Thirty-two-year-old Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham, Townies, NewsRadio) has made her share of mistakes in life, and she's doing her best to see that her 16-year-old daughter Rory (newcomer Alexis Bledel) doesn't follow in her every footstep. Because of their extraordinary friendship and some pretty good genes, the two are often mistaken for sisters. From the beginning, this unique mother-daughter team has been growing up together.

Lorelai was just Rory's age when she became pregnant and made the tough decision to raise her baby alone. This defiant move and Lorelai's fierce independent streak caused an irreparable rift between her and her own old-fashioned, old-money parents, Emily (Kelly Bishop, Dirty Dancing) and Richard (Edward Herrmann, The Practice).

Rory and her best friend Lane Kim (Keiko Agena, Felicity) are straight 'A' students at the local public high school, but everything changes when Rory is accepted into the prestigious Chilton Prep in nearby Hartford. Lorelai is elated at this life-changing opportunity for her daughter, but the steep tuition forces Lorelai to swallow her pride and ask her parents for financial help. Their condition for financing Rory's education is that they once again become part of the lives of their estranged daughter and granddaughter.

Thus far, a headstrong Lorelai has managed to create a loving home environment for her daughter while building a successful career as the manager of the quaint and historic Independence Inn. With her best friend, the hopelessly clumsy culinary genius Sookie (Melissa McCarthy, The Kid), Lorelai is saving up to one day open her own bed-and-breakfast. In the meantime, she'll have to weather the acerbic attitude of the inn's haughty concierge, Michel Gerard (Yanic Truesdale), not to mention putting up with un-asked-for advice on her lifestyle and parenting skills from Luke Danes (Scott Patterson, Little Big League), the handsome owner of the local coffeehouse, who never fails to charm Lorelai with his smile and great coffee. Adding her own unique style to the town is Miss Patty (Liz Torres, The John Larroquette Show), the local dance instructor and social commentator.

Gilmore Girls is the first series to make it to air supported by the Family Friendly Forum's Script Development Fund. An initiative between some of the nation's top advertisers and The WB, the program is intended to offer a greater array of compelling family programming on network television. The strong, loving mother-daughter relationship portrayed in Gilmore Girls reflects the growing reality of this new type of American family - approximately fifty percent of families today consist of one-parent households.

The Episodes:
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