Gilmore Girls is an American comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. Gilmore Girls has been available to stream on Netflix worldwide from 1 July 2016[1].
Synopsis[]
The show follows single mother Lorelai Gilmore (Graham) and her daughter, also named Lorelai - who prefers to go by Rory - (Bledel), living in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. This is a picturesque town filled with colorful characters, which is located approximately 30 minutes from Hartford, Connecticut. Ambition, education, and work constitute part of the series' central concerns, telling Lorelai's story from pregnant teen runaway and high school dropout to successful business woman who is a prominent part of the inn industry.
Rory's transition from public school to the prestigious Chilton is similarly followed, exploring her ambition to study at an Ivy League college and to become a foreign correspondent. The show's social commentary manifests most clearly in Lorelai's difficult relationship with her wealthy, appearance-obsessed parents, Emily and Richard Gilmore, and in the interactions between the students at Chilton, and later, Yale University.
About[]
Gilmore Girls is an American TV series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino, starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai) and Alexis Bledel (Rory) as a mother and a daughter who are more friends than mother and daughter and who both dream of pursuing satisfaction in their love relationships and their careers. The show mixes the drama and comedy genres and presents a wide range of emotions, characters and situations. Although apparently the target audience seems the female genre, the series explores the male universe as well with the important characters of Luke (Scott Patterson), Jess (Milo Ventimiglia), Logan (Matt Czuchry), Christopher Hayden (David Sutcliffe), thus it has been appreciated also by male audiences.
The last episode of Gilmore Girls aired in the US on the 15th of May, 2007.
The series counts 7 produced seasons and a total of 153 aired episodes. Plus one unaired pilot where the characters of Sookie St. James and Dean Forester were played by different actors (Alex Borstein, who later played the harp player Drella and the Gilmores fashion consultant Celine, and Nathan Wetherington).
Other main cast members are Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore), Edward Herrmann (Richard Gilmore), Keiko Agena (Lane), Liza Weil (Paris), Melissa McCarthy (Sookie), Yanic Truesdale (Michel), Jared Padalecki (Dean), Emily Kuroda (Mrs. Kim), Sean Gunn (Kirk), Sally Struthers (Babette), Liz Torres (Miss Patty), Michael Winters (Taylor Doose), Todd Lowe (Zach), Matt Czuchry (Logan Huntzberger) Adam Brody (Dave Rygalski) and Sebastian Bach (Gil).
Style[]
- VISUAL
From season 1 to season 4 the show was shot and presented in the traditional TV format, while season 5, 6 and 7 were shot and aired in a Widescreen format. Except the pilot episode and a few other episodes in season 1, which were partly shot on location in Canada, the whole series was shot in Hollywood on set. The hills that can be seen in the background from time to time are nothing but those of Mount Hollywood.
The show used an overall homogeneous, real world, naturalistic visual style, although the later seasons have gotten darker and more theatrical - more rich also in set elements and decorations, especially in the Gilmore Mansion, to go with the larger scale format -, in season 6 and 7, the slightly different color palettes and the lighting mirrored the change of the series tones: Lorelai's house got redecorated and expanded, thus it showed a different kind of lighting, accompanied by brighter and more feminine tints. The overall look and feel though was definitely not so bright, as Lorelai and Rory's lives... This was stressed by emotional, dramatic scenes characterized by darker and gloomier lights and colors. Following creator Amy Sherman-Palladino's directives for the DVD release of the series, "Gilmore Girls" was published in the traditional 4:3 TV format - the 1.33: 1 aspect ratio - completely from season 1 to 7, also cutting on the use of the modern 5.1 surround audio format.
Pop and cultural references to go with a speedy exchange of witty, sometimes incomprehensible dialogues between every character, are what makes the style of "Gilmore Girls" unique though. Another feature that characterizes the style of the series is a specific taste for the old and retro in general: from TV shows, movies to music, from costumes and set decorations, there is a choice in things that don't exactly look like the world of today and the world the other comedy TV series usually depict.
