Thirtysomething Lorelai Gilmore (Graham) has made her share of mistakes in life, and she's been doing her best to see that her teenage daughter - and best friend in the world - Rory (Alexis Bledel, Tuck Everlasting), doesn't follow in her footsteps. That may be easier said than done considering that the two share the same interests, the same intellect, the same coffee addiction and the same eyes. Rory is more serious than Lorelai, but there are tendencies, especially in the love department, that clearly state she is her mother's daughter. From the beginning, this unique mother-daughter team has been growing up together. Lorelai was just Rory's age when she became pregnant and made the tough decision to raise her baby alone. This defiant move and Lorelai's fiercely independent nature caused a rift between her and her extremely proper, patrician, old-money parents, Emily (Kelly Bishop, Dirty Dancing) and Richard (Edward Herrmann, The Cat's Meow). Lorelai was forced to reconcile with them when she found herself in desperate need of money for Rory's tuition. The weekly Friday night dinners at the elder Gilmore's elegant and oppressive house are fraught with witty repartee and smoldering resentment. The looming decision of which university Rory will attend only adds to the tension between Lorelai and her parents.
As season three unfolds, both Gilmore girls are growing up fast. Lorelai faced a heartbreaking disappointment when her rekindled romance with Rory's father, Christopher (David Sutcliffe), was thwarted by the unexpected pregnancy of his girlfriend. Trying to move on with her love life, Lorelai now faces the prospect of life without Rory as the dream of Harvard starts to become a reality. Lorelai continues to manage the historic Independence Inn and to nurture her dream of one day opening her own inn with her best friend, the fabulous chef Sookie St. James (Melissa McCarthy, Charlie's Angels), who is now adjusting to married life.
For Rory, the failed reconciliation between her parents was a crushing blow and led to her first angry confrontation with Christopher over his failures as a parent. She tries to overcome her disappointment by immersing herself in the demanding curriculum at Chilton Academy and the uneasy alliance she has formed with her intense schoolmate Paris Geller (Liza Weil, Stir of Echoes). Rory and Paris spent the summer together at a leadership conference in Washington D.C., where Rory managed to temporarily avoid the turmoil of her own love life. Now back in Stars Hollow for her senior year, she will finally have to choose between Dean (Jared Padalecki), her sweet, safe and steady boyfriend of over a year, or the smart, not-so-safe new boy in town, Jess (Milo Ventimiglia). The possibility of a romance between Rory and Jess continues to be a strain on Lorelai's long-standing friendship with Luke Danes (Scott Patterson, Little Big League), the owner of the local diner and the Mike Nichols to Lorelai's Elaine May. Also there to help Rory sort out her teen life is her friend Lane Kim (Keiko Agena, Felicity) who has now turned her music obsession into action. She has joined a band. Of course, her mother has no idea.
Adding unique style to Stars Hollow is a colorful roster of town characters including Miss Patty (Liz Torres, The John Larroquette Show), the local dance teacher and social commentator, haughty concierge Michel Gerard (Yanic Truesdale) and Kirk (Sean Gunn, Pearl Harbor), the town's jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
Gilmore Girls was the first series to make it to air supported by the Family Friendly Forum's script development fund. An initiative between some of the nation's top advertisers and The WB, the program is intended to offer a greater array of compelling family programming on network television. The strong and loving mother-daughter relationship portrayed in Gilmore Girls reflects the growing reality of this new type of American family.
This heartfelt one-hour drama was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Roseanne) who serves as executive producer with Gavin Polone (The Panic Room, Stir of Echoes) and Daniel Palladino (Roseanne) for Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Hofflund/Polone in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Source: The WB