15 Favorite Moments From ‘Gilmore Girls’ to Prime You For the Reboot

With the Gilmore Girls reboot around the corner it seems like a good time to look back and reminisce about some of the best moments from the cult-favorite show. The show was popular for its unusual mother/daughter relationship, quirky fast paced dialogue and even quirkier array of Stars Hollow residents. Now that it’s all resurrecting on Netflix for four 90-minute episodes this November 1, let’s remember some of highlights from the original run.

1. Rory’s first kiss with Dean

In season 1, episode 7, Rory has her first kiss with her future boyfriend Dean and it’s pretty sweet. Rory visits Dean at Doose’s Market where he attempts to play a game with her. If she guesses which hand he’s holding a soda, she gets it for free, but before Rory even has the chance to guess, Dean leans down for a kiss. Rory is so distraught that she runs out of Doose’s Market accidentally shoplifting a box corn starch.

2. When Rory gave her mom dating advice

Young Rory was often the rational thinker in Lorelei’s dating life, and it was no different when it came to considering Luke as a romantic partner.
Rory: You cannot date Luke.
Lorelai: I said nothing about dating Luke.
Rory: If you date him, you’ll break up, and we’ll never be able to eat there again.
Lorelai: I repeat, I said nothing about dating Luke.
Rory: Date Al from Pancake World, his food stinks.

3. When Lorelei gave her mom dating advice

In season five, Emily and Richard separate and Lorelei has the unenviable task of giving her mom some dating advice.
Emily: Now take me through this step by step. You see a man, you walk up to him, and you say?
Lorelai: “Hello.”
Emily: Is that too forward?
Lorelai: No, it’s the appropriate way to indicate you’re open to a social engagement. Unless, however, you are approaching a weasel. Then I believe the proper signal is just to offer him your hindquarters.

4. When Lane dyed her hair

Lane grew up in an incredibly sheltered strict Korean household…she wasn’t allowed to do much of anything besides study. In a rare moment of rebellion she bleaches her hair to dye it a vibrant purple. Not that she kept it long.

5. The dance marathon

Stars Hollow had an annual dance marathon, and this time around Lorelei was very serious about winning. Both Dean and Jess come and sat in the bleachers to support Rory, which naturally causes some tension.

6. The opening of the Dragon-Fly Inn

It took a while for Lorelai and Sooki’s plans of opening their own inn to fall into place, and it’s a great moment in the show when they finally reach their goal. Once the inn is complete they did a test run where they invited their friends and Lorelai’s parents to stay before opening to the general public.

7. When Rory’s car got hit by a deer

Got to love the random oddball dialogue of the show. Case in point…
Rory: Oh my God, I just got hit by a deer!
Lane: You hit a deer?
Rory: No, I got hit by a deer!
Lane: How do you get hit by a deer?
Rory: I was at a stop sign and it hit me.
Lane: Was it a 4-way stop?
Rory: What does that matter?
Lane: I don’t know. I don’t know what to ask after you’ve been hit by a deer.

8. Rory’s graduation day

Being the valedictorian Rory gave the speech at her Chilton high school graduation, and it was a bit of tearjerker. Naturally she had to give her mom a shout out. “My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn’t 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 eighteen years, I don’t know if she ever realized that the person I most wanted to be was her. Thank you, Mom: you are my guidepost for everything.”

9. When Rory found out her college roommate was Paris

Rory and Paris had their tension from day one, and what fun would it have been to leave that all behind in high school? It was a memorable moment when Rory found out that Paris was going to be her roommate away at Yale, meaning no escape.

10. When Lorelei spends the night at college

Rory has some fears about leaving her mom when she goes away to college, so Lorelei ends up spending the night with her at Yale. Not something most college kids would go for let alone enjoy, but then again the Gilmore girls were not your average mother/daughter duo.

11. When Lorelei kissed Luke

The moment that Lorelei kissed Luke was a long time coming, so that in itself released a whole lot of romantic tension. Not that everything went smoothly there on out, but it what would the show be without the non-stop drama?

12. When Lorelei was mad at her mom

Lorelei was often fighting with her mother, and when she wasn’t there was still the ever-present tension between the two of them.
Rory: Grandma’s still hitting you with the postcards, huh?
Lorelai: As if nothing even remotely unpleasant happened between us. How does she do that? Compartmentalize like that. It’s weird. She’s the serial killer who goes to work and talks about a funny “Seinfeld” he saw and then goes home and cooks himself a man-flesh sandwich.
Rory: Eww.
Lorelai: [Reading postcard from Temple of Apollo] Let’s see how her trip has been since her last card. “Dear Lorelai, kicked a dog, then punched a gypsy in the groin.” Oh, that’s nice.

13.When Jess matures from bad boy

Jess starts out as the ultimate bad boy, but we get to see him grow over the years and he ends up being a published author. Many people are still rooting for him to be Rory’s main squeeze in the reboot.

14. The annual charity picnic basket auction

The annual charity picnic basket auction brought everyone together in Stars Hollow and some interesting bidding went down. This is the episode where Jackson competes for Sookie’s basket and it was the first hint at their eventual relationship.

15. All that snacking

Did anyone eat more than the Gilmore girls? Not likely. Those women were not worried about their calorie consumption, that’s for sure. They spent a large amount of their time eating at the diner, getting Chinese takeout, wolfing down pizza, eating popcorn and candy in front of the TV, and of course drinking a ton of coffee.