- OLD HOLLYWOOD
The Palladinos made homage, with the quick dialogues, to the classic movie genre of black and white pictures where actors engaged in super-speedy conversations (a direct homage is depicted in the episode Say Something, but also visual gags recalling screwball comedies back from the 30s or even before (for instance, we unexpectedly learn that Rory has a thing for the old movies of the Marx Brothers; she organizes a Marx marathon with her friend Marty in a season 5 episode).
Lorelai likes the 80s movies (she shows some new millennium kids an old John Hughes movie with Molly Ringwald, "Pretty in Pink", in the episode Super Cool Party People and references many times the cult "Breakfast Club", by the same director) as much as those dreamy musicals from the 50s-60s (as in 'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous where "Funny Face", starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, is the movie Christopher screens privately for Lorelai on a farm's wall their first date together since High school).
The emblematic Luke-Lorelai-Chris triangle of the series is also subtly mirrored in the final scene of episode Introducing Lorelai Planetarium with the introduction of a sequence from the movie "The Philadelphia Story" which Luke watches on the hospital TV soon after he discovered Lorelai's instant marriage with Christopher, an event that contrasts his original plans, made at the 7th season's beginnings, to marry Lorelai while taking a flight to Maryland - which is a situation depicted similarly also in the above mentioned George Cukor film, also starring Katharine Hepburn, an actress Lauren Graham has often been compared to by critics and fans.
In contradiction to that old-vibe, from season 4 till the end, the distance between Lorelai and Rory caused by Rory's life in college and at her boyfriend's apartment has determined also a very modern style depicted through mobile and non-mobile phone-dialogue scenes between mother and daughter that have kept the bizarre and witty style they had when they still lived together and talked live. An over-the-top use of phones was shown in episodes where the characters kept driving their cars or other vehicles (like a bicycle in episode It's Just Like Riding a Bike) while calling each other, or when more than two (sometimes also four) characters entertained a conversation on the phone, with obvious comical results.
Final season changes[]
The seventh season's production was taken by David S. Rosenthal, who had already worked on "Gilmore Girls" the previous season with the original creators, the Palladinos, who left the production officially for differences with the CW network at the end of season six over issues about whether renewing their contracts or not. Off the record, it was said that the relationship between the Palladinos and Rosenthal was optimal on the sets. Rosenthal was also a writer previously in the series and he definitely was the best person who could replace the Palladinos. Although the production didn't mention anything about continuing the work on the series while the last episodes were being produced because it was almost sure they would have come back after the summer for a new season, the narrative arcs of the series during its last season were fully explored and the more the final episode was coming near, the more the writers and producers, including Lauren Graham who portrayed the character of Lorelai, felt the need to give the series a sense of closure no matter what.
The actual reasons behind the failure in the negotiations between the Warner Bros. production company, the CW network, the series producers and the series star names to produce an eighth further season of "Gilmore Girls" are many - the main was a money and salary issue -, all of them kind of surrounded by an aura of mystery. Thus, up until shortly before the produced series finale, it was unclear to many if the show would get another season. This fact had a great impact mainly on the fans but also the cast, who were kind of taken aback when they learned that they weren't gonna go back to working in the series by the end of the summer. Many fans, who were enraged by the unannounced cancellation, saw this finale as unsatisfying and - in worst cases - incomplete. Actually, all of this is the result of a particular feature that characterizes the episode final scenes and, for that matter, the whole series: the imaginativeness. Most people were left puzzled by it because the way the whole final sequence of season seven was written and directed leaves a major detail - Lorelai and Luke's future wedding plans - up to the audience's ability of interpretation (read the "Lorelai Gilmore's character profile" to have an insight on this matter).
A Year In The Life[]
Four 90-minute chapters were released on 25 November 2016 on Netflix. Read more...
Lorelai Gilmore[]
Lorelai Gilmore is the name of three characters in the Gilmore Girls series. The series name is derived from the younger two of the three and each of the characters was named after their elder (expect Trix).
- Lorelai Gilmore or Lorelai Victoria Gilmore- is one of the main characters. She is the mother of 'Rory' Gilmore by Christopher Hayden and the daughter of Emily Gilmore and Richard Gilmore. She a driven and loving woman with a witty sense of humour.
- Rory Gilmore or Lorelai Leigh Gilmore- is the daughter of Lorelai Gilmore and Christopher Hayden. She is bright, studious young woman with ambitions in journalism.
