Things Even Superfans Didn’t Notice In ‘Gilmore Girls’

#1 Lane Mentions Her Parents In Plural, But Where Is Lane's Dad?

Seriously, she never just says "Oh, my Mom would hate that..." but "My parents would hate that." Lane's Dad never makes a physical appearance in the show and nobody ever asks where he is. He is the Carmen Sandiego of Stars Hollow except no-one seems to be singing his name in a similar theme song, if you catch my drift.

#2 More than 1000 yellow daisies

When Max proposes to Lorelai the first time, he does it completely wrong (he only did it to solve an argument). Of course, Lorelai doesn’t accept the proposal; instead, she explains to him what a proper proposal should look like. She says, “There should be a thousand yellow daisies, and candles and a horse, and I don’t know what the horse is doing there unless you’re riding it, which seems a little over-the-top…” Max takes this literally by sending 1000 yellow daisies to her in. But, there were not 1000 daisies in that scene. There were way more! Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino revealed: “It’s thousands and thousands and thousands. I think we lost count at some point…” To make use of what they had, they also put some daisies on apple boxes to fill the space.

#3 Dean Tells Rory He’s Been Watching Her

When Rory and Dean first meet, it’s pretty adorable. She’s leaving Stars Hollow High to embark on a new and exciting journey at Chilton, aka the fanciest and hardest school ever, and she’s packing up her locker. Dean chats with her and then says that he’s looking for a job. Rory suggests checking with Miss Patty since she knows what’s going on in the town at all times and he asks if she wants to show him where her dance studio is. But after a while, their conversation turns absolutely hilarious, even though it might not have been intended that way. Dean literally tells Rory that he’s been watching her. He says that it’s not in a creepy way. It’s just that she reads under a tree most days and he thinks that she has such concentration that he had to talk to her. He says that a fight broke out the other day and it was a big scene and she never even noticed since she was so absorbed in her book. He really wanted to meet her after that. Um, okay, Dean. Maybe don’t tell a girl that you want to date that you were watching her.

#4 Grandmother Gilmore Is Referred To As Being Dead, But Then Shows Up Episodes Later

In Episode 3 of the first season, Lorelai "Trix" Gilmore is talked about by Richard and Emily which basically implies that she's no longer living. Yet, lo and behold — a miracle! Trix actually turns up 15 episodes later, alive and well and driving Emily crazy.

#5 The recycled dresses

Well, the crew that worked on Gilmore Girls sure did their best to save as much money as possible (like putting the yellow daisies on apple boxes to fill the scene, as we mentioned previously). One of the coolest things they did was recycling the dresses used in Rory’s cotillion. The white dresses were dyed and used in the iconic “You Jump, I Jump, Jack” scene, where Rory holds Logan’s hand and jumps off a platform with an umbrella in her hand. The dresses were also used in the Bat Mitzvah scene in “Bridesmaids Revisited.” If you look closely, you’ll notice that the dresses were cut. That’s pretty cool, huh?

#6 Lorelai Wants Emily To Buy Rory A Plastic Pink Guitar Purse

Yes, this actually happens. In the sixth episode of the first season called “Rory’s Birthday Parties”, Emily asks Lorelai if she will go with her to the mall to help her get Rory a birthday present. Lorelai makes a beeline for a plastic pink guitar purse. Yes. A purse shaped like a plastic pink guitar. It’s just as bright and ugly as it sounds. Emily, of course, is totally freaked out by this and doesn’t think that it’s a good gift idea. You don’t either. You love Lorelai and you know that she’s the fun, cool mom and all that, but you don’t get why she thinks this is a good present idea. It’s just not something that Rory would like. And she would look kind of weird carrying it around. Because anyone would. Because it’s the worst. Thankfully, Emily picks out some bracelets instead, and Rory is happy with her gifts. Phew.

#7 Kirk Is Originally Called Mick

Kirk of all trades (master of none), first appeared in Episode 2 of the first season as a DSL installer called Mick, while in Episode 3 he becomes a character credited as "Swan Guy" (he delivers swans to The Independence Inn), but by the time Episode 5 rolls around he becomes the Kirk that we know and love (and he remains to go through dozens of job roles for the remainder of the show).

