FAQ: alt.tv.gilmore-girls Version 3.01 Publication Date: July 5th, 2007 Keeper: Rob Jensen (ShutUpRob@aolskippy.com) (Remove skippy to reply.) Frequency: Except for the absence of the FAQ last month, this FAQ sheet is published to atgg on a Monthly basis, somewhere between the 26th (ha!) and the 5th of adjacent months. I am currently revising it, so the frequency and form of this FAQ may change immensely over the next few months. Crossposted: To rec.arts.tv whenever I remember to in order to maintain awareness of the newsgroup on Usenet and to invite people to discuss the show with other Gilmore fans on atgg even if they eventually decide to killfile me. (NOTE: since this is an unmoderated group, I am not a moderator, I do not own the newsgroup -- no one does -- I am just a big-mouthed Mr. Crankypants.) MIRRORS: plain text: http://schmidt.devlib.org/tv/faq-alt-tv-gilmore-girls.txt (Special Thanks to Marco Schmidt!) ----------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS: SECTION 0: GILMORE GIRLS IS CANCELLED! WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO NOW? SECTION 1: WHAT'S NEW SECTION 2: CHARTER: SECTION 3: UPCOMING EPISODES: SECTION 4: FAQs: FAQ #1 -- GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SERIES FAQ #2 -- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STORIES FAQ #3 -- SPOILERS AND SPOILER SPACE: WHY & HOW THEY'RE USED SECTION 5: ABBREVIATION GUIDE: I. ACTOR/CHARACTER NAMES -- most are self-evident: II. GENERAL USAGE III. EPISODE ABBREVIATIONS SECTION 6: CAST OF CHARACTERS SECTION 7: EPISODE GUIDE: SECTION 8: LINKS TO OFFICIAL SITES, FAN SITES & EPISODE GUIDES: SECTION 9: A SHORT STATEMENT ON NETIQUETTE ----------------------------------------- SECTION 0: GILMORE GIRLS IS CANCELLED! WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO NOW? Well, while I sure as hell *want* to convince you to join the campaign to save the show, there's nothing I can do to convince you to join in the fun if you don't want to, so feel free to skip this section if you're not interested. No harm no foul. Okay, so if you stayed around in this section, thank you! First things first. I'm not going to reprint the CW's press release or even criticize it or their decision here -- other than to say I disagree with the decision to cancel the show, obviously. This is just a FAQ, so my goal is only to provide information here, not analysis (even though I'm clearly incapable of not analyzing everything. So here's the dealio: The CW cancelled Gilmore Girls on Wednesday, May 2, 2007, with the final two episodes airing on the next two Tuesdays, May 8th and May 15th. Despite totally understandable skepticism, it *is* possible to save a show that's been cancelled. Yes, it's hard and not all possible routes are right for every single show. What we do know from experience is that there are at least a couple dozen shows that have been revived or saved from cancellation in a variety of different ways due to fan input - from the original Star Trek (its 3rd and final season resulted from a fan drive - don't hold the suckiness of s3 against them) to Farscape (a concluding miniseries) to Firefly (the theatrical movie Serenity) to Cagney and Lacey -- saved *three* times by fan drives, and it wasn't even a science fiction show! What's true is that no two successful revival campaigns are alike in methods or even outcome. The revivals come in all shapes and sizes. So anywho, saving a show that's been cancelled is hard, but it's possible. So, we have a plan. Actually we have several plans, all under the umbrella of the Great Season 8 Mandate at www.girlmoregirls.org, plans which include contacting the President of Entertainment for the CW network, Dawn Ostroff. Letter writing campaigns, voicemail campaigns, email campaigns and finally, a campaign to send bouquets of real daisies to Ostroff that I created and named "Operation: Daisy Duke" -- a reference to both the daisies from season 1's finale, "Love, Daisies and Troubadors" and to the many Dukes of Hazzard references and allusions in the show, not the least of which being that Lorelai wore Daisy Dukes to meet Headmaster Charleston on Rory's first day at Chilton and because, well, Stars Hollow used to be Hazzard County on the Warner Brothers studio lot - and yes, you're *supposed* to laugh. What is a Gilmore Girls event without a bizarre, weird or amusing pop culture reference? Ground Zero for the Great Season 8 Mandate campaign, created by Heidi, the owner of the gilmoregirls.org website at (again, duh) www.gilmoregirls.org is in the following thread on that board: http://www.gilmoregirls.org/forum/index.php?topic=6630.0 On page 1, you'll find a lot of addresses, both snail and email, and some phone numbers, to send correspondence to. Please do not spam any one person with multiple snail mail, email or voicemail. Once per day is enough. Note: the Season 8 Mandate thread is nearly 450 pages at this time, so if you want to participate, read page 1 and then jump all the way over to the most recent page. Just jump on in, the water is fine. You'll have to register in order to post on the Forum boards, but you could always lurk. Also, if you want to help revive the show for that two-hour movie that Amy Sherman-Palladino is threatening or in some longer form, such as a midseason replacement series, but you're just annoyed as hell that I'm involved, you should just send a snail mail letter to Dawn Ostroff at the following address: Ms. Dawn Ostroff, President of Entertainment The CW Television Network 4000 Warner Blvd., Bldg 168 Burbank, CA 91522-0002 ----------------------------------------- SECTION 1: WHAT'S NEW: 1) Added the new temporary Section 0 FAQ for the time being to provide information on how to join in on the Great Season 8 Mandate campaign to try to persuade the CW to uncancel the show. You probably just read it if I didn't put you to sleep (in which case, how could you be reading this now?) 2) Minor formatting changes and minor textual changes, neither of which are labelled as such. 3) The Q&A section is always open to revision and expansion and submission of new questions & answers from gg fans by replying to this thread or by emailing me at the address posted above. 