Gilmore Girls<\/a>\u201d premiered 25 years ago, pulling fans into the unique world of Stars Hollow, where Lorelai Gilmore chose to start anew after giving birth to her daughter, Rory, at the age of 16.<\/p>\nTo celebrate the show\u2019s 25th anniversary, here are 10 of the best episodes, listed in chronological order.<\/p>\n
\u2018Pilot\u2019 (Season 1, episode 1)<\/h3>\n
If anything, the pilot episode deserves to be here because it brought the town of Stars Hollow and its large supply of eccentric characters to life. There\u2019s pop culture references from the get-go \u2014 Jack Kerouac, Macy Gray \u2014 and chemistry between fast-talking coffee drinker Lorelai and diner owner Luke, a man of few words. Meanwhile, the studious Rory meets her first love interest, Dean, and prepares to go to a private school.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s the start of Friday night dinners \u2014 where Lorelai\u2019s estranged parents, Richard and Emily Gilmore, have Lorelai and Rory over each week in exchange for providing financial support for Rory\u2019s education.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a great setup, and dialogue and scenes from this episode are occasionally referenced throughout the show\u2019s seven seasons.<\/p>\n
Best quote: <\/b>Luke: \u201cCoffee, fries. I can\u2019t stand it. This is so unhealthy. Rory, please, put down that cup of coffee. You do not want to grow up to be like your mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rory, with a smile: \u201cToo late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene:<\/b> The opening, where Lorelai walks into Luke\u2019s and demands an excessive amount of coffee.<\/p>\n\u2018The Bracebridge Dinner\u2019 (Season 2, episode 10)<\/h3>\n
There\u2019s nothing like a Stars Hollow function. When a group is snowed in and unable to attend a 19th-century themed dinner event at Lorelai\u2019s inn, Lorelai decides to throw the event \u2014 complete with horse-drawn carriages \u2014 for Stars Hollow instead. Lorelai also invites her parents, making it one of the rare episodes where her Stars Hollow life intertwines with her old life.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fun to see all of the characters interact with each other \u2014 and the old-timey dinner makes it even more of a good time. This episode also shows Rory developing feelings for Jess, Luke\u2019s nephew.<\/p>\n
Best quote: <\/b>Babette, on showing up to the dinner early: \u201c<\/b>Morey (Babette\u2019s husband) hates being the first anywhere. He thinks it hurts his street credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morey: \u201cCharlie Parker was late to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Babette: \u201cCharlie Parker had more drugs in him than a Rite-Aid. Forget Charlie Parker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene:<\/b> The opening scene, where Lorelai and Rory are taking part in the town\u2019s snowman building contest, competing against a man they view to be \u201cthe Michelangelo of snow.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2018Application Anxiety\u2019 (Season 3, episode 3)<\/h3>\n
Everyone\u2019s on edge as Rory starts applying to college. Much of the episode deals with Rory trying to ease the anxiety, including meeting with a bizarre Ivy League family that likes to quiz each other on obscure trivia over dinner.<\/p>\n
But the best part of the episode is a Stars Hollow town meeting, run by the town\u2019s self-serving selectman, Taylor Doose. Town meeting scenes in \u201cGilmore Girls\u201d are always promising, and this scene, involving Taylor pitching the idea for an old-fashioned soda shop, is one of the best.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, Taylor presents the town with a miniature model of the shop \u2014 but all anyone can focus on is the enormous size of the horses outside the shop.<\/p>\n
Best quote<\/b>: For her college application, Rory is deciding on a person to write about who has had a significant influence on her. At one point, she lands on Sylvia Plath.<\/p>\n
Lorelai: \u201cHm, might send the wrong message.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rory: \u201cThe sticking her head in the oven thing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lorelai: \u201cYeah. Although she did make her kids a snack first, shows a certain maternal instinct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene:<\/b> The town meeting.<\/p>\n\u2018They Shoot Gilmores, Don\u2019t They?\u2019 (Season 3, episode 7)<\/h3>\n
\u201cGilmore Girls\u201d shines best when it\u2019s showing off Stars Hollow\u2019s wonderfully eccentric events \u2014 like the annual 24-hour dance marathon.<\/p>\n
