Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls
Created by	Amy Sherman-Palladino
Starring	Lauren Graham Alexis Bledel Scott Patterson Kelly Bishop Edward Herrmann
Opening theme	"Where You Lead" by Carole King and Louise Goffin
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	153 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Amy Sherman-Palladino (seasons 1-6) David S. Rosenthal (season 7)
Running time	approx. 41 min
Original release
Network	The WB (2000-2006) The CW (2006-2007)
Release	October 52000 – May 152007

Gilmore Girls is an Emmy Award-winning American comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The series made its debut on The WB on October 5, 2000, and it ended on May 15, 2007 in its seventh season, which aired on The CW.

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

Gilmore Girls features intricate, extremely fast-paced dialogue, with frequent popular-culture references and allusions to politics and high culture. It also features social commentary, which is manifest most clearly in Lorelai's difficult relationship with her wealthy upper class parents.

Cast

Main article: List of Gilmore Girls characters

Main cast

Actor	Character	Seasons
Lauren Graham	Lorelai Gilmore	All
Alexis Bledel	Rory Gilmore	All
Scott Patterson	Luke Danes	All
Kelly Bishop	Emily Gilmore	All
Edward Herrmann	Richard Gilmore	All
Keiko Agena	Lane Kim	All
Melissa McCarthy	Sookie St. James	All
Yanic Truesdale	Michel Gerard	All
Sean Gunn	Kirk Gleason	1-2 (recurring) ; 3-7 (regular)
Liza Weil	Paris Geller	1 (recurring) ; 2-7 (regular)
Matt Czuchry	Logan Huntzberger	5 (recurring); 6-7 (regular)
Chris Eigeman	Jason Stiles	4
Jared Padalecki	Dean Forester	1,4,5 (recurring); 2-3 (regular)
Milo Ventimiglia	Jess Mariano	2-3 (regular); 4,6 (recurring)

Recurring

Actor	Character	Seasons
David Sutcliffe	Christopher Hayden	1-3, 5-7
Sebastian Bach	Gil	4-7
Adam Brody	Dave Rygalski	3
John Cabrera	Brian Fuller	3-7
Scott Cohen	Max Medina	1-3
Gregg Henry	Mitchum Huntzberger	5-7
Shelly Cole	Madeline Lynn	1-4
Jackson Douglas	Jackson Belleville	All
Emily Kuroda	Mrs. Kim	All
Todd Lowe	Zach Van Gerbig	3-7
Vanessa Marano	April Nardini	6 & 7
Chad Michael Murray	Tristan DuGrey	1 & 2
Teal Redmann	Louise Grant	1-4
Grant-Lee Phillips	Troubadour/Grant	All
Danny Strong	Doyle McMaster	4-7
Sally Struthers	Babette Dell	All
Liz Torres	Miss Patty	All
Wayne Wilcox	Marty	4-5,7
Kathleen Wilhoite	Liz Danes	4-7
Michael Winters	Taylor Doose	All
Scout Taylor-Compton	Clara Forester	1-3,5