4) The Episode Guide is complete. 5) The Upcoming Episodes section (Section 3) has been updated to reflect the show's cancellation. ----------------------------------------- SECTION 2: CHARTER: alt.tv.gilmore-girls is an unmoderated forum for the discussion of the critically-acclaimed television series Gilmore Girls, which airs on the CW network and the ABC Family Channel in the United States. Discussion on all aspects of the show, including but not limited to characters, plotlines, ratings, and media coverage, is welcome. Unmarked off-topic materials, binaries, advertising (spam), excessive posting, cancel attacks, virus infected binaries, html-encoded postings, and abusive cross-postings are prohibited. All posts (messages) must be in plain text only and be human-readable. NO FANFIC PLEASE. ----------------------------------------- SECTION 3: UPCOMING EPISODES: The seventh season of Gilmore Girls premiered on Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 in its regular timeslot of 8pm on your local CW station and the final episode of the season aired on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007. Announcement of the show's cancellation occurred through a very terse press release dated Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007. No further episodes are currently planned, but Amy Sherman-Palladino has expressed interest in reviving the show for a 2-hour movie "in a year or two" (which IMO, as an organizer of the Mandate campaign, is too vague a promise to be good enough). However, reruns of the current season are airing on Tuesdays at 8pm through early September. Please check www.thecw.com to find out which station in your area carries its programming and which episode is airing in the current week. RERUNS: Past seasons of Gilmore Girls are in constant rotation on the basic cable channel ABC Family. Daily reruns of the show air on ABC Family at 5pm ET/4pm CT and repeated the next morning at 11am ET/10am CT. On occasion, ABC Family airs marathons of several popular, non-story-consecutive episodes in a row on a Saturday or Sunday and sometimes the channel will even pre-empt the regular story schedule on weekdays for a random theme-week. Although some of these theme-weeks are easy to figure out (holidays, seasons, etc.), the reasons for having them smack-dab in the middle of a cycle or even a season of the show are often more technical and obscure -- such as, say, to line up a rerun of the pilot to start with the new season's premiere or even to line up a rerun of the previous season's premiere with the new season's premiere. (Both and other rerun patterns have been practiced by ABC Family and other channels/networks for Gg and virtually every other show). For that reason, it's pointless to constantly update ABC Family's rerun schedule here, but, fortunately, there's a nifty website that does that anyway, which can be found at: http://www.tv-now.com/stars/laureng.html Actually, that's the link that lists Lauren Graham's appearances across the TV Dial for the next month, so you can find out not just where Gg is at in ABC Family's rerun schedule, but also, reruns of Bad Santa, Seeing Other People and other movies that Lauren has starred in. You'll also find details on how to search by other actors names and do other types of searches for programming as well. (NOTE: I am unaffiliated with this website. Honest! It's just too darn useful not to mention here.) ----------------------------------------- SECTION 4: FAQs: (Updated information is marked NEW) FAQ #1 -- GENERAL INFORMATION Q: How do I write to the cast? A: Person's Name c/o Gilmore Girls Warner Bros. 4000 Warner Blvd. Building 2222 Burbank, CA 91522 NOTE: Three things to keep in mind if you write to the cast: 1) Don't expect a personal response -- they work twelve-to-sixteen hour days, five days a week. It *may* happen, but it's like winning the lottery if you do get one. 2) Don't expect an autographed picture -- but if you do get one, I've noticed through comparison at various sites (eBay *and* fan sites) that the most common practice on Warner/WB/CW shows, and Gg is no exception, is to have the actors sign a single photograph that is then mass-produced -- ie: you wouldn't be getting a signed photograph, you'd be getting a copy of a signed photograph. 