Lorelai wants nothing more than to snatch the trophy away from four-time champion Kirk, so she ropes Rory into being her dance partner. There\u2019s coffee from Luke\u2019s and egg-salad sandwiches from the God-fearing Mrs. Kim to keep the dancers energized (each sandwich, of course, comes with a pamphlet titled \u201cDancing for the Devil.\u201d)<\/p>\n
As the hours wind down, Lane starts to fall in love, Rory\u2019s relationship with Dean disintegrates and it\u2019s the start of a new relationship with Jess.<\/p>\n
Best quote:<\/b> Rory, commenting on Mrs. Kim\u2019s pamphlet: \u201cBoy, her flames are getting really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lane Kim: \u201cWell, she just bought a new color printer. You can do a ton of stuff with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene:<\/b> Lorelai consoling a heartbroken Rory on the dance floor while Kirk holds a large trophy and jogs around them to the \u201cRocky\u201d theme song.<\/p>\n\u2018Those are Strings, Pinocchio\u2019 (Season 3, episode 22)<\/h3>\n
This is one of those rare episodes where Lorelai and her parents get along, all united by their pride in Rory, who is graduating as valedictorian from the private school, Chilton. In true \u201cGilmore Girls\u201d fashion, the graduation mixes warmth and humor in a beautiful way.<\/p>\n
From a jealous Paris Geller intimidating Rory with 25 years of Ivy League valedictorian statistics \u2014 oddly, a lot of them have died in car crashes \u2014 to the classmate who decides to belt show tunes in place of a speech to Rory\u2019s moving words that have everyone in her life blubbering, this is the perfect graduation.<\/p>\n
Best quote<\/b>: From Rory\u2019s graduation speech: \u201cMy mother never gave me any idea that I couldn\u2019t do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. She filled our house with love and fun and books and music, unflagging in her efforts to give me role models from Jane Austen to Eudora Welty to Patti Smith. As she guided me through these incredible 18 years, I don\u2019t know if she ever realized that the person I most wanted to be was her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene<\/b>:<\/b><\/i> Rory\u2019s graduation.<\/p>\n\u2018The Lorelais\u2019 First Day at Yale\u2019 (Season 4, episode 2)<\/h3>\n
This episode marks a new chapter for Rory, as she sets off for Yale. At her dorm, Rory is shocked to learn that her former classmate and nemesis-turned-sort-of-friend, Paris, is going to be one of her roommates (it\u2019s not a coincidence). She also gets homesick after just a few hours and asks Lorelai to come back and stay with her the first night to help her get settled in.<\/p>\n
The episode features a hilarious bit about Rory\u2019s ratty dorm mattress, which somehow keeps ending up in the bed of Luke\u2019s truck (Luke describes it as being \u201clike a horror movie\u201d).<\/p>\n
Best quote:<\/b> Paris, telling a new roommate about her life coach: \u201cHe\u2019s done so much for my people skills. I can cope with the little annoyances now. For instance, the old Paris would\u2019ve been bothered by your penchant to hover. It would\u2019ve made her wanna wring your neck until your eyeballs popped out. But now, I accept it because I can\u2019t control everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene: <\/b>Rory realizing she\u2019s going to be seeing a lot of Paris for the next four years.<\/p>\n\u2018The Festival of Living Art\u2019 (Season 4, episode 7)<\/h3>\n
This episode earned \u201cGilmore Girls\u201d an Emmy Award for most outstanding makeup in a series. In \u201cThe Festival of Living Art,\u201d the Stars Hollow townsfolk bring famous paintings to life with their own reenactments. This includes Kirk taking his role as Jesus Christ in \u201cThe Last Supper\u201d extremely seriously \u2014 to the point that he shuns the town troubadour, who has landed the part of Judas.<\/p>\n
Other highlights in this episode include the first appearance of Sebastian Bach from the heavy metal band Skid Row \u2014 who joins the local Stars Hollow band, Hep Alien \u2014 and Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) preparing to have her first child.<\/p>\n
Best quote:<\/b> Kirk on getting the role of Jesus: \u201cI\u2019m gonna do it right, too. Lots of research. What\u2019s a good book to read?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lorelai: \u201cUh, the Bible?\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene:<\/b> Kirk getting into character, speaking in parables to encourage the people of Stars Hollow when they feel like giving up and not going through with the festival.<\/p>\n\u2018You Jump, I Jump, Jack\u2019 (Season 5, episode 7)<\/h3>\n