Notable guest stars

• Madeleine Albright (64th United States Secretary of State and first woman to hold that position) as Lorelai Gilmore in Rory's dream, season 6 episode 7 (ep. 6.7)
• Christiane Amanpour (chief international correspondent for CNN) as herself, ep. 7.22
• Paul Anka (singer) as himself, ep. 6.18. In season six, his name was used for Lorelai's dog.
• The Bangles (early '80s all-women band) as themselves, ep. 1.13
• Alex Borstein (Family Guy voice actress of such voices as Lois Griffin as well as Mad TV actress) as Independence Inn harp player Drella, ep. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, and as Emily Gilmore's fashion consultant Miss Celine: 3.21, 5.12. Borstein also has an uncredited part as Doris in episode 3.5 Note: Alex was also the original Sookie before contract obligations with Mad TV intervened, she never appeared in the show as Sookie. Also, Alex Borstein is married to Jackson Douglas, Sookie's husband on the show.
• Barbara Levy Boxer (D-California) (American politician and the current junior U.S. Senator from the State of California) as herself, ep. 3.1
• Carole King (American singer, songwriter, and pianist) as music store owner, Sophie Bloom, ep. 2.20, 5.18, 6.10
• Norman Kingsley Mailer (American novelist, journalist, playwright, screenwriter and film director) as himself, ep. 5.6
• Seth McFarlane (Emmy-winning American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor and creator of Family Guy and co-creator of "American Dad'), ep. 2.21 3.11
• Doug Ose (American politician, former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005, representing the 3rd District of California) as himself, ep. 3.1
• Marion Ross (American actress known for her role as Marion Cunningham on Happy Days) as Lorelai "Trix" Gilmore and her niece Marilyn, ep. 1.18 3.10 3.15 4.14 4.16 5.13
• Brandon James Routh (credited as B.J. Routh) (American actor, former fashion model and lead in Superman Returns), ep. 1.13
• The Shins (Indie Rock Band) as themselves, ep. 4.17
• Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth (Rock Band) with their daughter Coco Hayley Gordon Moore, ep. 6.22
• Yo la Tengo (Rock Band), ep. 6.22
• Sparks (Rock Band), ep. 6.22
• Pernice Brothers (Rock Band), ep. 6.22
• Sam Phillips (American singer & songwriter), ep. 6.22
• Adam Brody (American Actor, best known for his role as Seth Cohen on The O.C.) As Dave (Lane's Boyfriend and singer in band), season 3
• Sebastian Bach (singer, best known as the ex-frontman for Skid Row) As Gil (Lane's bandmate), seasons 4-7
• Eileen Davidson (soap opera actress, guest starred as waitress) Season 5
• Traci Lords (actress/former adult entertainer) as an interior decorator, Season 4

Main Crew

• Amy Sherman-Palladino
• David Babcock
• David S. Rosenthal
• Gavin Polone
• Gayle Abrams
• Gina Fattore
• Lee Shallat Chemel
• Lesli Linka Glatter
• Rebecca Rand Kirshner
• Rina Mimoun

Plot

Main article: List of Gilmore Girls episodes

Background

Lorelai's conflict with her wealthy parents is central to the back-story for the series. Tension with her controlling mother, Emily, and her father, Richard, recurs throughout the show. Lorelai's troubled childhood came to a head when she became the teenage mother of Rory at the age of sixteen, which required the sacrifice of her elite prep-school education (and future as a college student at Vassar). In addition, Lorelai refused to marry the baby's father, Christopher Hayden, much to the dismay of her parents.

Instead, the rebellious Lorelai ran away to Stars Hollow, a small, close-knit town near Hartford. There she met Mia, owner of the Independence Inn, who gave her a job as a maid and acted as a surrogate mother to both Lorelai and Rory. Lorelai eventually became general manager of the inn, her position at the start of the series. She and Rory lived in a converted potting shed behind the Inn for about ten years before moving to the house they live in during the show. Lorelai consistently tried to minimize her parents' contact with Rory until (the first episode of the series) Lorelai approached them to fund Rory's elite fictional prep school, Chilton Academy.

Rory's education

Rory's academic aspirations complicate matters on the show. Rory had wanted to attend Harvard University since kindergarten; to achieve this she transfers to the private (fictional) Chilton Academy, an elite prep school in Hartford, from the public Stars Hollow High at the beginning of her sophomore year. There, she encounters an unfamiliar social environment of wealthy, high-strung peers. Lorelai knows that she cannot afford Rory's Chilton education, and reluctantly solicits help from her parents. Richard and Emily Gilmore agree to lend Lorelai money on the condition that she and Rory attend dinner at their Hartford mansion every Friday evening. The dinners become a common setting for heated conversations and family drama.