#8 Dave really did go to California

Dave Rygalski (played by Adam Brody) appeared in season three of Gilmore Girls, as he’s looking for a drummer (that’s where Lane comes in). Lane and Dave hit it off and start dating, though he has to pretend to be a Christian guitarist to get Mrs. Kim’s approval. It takes a while, but he finally does get her approval. Unfortunately, Dave moves away to California for college by the end of the season. Did you notice that this was actually the same time that Adam Brody left to star in The O.C.? For those that didn’t watch The O.C. (or don’t live in the U.S.), it stands for Orange County, which is in California. So, he really did go to California!

#9 Sookie Is A Total Klutz

Oh, Sookie. She is truly one of the greatest television characters ever. That’s why it was so heartbreaking when it seemed like she wouldn’t be in the revival… and that’s why it was so amazing when news broke that, yup, she would be in it after all. Phew. In the first season, Sookie is incredibly klutzy. She is seriously always getting in trouble in the kitchen. She sets things on fire. She hits her cooks on the head with a frying pan. She sends objects flying all over. It’s seriously funny. She gets less klutzy as the series goes on, but in season one, she’s definitely causing some havoc in the kitchen. It’s really fun to watch. Another amazing Sookie moment is when she freaks out that a food critic didn’t absolutely adore her “magic risotto.” There are a lot of amazing Melissa McCarthy moments in the first season.

#10 Dean Talks About Owning A Motorcycle (Which We Never See)

In Episode 15 of Season 1, Dean mentions that he owns a Suzuki motorcycle. It must be purely for the show back home in his garage or something because we never see him riding it once.

#11 Michel was the only one who never talked about relationships

Did you notice that, throughout the series, Lorelai’s employee, Michel, was the only one who never talked about romantic relationships? Lorelai gushed about Luke, Max and Christopher and Sookie had Jackson, but Michel never spoke about his love life. All we ever heard about was his obsession with Celine Dion (but she’s taken and probably doesn’t know of his existence).

Spoiler alert for those who have not seen the Netflix revival: details will be revealed. In A Year in the Life, Michel finally gets a love life! We find out that he’s married to a man named Frederic and planning to adopt a child! This revelation confirmed many fans’ assumptions and made us all so happy!

#12 Luke Is Super Obvious About His Love Of Lorelai

In the first season, when Lorelai tells Luke that a Chilton dad asked her out and she said no, he says “good.” She slowly starts to realize that he just might have a crush on her, although it seems like she doesn’t really know that he likes her for a while. You can totally tell, though, if you rematch these episodes knowing that Luke has always loved Lorelai and that eventually, the two of them are going to end up together. Every line and every look becomes even more telling and obvious. Luke definitely cares a lot about her, whether he realizes how he truly feels or not. When Emily observes the two of them interacting, she asks how long they have been dating, and of course Lorelai denies it. But that is another moment that makes her wonder if there could be a romantic spark between them. Hmmm…

#13 Original Photos Of Christopher Show Someone Who Isn't Christopher

In early episodes of the show, Rory stares at photobooth photos of a young Lorelai and Christopher. I don't know who that guy might be (imposter!), but it definitely isn't the man who is introduced as Rory's dad episodes later.

#14 Paris Is A Serious Mean Girl

These days, you know Paris as a very Type A, very controlling, very funny friend of Rory’s. You also remember the time when she went nuts as the editor of the Yale newspaper and hid under a fort that she had created. But do you remember that at the beginning of the show, Paris was a total jerk to Rory, and even bullied her? The truth is that these scenes are pretty hilarious since the things that Paris says are just so dorky. She literally gets right into Rory’s face and says, “You’re going down.” She also makes fun of Rory getting a D on an English paper. Academic insults. Yup. The reason why this stuff is so funny is that Paris is so serious. She doesn’t like that Rory is the new girl at school and she wants to see her suffer. Of course, they end up being good friends, and you learn that Paris does have a soft side.

#15 Michel Is The Worst Staff Member Ever But Never Loses His Job

For a second, just imagine that you turn up to your day job every day, snarling at customers, being rude to staff, sarcastic to your manager and flat out refusing to do your job and complaining about it loudly every second that you have the chance. This is Michel — owner of the Worst Employee Ever gold medal, who was never fired and even more unbelievably was invited to become a partner in Sookie and Lorelai's own Inn business. I don't know about you, but I've never had such good luck.

