"Gilmore Girls" (2000) TV series 2000-2007

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Creator:

Amy Sherman

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | unknown

Release Date:

5 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Comedy

Tagline:

Life's short. Talk Fast

Plot:

A drama centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

Plot Keywords:

Teen | Single Mother | Connecticut | Prep School | Family Relationships

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 15 wins & 42 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 9	11:00 AM	ABCF	Luke Can See Her Face	#4.20
Mon. Nov. 9	5:00 PM	ABCF	Last Week Fights, This Week Tights	#4.21

Cast

Lauren Graham	...	Lorelai Gilmore (154 episodes, 2000-2007)
Alexis Bledel	...	Rory Gilmore (154 episodes, 2000-2007)
Keiko Agena	...	Lane Kim (154 episodes, 2000-2007)
Scott Patterson	...	Luke Danes (154 episodes, 2000-2007)
Yanic Truesdale	...	Michel Gerard (154 episodes, 2000-2007)
Kelly Bishop	...	Emily Gilmore (154 episodes, 2000-2007)
Edward Herrmann	...	Richard Gilmore (154 episodes, 2000-2007)
Melissa McCarthy	...	Sookie St. James (153 episodes, 2000-2007)
Sean Gunn	...	Kirk Gleason / ... (137 episodes, 2000-2007)
Liza Weil	...	Paris Geller (127 episodes, 2000-2007)
Liz Torres	...	Miss Patty (79 episodes, 2000-2007)
Jared Padalecki	...	Dean Forester (63 episodes, 2000-2005)

Also Known As:

Gilmore Girls: Beginnings (USA) (rerun title)
The Gilmore Way (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Brazil:10 (DVD rating) | Germany:6 (DVD rating) (season 1) | Germany:o.Al. (DVD rating) (season 2 - 6) | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 (seasons 4-5) | South Korea:All (seasons 1-3) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions

Trivia:

Emily and Richard Gilmore have a new maid every episode.

Quotes:

Lorelai: You know how on All in the Family when Edith would be yapping about something and Archie would pretend to make a noose and hang himself or shoot himself in the head?
Rory: Yeah?
Lorelai: I don't know. Something about this moment just made me think of that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Gossip Girl: You've Got Yale (#2.16)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Where You Lead

Welcome to their little corner of the world.

"Gilmore Girls" (like Leonard Maltin, I usually like to use the title as it appears on screen, but we'll forego the nomenclature "Gilmore girls") is one of those shows that positive word of mouth and the "You know, this does seem like a good show" vibe from hearing about it made me want to get a look at; the series has finally started UK airings on Nickelodeon, a strange choice for the channel - it's certainly comedic, but it's more of a comedy-drama than the usual stuff that's on Nick. (Plus, unlike all its regular shows it's an hour series.)

My rule of thumb is that if a series doesn't encourage me to keep watching by its third episode, it won't do so after its thirtieth; Amy Sherman-Palladino's series passed by the end of the first one. A number of viewers have commented that the dialogue isn't too realistic, and Lorelei Gilmore is certainly so quick with the witty repartee you wonder why she's not a stand-up comic instead of managing an inn (possibly a clue as to why one of the companies involved is called Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions?), but it does have the saving grace of actually being funny... something that can't be said for a lot of official comedies.

What helps the series work so far, apart from the dialogue, is the characters - just as "M*A*S*H"'s laugh track was kept out of the operating room even in the American broadcasts (it was initially broadcast in the UK sans track), the relationships between Lorelei and Lorelei (that's Rory - in the pilot we learned that she was named after her mother) aren't actually played for gags endlessly, and her mother's certainly strong but not a bitch, the way the makers could have easily done. No one in the show so far is truly bad or good, which bodes well, and the bond between mother and daughter is a rare thing for TV - they're both relatives and true friends without making you want to vomit, not a common thing in family dramas.

We're about three years behind the WB, and I'm looking forward to catching up with the Gilmores and their friends (it's impossible not to symapthise with Rory's best friend in particular, what with her health-food-obsessed/antique-selling mother). And on a purely shallow note, Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel must be the most attractive mother-daughter pairing in recent television history. Beautiful and funny? Who needs Madonna kissing Britney?