3) HOWever, if you do want a personally signed autograph, the ONLY surefire way to get one short of getting one at a personal appearance is to send the item (a photograph, a magazine, whatever) in a Self-Addressed and Stamped Envelope in care of the production or the actor's agent and then not expect to get anything back for several months, if at all. The SASE is the ONLY way to even hope to get something back. Also, overestimate the postage needed to send the item back to you -- it's the polite thing to do -- and make it a priority mail envelope because they're stiff and unfoldable and the USPS likes to fold and destroy things that are foldable and destroyable. Finally, as a reminder of our security-conscious age, don't ship anything in a box. Q: Where do they shoot the episodes? A: Warner Bros. Studio located in Burbank, CA. Chilton is actually St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, CA. Warner Bros. Studio, while a working studio, does give guided daily tours to the public. Since downtown Stars Hollow is primarily exteriors, you're likely to see a lot of it on the tours unless they're filming on it. Tour information can be found at www.wbstudiotour.com or you can phone them directly at 1-818-972-8687 for information on booking a tour. Q: Okay, so if they shoot the show in Burbank, why does Stars Hollow/Luke's Diner/everything else look so different in the pilot than it does in the rest of the series? A: The pilot and *only* the pilot was shot in Canada to save on costs. When the show was picked up as a series, creator/showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino insisted on moving the show to the Warner Studio lot. You might have seen the original, Canadian Stars Hollow in an episode of the syndicated superhero series Mutant X -- and about 3-4 episodes later, you would've seen Gg's own wacky Canuck, David Sutcliffe guest-starring. Q: Why is Edward Herrmann listed in the opening credits with "and Special Guest Appearance by Edward Herrmann"? A. This is going to take a lot longer to explain than you really wanted it to take. In the biz we call show, the three most important actor credits in the opening credits of a show are generally, in descending order of importance: first, second and last. This order is usually determined in any combination by either 1) the size of the part, 2) the celebrity of the actor or 3) both. The theory behind the use of this system (and it's a reliable one) is that these are not merely (or even) the most recognized names in the opening credits, they're the ones *most likely to be remembered by the viewer.* IOW, while many viewers will also be able to remember that Kelly Bishop, Keiko Agena, Melissa McCarthy, Matt Czuchry, Liza Weil and Sean Gunn are also listed in the opening credits alongside Graham, Bledel and Herrmann, no one but a Gilmore obsessive will remember what order they're listed in other than Graham is first, Bledel is second and Herrmann is last. Here's where the politics of credits comes in: the first and second credits *always* connote the two main stars of the show, regardless of celebrity -- in this case, Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. But when Gilmore Girls first started seven years ago, the best-known member of the cast was veteran movie and TV character actor Edward Herrmann (I knew him from "The Electric Grandmother" and "Harry's War" myself). Since the show wasn't going to be able to list him first or second because, well, Richard is not a title character (and also because, according to show creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, they weren't going to be able to pay him what he was worth because it was a WB show and he was therefore doing a favor to them by taking the role), they worked out the non-monetary perq of listing him last ala "and Special Guest Star Jonathan Harris" on Lost in Space. In most cases today, the last credited actor/third lead is list with the notation "and" (as in "finally, this is the last credit Sparky McSparkerson" or whatever name because it's unlikely that there's any actor named Sparky McSparkerson".) In other words, the exact wording of the credit is meaningless other than that they spelled the name right. In this case, he's listed with "and Special Guest Appearance by Edward Herrmann." To complicate the explanation, the next-to-last credit is sometimes also regarded as the fourth-lead, as in Smalliville's former listing of "with Annette O'Toole and John Schneider." In the same way as Smallville, Lauren is listed first, Alexis second, Mr. Herrmann listed last (with a "special appearance by" credit that Schneider didn't have), and Kelly Bishop next-to-last (with an "and). Yes the psychology of human memory issues does figure into the politics of the order of credits on any given show or movie. Q: What is the theme song for the show? A: Where You Lead I Will Follow by Carole King, who occasionally guest stars on Gg as Sophie Bloom, the owner of the music store. The version used on the show is sung by Carole King and her daughter, Louise Goffin, and is included on the show's soundtrack album, "Our Little Corner of the World: Music From 'Gilmore Girls.'" Released by Rhino Records in 2002. The original version was on King's album "Tapestry." (I don't have current publication data for it.) Q: Hey! I've seen a lot of Gilmore actors on Without a Trace and Cold Case lately, what gives? A: Gilmore Girls, Without a Trace and Cold Case are all produced by Warner Brothers (as is ER), which probably makes it easier to "pass" the actors around from show to show, to schedule appearances on the latter shows around their work on Gg, etc. Likewise, since they all shoot on the same lot, you're likely to find the series sharing sets and exteriors from time to time -- I spotted the street that Sookie's house is located on in a recent repeat of Without A Trace and Gg itself has borrowed ER's hospital sets on occasion. More