On this day 15 years ago, viewers were first given the gift of an episode of one of TVs wittiest, most delightful series. Gilmore Girls premiered on the WB on October 5, 2000.
In the eight years since the series finale of Gilmore Girls, fandom hasnt died down for the dramedy about a fast-talking, constantly pop culture-referencing mother-daughter duo addicted to caffeine, riding the emotional waves of life in their small Connecticut town.
This is the show that made us fall in love with Melissa McCarthy long before Bridesmaids was even an idea, the show that made us feel less sheepish about bringing a book everywhere cause Rory does it too, the show that had us aspiring to be as brash and sassy as Paris Geller, the show that introduced us to Jared Padaleckis ever-evolving mop of hair even before those brown locks appeared on Supernatural, the show that melted our hearts at the sight of a thousand yellow daisies, and the show that made us more than happy to spend hours upon hours in Stars Hollow.
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Amy Sherman-Palladino and Lauren Graham look back on Gilmore Girls 15 years later
It was Oct. 5, 2000 when Gilmore Girls introduced us to Lorelai and her shy, brilliant daughter, Rory arguably two of the most caffeinated people in the world along with the eccentric residents of their hometown of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Looking back, actress Lauren Graham recalls how she was just about as addicted to coffee as her character.
I drink a lot of coffee. I would get to this place on-set [of Gilmore Girls] in real life where if I had anymore, I was going to keel over dead, Lauren Graham tells EW. So sometimes there was water in there.
To celebrate the shows 15th anniversary, EW caught up with Graham and creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to reflect on the pilot that started it all and look ahead to what Rory and Lorelais relationship would be like now.
FINDING THE PERFECT LORELAI
When it came to her audition, Graham couldnt quite put her finger on which scenes she read it was most likely the opening scene, and possibly the scene in which she confronts Rory about wanting to ditch Chilton for Dean (Jared Padalecki), the new boy in town but right from the start, Graham felt a connection to the role. However she was still attached to another project.
AMY SHERMAN-PALLADINO: Our casting director kept saying, Its Lauren Graham, its Lauren Graham, its Lauren Graham. He kept putting her picture in front of me and I kept saying, Shes signed to another show, so I dont want to fall in love with somebody I cant have because thats cruel and I will be going through that for the rest of my life so why do I have to do that now when Im in charge? So, it was a little bit like dont keep bringing up Lauren Graham when we cant have her. And finally when it was clear that we werent finding that magical Lorelai to walk in and be everything that we needed, it was like, Fine, bring Lauren in. Let me fall in love with somebody I cant have. And I got lucky because the other show got canceled, and then I got her.
LAUREN GRAHAM: [Reading through the script] felt like two things: One, the idea of someone else doing it made me really mad [Laughs]. Its just a spark, you read something and youre like, Whoa. I started playing the character from like page one and sometimes its not that seamless. I felt like I knew what the writer meant, you know? It was a connection. I just really connected to the material. Also it didnt sound like anything else. I was kind of at a weird in-between time when I was reading comedies and dramas and this was a tone that I thought was just really unusual and that attracted me to [Gilmore Girls].
PICKING THE THEME SONG
Each week, Gilmore Girls kicked off with Where You Lead, and its the greatest theme song in the entire world, according to Sherman-Palladino.
SHERMAN-PALLADINO: We were just looking for something that felt classic and you just dont get more classic than Carole King theres just nobody better. It was a song about connection and it was a song about where you lead, Ill follow that well always be together. And whats interesting is I just wanted to use the song off of Tapestry, and we thought theres no way that was ever going to happen, because how would that happen? Were a tiny show, we dont really exist and Carole King is a legend. And we got to her and what was weird is she said, I dont do that song anymore in concert because its about a woman following a man and I feel that the times are different and I dont want to be singing about a woman following a man. But I love the idea of a mother and a daughter and if I could re-record it with my daughter and turn this song that I wrote into something more relevant, I would love to do that.
It was her idea to do it with her daughter [Louise Goffin] which was, you know, our immense good fortune. And if we were on for a hundred years we would never change that theme song. How could you change that theme song? Good Lord. Its the greatest theme song in the entire world.
CREATING THE FAMILY
Alexis Bledel, who played Rory, and Graham shared an on-set bond, but beyond that, Gilmore Girls explored the extended Gilmore family to create what Sherman-Palladino calls an intergenerational freak-show.
SHERMAN-PALLADINO: I think [with] that the combination of that real pro with the girl who kind of just is herself, there was something kind of magical about that and I think that that was partially what made it so special So, Lauren and Alexis spent a lot of long hours yapping to each other, walking in circles around Stars Hollow. They developed this interesting camaraderie that was, you know, you cant cast that, it just shows up and then it happens.
GRAHAM: It was great. Im more loud and vulnerable, [Alexis] is a little especially in the beginning shier. So, that was a very natural fit. Ive told this story before but the only place where she was so new was technically, and that show as fun and breezy and light as it is is technically really challenging because Amy liked to get a master, flawless single take .The cameras following us and wed have to curve around at a certain point or pause at a certain point. We have a very delineated path and if, you know, shed sort of stray, wed pull her back. We have a lot of scenes in those early episodes where Im literally gluing her to my side. I dont know if she noticed or cared, it kind of worked and it served to help make us look like this connected duo because I literally wouldnt let go of her.
SHERMAN-PALLADINO: And we got lucky with Ed [Herrmann] and Kelly [Bishop] because, I dont think anybody anticipated I know the studio and the network never really anticipated how important the parents were going to be. Kelly Bishop was the other Gilmore girl. Gilmore Girls is an intergenerational freak-show. Without all the generations represented, it would not have been complete. I think having those amazing parents/grandparents there, which allowed us to really go places that we wouldnt have been able to go to with lesser folks, it made our show different because there kind of was no place we could not go.
