The comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls was undoubtedly a major hit during its original run in the early 2000s. The show had a successful 7-season run after it premiered on The WB network in October 2000 and it eventually became a flagship series for the network. After six successful seasons, the series moved to The CW Television Network for its 7th and final season.
The family drama series Gilmore Girls was centered around on a single mother Lorelai Gilmore raising her teenage daughter Rory Gilmore in a small town. It was one of the most popular shows on The WB network at that time though it did not receive very high ratings. The show had the perfect blend of humor and drama which made it appealing to viewers of different generations. Gilmore Girls has been in syndication since 2004 and has long attained cult status thanks to its ever-growing army of dedicated fans.
The Cast of Gilmore Girls
Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore
The show’s lead star was who played the main role of Lorelai Gilmore, a young independent single mother of a teenage daughter. She became estranged from her wealthy parents after leaving home at a young age to raise her daughter all by herself. She was eventually forced to mend fences with her parents in order to get them to sponsor her daughter’s college education.
The role of Lorelai Gilmore turned out to be Lauren Graham’s breakthrough role and it remains one of the most defining roles of her acting career. She appeared in every episode of Gilmore Girls starting from the pilot episode of the series till its series finale. She was indeed a worthy lead star and her brilliant portrayal of the Lorelai Gilmore character earned her some critical praise. The talented actress was nominated for a Golden Globe Award (2001) and two Screen Actors Guild Awards (2001 and 2002). She also won two Teen Choice Awards (2005 and 2006) for her performance on the show.
Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore
The show’s co-lead character Rory Gilmore was portrayed by . Rory Gilmore is the only child of Lorelai Gilmore. She spent most of her childhood in the Independence Inn where her mother lived and worked as a maid until the latter was able to purchase a house. Rory had lifelong dreams of studying at Harvard University and in order to make these dreams come true, her mother reluctantly reconciled with her wealthy parents who eventually paid for her college tuition. Rory developed a good relationship with her grandparents and ultimately opted to attend her grandfather’s alma mater Yale University.
The role of Rory Gilmore was Alexis Bledel’s very first television role as she was still a newbie when she got cast on the show. Her performance on the show earned her several awards and nominations including 2 Teen Choice Award nominations (2001 and 2002) and one Young Artist Award (2001) out of two nominations.
Scott Patterson as Luke Danes
Also on the main cast of Gilmore Girls was who played the role of Luke Danes, a close and dependable friend to Lorelai Gilmore. He is the owner of “Luke’s Diner” where Lorelai frequented with her daughter and his friendship with the former eventually developed into a romantic relationship.
Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore
Kelly Bishop was equally on the main cast of Gilmore Girls. She played the role of Emily Gilmore, a high society housewife and the wealthy matriarch of the Gilmore family. She had a strained relationship with her daughter, Lorelai Gilmore, for the greater part of the series after the latter left home as a teenager with her own child.
Melissa McCarthy as Sookie St. James
, who played the role of Sookie was the bubbly best friend and business partner of the lead character Lorelai Gilmore. The two worked together at the Independence Inn and later went ahead to co-found and co-run their own business “The Dragonfly Inn”.
Keiko Agena as Lane Kim
Lane Hyun-kyung Kim was the best friend of Rory Gilmore, the show’s co-lead character. A very active teenager, she was passionate about diverse kinds of music, books as well as cosmetics. However, she had to hide her numerous passions from her overly strict Christian parents.
Yanic Truesdale as Michel Gerard
Yanic Truedale played the role of Michel Gerard, a French native who works as a concierge at the Independence Inn. He is considered as a very valuable employee by Lorelai Gilmore and Sookie, the co-owners of the Independence Inn.
Edward Herrmann as Richard Gilmore
Edward Herrmann portrayed the character Richard Gilmore, the father of Lorelai and the grandfather of Rory. Lorelai Gilmore has a more cordial relationship with him than with her mother, Emily. He worked as a top executive at an insurance firm but after a brief retirement, he returned to start his own company.