recently, Lauren Graham guest-starred on the new series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip which films right across the street from Stars Hollow on the Warner Brothers lot and John Cabrera (Brian) has also cameoed on the show as one of the many writers on the show-within-a-show that the series is set in. Q: Where can I find the episode titles? A: Episode titles will be posted at the bottom of the FAQ. I also recommend visiting one of the Gilmore Girls links posted below. Q: Where can I find more info on the actors? A: Click the Google link to Gilmore Girls for fan pages, official websites and IMdb links: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0238784/ http://epguides.com/GilmoreGirls/ http://tinyurl.com/kwvi http://www.gilmoregirlsnews.com http://www.gilmoregirls.org ----- FAQ #2 -- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STORY: (NOTE: THE VIEWS IN THIS SECTION REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF THE CURRENT FAQ-KEEPER, Rob Jensen. Please think of these questions *and* answers as thread-starters rather than attempts to have the final word/deliver the final word from on high. Except for the one about Mr. Kim, which we're all kinda tired of answering. ;) ) Q: Where is Mr. Kim? A: He's Maris to Mrs. Kim's Niles. (ie: While we've never seen him, he's been mentioned within the series at least a couple of times as existing. In the present tense. But not recently. OTOH, I'm starting to believe that he's dead.) Q. How can Lorelai and Rory eat so much junkfood and yet never put on any weight? A: It's called The Lorelai Paradox. (Bonus points for whoever names the episode in which it's contained and/or the exact line(s) of dialogue that explain it. David Milligan is disqualified from this non-contest no matter how much he pouts due to the fact that he keeps tr&nscripts at his site. 8^p. And remember, like on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" the points don't matter.) Q: How old was Lorelai when she ran away from the Gilmore Mansion? A: Lorelai was about 17 or 18 years old when she ran away. We know from s1's "Rory's Two Birthday Parties" that Rory was born in early-to-mid-October of 1984. We also know from the mid-season 3 episode "Happy Birthday Baby" that Lorelai's birthday is in early-to-mid-Spring. Since the show states repeatedly in no uncertain terms that Lorelai was 16 when Rory was born and since we can safely say that Rory was a full-term-ish baby (plus or minus a week), then 1) Lorelai *had* to have been born in 1968 and Rory was conceived somewhere between late-December 1983 and mid-January 1984. My favorite suspected dates: Christmas 1983 and New Years' 1984, for the obvious reasons. Lorelai confirms in the recent episode "Gilmore Girls Only" that she was 17 when she left the mansion and started working for Mia. The rest of this answer will be heavily edited in the next edition of the FAQ. (Special thanks to Gordon Mulcaster for providing all but the last of the episode citations for the above entry.) Q: What genre is Gilmore Girls? A: The question is probably better asked as "What *genres* are Gilmore Girls?" Gilmore Girls is a serialized narrative most commonly referred to as a Dramedy -- a hybrid of both the Comedy and Drama genres, because it has characteristics of both in arguably similar proportions. Other examples of the Dramedy genre include (but are not even remotely limited to) Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Everwood, Charmed, Joan of Arcadia, MASH and Sports Night. Dramedies often (but not always) include a high romantic comedy quotient that can easily be mistaken for (or degenerate into) soap opera. The movies of James L. Brooks -- Broadcast News, As Good As It Gets, and, most significantly for the purposes of comparison to Gg, the Oscar-winning classic Terms of Endearment -- are Dramedies that have mined similar themes and motifs and have been just as polarizing due to their hybrid natures and their tendencies to deliver endings that are deliberately, for lack of a more concise term, less-than-fairy-tale-happy. One genre that Gg has never been (so far) is Soap Opera. LORELAI: "What do we want -- a comedy, a tragedy? Or a tragedy that makes us laugh?" That's Amy Sherman-Palladino speaking through Lorelai's rant about "Final Destination 3," from episode 6.17 --"I'm OK, You're OK." On the surface, Lorelai is complaining about the blackly comic horror movie franchise's lack of a villain, but metatextually, Sherman-Palladino is revealing through Lorelai the actual genre of, well, at *least* s6 of Gilmore Girls itself -- which would be Tragicomedy, a type of Dramedy. (FTR, no, Gg and Final Destination are not of the same genre. FD is clearly a horror movie. Gg and FD simply have one thing in common: they both lack villains.) ----- FAQ #3 -- SPOILERS AND SPOILER SPACE: WHY & HOW THEY'RE USED Q: What does 'Spoiler' mean and why is it required? A: Spoiler is a term referring to critical information about the story that some fans do not want to know ahead of time under any circumstances, such as what happens at the very end of the episode. (For example: "Rosebud is a sled." is a spoiler for the movie Citizen Kane -- and sorry to have blown it for you if you didn't already know.) Due to time zone differences in the US or more personal reasons, some viewers who like to post to Usenet may not have seen the episode yet and they wouldn't want to read what happens before they've had a chance to watch it