After much deliberation, and with her mother's blessing, Rory ultimately decides to go to Yale, her grandfather's alma mater, instead of Harvard. Lorelai repays her parents' Chilton loan just before Rory's graduation, ending their mutual arrangement. However, she later discovers Yale is not offering any financial aid for Rory, putting her education in financial jeopardy once again. She has an adequate amount of money, but it was to be used to buy the Dragonfly Inn. Rory realizes that this was important to Lorelai and secretly goes to her grandparents to request the tuition money from them in exchange for the continuance of the Friday night dinners. Rory negotiates the terms of the loan with her grandparents, agreeing on beginning the repayment five years after she graduates and with no interest accrued. After the death of his grandfather Rory's father, Christopher, receives a large inheritance and offers to do anything for Rory. So Rory decides, after a big fight with her grandparents, to have him pay for her tuition from spring semester of her junior year on. This created more tension when her grandfather went to pay for Yale and found out it was already paid for, but ultimately the Friday night dinner tradition continued.

In the seventh season, Rory graduates from Yale. She got a job opportunity as a sheep farmer, but she turned it down in favor of applying for the New York Times fellowship program. Unfortunately, she later finds out she was not accepted into the fellowship and the job she was offered before is now filled. So, Rory graduates from Yale uncertain where her career is going and what she will be doing. In the final episode she accepts an impromptu job offer to work for an online magazine, in which she will follow Barack Obama on the campaign trail. The town throws an equally impromptu going away party for Rory, wishing her well and love as she heads into the world outside of Connecticut.

Lorelai's romantic life

Lorelai's various romantic entanglements also played a role in the show.

• Her relationship with local restaurant owner Luke Danes (Scott Patterson) gradually grows from a playful friendship to a romantic relationship at the end of the fourth season. They get engaged in the sixth season premiere after Lorelai sees how much Luke cares for Rory when he finds out she's not going back to Yale. When Luke finds out he has a daughter he wants to slow things down with Lorelai. After a while she grows impatient and gives him an ultimatum. She told him they would get married now or it was over. He declined and their relationship ended in the sixth season finale. In the seventh season, during the Spring Fling (one of the town's many festivals), the two meet in the middle of a hay maze, and both apologize for their behavior regarding the end of their relationship, thus beginning a new, tentative friendship. In the series finale, Luke moves mountains to throw Rory a graduation/going away party in the town square. When Sookie tells Lorelai that Luke painstakingly put the bash together, with the help of most of the townfolk, Lorelai decides to thank Luke for his thoughtfulness. Luke tells her that he just likes to see her happy, they embrace, and kiss. In the final scene of the episode, Lorelai and Rory are seated at Luke's Diner for an early breakfast before Rory must leave for her first job after graduating from Yale. When Luke asks Lorelai what she would like to eat, she says that she needs a minute as she can't decide. Luke smiles and tells her to take all the time she needs. Also, in this scene Lorelai is wearing a necklace that Luke gave to her as a gift. This last scene of the series mirrors the last scene of the first episode, where Lorelai and Rory are eating in the diner with Luke behind the counter.

• Max Medina (Scott Cohen), Rory's Chilton English teacher, to whom Lorelai was briefly engaged. Luke, after learning of their engagement, makes Lorelai a chuppah, and when he presents it to her they talk. Luke observes that "you only get married once." Then at her bachlorette party her mother talks about when she was about to marry Richard and that she would put on her wedding dress every night. This results in Lorelai's unexpected call to her maybe not so former lover, Christopher Hayden! These things make Lorelai realize that she does not truly love Max, and she ends their engagement by leaving for a spontaneous road trip with Rory early in the morning the day before her wedding. Max shows up again in the third season, but nothing serious happens between them.

• For a while in season 3 Lorelai had casual sex with Alex, a divorced man with two kids who was starting his own coffee shop. He took her coffee tasting, fishing and to New York for a show and then was no longer on the show.

• Jason Stiles, Richard's much younger business partner and a childhood friend of Lorelai's, whom she fondly calls Digger. She initially dated him to bother her mother, who she knew would disapprove of their relationship. However, when the relationship became more serious, she feared telling her parents. Jason and Lorelai's relationship was exposed when Jason's father hired a private investigator to follow his son. They broke up when Jason filed a lawsuit against Lorelai's father after Richard sued Jason. Lorelai eventually chose her father over Jason. In the fourth season finale, Jason comes to the test run at the Dragonfly to try to win Lorelai back. He becomes annoying by the end of the night (especially to Luke, who is unclear on the details of his and Lorelai's relationship status). At the end of the episode Lorelai adamantly tells Jason and Luke that her relationship with Jason is over. After which Jason is never seen again. That ends up being the night Luke and Lorelai first kiss.

