Pilot (Gilmore Girls)

After Rory is accepted to the prestigious Chilton Preparatory School, Lorelai is forced to go to her wealthy parents for financial assistance.

Her parents happily loan their daughter the money in exchange for an end to the estrangement and a family dinner every Friday night.

Unfortunately, things hit a snag when a cute new transfer student flirts with Rory, leading the younger Gilmore to wonder whether leaving Stars Hollow High is really what she wants.

The show begins with shots introducing the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, home of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.

There's Michel Gerard, a rude French man who runs the front desk, an unbelievably sassy harp player, and Sookie St. James, the chef.

Meanwhile, we find out that Rory is the kind of girl who is more interested in academic pursuits and reading Gustave Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary, than worrying about clothes and boys.

Rory wouldn't be caught dead at the event, but Lane has strict parents who are trying to set her up with the son of a business colleague.

The real story is that Rory hears she has been accepted to the exclusive prep school Chilton, which typically means guaranteed admission to Harvard.

Rory is psyched, but Lorelai gets a rude awakening: the school wants a pricey enrollment fee in addition to first semester's tuition.

[2] Additionally, several minor characters such as Judy Tolan and Mrs. Langworthy were cut from the original script and multiple scenes were switched around or merged.

The pilot was shot in Unionville, Ontario near Toronto while the rest of the series was filmed in Burbank, California at the Warner Bros.

Borstein made recurring appearances on Gilmore Girls throughout the show's run, first as the harpist Drella, then as Miss Celine and Doris.