themselves. Since it is unfair (not to mention, unrealistic) to expect these viewers to stay off Usenet until they've seen the given new episode of any series, the "Spoiler" tag (keyword) is used in the subject line as a courtesy to those fans when you want to discuss a new episode. When you post a new message, discussing events in a new episode, the SPOILER tag is most commonly seen in two different ways: 1) Use the word 'SPOILER' first, in all caps, then the episode title in the Header/Subject line. In the body of the message, start with SPOILER again, then place at least 15-20 lines before typing your text. As in: Header/Subject: SPOILERS: Gg 6.22 -- Partings or 2) Use the episode title first followed by SPOILER in all caps, as in: Header/Subject: Gg 6.22 -- Lorelai and Luke? (SPOILERS) Then, within the body of the message SPOILER SPACE (aka Spoiler Protection) should also be added when discussing episodes of the current broadcast season. As in: Body: Beginning of post. Non-spoilery commenting followed by . . . SPOILER SPACE! > (about half a page or more of this hard-return space) > > > Yadayadayada. Discuss the episode, etc, in the body of your post. yadayadayada. End of post. Also, please try not to give away a complete Spoiler as the Header/Subject of your new thread. Using the "Rosebud is a Sled" example, you should avoid using these kinds of titles for your thread/post until 3-4 weeks after an episode has aired for the first time: "Rosebud Is a Sled?!" "What? A Sled?! I Thought Rosebud Was Marion Davies' Va-Jay-Jay!!!" "Could Rosebud Symbolize More Than Just a Sled?" Alternate Versions That Don't Reveal the Full Version could be used anytime as follows (and always including a SPOILER tag): "Rosebud is a ----?!" "Marion Davies' Va-Jay-Jay and Citizen Hearst's Overactive Imagination" "Could Rosebud Symbolize More than Just a ----?" Got it? Okay. Keep this in mind when you're posting to the Lost, Heroes or 24 newsgroups, too. [The following questions reflects the views of the FAQ-keeper, Rob, who is seeking further input.] Q: What should I do if someone has blown a spoiler by not following the above rules-of-thumb? A: It depends on many factors in the given situation and how willing you are to burn bridges. The simple fact of the matter is that people are human and mistakes are made all the time. Other times, a spoiler may be deliberately blown by the given show, as is the case with the elopement of Lorelai and Christopher, which was plastered on the cover of TV Guide more than two weeks ahead of the airing of the episode, and which, as a direct result, I discussed here on atgg *without* spoiler space before the episode aired even though I practice the common rules-of-thumb regarding spoiler ettiquette myself. Cases like this one are generally considered to be the exception that proves the rule. In these rare, exceptional cases, IMO the rules of thumb about spoilers should be considered null and void. Because even if you haven't seen or heard about the spoiler, it is so widely distributed that it ceases to be a spoiler. For the typical blown spoiler, however, it depends on the situation and the person doing the spoiling, which are IMO dependent on a lot of questions being considered. Did the person put the entire spoiler in the subject header? That's almost *unanimously* considered to be worth posting that you're offended by it. Unless the episode title *is* a spoiler, and then it depends. For example, if Citizen Kane had been called "Rosebud Is a Sled," it's likely that there's nothing that could be done to protect spoilerphobes from it. Did the person simply fail to add spoiler space or the keyword SPOILER to a non-spoiler subject line for a post that contains spoilers? These are more common faux pas. If the person is a newbie, a gentle suggestion *by email* of the need to use spoiler space is highly recommended. If the person is a regular, a polite note or turning the faux pas into a joke in a follow-up post is a common practice. (But IMO you really should use emoticons while doing so.) Less common, but IMO, more effective is to simply add the spoiler space to your reply and note that you're adding spoiler space to your reply. On the other hand, if the person is a regular on the given newsgroup, it depends on how healthy your relationship with the person is. If you are known to be a stickler about spoilers (ie: "a spoilerphobe") or are simply a stickler about everything, you should probably NOT post publicly to the newsgroup about the blown spoiler unless it's blown by a poster who makes a habit of blowing spoilers. Most posters, *even though* they find blown spoilers annoying, realize that blown spoilers are an unavoidable hazard of posting to any given newsgroup devoted to an ongoing show. What generally happens when a complaint about a blown spoiler is posted is that a flame (argument) breaks out between two large factions that represent radically different philosophies about handling spoilers: those who think that spoilers should NEVER be blown and those who think that when spoilers are blown, there's no use complaining about them other than perhaps a simple "thanks for blowing it for me" type of a post.. In these cases -- the vast majority of blown spoilers, IMO -- the complaint invariably provokes needless ongoing animosity and degenerates discussion about the complaint into arguments that take a long time to end. So my suggestion is that except when the entire spoiler is blown in a subject