• Lorelai periodically reconnects with Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe), Rory's father. As their subplot develops, it becomes evident that Lorelai always expected to reunite with Christopher, but he was never prepared to commit seriously. In the first season when we meet him for the first time they go to Friday night dinner with both their parents. It ends up turning into a big fight and Chris and Lorelai end up on the balcony where they held many high school memories, including the initial conception of Rory. After much reminiscing, they find themselves having sex. The next morning Chris spontaneously proposes, but Lorelai knows he can't be a family man. When Rory asks if she loved him, she says, "I think I'll always love your dad..." Christopher begins dating Sherry in season 2, but after they break up, he and Lorelai begin to rekindle their relationship, until Sherry reveals that she is pregnant and Lorelai gets dumped. Christopher and Sherry get married, have a baby and get divorced after Sherry runs off to Paris abandoning Chris and their baby. At this point Lorelai was already romantically involved with Luke, although Christopher tried to win her back at Richard and Emily's "wedding." He messes things up with Lorelai and Luke and makes Lorelai even more irritated with him. They remained platonic until the final episode of the sixth season, when Lorelai goes to Chris for comfort after breaking up with Luke and again they end up having sex. In the seventh season, they took a romantic trip to Paris and decided to elope. During the November sweeps 2006, they are a married couple. However, soon into their marriage they broke up again due to conflicts over lack of sincere devotion to their marriage on her part and her lingering feelings for Luke, as well as his inability to work through conflict.

Rory's romantic life

As with Lorelai, Rory's romantic attractions also run throughout the show.

• Rory meets Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki) in the first episode of the series, and maintains a relationship with him for almost two and a half seasons. She does break up with Dean briefly in the first season, when she isn't able to reciprocate his statement, "I love you." It is during this time apart that Rory kisses Tristan DuGrey (Chad Michael Murray), a Chilton classmate with whom she has a love-hate relationship. Eventually, she renews her relationship with Dean and they remain a steady couple until the third season, when Dean decides to call it quits because he is convinced that Rory is in love with Jess Mariano, Luke Danes' nephew. They do not reunite until much later, when she loses her virginity to a now-married Dean in an unexpected fling, which ultimately ends his 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.

• Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia), moves to Stars Hollow in Season 2 to live with his uncle, local diner owner Luke Danes. During that season Rory is torn between her attraction for the combustible Jess and the always dependable Dean. Eventually, Rory chooses Jess and they become a couple and are together throughout the third season. However, their relationship ends abruptly when Jess drops out of high school and leaves Stars Hollow without telling Rory. He goes to California to seek out his father —- his life there was potentially going to be a Gilmore Girls spin-off but this never materialized. In season four, Jess reappears after several months and confesses his love for Rory, imploring her to leave Yale to run away with him to New York but Rory is unwilling to do so. In Season 6, Jess makes an unexpected appearance at Rory's grandparents' house and the two briefly reminisce about old times. Rory and Jess make plans to have dinner together to further catch-up with each other but Logan interlopes on the "date" and he and Jess get into a heated exchange and Jess walks out. Outside the restaurant, Jess questions Rory about her upper-class sensibilities and her apparent fascination with Logan, who Jess claims is exactly the type of person he and Rory "used to make fun of". Later in season 6, Rory takes an impulsive trip to visit Jess in Philadelphia where she and Jess share a romantic kiss after he writes a book and tells her all his success is due to her support. This is cut short however when Rory realizes she doesn't want to betray Logan and walks out. Jess is never seen again in the series.