#16 Caesar went to Chilton

In the episode, “Rory’s Dance,” you’ll see Aris Alvarado (the actor who plays Caesar) in the background. So, basically, Caesar is a Chilton alumnus! It’s weird, right? Usually, Chilton students come from privileged backgrounds and their families have good connections to jobs. So, why on earth is Caesar a cook? And how did he end up at Luke’s diner, all the way in Stars Hollow? It all seems so random and for years, it was just a conspiracy theory amongst hardcore fans who did notice. But, Aris Alvarado has confirmed recently that this is all true (and not just a case of double casting)! He said, “I’ve been waiting, I never wanted to say anything [so I could] see who was going to find me one day! Three years later, you see me working at Luke’s, so I’m like 20 years old, 21 at the time.”

#17 Rory Loves Golf

Yeah, that hat is pretty hilarious. It’s also pretty funny that Rory really does seem to genuinely love that hat. She also loves golf. In the third episode of the first season called “Kill Me Now”, Rory has to fulfill a sports requirement at school and so she goes with Richard to his club so he can teach her golf. Lorelai is totally against this because she doesn’t want Rory to enter the stuffy, wealthy world that she left behind. When Rory tells her that she actually had a good time, Lorelai is super pissed off, although she tries to hide her feelings from her daughter (which she isn’t super good at). You have to laugh that Rory actually enjoys playing golf and that she likes the whole country club experience. You probably didn’t expect that. Golf is never mentioned again, so this is pretty much the only time that it comes up, but it’s a really great episode.

#18 Baby pictures

Devoted Gilmore Girls fans could probably point out a bunch of continuity mistakes in the series. We’ll just point out one more, though. In “Emily in Wonderland,” Rory asks Emily for baby pictures of Lorelai, for a visual family history project she has to do, but Emily says Lorelai burned them all when she was seven, Why did she burn them? According to Emily, it was “because she had such a big head when she was little.” However, earlier in the series (in the “Love and War and Snow” episode, which is the same episode that the mystery man photo appears in), Emily, Richard, and Rory looked at a baby picture of Lorelai in a white, fluffy dress. Maybe they just forgot about that one!

#19 The color of Luke’s hat

We all know that Luke’s outfit consists of a flannel shirt and a baseball cap. But, have you ever paid close attention to his cap? He starts off wearing a brown cap, but when Lorelai gives him a blue one as a Christmas present in season one, he dons it for six whole seasons. Then, when Luke and Lorelai’s engagement breaks off in season seven, he stops wearing the blue hat and starts wearing a black one. Clearly, his cap is more than just a cap; it is a reflection of his mood.

Fun fact: Scott Patterson, the actor who plays Luke, played in the minor leagues for the Rangers, Yankees and the Dodgers. So, he does have a personal connection to baseball.

#20 Chad Michael Murray Is Creepy AF

When Rory starts going to Chilton, Chad Michael Murray’s character Tristan keeps calling her “Mary.” At first, she just thinks that he doesn’t know her actual name, but when Lorelai picks her up at the end of the school day, she tells her daughter that that’s code for “Virgin Mary.” Rory talks about how all of the students must be super smart since they use “biblical insults.” But honestly, Tristan is absolutely creepy, and this is even more obvious when you go back and rewatch the first season. He keeps bugging her even though it’s clear that she has no interest in talking to him and he even hits on her at the birthday party that Emily throws her. It seems like no matter where Rory goes, he’s there, and it’s seriously creepy. And kind of funny. Because it does feel fairly harmless and 90s/early 2000s teen show.

#21 Rory & Lorelai Eat Nothing But Junk Food But Maintain Stunning Complexions

Listen, miraculous metabolisms definitely exist in the real world, but Rory and Lorelai take it to a new level. Not only do they have the purest skin known to television but they also don't suffer the same tummy bloat that the rest of us do following four Thanksgiving Dinners in one day (can't say I've had the pleasure, though!) or the sort of spot outbreak that unleashes itself following a steady evening of fried food and sugar.

