Oy with the poodles already! It’s officially been 20 years since Gilmore Girls aired its divisive season 6 finale, concluding creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino’s run on the show, and we’re breaking down some must-know facts in regards to the series to have a good time the anniversary.
For instance, did you already know that Sherman-Palladino had the last 4 words of the show — that will eventually appear within the Netflix revival, A 12 months within the Life — planned from the very starting?
Or that Sean Gunn, who played fan-favorite Kirk on the show, actually appeared as a distinct character first?
Keep scrolling for 25 Things You Don’t Learn about Gilmore Girls, as seen within the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now:
1. The Gilmore Girls season 6 finale, “Partings,” aired on May 9, 2006.
2. The episode sees Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Luke’s (Scott Patterson) relationship collapse after a series of emotional miscommunications, ending in a breakup that upends their future. Meanwhile, Rory (Alexis Bledel) makes a series of impulsive decisions about her relationship with Logan (Matt Czuchry) as she steps into maturity outside of Yale.
3. It marked the ultimate episode written and directed by creator Sherman-Palladino and executive producer Palladino.
4. The husband-and-wife duo exited the show before season 7 due to contract disputes with The CW, though the finale was written before the creative team knew they might not be returning.
5. “It was a botched negotiation. It really was in regards to the undeniable fact that I used to be working an excessive amount of,” Sherman-Palladino said of the choice to go away.
6. Consequently, that they had no creative involvement within the show’s seventh and final season.
Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino attend the premiere of “Gilmore Girls: A 12 months within the Life” on November 18, 2016 Amanda Edwards/WireImage
7. After their departure, season 7 writers needed to reinterpret several intended arcs from scratch. When the Palladinos returned for the 2016 Netflix revival, A 12 months within the Life, they revisited several unresolved emotional threads from this finale.
8. The season 6 finale episode was directed by Sherman-Palladino herself.
9. Within the episode, the troubadour who’s singing while Luke and Lorelai argue is Sam Phillips, who wrote and performed the entire show’s original music.
10. Gilmore Girls originally premiered on October 5, 2000, on The WB.
11. Set within the fictional town of Stars Hole, Connecticut, the show starred Graham as Lorelai Gilmore and Bledel as her daughter, Rory.
Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel in ‘Gilmore Girls’ Scott Humbert / ©The CW /Courtesy Everett Collection
12. The show’s famously fast dialogue was dense: “The conventional hour show is, like, 50-60 pages of a script. And we used to get 88-92 pages,” Patterson told Us.
13. Sherman-Palladino reportedly banned improvisation to keep up the show’s precise rhythm and tone.
14. Bledel had no prior acting credits before being solid as Rory.
15. The long-lasting opening credits theme, “Where You Lead,” was rerecorded as a duet by Carole King and her daughter for the series.
16. Sherman-Palladino wrote the Gilmore Girls pilot after a stay at a quaint Connecticut inn that inspired Stars Hole.
17. Melissa McCarthy’s breakout as Sookie got here throughout the show’s early seasons, and her role was expanded after she became a fan favorite.
18. Sookie was actually initially played by Alex Borstein, but she needed to drop out of the role due to her obligations to MADtv.
19. Gunn was initially introduced as a DSL installer named Mick, though he returned as a series regular named Kirk after Sherman-Palladino forgot he already had a reputation within the show.
20. After the Palladinos’ departure, Graham stepped up as a producer for the seventh season of the show.
21. After leaving Gilmore Girls, Sherman-Palladino created The Return of Jezebel James, followed by the Sutton Foster-led ABC Family comedy drama, Bunheads.
22. It wasn’t until her work on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel that Sherman-Palladino got her first Emmy nod, ultimately taking home six Emmy awards for the Prime Video series.
Kelly Bishop, Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel in ‘Gilmore Girls: A 12 months within the Life’ Robert Voets / ©Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection
23. The four-episode miniseries revival Gilmore Girls: A 12 months within the Life, released on Netflix on November 25, 2016, is structured around 4 seasons within the lives of Rory and Lorelai.
24. Sherman-Palladino has said she all the time knew what the last 4 words of the show could be. She ended the Netflix revival with the long-lasting — and divisive — exchange: “Mom?” “Yeah?” “I’m pregnant.”
25. In December, Graham and Sherman-Palladino announced that they’re cowriting a book based on the series.