header, you've pretty much got to suck it up or at the very least take it directly to email. And even then, email isn't likely to work because IMO, if you post to Usenet, you've inherently got a reputation for being a stickler. Leaving off a SPOILER keyword from a heading is considered by some to be greatly annoying, but attempts to correct/point out the lack of use of the keyword tend to create arguments and IMO make the rule-of-thumb entirely unenforceable, even by simple complaint. You're pretty much treading in a minefield if you attempt to correct another poster either publicly or privately. IMO, spoilers are simply a subset of Netiquette that are for the most part easy to follow but virtually impossible to enforce. Q: So again, I ask you, why follow these rules of spoiler netiquette if they aren't mandatory? A: Because most people on Usenet follow them anyway and therefore voluntarily following these rules-of-thumb cuts down on the arguments about them, generally limiting the arguments to what constitutes an exception. ----------------------------------------- SECTION 5: ABBREVIATION GUIDE: A list of common abbreviations that you might see used on atgg (that's "alt.tv.gilmore-girls" -- see, one abbreviation down already!). I. ACTOR/CHARACTER/CREATOR NAMES -- most are self-evident: AB -- Alexis Bledel ASP - Amy Sherman-Palladino DP - Dan Palladino KB -- Kelly Bishop LG -- Lauren Graham (note: when used, LG generally does NOT refer to Lorelai Gilmore) Lor -- Lorelai SP -- Scott Patterson EH - Edward Herrmann -- II. GENERAL USAGE FND -- Friday Night Dinners (not to be confused with Friday Night Lights) YDN -- Yale Daily News MB or MBs -- Message Boards s# -- season # (also s#.# = season #, episode #) TwoP -- Television Without Pity, the snarksite Gg or GG -- Gilmore Girls. Both abbreviations are correct. The "Gg" version is derived from the title as presented as the show's logo in the opening credits, "Gilmore girls." I use the Gg abbreviation because GG is most commonly used as an abbreviation for the Golden Globes Awards on Awards-discussion websites such as GoldDerby.com, where discussing LG's chances of getting a GG for GG might be a little bit too efficient. Also GG is used in some discussion circles as the abbreviation for the allegedly semi-classic sitcom "The Golden Girls." -- III. EPISODE ABBREVIATIONS -- Some pivotal episodes are referred to so often in posts not just on atgg, but on Gg MBs everywhere, that, like Buffy's OMWF ("Once More, With Feeling," the musical episode), they're often referred to by these abbreviations without further explanation: abbreviation -- episode # -- episode title AHINAH -- 5.22 -- A House Is Not A Home DE&R/DEAR -- 3.13 -- Dear Emily & Richard LWFTWT -- 4.21 -- Last Week Fights, This Week Tights TKBNO -- 4.09 -- Ted Koppel's Big Night Out WBB -- 5.13 -- Wedding Bell Blues (100th episode) WoQM -- 5.11 -- Women of Questionable Morals WitS/WITS -- 5.03 -- Written in the Stars And my submissions for two new abbreviations: Sidekick -- 6.20 -- I Get a Sidekick Out of You R&R -- 4.22 -- Raincoats and Recipes T3B -- 4.18 -- Tick . . . Tick . . . Tick . . . Boom! (Let's start a trend, especially in the case of T3B, which has suffered from an interesting array of not-really-useful abbreviations as it is.) ----------------------------------------- SECTION 6: CURRENT CAST: LEAD CHARACTERS (OPENING CREDITS) Lorelai Victoria Gilmore -- Lauren Graham Lorelai Leigh "Rory" Gilmore -- Alexis Bledel Emily Gilmore -- Kelly Bishop Richard Gilmore -- Edward Hermann Luke Danes -- Scott Patterson Logan Huntzberger -- Matt Czuchry Paris Geller -- Liza Weil Lane Kim -- Keiko Agena Sookie St. James-Melville -- Melissa McCarthy Michel Gerard -- Yanic Truesdale Kirk Gleason -- Sean Gunn CURRENT SUPPORTING AND RECURRING CHARACTERS Andrew -- Mike Gandolfi Anna Nardini -- Sherilynn Fenn (also played Sasha in s3) April Nardini -- Vanessa Marano Babette Dell -- Sally Struthers Bill (YDN Editor) -- Devon Michaels Brian -- John Cabrera Caesar -- Aris Alvarado Colin -- Alan Loayza Christopher Hayden -- David Sutcliffe Doyle -- Danny Strong Finn -- Tanc Sade Gigi -- Nicolette Collier (s7) Gil -- Sebastian Bach Gypsy -- Rose Abdoo Honor Huntzberger -- Devon Sorvari Jackson Melville -- Jackson Douglas Kyon -- Susane Lee Kyle - Chauncey Leopardi Liz -- Kathleen Wilhoite Lucy -- Krysten Ritter Lulu -- Rini Bell Marty -- Wayne Wilcox (s4-5,7) "Miss Patty" (Patricia) LaCosta -- Liz Torres Mitchum Huntzberger -- Gregg Henry Morey Dell -- Ted Rooney Mrs. Kim -- Emily Kuroda Olivia -- Michelle Ongkingco Taylor Doose -- Michael Winters T.J. -- Michael DeLuise Town Troubador -- Grant Lee Phillips (Grant Lee Buffalo) Zach -- Todd Lowe PAST CAST/LESS-RECURRING CAST: Alex - Billy Burke (s3) Bootsy -- Brian Tarantina (s2) Brad Langford -- Adam Wylie (s1-3) Claire Forester -- Scout Taylor-Compton (s2-5) Dave Rygalski -- Adam Brody (s3) Dean Forester -- Jared Padalecki (s1-5) Drella -- Alex Borstein (s1) Glenn Babble -- Ethan Cohn (s4) Headmaster Charleston -- Dakin Matthews (s1-3) Henry -- Eddie Shin (s3 & 4) Janet -- Katie Walder (s4) Jason Stiles -- Chris Eigeman (s4) Jess Mariano -- Milo Ventimiglia (s2-4,6) "Lynnie" (Carolyn) Bates -- Melora Hardin (s6) Lindsay Lister Forester -- Arielle Kebbel (s3-5) Louise Grant -- Teal Redmann (s1-4) Madeline Lynn -- Shelly Cole (s1-4) Max Medina -- Scott Cohen (s1-3) Nicole -- Tricia O'Kelley(s3-4) Rabbi David Barans -- Alan Blumenfeld Rachel -- Lisa Ann Hadley (s1) Rev. Archie