• At Yale, Rory becomes involved with Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry), a chronic 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. (The scenes of Logan's house are filmed at Doheny mansion on the Mount St. Mary's campus.) 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, an intervention from Jess makes Rory regret her actions, and she reunites with her mother. Logan gets upset at Rory because of Jess' appearance and leaves without resolution. Rory then returns to Yale for the spring semester of the 2005–2006 school year. Rory's relationship with Logan is particularly tumultuous after she attends the wedding of Logan's sister, and discovers that he had sex with all of the bridesmaids during their brief break up earlier in season 6. In the next episode, Rory takes Logan back, although she has not forgiven him. Logan then leaves for three days on a Life and Death Brigade event, although Rory had expressed her concern. During his absence, Rory visits Jess at his new bookstore and kisses him, apologizing and fully confessing her feelings for Logan. Logan is seriously injured on the trip. Rory takes care of Logan after his accident, and their relationship is repaired.

• In the season 6 finale, Logan graduates and leaves for London. In the seventh season, he relocates to New York City to start his own Internet company, which becomes a financial disaster. Logan has a breakdown and heads to Las Vegas, where he parties frequently. Rory and Logan fight over his irresponsible behavior, but eventually make up. Their relationship continues to strengthen when Logan comes home with Rory to Stars Hollow. There, he asks Lorelai for Rory's hand in marriage and reveals his plans to move to San Francisco. When Logan reveals his intentions to Rory at her graduation party (held by her grandparents), she replies by saying she "needs more time." After her graduation, Rory tells Logan that there is so much in life to pursue now, and that being married would change that. She attempts to convince him to give a long-distance relationship a try, but he tells her that it's "all or nothing". She gives the ring back to Logan and he ends their relationship that same day. Logan still plans to move to San Francisco without Rory.

Other characters

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. At the end of the sixth season, Lane marries Hep Alien band-mate Zach van Gerbig (Todd Lowe), a sweet and slightly dopey 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 School (Harvard is the school she has wanted to go to for years, as her family are all alumni, but was not accepted for the Baccalaureate program during the third season). In season four, Doyle McMaster (Danny Strong) storms onto the show as the Yale Daily News editor. He and Paris start dating in the fifth season, after Paris's relationship with a much older Professor Asher Fleming (Michael York) ends with his sudden death.

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 time slot dominated by Survivor and Friends in its first season. It grew a following that saw it outdraw its time-slot competitor, popular series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the ratings when it moved to Tuesday.

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. In its syndicated release in the U.S., the show airs exclusively on the ABC Family Channel.

The WB planned 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. However, the network canceled the show before it aired, citing high production costs to shoot on location in Venice Beach as the reason.

On May 32007, 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". Furthermore, the entirety of the 7th season was not written or produced by Amy Sherman-Palladino. Since the finale, fans have petitioned for an 8th season. Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has expressed an interest in pursuing a Gilmore Girls movie, an idea in which many cast members have shown interest.

Awards

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 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 along with a Teen Choice Award for Best TV Mom. 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.

Cultural references

In addition to fast-paced dialogue, Gilmore Girls is also known for numerous popular culture 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.

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 seasons one, six and seven, 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.

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, XTC, The Go-Go's, David Bowie, Metallica, U2, and Brian Eno. Rory credits her mother with introducing her to new books and music throughout her life, often swaps CDs with her. In the 5th season it is revealed that Rory is a fan of neither Bob Dylan nor The Smashing Pumpkins (whom Lane likes).

Lane is a music enthusiast, and her list of musical influences ran to five pages when she was writing her "drummer-seeks-rock-band" ad. Included were 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 posers from the non-posers." —Season 3, Ep. 3 "Application Anxiety"), The Accelerators , The Adverts, Agent Orange, Angelic Upstarts, and Agnostic Front. She also owns a record of Rilo Kiley and another by The Beta Band. 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. In one episode Lorelai explains that Lane's kid may like anything. Lorelai says that Lane's mother didn't know that she would love Jane's Addiction, thus showing more of her musical interests. In another episode Zack is planning to have sex with Lane and asks her if the music is alright; He was playing Siouxsie and the Banshees' hit "Hong Kong Garden". Lane says she likes the music.

