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.
Cast[]
- Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore
- Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore
- Melissa McCarthy as Sookie St. James
- Keiko Agena as Lane Kim
- Yanic Truesdale as Michel Gerard
- Scott Patterson as Luke Danes
- Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore
- Edward Herrmann as Richard Gilmore
- Later regulars
- Jared Padalecki as Dean Forester (1–5)
- Milo Ventimiglia as Jess Mariano (2–4, 6)
- Liza Weil as Paris Geller
- Sean Gunn as Kirk Gleason
- Chris Eigeman as Jason Stiles (4)
- Matt Czuchry as Logan Huntzberger (5–7)
Season 7[]
The Palladinos left the series following Season 6. Essentially, they were overworked and asked Warner Bros. for additional personnel and a two-year contract to alleviate the work load which had them on site every day of the week, and provide some job security as they had been on one-year deals. Warner Bros. did not meet those requirements and made negotiations difficult, despite that the Palladinos had initiated talks in December 2005. Sherman-Palladino said they had originally envisaged the show, due to its success, going on for two more seasons, ending with Season 8.[2]
The seventh and final season was not well received by critics and audiences, due to the drastic stylistic change and lack of long-term planning in storytelling with which the Palladinos had created the show's success.[3][4]
2016 Revival[]
- Main article: A Year In The Life
Four 90-minute chapters were released on 25 November 2016 on Netflix.
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.
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.
- The unaired pilot presentation had Sookie St. James and Dean Forester portrayed by other actors (Alex Borstein, who later played the harp player, Drella, and the Gilmores fashion consultant, Celine, and Nathan Wetherington).
- 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[]
- If Gilmore Girls Characters Were Tarot Cards, We Know Exactly Which Ones They'd Be
- (POPSUGAR • APRIL 2019)
- Gilmore Girls Quiz w/Alan Loayza, Nick Holmes & the Gilmore Guys
- (BUZZFEED • JULY 2016)
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
Links[]
See Also[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Gilmore Girls Global Announcement | Lauren Graham | Netflix (June 2016)
- ↑ Amy Sherman-Palladino on leaving Gilmore (Entertainment Weekly • April 2006)
- ↑ The snap, the crackle, and buoyancy of the once great Gilmore Girls (CW) is gone with series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. Yes, it still looks like The Gilmore Girls, it still walks and talks like The Gilmore Girls, but this season rings like a pod-people version of its former self. (Austin Chronicle • December 2006)
- ↑ A Series Changes Horses, and the Ride Gets Bumpy (The New York Times • November 2006)