#22 Full circle

If you’ve already watched Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, you probably noticed the theme of things coming full circle. But, this theme was actually present within the original series, too (although, it was in a much more subtle way). At the end of the first episode of the series, Lorelai and Rory are sitting in one of their favorite places, Luke’s Diner. At the end of the very last episode, they are sitting in the same spot. Luke’s Diner was a very significant place—it’s where Lorelai and Luke got engaged, Jess and Rory shared kisses and more—so, it’s fitting that the series ended in this safe, familiar setting.

#23 Lorelai Hates Avocado

Yes. This is true. Now you are at a crossroads in your Gilmore Girls fandom. You love the show. You love Lorelai. But you, of course, also love avocado. It’s a staple of your diet. You love everything about it. It’s amazing, it’s filling, it’s creamy, and it’s the best topping for toast. And, naturally, you’re a big fan of enjoying some guac and chips. But when you rewatch the first season of Gilmore Girls, you realize that Lorelai actually hates avocado. In one scene, she and Rory are having Friday night dinner at Emily and Richard’s and Emily sees Lorelai pushing her salad around on her plate. Emily asks, “What are you doing?” and Lorelai says, “I’m taking out the avocado.” Emily asks, “Since when don’t you like avocado?” and Lorelai responds, “Since I said, ‘Gross, what’s that?’ and you said ‘Avocado’.” Um, okay, Lorelai. You’re totally wrong here. Avocado is the best.

#24 Lots Of Food Gets Ordered And Quickly Abandoned

Lorelai and Rory are busy people, we get it. But there are so many occasions where they both order a gigantic feast, eat a couple of bites and then jump up and leave with great urgency. I don't know about you, but when there are pancakes in front of me, schedule is damned, because those bad boys are getting demolished.

#25 Anna Nardini and Sasha are played by the same actress

In “Here Comes the Son,” Jess goes to Venice Beach to visit his dad, Jimmy. It’s there that he meets Jimmy’s live-in girlfriend, Sasha, for the first time. She is only seen in this episode, but the actress (Sherilyn Fenn) appears later on in the series as another character. Remember April? Ha, of course, you do—she was the least liked character in the entire series! Well, her mom, Anna Nardini, is also played by Sherilyn Fenn. Of course, she looks a bit different as Anna—with longer, darker hair— but, anyone who remembers details and pays close attention would have picked up on it. After all, those striking eyes of hers are pretty unique.

#26 Rory Carries Around 100 Backpacks

Okay, so maybe 100 is a total exaggeration, but seriously, Rory Gilmore carries around a lot of bags in the first season. She definitely has to since she reads so much for school. It’s actually pretty crazy. There’s a hilarious moment when Rory walks into the kitchen at the inn and Lorelai says, “Behold, the thing that reads a lot.” Since Rory always needs to carry around several books so she has lots of options — hey, you never know if you will be in the mood for a novel or a memoir — she must get serious shoulder and backaches all the time. As the series progresses, she seems to carry around just one backpack. Maybe she gets used to going to Chilton and can read quicker or gets her homework done at lunch or something. Or maybe the writers just wanted to prove that Rory really was working super hard at her fancy new private school.

#27 Why Doesn't Lane's Mom Wonder Where Her Pocket Money Is Being Spent?

Let's face facts: Mrs. Kim is not the sort of Mom who would give pocket money without wanting to know exactly where every last penny of it was spent (and with proof, no doubt!). Before her Mom was privy to her love of rock, Lane was either forging some very elaborate store receipts to please her Mother or there were some very sketchy plot holes happening surrounding her secret stash of band t-shirts and music.

#28 Alex Borstein plays both Drella and Miss Celine

Yes, the casting director for Gilmore Girls loved re-using actors. Here, we have yet another actress who plays two different characters in the series. Alex Borstein plays Drella, the Independence Inn harpist and Emily’s stylist, Miss Celine. We just love her as Miss Celine; she is the epitome of high fashion—the gloves, the craziness, the (fake) accent. The disguise is pretty good, huh? Did you notice it was Borstein?

To add to that, Borstein also voiced Lorelai’s new neighbor’s wife in “Eight O’Clock at the Oasis” and the museum voices in “To Live and Let Diorama.” Interestingly, she was set to play Sookie, too! But, we’re glad they went with Melissa McCarthy, instead.

