"Gilmore Girls" premiered in October 2000 on The WB network. The series filled a niche at the time: female leads, three generations of women, and witty, fast-paced dialogue. The show followed best friends Rory Gilmore and her mother Lorelai, a single mom who’d had a teenage pregnancy, and the quirky fictional town in Connecticut that basically raised them.
In this first of three episodes, we’re on a mission to find out how "Gilmore Girls" found its audience, while staying true to itself. We get a look behind the scenes at the show's punchy “Gilmore-speed” delivery, pop-culture-packed references and its complicated female characters. We explore why "Gilmore Girls" endures 25 years since its premiere and what that means for women in Hollywood.
Actor Keiko Agena, who played Rory's best friend Lane Kim on "Gilmore Girls", said the writing felt really special for the time. It was funny and smart. And it stood apart because of the voice of its creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino.
"I had never read a script like that. It was just funny and it got you choked up when you read it. I thought it was brilliant," Agena said.
Agena remembers reading the "Gilmore Girls" pilot for the first time.
"I thought 'I hope this thing gets made!'”
Luckily, it did, and it aired for seven seasons.
Shaping the next generation
Now, the "Gilmore Girls" audience spans generations. So you might expect that it was an instant hit back in 2000. While it definitely had fans during its original seven-season run, it never got a nomination for a primetime Emmy. Keiko said she wasn't sure that many people were aware of the show when it was on TV. In its first season, the series faced an uphill battle because it aired up against the hit NBC sitcom "Friends" in the exact same time slot.
People didn’t recognize Keiko on the street or anything. She said that didn’t happen until “it had its second life,” when the show hit Netflix in 2014.
Sarah Lampert, creator of the Netflix hit show "Ginny and Georgia", said that being raised on strong characters like the Gilmores "is definitely what made me want to write TV.”
"It was such good world building. I think there's a reason it has such staying power," Lampert said. "Amy Sherman-Palladino's voice is that reason."
Fans say many of the things about the Gilmores that inspired Lampert also keep them watching on repeat.
And while "Friends" may have dominated the network ratings in 2000, Nielsen data show that "Gilmore Girls" outpaced "Friends" in the total number of streaming minutes on Netflix in 2023.
"On top of all of that, you just wouldn't be able to make ['Gilmore Girls'] today," Lampert said. "I think that's what makes me a little bit sad."
Learn more
"Generation Gilmore Girls" is hosted by Chloe Wynne. This episode was reported, written, and produced by Lily Tyson and Chloe Wynne. It was edited and produced by Cassandra Basler. Sound design and mixing by Jay Cowit. Megan Fitzgerald is our project manager. Ayannah Brown and Tyler Russell are our visuals producers. Our show art was created by Sam Hockaday.
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