With some prodding from Logan, a budding love interest, Rory breaks out of her shell and takes part in a dangerous stunt staged by a secret society at Yale. This is one of the first times in the show Rory is really seen taking a big risk, and it foreshadows her relationship with Logan.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lorelai has started dating Luke, and her parents want to get involved. Emily hosts an awkward dinner for the couple, and Richard later takes Luke golfing. In between rounds, Richard encourages an uncomfortable Luke to franchise his diner. It also becomes clear Luke has no idea how to golf.<\/p>\n
Best quote: <\/b>Emily, making conversation with Luke at dinner: \u201cI had a friend who ate at a diner once and the next day she dropped dead. Her family considered suing the place but there\u2019s nothing to get from these people. A couple of stools and a toaster. But they were sure it was a matter of hygiene and they eventually drove them out of the state. I don\u2019t want to tell you what they found when they moved the stove. Would you like another beer, Luke?\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene: <\/b>Rory and Logan taking part in the Life and Death Brigade\u2019s big stunt<\/p>\n\u2018Friday Night\u2019s Alright for Fighting\u2019 (Season 6, episode 13)<\/h3>\n
This episode has a lot going for it \u2014 Paris\u2019 meltdown as editor of the Yale Daily News, Rory\u2019s efforts to keep the paper alive and Logan wooing his way back into Rory\u2019s heart. But the last 10 minutes of this episode are some of the best in \u201cGilmore Girls\u201d history.<\/p>\n
A lot has happened leading up to this scene \u2014 Rory dropped out of Yale and moved in with her grandparents, leading to one of the biggest fights between Rory and Lorelai and causing an even greater rift between Lorelai and her parents.<\/p>\n
Eventually, things start returning to normal and reconciliation begins. But it doesn\u2019t happen without one of the most brutal Friday night dinners to ever take place. This final scene hilariously flashes between moments of anger, frustration, laughter, peace and exhaustion. It\u2019s a delightful balance of outburst and civility.<\/p>\n
Best quote:<\/b> \u201cD-day, the paper came out. Kennedy gets shot, the paper comes out. But three months of the Geller reign of terror, and the whole \u2026 institution comes tumbling down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene:<\/b> The Friday night dinner<\/p>\n\u2018Bon Voyage\u2019 (Season 7, episode 22)<\/h3>\n
Rory has graduated from Yale and is planning on taking a summer trip with her mom. But at the last minute, she gets a job covering then-presidential hopeful Barack Obama on the campaign trail. The episode shifts into gear as Luke, still ever in love with Lorelai, secretly rounds up the entire town to throw Rory a surprise party.<\/p>\n
Lorelai\u2019s parents are even invited. It\u2019s moving to see their pride for both Lorelai and Rory, and it shows how far the entire family has progressed. It\u2019s also poignant that this would end up being Richard Gilmore\u2019s last episode, as actor Edward Hermann died in 2014 \u2014 two years before the Netflix revival.<\/p>\n
Best quote:<\/b> Lorelai, on Rory\u2019s farewell party: \u201cI can\u2019t believe they did this for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard: \u201cI don\u2019t think this is all for Rory. I think this party\u2019s a testament to you, Lorelai. … It takes a remarkable person to inspire all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best scene:<\/b> The final scene at Luke\u2019s, where Lorelai and Rory enjoy coffee before Rory takes off. It ties back beautifully to the pilot episode.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cGilmore Girls\u201d premiered 25 years ago, pulling fans into the unique world of Stars Hollow, where Lorelai Gilmore chose to start anew after giving birth to her daughter, Rory, at the age of 16. To celebrate the show\u2019s 25th anniversary, here are 10 of the best episodes, listed in chronological order. \u2018Pilot\u2019 (Season 1, episode […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2071176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[354875,327964,354109,356500,354828,354830],"class_list":["post-2071175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-emily-gilmore","tag-episode","tag-gilmore-girls","tag-lorelai-and-rory","tag-lorelai-gilmore","tag-stars-hollow"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/The-10-best-\u2018Gilmore-Girls-episodes.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2071175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2071177,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071175\/revisions\/2071177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2071176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2071175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2071175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2071175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}