The Bangles made a guest appearance in the Season 1 episode "Concert Interruptus" while The Shins guest-starred (playing their song "So Says I" from the album Chutes Too Narrow) 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). The song "Know Your Onion" is also on the Gilmore Girls CD, Our Little Corner Of The World: Music From Gilmore Girls. 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 local music store owner Sophie Bloom. 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.

In the finale of the sixth season, the aforementioned troubadour is "discovered" by a music producer and is set to open for Neil Young (who Kirk says is "one of the Monkees") and, as a result, Stars Hollow is infested with new "troubadours" includin Yo La Tengo, members of Sonic Youth, Pernice Brothers and Sparks, all "hoping to be discovered". Taylor, the town's Selectman, tries to shove away the musicians, to no avail. He claims that there's no greater music admirer than him, a Pat Boone enthusiast, but that they lack Boone's talent. Later on, the original troubadour returns and says he was booed off stage and never even got to meet Neil Young - "Heart of Gold my ass" he tells Taylor.

Lorelai adopts a dog and names it Paul Anka. The famous singer himself appeared in season 6 in the episode "The Real Paul Anka": Lorelai has a strange dream (that serves as the episode introduction) in which "the dog Paul Anka" switches bodies with "the real Paul Anka" numerous times during its morning walk, until the two, dog and artist, meet in the middle of Stars Hollow, and the world ends.

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 booklet 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 very important part of the show. Lorelai and Rory are coffee addicts and are frequently seen drinking it on the show. In reality, Alexis Bledel's (Rory) "coffee" mug was generally filled with Coca-Cola or tea.

It is a running gag that Lorelai and Rory can eat copious amounts of junk food, but never seem to gain weight. When they are not eating or playing bagel hockey at Luke's Diner, or having formal Friday night dinners at Emily and Richard's, they often order pizza or take-out Chinese food. Surprisingly, their refrigerator is rarely filled with leftovers. They eat tons of food, including French fries and Tater Tots, various types of pies, and ice cream straight from the carton. Lorelai and Rory love to eat Mallomars, which Rory uses to spell out "Happy Birthday Lorelai" on their kitchen table in the third season, and Lorelai snacks on Red Vines red "licorice" during the many movies she watches. The two also like doughnuts and various other chocolate and baked goods. They also enjoy many international foods while on their European trip in the fourth season, and eat the Italian dessert, biscotti, on the night before Rory leaves for Yale (see Season 4: Episode 1 "Ballrooms and Biscotti"). In the DVD commentary for Season 1, Lauren Graham admits that neither she nor Alexis Bledel eat like their characters.

Additionally, Pop Tarts recur on the show as both Lorelai's and Rory's favorite breakfast and snack food.

Sookie, the chef at the Dragonfly Inn, is very passionate about cooking and often obsesses over the inn's menu. Luke's healthy eating habits are sometimes contrasted with Rory and Lorelai's junk-food diet. Mrs. Kim is a Seventh-day Adventist and follows a strict vegetarian diet, which she also forces upon Lane. Especially in the first season, Rory sneaks Lane candy bars, pizza, and other foods forbidden by her mother. After Lane moves out of her parents' home in a later season, she wins the loyalty of her mother's Korean houseguest by bribing her with fries, other junk food, and advice on skirting Mrs. Kim's many dietary and behavioral restrictions.

U.S. television ratings

The following list details the seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Gilmore Girls in the United States.

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	2000–2001	The WB	#117	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

In popular culture

• In an episode of Family Guy, Lorelai and Rory are depicted talking really fast to end making out with each other; Daniel Palladino is also a producer on Family Guy.
• In the fifth episode of the first season of Six Feet Under, Claire and Ruth are watching the show with some relatives.
• One episode of MADtv featured a parody of Gilmore Girls called "The Gabmore Girls" which spoofs its fast talking and feel-good joyfulness by showing them talking fast for long periods of time and then making snow angels.
• In an episode of Scrubs [Episode 421: My Lips Are Sealed, Season 4], Ted is found hanging upside down in his office. He asks what day it is and when he finds out it is Wednesday he says "Oh man! I missed the Gilmore Girls!"
• In another episode of Scrubs [Episode 517: My Chopped Liver, Season 5], it's revealed that Turk and J.D. watch the show on their night off. After watching the show, Turk calls J.D. over the phone to discuss it.