Liza Weil as Paris Geller
played the role of Paris Geller, the child of wealthy Jewish parents. Intimidated by Rory Gilmore’s academic excellence, she became the former’s arch-rival. However, after a prolonged period of fierce competition, the duo eventually became best friends. Their close friendship continued after they left high school and got into to the same university.
Jared Padalecki as Dean Forester
Dean Forester was Rory Gilmore’s boyfriend between season 1 and season 3. Dean’s family had relocated from Chicago to the small town of Stars Hollow and his relationship with Rory began soon after their arrival. After dating for a while, the two parted ways and Dean went on to date and eventually marry another woman. However, he still had strong feelings for Rory.
Milo Ventimiglia as Jess Mariano
Jess Mariano () was Luke Dane’s rebellious nephew who moved to Stars Hollow from New York where he had lived with his single mother. Apparently, his mother sent him to his uncle Luke so that the latter could help straighten him out. Jess developed a close friendship with Rory Gilmore owing to their common interest in music and pop culture but their friendship was greatly disapproved by a majority of the townspeople. Their closeness also had an adverse effect on Rory’s romance with her first boyfriend Dean and eventually led to their breakup. Jess and Rory ultimately began dating but their relationship was short-lived.
Matt Czuchry as Logan Huntzberger
Logan Huntzberger () was the son of very wealthy parents and the heir to the family’s national newspaper conglomerate, the Huntzberger Publishing Company. He met Rory Gilmore while studying at Yale University and the two ultimately began a romantic relationship. Their on-and-off relationship lasted for several years.
Chris Eigeman as Jason Stiles
Jason Stiles was Richard Gilmore’s business partner. He was also a longtime acquaintance to Richard’s daughter, Lorelai Gilmore with whom he eventually had a relationship.
Sean Gunn as Kirk Gleason
Another main character on Gilmore Girls is the character Kirk Gleason (Sean Gunn), a longtime resident of Stars Hollow. He is quirky and kindhearted and he has a reputation of changing jobs regularly. He had a crush on the lead character Lorelai Gilmore but was unable to get her to go out with him.
David Sutcliffe as Christopher Hayden
David Sutcliffe was also a regular on Gilmore Girls. He played the recurring role of Christopher Hayden, Lorelai Gilmore’s on-and-off love interest and the father of her child Rory.
How Many Seasons Does Gilmore Girls Have?
The first episode of Gilmore Girls aired on The WB TV Network on October 5, 2000. Following a successful first season, the show went on to have five more seasons on the network. During its 5th season, Gilmore Girls peaked as the most successful show on The WB network.
The show was ultimately moved to The CW Television Network for its 7th and final season which premiered on September 26, 2006. The CW network announced that the show would not be renewed shortly before its final episode aired in May 2007.
The syndicated release of Gilmore Girls began in 2004 on ABC Family. The show continued to air on the network until 2018. The show also began airing concurrently on UP TV starting from October 2015. Gilmore Girls equally began streaming on Netflix worldwide in July 2016.
Will There Be More Seasons?
Apparently, new writers were recruited for the 7th season of Gilmore Girls following the departure of the show creator and showrunner. These new writers were reportedly unaware that season 7 would be the show’s final season. Consequent upon this, there were many loose ends in the show’s storyline and fans who were displeased with the way the show ended continued to ask for more episodes/seasons.
In 2009, the series’ creator and original showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino expressed her desire to produce a Gilmore Girls movie so as to conclude the series as she had originally intended. However, this idea did not come to fruition.
Following the 15th anniversary celebration of Gilmore Girls in June 2015, Palladino continued her quest for a possible revival of the show and this time, she was successful. A 4-episode revival miniseries dubbed Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was filmed between February and May 2016 and it was released on Netflix on November 25, 2016. This 2016 revival of Gilmore Girls received favorable reviews from critics and there have been speculations about a possible second revival.
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