Season 1 of "Gilmore Girls" premiered in the Thursday 8pm time slot on the WB, competing against popular shows like "Survivor" and "Friends," and ran from October 5, 2000 to May 10, 2001. The WB also began airing reruns on Monday nights in early 2001 to build the audience. During this time, I was in sixth grade and Rory was in 10th grade. Why does this matter? I suppose I want you to understand that I lived through the days of puka shell necklaces, butt crack-bearing jeans, and hideous bolero sweaters. I remember when that goddamn Macy Gray song saturated the radio airwaves and I desperately longed for a Baby G watch. The terrible Y2K culture lives within me (no shade to Ms. Gray), so let me take you on a ride.
One piece of background information that's worth noting is the way that funding came together for the pilot (the details of which come from A.S. Berman's "The Gilmore Girls Companion"). Amy Sherman-Palladino originally pitched a rough idea of the show with her manager, Gavin Polone (who became an executive producer), to NBC and the WB. The latter, a newer network c/o the 1993 repeal of the FCC's Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, was interested in the show but wanted more details. Amy and Dan took some time off in CT where they became enamored with the small town of Washington Depot (AKA proto-Stars Hollow) while Polone kept pushing WB's executive VP, Jordan Levin, to sign off on "Gilmore Girls."
Levin, who wasn't sure he had the money for the pilot, came back to Polone with the idea of funding it through the Association of National Advertisers' Family Friendly Programming Forum, "a coalition of dozens of major advertisers [...] with the goal of bestowing a positive image on the very sponsors that usually found themselves on the front lines of any TV boycott launched by the easily offended." The FFPF partially funded the pilot, in addition to seven other scripts, along with the WB. Aside from the pilot, they claimed to have no influence over the show, but advertisers were able to pull their support on anything they felt wasn't "family friendly." Their involvement didn't go beyond the development stage of "Gilmore," although I have to imagine there was always pressure for the show to remain palatable to certain types of advertisers. The WB also had ties to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy thanks to their president, Bruce Rosenblum, who sat on the board.
I bring all this up because, especially to a modern viewer, some of the show's sexual politics feel a bit antiquated until you consider the media landscape at the time. When a network is funded by ad dollars, there is always pressure to avoid ruffling feathers, and I think this explains at least some of the cringier moments related to sex and pregnancy. Even with a foul-mouthed Dorothy Parker devotee at the helm, you can only do so much with a show dependent on money from people who think abortion is a sin (I'm assuming). Maybe think of the show as Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), ASP as Lorelai (Lauren Graham), and the network/advertisers as Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard (Edward Herrmann) Gilmore. In my head, this analogy works.
S1 is centered around Rory's acceptance to Chilton, a fancy private school that improves her chances of getting into Harvard. Her single mom, Lorelai, who had her at 16, doesn't have the funds and is forced to ask the wealthy parents she hasn't seen since Rory was an infant for money. In exchange for Rory's tuition, they request a weekly Friday night dinner and thus, the overarching structure of the show is born. Going from complete estrangement to seeing your parents weekly is enough to make anyone go insane, which is probably what leads Lorelai to her ill-fated relationship with Rory's English teacher, Max Medina (Scott Cohen). Rory is also boo'd up this season with Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki), the new kid from Chicago who starts out cool before taking a nosedive into insecure little bitch baby territory.
If I was doing an abbreviated rewatch of the show and had to narrow it down to my favorite episodes, here are the ones I would watch. I've seen this show 10,000x, so I'm not really thinking about storyline or character continuity for a first-time watcher, just my personal "I feel like crap on toast and have a few hours to kill in bed" favorites.
🌼 Top 5 Episodes From "Gilmore Girls" Season 1
- "Rory's Birthday Parties" - If there's one item every kid in the early aughts wanted, it's a clamshell iBook, and Rory receives one from her mother for her sixteenth birthday. By using two contrasting parties, one at the elder Gilmores' and one at the girls', we see how radically different Lorelai is from her parents and begin to understand her stifled upbringing.
- "Kiss and Tell" - Lorelai freaks out when Rory doesn't immediately confess to kissing Dean near the ant spray at Doose's Market, and in a desperate ploy to insert herself into their dynamic, invites him (without permission) to watch "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
- "Rory's Dance" - Rory and Dean dance to Mazzy Star, Tristan (Chad Michael Murray) nearly gets his clock cleaned, and any good will between Emily and Lorelai dissipates in an accusatory teen pregnancy fight. Miss Patty's (Liz Torres) Yorkie, whom we never see again, also makes a brief appearance.
- "Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers" - It's Rory and Dean's 3-month anniversary, which is apparently the point where he goes from somewhat normal teen boy to needy clinger who is only tolerable in microdoses. His meltdown occurs during the Firelight Festival, so it's at least offset by the presence of twinkle lights.
- "Love, Daisies and Troubadours" - Just as Rachel (Lisa Ann Hadley) leaves and Luke (Scott Patterson) comes to terms with his crush on Lorelai, Max swoops in with a grand 1,000 yellow daisies proposal. Rory and Dean get back together, too, which I don't condone even though their PJ Harvey makeout is romantic.
All 21 S1 recaps are listed below. I suggest reading them with Toaster Pizza in one hand and a frosted strawberry Pop-Tart in the other. Don't forget to keep your peepers peeled for the dreaded clown pillow!
