Gilmore Girls - Unaired Pilot

Two different actors playing Dean and Sookie (Alex Borstein, ended playing Della the harpist).

Alex Borstein is married to actor and writer Jackson Douglas. The couple met at the ACME comedy training program. Douglas proposed to her during the taping of a MADtv skit; the couple married in 1999. Douglas appeared on Gilmore Girls (as Borstein did) and played Jackson Belville, Sookie's husband. Ironically, Borstein was originally cast as Sookie, but had to drop out due to contract obligations with FOX.

CHARACTER TRIVIA

1. Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Kelly Bishop, and Melissa McCarthy and Scott Patterson appeared in all 153 episodes.

2. The character of diner owner Luke was originally developed as a woman. Scott Patterson, who plays Luke, was only signed on for the pilot episode. But the incredible chemistry between him and Lauren Graham led to his character becoming a series regular.

3. In the Season 5 opener "Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller", when Luke is leaving Lorelai messages on her answering machine, he states his phone number is (860) 294-1986. This number was used as a bid for donations toward the new Children's and Maternal Hospital at Hopkins to which the number belongs. Luke is played by Children's Center Director George Dover's brother-in-law, Scott Patterson.

4. Alex Borstein was originally cast to play Sookie, instead of Melissa McCarthy. Alex Borstein has many other appearances in Gilmore Girls including Drella, the Harp player at the Independence Inn; and Miss Celine, who is in the Season 5 Episode "Come Home."

5. Liza Weil originally tested for the role of Rory and did not get the part. The producers liked her so much they created the role of Paris Gellar for her.

6. Nathan Wetherington was originally cast to play Dean, instead of Jared Padalecki who went on to star in his own series Supernatural.

7. The character of Jess (played by Milo Ventimiglia) was suppose to have a spin-off called "Windward Circle" which was picked up by the WB for midseason 2004, in which the character moves in with his estrange father (played by Rob Estes) from Connecticut to California. But due to the high cost of filming on location in Venice, California, the WB changed their minds and canceled plans for the show. Ventimiglia now stars on the cult hit Heroes.

8. Alexis Bledel hates coffee, but Rory loves it. Alexis coffee cup is always filled with Coca Cola.

9. At the end of season after Rory steals a yacht, Lorelai says that Rory's court date is June 3rd. That is the same day Lorelai sets as her wedding date to Luke later in season 6.

10. In Season 2, Episode 42, Lorelai's Graduation Day, we discover that Lorelai's middle name is Victoria. Rory's given first name is also Lorelai, but her middle name is Leigh. "Lorelai Lee" is the name of a main character in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" (played by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production and by Marilyn Monroe in the movie version).

11. In Season 1, Episode 6 Rory's Birthday Party, we see her middle name on the birthday invitation. Her middle name is Leigh.

12. Due to the fast pace speech in the show, the average script for an episode of the show runs 75-80 pages, as opposed to 45-50 for a standard hour-long television show. During the 101st episode, a black and white movie from the 1930s is being shown. Lorelai looks at the movie and says they "talked fast" in those movies.

13. The character of Lane Kim is based on Helen Pai, a co-producer of the show and the best friend of creator 'Amy Sherman'.

14. Lane's band's name is "Hep Alien". The writers named it this after producer Helen Pai; "Hep Alien" is an anagram of her name.

15. Lane's father lives with Lane and her mother, but never appears in the show.

16. In season 1, episode 5 ("Cinnamon's Wake"), Lane is found in Rory's room "skanking to Rancid." In season 4, episode 19 ("After Boom"), "Hep Alien" performs that same song at their gig.

17. Lane's boyfriend, Dave ('Adam Brody’), left the show after his first season. To explain his absence, Lane claims that he went to university in California. Brody left the show in order to play the part of Seth in "The O.C." (2003), which takes place in California.

18. When Chad Michael Murray (playing Rory's Chilton classmate Tristin Dugray) left the show, his absence was explained by the character being sent to military school in North Carolina, which is where Murray filmed his recurring role on "One Tree Hill".

19. When the character Brad Langford (Adam Wylie) returns to Chilton Academy after an absence of several months, he explains that he was away playing Jack in "Into the Woods" on Broadway. Wylie really was away from the series to play Jack in the 2002 Broadway revival of "Into the Woods".

20. Sean Gunn who plays Kirk, made his first appearance in episode 1.2 ("The Lorelai’s' First Day at Chilton"), but not as Kirk. His character was named "Mick" and he was installing a DSL server at the Lorelai’s' home that was ordered by Emily. His second appearance (not as Kirk was in Season 1, Episode 3.

21. Logan's very wealthy family runs a venerable publishing empire. Their last name, Huntzberger, is a reference to the Sulzberger family, who have owned The New York Times since Arthur Hays Sulzberger succeeded his father-in-law Adolph S. Ochs as publisher in 1935.

22. A new actress plays Emily and Richard Gilmore's maid every episode.

23. In the show they mention Dirty Dancing (1987) several times. Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore) stars in the movie as Marjorie Houseman.

STARS HOLLOW TOWN TRIVIA

1. The entire town of Stars Hollow is the Warner Bros Studios backlot set called "Midwest Street" built in 1946 for the film _Saratoga Trunk (1946)_ (a small section usually unseen on the show - behind the church - was added in the early 1990's for no particular television or film project). The residential street attached is called Kings Row and was built in 1941 (predating the town set) for the Ronald Reagan film of the same name. No new structures have been added to the backlot for the "Gilmore Girls," although the backlot set remains dressed for the show throughout the television shooting season (July through March or April).

2. The mountain often seen on the show is actually Mount Hollywood.

3. The exterior "Midwest" sets, which incorporate Stars Hollows' town square, the Gazebo, Luke's Diner and Doosey's Market are also featured prominently in "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979). and can be seen in a scene in the original theatrical version of _Music Man, The (1962)

4. The exterior shot of "The Dragonfly Inn" is actually the home of TV's "The Waltons" (1972). The town of Stars Hollow is based on Washington Depot, Connecticut. Creator Amy Sherman stayed there while on a trip with her husband to look at Mark Twain's wallpaper.

5. The exterior shots of the girls' home and the foyer and hallway are all filmed on the outdoor set, while nearly all of the interior house scenes are filmed across the studio front lot in a sound stage, where the entire first floor of the home is built to scale.