Turk: "Mothers and daughters... they speak so fast, but they speak so true."
J.D.: "I'm so mad at Lorelai, I can't even talk right now."

• In an episode of Will & Grace, Jack is talking to Karen about Stan's mistress Lorraine Finster saying "We hate her! We hate her even more than the know-it-all daughter on the Gilmore Girls!"
• In the sixth season of Girlfriends and seventh season of Gilmore Girls, the shows referenced each other. In Girlfriends, the character Joan Clayton mentions that she lives near a Gilmore Girl. In Gilmore Girls, episode 7.5: The Great Stink, Lorelai makes fun of Christopher's selection of saved TiVo programs, one of them being Girlfriends.
• In episode 3.15 of Veronica Mars, Wallace is seen reporting on Logan and Parker's lunchtime tête-à-tête to a bemused Veronica,

Wallace: "What?"
Veronica: "I'm just trying to figure out which Gilmore Girl you are."

• In the 2006 movie Accepted, the character of "Rory" has a breakdown over not getting into Yale.
• In the 2007 movie Blades of Glory, Will Farrell's character, Chazz Michael Michaels, calls Jon Heder's character, Jimmy MacElroy, and tells him that he taped "The Gilmore Girls" for him.
• In Joey, he once says that he just passed a "Gilmore Girls" set and wanted a relationship like that with his mother
• In the 2007 TMNT film, right after Splinter turns on the television to "watch his stories," the news reporter says "we interrupt 'The Gilmore Girls' for this special news report."
• In an episode of ABC Family's Greek, Cappie references Gilmore Girls in an awkward moment with ex-girlfriend Casey and new boyfriend Evan

Cappie: "Can we be mature and just all say what we're thinking?...How the hell could they cancel Gilmore Girls?!"

• In episode 2.18 of Supernatural, a Hollywood tour guide says : "Now to the right here is Stars Hollow. It's the setting for the television series Gilmore Girls. And if we're lucky,we might even catch one of the show's stars." causing a strange reaction from Sam (Jared Padalecki who played Dean).
• In an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jimmy's Mexican friend, Guillermo made a parody which featured the "Guillermo Girls."

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)		"Welcome to the Gilmore Girls" — Making-of Documentary of the First Season * "Gilmorisms Montage" Gilmore Goodies & Gossip: On-Screen Factoids — "Rory's Dance" Additional Scenes "Guide to Gilmorisms" booklet
Release Dates
North America	United Kingdom	Continental Europe	Norway	Australia
May 42004	February 62006	November 162005	November 162005	April 52006

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)		4 Unaired Scenes "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 72004	March 132006	March 152006	March 82006	April 52006

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 on three episodes 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 32005	July 172006	April 122006	June 282006	July 52006

The Complete Fourth 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 on 2 episodes 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 272005	TBA	June 142006	November 152006	July 52006

The Complete Fifth 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)		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 132005	TBA	August 162006	January 242007	September 62006

The Complete Sixth Season
Set Details		Special Features
22 Episodes 6-Disc Set 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: Spanish and French English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)		None
Release Dates
North America	United Kingdom	Continental Europe	Norway	Australia
September 192006	TBA	January 102007	May 252007	February 62007

The Complete Seventh Season
Set Details		Special Features
22 Episodes 6-Disc Set 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: English English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)		Additional Scene on Episode five The Great Stink 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 132007	TBA	April 252008	November 142007	April 92008

The Complete Series
Set Details		Special Features
153 Episodes 42-Disc Set 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: English, Spanish and French English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)		Same Bonus Features as the Individual Season Sets All new "Guide to Gilmorisms" Episode Guide with pictures
Release Dates
North America	United Kingdom	Continental Europe	Norway	Australia
November 132007	TBA	November 282007	TBA	April 92008

External links

• Official Gilmore Girls Website on WB Studios
• Official Gilmore Girls Website on ABC Family
• Gilmore Girls TV Movie Petition