- Lorelai "Trix" Gilmore- is the mother of Richard Gilmore by Charles Gilmore and therefore the grandmother and great grandmother of Lorelai Gilmore and Rory Gilmore. She has a very tense relationship with her daughter in law Emily Gilmore.
Pop culture[]
FAMILY GUY Lorelai and Rory are depicted talking really fast and end making out with each other.
TV: We now return to "Gilmore Girls".
Rory: Mom, I need to talk to you about Dean.
Lorelai: Which Dean? Howard Dean, James Dean or Jimmy Dean?
Rory: Uh, too old, too dead and too fattening.
Lorelai: You don't have to tell that to my thighs.
Rory: Can you ask your thighs if they borrowed my Gap Capris?
Lorelai: They did not and are insulted that you'd ask such a thing.
Rory: As insulted as Kitty Kelley when people accuse her of taking liberties with her best selling tell-alls?
Lorelai: Almost. Wanna make out?
Rory: Absolutely not.
Lorelai: Oh, you are so lying.
Rory: I so am.
In another episode, Stewie Griffin claims to have a three-episode guest starring role on the Gilmore Girls as "Rory's motorcycle-driving boyfriend".
SIX FEET UNDER
- In the fifth episode of the first season of Six Feet Under, Claire and Ruth are watching the show with some relatives.
MADtv
- 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.
Rory: Hi, Mom.
Lorelai: Rory. Prodigal daughter. Fellow sister. Soul mate. What are you doing back from college?
Rory: We all have dirty laundry in our past. As it turns out mine is in the present. No doubt in the future. But soon, your Maytag willing, once again in my past.
Lorelai: See, now, I would have laughed, but I'm not sure what you said is actually funny.
Rory: Anything said quickly can seem wittier than it is.
SCRUBS
- In an 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 another episode of Scrubs Ted is found hanging upside down in his office. He asks what day it is and when he find out it is Wednesday he says "Oh man! I missed the Gilmore Girls!"
WILL & GRACE
- 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!"
GREEK
- In episode 1.02 of "Greek", Cappie says "How about we all be mature and say what's really on our minds. How the hell could they cancel the Gilmore Girls?!?!"
GIRLFRIENDS
- In the sixth seasons of Girlfriends and Gilmore Girls, the shows referenced each other. In Girlfriends, the character Joan Clayton mentions that she lives near a Gilmore Girl. In Gilmore Girls, Lorelai makes fun of Christopher's selection of saved TiVo programs, one of them being Girlfriends.
VERONICA MARS
- 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."
THE SOPRANOS
- In episode 6.04 of The Sopranos Paulie Gualtieri throws her aunt-acquired mother's flatscreen TV out of the window while The Breakup, Part 2 is being broadcast. This means Gilmore girls exists in the Sopranos' universe as a TV show. Lorelai have some references for the The Sopranos in Gilmore girls too: in Secrets and Loans, in Partings, and in Gilmore Girls Only.
BROOKLYN 99
- In 2.23, Charles mentions to Rosa about how mad she is at how its finale went down. Rosa responds that she just wants to see Lorelai happy.
- In 4.20, Charles tells Terry that he learnt parenting from the best. Terry says thank you, as he though Charles was referring to him, but Charles says it was "Lorelai from Gilmore Girls."
THE MORNING SHOW
In the pilot of The Morning Show two weekend anchors are waiting in the queue outside the Lyceum (a Broadway theater) to see an imaginary Gilmore girls musical.
Daniel: I do everything right. Everything they’ve asked me to do in the last three years. They just don’t know what to do with me. And they’re making us see this popcorn shit? Fucking Gilmore Girls: The Musical? Is the world so bereft of new ideas—
Alison: Don’t act like you didn’t know what The Twist was gonna be. I was in that meeting too. You didn’t have a gun to your head.
Daniel: Why did I get a Masters in journalism? What’s the point of having a PhD in political science?
Alison: Is this what Gabe comes home to every night?
Daniel: They’re just making me jump through hoops watching the fucking Gilmore Girls sing about how tough upper-middle class life in Connecticut is while a bunch of idiot white dudes eat expensive food on the network’s dime to discuss how to overlook me? And what the hell kinda name is Lorelai anyway?