#29 Rory Steals Cornstarch

Remember when Dean kisses Rory for the first time in Dosie’s Market? Before Dean plants one on her, Rory grabs a box of cornstarch to act like she’s in the market for a reason other than visiting him. She tells him that she has “very important thickening needs” and when he kisses her, she says “thank you.” But she ends up stealing the cornstarch because after she thanks him, she runs out of the store and over to Lane’s house. It’s a pretty hilarious scene since of all the things to steal from a grocery store, cornstarch is definitely a random one. This moment comes back in a super nostalgic way in the Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life revival when Rory bumps into Dean in the market and holds up a box of the stuff, asking if he remembers it. This is yet another unique, funny, quirky moment that makes Gilmore Girls the great show that it is.

#30 Lane's Date Wears A T-Shirt By A Band Who Notoriously Didn't Make T-Shirts

In Episode 12 of Season 1, Lane joins Dean and Rory (and some other dude called Todd) for a disastrously awkward double date. Todd is apparently wearing a t-shirt from the band Fugazi, which Lane attempts to strike up some conversation about. Except, Fugazi were actually a hardcore punk band who were notoriously against selling band t-shirts. Maybe he bought one of the many bootlegged ones which did the rounds back in the day?

#31 Brad Langford’s disappearance

Chilton was filled with many personalities. Most notably, of course, was Rory’s frenemy, Paris Geller. She seemed to outshine all the other students at Chilton (and we’re not just talking academically). So, it may have been hard to notice that some students appeared, then disappeared. One such student was Brad Langford. He appears in season two, with a fear of Paris (which we completely understand, by the way). In season three, he disappeared for a while to be in a Broadway play. Interestingly, the actor who portrayed Brad (Adam Wylie) really did leave Gilmore Girls temporarily to appear in the Broadway production of Into the Woods. Talk about life imitating art!

#32 Emily And Richard Love Frozen Pizza

In the first season episode called “Love And War And Snow”, Rory sleeps over at her grandparents’ house on a Friday night since a storm is preventing her from going back home to Stars Hollow after school. Since the Cook isn’t able to make it to the Gilmore house thanks to the storm, Rory takes charge of dinner. She finds a frozen pizza and decides to make it. At first, Emily and Richard aren’t thrilled with this idea, but once Rory grates some cheese onto Emily’s slice, saying that it’s a Lorelai Gilmore specialty, Emily is obsessed. She makes Richard try it and soon they are both super big fans of frozen pizza. It’s just so funny since you would never expect these two to even eat something like this, let alone actually enjoy it. It just goes to show that people can surprise you, even if they seem stuck in their ways.

#33 Michel Is Against A Cat Funeral

Michel is definitely one of the best characters on this show, and like everyone, he changes throughout the series. When Michel’s beloved dog Chin-Chin passes away in the season seven episode “Farewell, My Pet”, he is absolutely devastated and he makes sure that everyone says goodbye to his pet in style. So it’s pretty funny to realize that in the first season, he is totally against Babette and Maury throwing a funeral for their own beloved pet, their cat Cinnamon. When Michel goes to their house to drop something off for Lorelai, he asks if a party is going on and when Lorelai tells him that it’s a cat funeral, he thinks it’s a pretty crazy idea. Of course, he changes his mind later on, probably because once he becomes a pet owner himself, he realizes how much you care about your pets and that they become a super big and important part of your life.

#34 Lorelai Hates Dean At First

Do you remember that Lorelai absolutely hates Dean at first? At first, she hates him because Rory says that she doesn’t want to go to Chilton after all and Lorelai figures out that it’s because of Dean. Then Lorelai hates him when she learns that he kissed Rory and Rory didn’t tell her about it. Lorelai talks to Luke about it and says that she’s just not cool with it, and Luke says that, well, Rory is growing up and she has to get used to it. Luke is totally the voice of reason on this show. Well, at least some of the time. It’s funny to see Lorelai so bent out of shape over something like this since let’s be real, Rory and Dean’s budding romance is super innocent. It’s young love. Nothing super crazy is going to happen. What is Lorelai so afraid of? Oh right. She got pregnant at sixteen and doesn’t want Rory to repeat that. Makes sense.