episode
Who Wants to Talk Gilmore? The Season's Wittiest Wordplay Moments
"Guide to Gilmorisms" booklet (available online only) |
| Release Dates |
| North America |
United Kingdom |
Continental Europe |
Norway |
Australia |
| December 13, 2005 |
January 18, 2010 |
August 16, 2006 |
January 24, 2007 |
September 6, 2006 |
| The Complete Sixth Season |
| Set Details |
Special Features |
- 22 Episodes
- 6-Disc Set
- 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
- 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio (International)
- Subtitles: Spanish and French
- English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround)
|
None |
| Release Dates |
| North America |
United Kingdom |
Continental Europe |
Norway |
Australia |
| September 19, 2006 |
April 19, 2010 |
January 10, 2007 |
May 25, 2007 |
February 6, 2007 |
| The Complete Seventh Season |
| Set Details |
Special Features |
|
22 Episodes
6-Disc Set
1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
1.78:1 Aspect Ratio (International)
Subtitles: English
English (Dolby Digital 5 1 Surround) |
Additional Scene
Gilmore Fashionistas
A Best Friend's Peek Inside the Gilmore Girls with Keiko Agena
Kirk's Town Tours
Who Wants to Talk Boys – Season Montage |
| Release Dates |
| North America |
United Kingdom |
Continental Europe |
Norway |
Australia |
| November 13, 2007 |
August 30, 2010 |
November 25, 2007 |
November 14, 2007 |
April 9, 2008 |
| The Complete Series |
| Set Details |
Special Features |
|
153 Episodes
42-Disc Set
1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
1.78:1 Aspect Ratio (Seasons 4-7; International)
Subtitles: English, Spanish and French
English (Dolby Digital 2 0 Surround) |
Same Bonus Features as the Individual Season Sets
Complete "Guide to Gilmorisms" booklet
Episode Guide with pictures |
| Release Dates |
| North America |
United Kingdom |
Continental Europe |
Norway |
Australia |
| November 13, 2007 |
October 12, 2008 |
November 28, 2007 |
2009 |
April 9, 2008 |
Books
- Four books for young adults, based on episodes from the first and second seasons:
- Like Mother, Like Daughter by Catherine Clark (2002, ISBN 0-06-051023-4)
- I Love You, You Idiot by Cathy East Dubowski (2002, ISBN 0-06-050228-2)
- I Do, Don't I? by Catherine Clark (2002, ISBN 0-06-009757-4)
- The Other Side Of Summer by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Helen Pai (2002, ISBN 0-06-050916-3)
- Coffee At Luke's: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gab Fest (2007, ISBN 1-933771-17-8)
- The Gilmore Girls Companion by A. S. Berman (2010, ISBN 1-59393-616-8)
Awards
Gilmore Girls received an
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Award and two
Viewers For Quality TelevisionViewers for Quality Television was an American nonprofit organization founded in 1984 to advocate network television series that members of the organization voted to be of the "highest quality." The group's goal was to rescue "...critically acclaimed programs from cancellation despite their...
Awards, and was named New Program of the Year by the
Television Critics AssociationThe Television Critics Association is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming...
. The show won an Emmy for its only nomination: 2004's Outstanding Makeup for a Series for the episode "The Festival of Living Art". The show's actors have received many awards for their work on the series. Graham won two Family Television Awards and she won Teen Choice Award for Best TV Mom twice as well. 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.
Gilmore Girls was listed as one of
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-
TIME."
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Thank you, fast-talking Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, for suggesting moms and teenage daughters really can get along—all it takes is love, patience, and copious quantities of coffee."
Ratings
The following list details the seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of
Gilmore Girls in the United States. The show rated first in the 18-25 demographic for women and second for men throughout the first four seasons.
Note: Each U S network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
| Season |
TV season |
Broadcast network |
Ranking |
Viewers (in millions) |
| 1 Season one of Gilmore Girls, an American dramedy television series, began airing on October 5, 2000 on the WB television network. The season concluded on May 10, 2001, after 21 episodes....
|
2000–2001 |
The WB |
#126 |
3.6 |
| 2 |
2001–2002 |
The WB |
#121 |
5.2 |
| 3 |
2002–2003 |
The WB |
#121 |
5.2 |
| 4 |
2003–2004 |
The WB |
#157 |
4.1 |
| 5 |
2004–2005 |
The WB |
#110 |
4.8 |
| 6 |
2005–2006 |
The WB |
#119 |
4.5 |
| 7 |
2006–2007 |
The CW |
#129 |
3.7 |
External links
from WB Studios