Skinner -- Jim Jansen Tana Schrick -- Olivia Hack (s4) Tom (Construction Foreman) -- Biff Yeager Tristan DuGrey -- Chad Michael Murray (s1-2) Troubadour #2 -- Dave (Gruber) Allen ----------------------------------------- SECTION 7: EPISODE GUIDE: Notes: I. Credits are listed as following with writer(s) listed first/director listed after the slash, as in: 22. Partings (ASP & DP/ASP) should be read as "22. Partings, written by Amy Sherman-Palladino & Daniel Palladino/directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino" II. Yes, the Jackson Douglas who plays Sookie's husband, Jackson, does also direct episodes of the show. -- SEASON SEVEN : WRITERS: David S. Rosenthal, Gayle Abrams, David Babcock, Gina Fattore, David Grae, Rebecca Rand Kirshner, Rina Mimoun, Jennie Snyder DIRECTORS: Lee Shallat-Chemel, Jamie Babbit, Stephen Clancy, Jackson Douglas, Victor Nelli, Kenny "High School Musical" Ortega, David Paymer, Bethany Rooney, Michael Schultz, Wil Shriner 7.01 -- The Long Morrow (Rosenthal/Shallat-Chemel) 7.02 -- That's What You Get, Folks, For Makin' Whoopee (Kirshner/Rooney) 7.03 -- Lorelai's First Cotillion (Mimoun/Shallat-Chemel) 7.04 -- S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous (Abrams/Nelli) 7.05 -- The Great Stink (Fattore/Schultz) 7.06 -- Go Bulldogs! (Rosenthal & Kirshner/Shriner) 7.07 -- French Twist (Babcock/Shallat-Chemel) 7.08 -- Introducing Lorelai Planetarium (Snyder/Shallat-Chemel) 7.09 -- Knit, People, Knit! (Grae/Ortega) 7.10 -- Merry Fisticuffs (Rosenthal/Douglas) 7.11 - Santa's Secret Stuff (Kirshner/Shallat-Chemel) 7.12 - To Whom It May Concern (Babcock/Babbit) 7-13 - I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia (Kirshner/Shallat-Chemel) 7.14 - Farewell, My Pet (Snyder/Babbit) 7.15 - I'm a Kayak, Hear Me Roar (Kirshner/Shallat-Chemel) 7.16 - Will You Be My Lorelai Gilmore? (Fattore & Abrams/Paymer) 7.17 - Gilmore Girls Only (Babcock/Shallat-Chemel) 7.18 - Hay Bale Maze (Kirshner/Clancy) 7.19/episode #150 - It's Just Like Riding a Bike (Snyder/Shallat-Chemel) 7.20 - Lorelai Lorelai (Rosenthal/Rooney) 7.21 - Unto the Breach (Babcock & Snyder/Shallat-Chemel) 7.22 - Bon Voyage (Rosenthal/Shallat-Chemel) -- SEASON SIX: WRITERS: Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP), Daniel Palladino (DP), Keith Eisner, Rebecca Rand Kirshner, Justin Nardino, David S. Rosenthal DIRECTORS: Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, Robert Berlinger, Lee Shallat-Chemel, Stephen Clancy, Jackson Douglas, Linda Mendoza, Ken Whittingham, Michael Zinberg 1. The New and Improved Lorelai (ASP/ASP) 2. Fight Face (DP/DP) 3. The UnGraduate (Rosenthal/Zinberg) 4. Always A Godmother, Never A God (Kirshner/Berlinger) 5. We've Got Magic To Do (DP/Zinberg) 6. Welcome to the Dollhouse (Eisner/Douglas) 7. Twenty-One is the Loneliest Number (ASP/Berlinger) 8. Let Me Hear Your Balalaikas Ringing Out (DP/Ortega) 9. The Prodigal Daughter Returns (ASP/ASP) 10. He's Slippin' 'Em Bread... Dig (DP/Ortega) 11. The Perfect Dress (ASP/Babbit) 12. Just Like Gwen and Gavin (DP/Clancy) 13. Friday Night's Alright For Fighting (ASP/Ortega) 14. You've Been Gilmored (Nardino/Clancy) 15. A Vineyard Valentine (DP/DP) 16. Bridesmaids Revisited (Kirshner/Mendoza) 17. I'm O.K., You're O.K. (Eisner/Chemel) 18. The Real Paul Anka (DP/DP) 19. I Get a Sidekick Out of You (ASP/ASP) 20. Super Cool Party People (Rosenthal/Whittingham) 21. Driving Miss Gilmore (DP & ASP/Babbit) 22. Partings (ASP & DP/ASP) -- SEASON FIVE: WRITERS: Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP), Daniel Palladino (DP), James Berg, Rebecca Kirshner, Bill Prady, Jessica Queller, Lisa Randolph, Stan Zimmerman DIRECTORS: Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, Jamie Babbit, Lee Shallat-Chemel, Stephen Clancy, Matthew Diamond, Jackson Douglas, Eric Laneuville, Kenny Ortega, Michael Zinberg 1. Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller (ASP/ASP) 2. A Messenger, Nothing More (DP/DP) 3. Written in the Stars (ASP/Ortega) 4. Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too (Prady/Chemel) 5. We Got Us a Pippi Virgin (DP/Clancy 6. Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant! (Berg & Zimmerman/Diamond) 7. You Jump, I Jump, Jack (DP/Ortega) 8. The Party's Over (ASP/Laneuville) 9. Emily Says Hello (Kirshner/Ortega) 10. But Not As Cute As Pushkin (ASP/Zinberg) 11. Women of Questionable Morals (DP/Diamond) 12. Come Home (Queller/Ortega) 13/episode #100. Wedding Bell Blues (ASP/ASP) 14. Say Something (DP/DP) 15. Jews and Chinese Food (ASP/Diamond) 16. So...Good Talk (Randolph/Babbit) 17. Pulp Friction (Berg & Zimmerman/Zinberg) 18. To Live and Let Diorama (DP/Douglas) 19. But I'm A Gilmore! (ASP/Zinberg) 20. How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod? (Prady & Kirshner/Babbit) 21. Blame Booze and Melville (DP/Babbit) 22. A House Is Not a Home (ASP/ASP) -- SEASON FOUR: WRITERS: Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP), Daniel Palladino (DP), Jane Espenson, Scott Kaufer, Sheila Lawrence, Janet Leahy, John Stephens DIRECTORS: Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP), Dan Palladino (DP), Jamie Babbit, Neema Barnette, Stephen Clancy, Matthew Diamond, Marita Grabiak, Michael Grossman, Peter Lauer, Chris Long, Tom Moore, Michael Zinberg 1. Ballrooms & Biscotti (ASP/ASP) 2. The Lorelais' First Day at Yale (DP/Long) 3. The Hobbit, the Sofa, and Digger Stiles (ASP/Diamond) 4. Chicken or Beef? (Espenson/Long) 5. The Fundamental Things Apply (Stephens/Barnette) 6. An Affair to Remember (ASP/Diamond) 7. The Festival of Living Art (DP/Long) 8. Die, Jerk (DP/Moore) 9. Ted Koppel's Big Night Out (ASP/Babbit) 10. The Nanny and the Professor (Kaufer/Lauer) 11. In the Clamor and the Clangor (Lawrence & Leahy/Grossman) 12. A Family Matter (DP/Ortega) 13. Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospels (ASP/Long) 14. The Incredible Shrinking Lorelais (ASP & DP/Clancy) 15. Scene in a Mall (DP/Long) 16. The Reigning Lorelai (Espenson/Grabiak) 17. Girls in Bikinis, Boys Doin' the Twist (ASP/Babbit) 18. Tick, Tick, Tick . . . Boom! (DP/DP) 19. Afterboom (Lawrence/Zinberg) 20. Luke Can See Her Face (ASP & DP/Diamond) 21. Last Week Fights, This Week Tights (DP/Long) 22. Raincoats & Recipes (ASP/ASP) -- SEASON THREE: WRITERS: Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, Sheila Lawrence, Janet Leahy, John Stephens, Justin Tanner DIRECTORS: Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP), Jamie Babbit, Joe Ann Fogle, Chris Long, Gail Mancuso, Carla McCloskey, Kenny Ortega, Steve Robman 1. Lazy Hazy Crazy Days (ASP/ASP) 2. Haunted Leg (ASP/Long) 3. Application Anxiety (DP/Mancuso) 4. One's Got Class and the Other One Dyes (DP/Robman) 5. Eight O'Clock at the Oasis (Tanner/Fogle) 6. Take the Deviled Eggs (DP/Babbit) 7/episode #50. They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They? (ASP/Ortega) 8. Let the Games Begin (ASP & Lawrence/ASP) 9. A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving (DP/Ortega) 10. That'll Do Pig (Lawrence/Babbit) 11. I Solemnly Swear (Stephens/McCloskey) 12. Lorelai Out of Water (Leahy/Babbit) 13. Dear Emily & Richard (ASP/Mancuso) 14. Swan Song (DP/Long) 15. Face Off (Stephens/Ortega) 16. The Big One (ASP/Babbit) 17. A Tale of Poes and Fire (DP/Long) 18. Happy Birthday Baby (ASP/Mancuso) 19. Keg! Max! (DP/Long) 20. Say Goodnight, Gracie (Leahy & ASP/Babbit) 21. Here Comes the Son (ASP/ASP) 22. Those are Strings, Pinnochio (DP/Babbit) -- SEASON TWO: WRITERS: Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP), Daniel Palladino (DP), Linda Guzik, Allan Heinberg, Sheila Lawrence, Frank Lombardi, John Stephens, Joan Weiss DIRECTORS: Amy Sherman-Palladino, Jamie Babbit, Robert Berlinger, Kevin Dowling, Dennis Erdman, Lesli Linka Glatter, Steve Gomer, Nicole Holofcernes, Michael Katelman, Perry Lang, Danny Leiner, Chris Long, Gail Mancuso, Steven Robman 1. Sadie, Sadie... (ASP/ASP) 2. Hammers and Veils (ASP/Katelman) 3. Red Light on the Wedding Night (DP/Mancuso) 4. The Road Trip to Harvard (DP/Babbit) 5. Nick & Nora / Sid & Nancy (ASP/Katelman) 6. Presenting Lorelai Gilmore (Lawrence/Long) 7. Like Mother, Like Daughter (Weiss/Erdman) 8. The Ins and Outs of Inns (DP/Katelman) 9. Run Away Little Boy (Stephens/Leiner) 10. The Bracebridge Dinner (DP/Lang) 11. Secrets & Loans (Guzik/Holofcernes) 12. Richard in Stars Hollow (Lombardi/Gomer) 13. A Tisket, A Tasket (ASP/Berlinger) 14. It Should've Been Lorelai (DP/Glatter) 15. Lost & Found (ASP/Mancuso) 16. There's the Rub (Lawrence/ASP) 17. Dead Uncles and Vegetables (DP/Babbit) 18. Back in the Saddle Again (Guzik/Dowling) 19. Teach Me Tonight (ASP/Robman) 20. Help Wanted (Allan Heinberg/Long) 21. Lorelai's Graduation Day (DP/Babbit) 22. I Can't Get Started (ASP & Stephens/ASP) -- SEASON ONE: WRITERS: Amy Sherman-Palladino (ASP), Daniel Palladino (DP), Elaine Arata, Linda Guzik, Jenji Kohan, Jed Seidel, John Stephens, Joanne Waters, Joan Weiss DIRECTORS: Amy-Sherman-Palladino, Sarah Pia Anderson, Rodman Flender, Lesli Linka Glatter, Bruce Seth Green, Michael Katelman, Perry Lang, Nick Marck, Alan Meyerson, Adam Nimoy, David Petrarca, Bethany Rooney, Arlene Sanford, Lev. L. Spiro 1. Pilot (ASP/Glatter) 2. Lorelais' First Day at Chilton (ASP/Sanford) 3. Kill Me Now (Waters/Nimoy) 4. The Deer-Hunters (Seidel/Meyerson) 5. Cinnamon's Wake (DP/Katelman) 6. Rory's Birthday Parties (ASP/Anderson) 7. Kiss and Tell (Kohan/Flender) 8. Love and War and Snow (Weiss/Myerson) 9. Rory's Dance (ASP/Glatter) 10. Forgiveness and Stuff (Stephens/Rooney) 11. Paris Is Burning (Weiss/Petrarca) 12. Double Date (ASP/Spiro) 13. Concert Interruptus (Arata/Green) 14. That Damn Donna Reed (DP & ASP/Katelman) 15. Christopher Returns (DP/Katelman) 16. Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers (Weiss, Stephens & Guzik/Glatter) 17. The Breakup, Part 2 (ASP/Marck) 18. The Third Lorelai (ASP/Katelman) 19. Emily in Wonderland (Stephens & Guzik/Lang) 20. P.S. I Lo... (Arata & Weiss/Spiro) 21. Love, Daisies, and Troubadours (DP/ASP) ----------------------------------------- SECTION 8: LINKS TO OFFICIAL SITES, FAN SITES & EPISODE GUIDES: Gilmore Girls Official Site: http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/gilmoregirls/home.jsp http://www.gilmoregirls.org http://www.gilmoregirlsnews.com -- NEW! http://gilmoregirls.tktv.net ----------------------------------------- SECTION 9: A SHORT STATEMENT ON NETIQUETTE *It is strongly recommended that newer usenet users read and practice proper netiquette. Ever wonder why people get upset with you for the style of your posting when it seems you've done nothing wrong? Check out these two netiquette links and familiarize yourself with the basic protocol for posting to usenet. http://home.att.net/~aubreyb/etiq.htm http://www.csam.montclair.edu/docs/Users_guide/news.html For questions or comments about this FAQ, please email Rob at ShutUpRob@aolskippy.com" but take out the skippy. THERE ARE UNDOUBTEDLY FLAWS IN THE ABOVE FAQ.