15 Things You Never Noticed About Gilmore Girls
Good news, everyone: The Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix is fast approaching. That means we’ll be back in Stars Hollow faster than you can say, “There’s a town meeting at Ms. Patty’s, and Taylor says its mandatory!” Still, it’s important to remember that although we all adore the girls who Gilmore, we don’t always understand them or the zany world they live in. With a festival for literally every holiday and a gazillion pop culture references, there’s no shame in being a little lost in Stars Hollow. Allow us to point out the parts of the Gilmore-verse you never noticed.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.1/15There were not 1,000 daisies in Max’s proposal to Lorelai.
When Max Medina proposed to Lorelai with 1,000 daisies in season one, episode 21 (oh, we’re going there), the man outdid himself because there were waaay more than 1,000 flowers in this scene. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the show’s co-creator Amy Sherman-Palladino explained the excess of daisies: “A thousand yellow daisies actually sounds like a lot, but when you put a thousand yellow daisies in a big room, like our set, it’s kind of like a table arrangement.”
Courtesy of Warner Bros.2/15The famous singer-songwriter Carole King made a cameo.
King, a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, performed the catchy theme song “Where You Lead” with her daughter Louise Goffin. King also played the sassy owner of Sophie’s Music, Sophie Bloom, who also happened to be Lane Kim’s mentor. Other musical talent cameos included Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach as the Hep Alien guitarist, and singer-songwriter Grant Lee Phillips as the Town Troubadour.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.3/15Kirk was not always Kirk.
Kirk, Stars Hollows’ quirkiest jack-of-all-trades and Taylor Doose minion, was well known for obtaining various jobs on the show, from dog walker to diner owner. But before he was Kirk, he was Mick, a DSL installer sent to Lorelai’s house in season one. Luckily, Mick’s social skills were every bit as lacking as Kirk’s, so one might not even notice the name difference.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.4/15Dave went to California.
Before Lane dated her bandmate Zack, she dated the founder of the band, Dave Rygalski, played by Adam Brody. Dave left for “college in California,” which was silly fun because Brody left the show for The O.C. Lane and Dave tried to do the long-distance thing for a hot second, but it didn’t work out. (The O.C. was a hit, though, so that’s a win.)
Courtesy of Warner Bros.5/15We never met East Side Tilly.
Babette and Ms. Patty were obviously the queens of gossip in Stars Hollow, but they had some competition. Babette mentioned a few times how much she hated it when East Side Tilly got news before she did—and yet we never actually met East Side Tilly. Maybe this ominous character will appear in the revival? We are 100 percent on board for a Babette vs. East Side Tilly showdown.
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Courtesy of Warner Bros.6/15Emily Gilmore was really into musicals.
Why would this uptight woman be so fond of musical theater? Answer: It was a subtle homage to the showstopping prowess of Kelly Bishop, the actress who played Rory’s grandmother, Emily. Bishop won a Tony in 1976 for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in A Chorus Line. She also plays the mom in Dirty Dancing, which isn’t a musical per se but does have a pretty killer soundtrack.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.7/15Lane’s dad was totally MIA.
Lane mentioned her “mother and father” and “parents” a lot in the first two seasons, but we never actually got to see Mr. Kim. In fact, Lane’s dad was so incognito, he didn’t even show up to her wedding in season six. Where could he possibly have been? On a business trip to Mars? Was he chained up in the attic? Wherever he was hiding out, Lane’s lack of a father figure really made her relationship with her mother, Mrs. Kim, a foil to the Rory-Lorelai combo.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.8/15Michel never found love.
Michel was the only one of the core cast who wasn’t into relationships—not being in them, not talking about them. Everyone else, from Ms. Patty to Lane, got to at least brag about his or her escapades. But alas, Michel’s passions were Celine Dion, avoiding stupid people (in his view, basically everyone), and his fluffy puppies, Paw-Paw and Chin-Chin.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.9/15Luke’s hat was a nod to his feelings.
Luke had a pretty standard wardrobe: jeans, a T-shirt, a flannel, and a backward baseball cap. But if you paid any attention to the color of that hat, it often reflected the status of his relationship. Think about it: At first, Luke always wore a brown cap, but when Lorelai bought him a blue one, he sported it for the rest of the show. Only when Lorelai broke off the engagement for a bit did he switch to a black cap. Black like his poor broken heart.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.10/15Many actors in the series went on to become super famous.
Ever heard of a little-known actor named Nick Offerman? Well, the comedian and Parks and Recreation star can be spotted in two episodes: “The Festival of Living Art” and “Always a Godmother, Never a God.” He played Jackson’s super-creepy older brother with eyes for Lorelai and had a tendency to wear bolo ties. Other exciting faces included Jane Lynch, Jon Hamm, Krysten Ritter, and Community’s Danny Pudi.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.11/15You could sometimes see Burbank in the background.
Truth: We all wished Stars Hollow was, in fact, a real place. Sadly, it’s not. Gilmore Girls was shot in the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California. Because of this, it’s pretty common to see the Hollywood Hills in the background of Stars Hollow and then think to yourself, Wait a minute — that doesn’t look like Connecticut!
Courtesy of Warner Bros.12/15Richard Gilmore’s mother was resurrected.
The Gilmore matriarch was first referenced in the third episode of season one…when Emily and Richard spoke as if she were dead. Then, in episode 18, she showed up at the Gilmore Mansion and proceeded to turn the sometimes-terrifying Emily into an anxious wreck. She continued to pop in occasionally throughout the series but died (for real this time) in season four, episode 16.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.13/15Rory shouldn’t have been valedictorian of Chilton.
Rory might be an overachiever, but she struggled to catch up when she first got to Chilton. She even got a D (gasp!) once, which would never have happened to her salutatorian, Paris Geller. Paris was in all the same classes from day one, and if her grades were better in the beginning (which they were), she should have secured the top spot.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.14/15Dean started out as a polished city boy and turned into a small-town burnout.
Season by season, episode by episode, Rory’s first love morphed into a character who was almost impossible to like. When we first saw him in the pilot episode, he was the mysterious new kid from Chicago who knew a thing or two about literature. By season five, Dean was telling Luke that the two of them were just small-town boys and the Gilmore girls aspired for more. Come again?
Courtesy of Warner Bros.15/15Rory was a staunch Hillary fan.
Rory was such a big fan of Hillary Clinton in high school that she planned to write her college admissions essay about her because “she's so smart and tough, and nobody thought she could win New York, but she did and she's doing amazing — and have you heard her speak?” However, she later chose a different topic after a college admissions officer told her about the excess of Clinton essays he was receiving.
