‘Gilmore Girls’ Was A ‘Total Fluke’ According to Amy Sherman-Palladino
Gilmore Girls has become a cult classic. The series had plenty of fans when it premiered back in 2000, but the show’s popularity skyrocketed when Netflix added it to its catalog. Today, it is one of the most streamed shows on the platform. Still, it almost didn’t happen. Show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, once admitted that the show that made her famous was a “total fluke.”
Amy Sherman-Palladino sold the idea for ‘Gilmore Girls’ with a single line
Gilmore Girls became a highly detailed and beloved show, but Sherman-Palladino admits that the series wasn’t well developed when she pitched it to network executives. During an appearance on Today in 2015, Sherman-Palladino recalled that she pitched Gilmore Girls as “It’s a mother and daughter and their, like, friends.” That was apparently all she needed to say.
Sherman-Palladino said as soon as the line left her mouth, the executives she was meeting with perked up and said they would buy the show. The decision to pitch Gilmore Girls was a bit of a last resort. She had pitched several other ideas that the network didn’t care for. From there, Gilmore Girls was born. She called the development of the series a “total fluke.”
A few things about the original script changed before the pilot, though
Sherman-Palladino might have developed the series on a whim, but turning the idea into a usable pilot was still arduous. There were changes along the way. For example, Scott Patterson’s role of Luke Danes didn’t initially exist.
Luke turned into Lorelai Gilmore’s most significant love interest. The duo married in the Netflix revival Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Initially, Luke was a woman named Daisy. In a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sherman-Palladino said the network wanted to see a male character, so she crossed out Daisy and turned the character into Luke. She said she didn’t even change the dialogue. Daisy wasn’t meant to be a significant character, nor was Luke, at first. Patterson’s chemistry with lead, Lauren Graham, changed all of that.
A real town did serve as the inspiration for ‘Gilmore Girls,’ though
While Sherman-Palladino sold the show with a single line, long before it was completely developed, she was inspired by a real place. Sherman-Palladino has often spoken about what inspired her to develop a town like Stars Hollow, the small Connecticut hamlet that Rory and Lorelai call home.
The famed showrunner said she was inspired to develop the quaint small town after visiting the village of Washington Depot, Connecticut. Luke’s Diner was also inspired by a small diner in the town. Sherman-Palladino said she visited a restaurant in the area where the patrons all knew each other and would walk behind the counter to grab their own coffee.
Nestled in Litchfield County, Washington Depot is considered one of the best places in Connecticut to live. It’s sleepy, safe, and rather picturesque, with small businesses doting the main strip. There is even a bookstore in the small town that is eerily similar to Stars Hollow Books.