GOSSIP GIRL
Blaire Waldorf wants to get into Yale just like Rory, she binge watches Gilmore girls the night before the Yale Day, where she hopefully receives early acceptance to the school.
Roman: We heard you watching Gilmore girls all night, again.
Blaire: Oh, I am so a better fit for Yale than that Rory.
VARIOUS
- 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
Literature[]
There are a few books written on the Gilmore Girls. Some are listed below.
NOVELIZATIONS
- "Like Mother, Like Daughter" adapted by Catherine Clark, 2002
- "I Love You, You Idiot" adapted by Cathy East Dubowski, 2002
- "I Do, Don't I?" adapted by Catherine Clark, 2002
- "The Other Side of Summer" adapted by Helen Pai, 2002
GUIDES
- "Coffee at Luke's: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gabfest" by Jennifer Crusie, 2007
- "Gilmore Girls and the Politics of Identity" by Ritch Calvin, 2009
- "Screwball Television: Critical Perspectives on Gilmore Girls (Television and Popular Culture)", 2010
- "The Gilmore Girls companion" by A.S. Berman, 2015
- "Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)" by Lauren Graham, 2016
- "Gilmore Girls: A Cultural History (The Cultural History of Television)" by Lara C. Stache and Rachel Davidson, 2019
- "Women of Amy Sherman-Palladino: Gilmore Girls, Bunheads and Mrs. Maisel (The Women of.. Book 2)" by Scott Ryan and David Bushman, 2019
- "You've Been Gilmore'd!: The Unofficial Encyclopedia and Comprehensive Guide to Gilmore Girls and Stars Hollow" by Taryn Dryfhout, 2021
COOKBOOKS
- "Eat Like A Gilmore: The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore girls" by Kristi Carlson, 2016
- "Eat Like a Gilmore: Daily Cravings: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls, with 100 New Recipes" by Kristi Carlson, 2018
- "Eat Like a Gilmore: The Ultimate Unofficial Cookbook Set for Fans of Gilmore Girls: Two Great Books! One Great Price!", 2019
- "Eat Like A Gilmore: Seasons: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of the Gilmore Girls Revival" by Kristi Carlson, 2021
- "Gilmore Girls: The Official Cookbook" by Elena Craig and Kristen Mulrooney, 2022
Trivia[]
- Gilmore Girls is known for its fast-paced dialogue filled with pop-culture references.
- The show earned several award nominations, winning one Emmy Award.
- Gilmore Girls was the first show to actually air that was developed with funding from Family Friendly Programming Forum (FFPG).
- The FFPG is a coalition of advertisers who seek to increase the amount of family-friendly programming on television.
- They sponsor a Script Development Fund to help what they consider family-friendly shows reach the pilot stage.
- It was also critically acclaimed as it placed No. 32 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list, and was listed as one of Time magazine's "All-TIME 100 TV Shows" in 2007.
- The entire series has been released on DVD, is currently available on Netflix, as well as on iTunes.
- Gilmore Girls was filmed at Warner Bothers Studio, at 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, CA.
- Most of exteriors are filmed on what the studio calls "Midwest Street", a set built in 1946.
- Some scenes from Dukes of Hazzard and Friends have been filmed on this set as well.
- There are several instances of inside jokes within the Gilmore Girls, some are listed below.
- Dave Rygalski is said to have left to attend school in California. Adam Brody, who played the character, left to star in "The O.C.," which was set in California.
- When Jess shows up again, he says he is now living in Philadelphia. Milo Ventimiglia was starring in "American Dreams" at the time, set in Philadelphia.
- Brad Langford returns to Chilton after starring in "Into the Woods" on Broadway. Adam Wylie, in fact, did star as Jack in "Into the Woods" on Broadway between appearances.
- Several references are made to the movie, "Dirty Dancing." Kelly Bishop, who plays Emily, starred in that movie.
Photos[]
Videos[]
Media[]
- Gilmore Girls Quiz w/Alan Loayza, Nick Holmes & the Gilmore Guys
- BUZZFEED july 2016