15 "Gilmore Girls" Scenes, Characters, And More That Would've Been Interesting If They Weren't Scrapped

Lauren Graham said there was reportedly a possibility for Rory to get a Gilmore Girls spinoff after Season 7 if Alexis Bledel wanted to continue with the show.

1. First, in the Gilmore Girls Season 3 finale, "Those Are Strings, Pinocchio," there was originally a scene where Lorelai and Rory visit a now empty Independence Inn. As present-day Lorelai and Rory walk around, there were flashes to past Lorelai and Rory doing the same.

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The flashbacks show young Lorelai and Rory talking about living in the inn and how they will one day have their own house in Stars Hollow.

2. Luke didn't exist in the original concept for the show. There was supposed to be a female character named Daisy, but the network told creator Amy Sherman-Palladino that the series needed "another guy." What they didn't realize was Amy didn't change the character at all or her dialogue, she just changed her name from Daisy to Luke.

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Daisy changing to Luke and the show hiring Scott Patterson led to the unexpected creation of Luke and Lorelai's relationship, which was born out of Scott's natural chemistry with Lauren Graham.

3. In the Season 2 episode "There's the Rub," when Paris unexpectedly shows up at Rory's house and ends up hanging out with her and Jess, there was almost a scene where Paris tells Rory she thinks Jess likes her, and she thinks Rory likes him back.

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The scene would've honestly been a great early stepping stone toward Paris and Rory's long-lasting friendship.

4. According to Chad Michael Murray, he was offered a long-term contract for Gilmore Girls so that Tristan could become a series regular, but he turned it down to pursue other acting opportunities, like One Tree Hill.

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Chad explained that at the time he had a "holding deal" with Warner Bros., which is what led to his acting roles on Gilmore Girls, Dawson's Creek, and One Tree Hill. A "holding deal" is similar to what they would do with old Hollywood stars who were actors for specific studios. 

5. Similarly, Amy reportedly wanted to keep Adam Brody as Dave Rygalski around much longer and asked Warner Bros. to keep him on contract with the show, but it fell through, and he ended up departing the series for The O.C.

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When Keiko Agena and Adam reunited in 2020 during an Instagram Q&A, they talked about how fans wanted Lane and Dave to end up together, and Adam said it was a shame they didn't.

6. There was nearly a moment when Emily and Richard throw a movie night for Rory at their house, and it included a popcorn maker, someone taking tickets, and a screening of Crossroads, Glitter, and Billy Jack. They were all movies Emily and Richard had heard Rory talk about before.

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The scene was going to be in the Season 3 episode "Say Goodnight, Gracie." 

7. The Season 2 premiere, "Sadie, Sadie," almost opened with Lorelai and Rory giving out bunches of daisies to Stars Hollow residents after Max surprised Lorelai with the yellow daisies in the Season 1 finale. Instead, the final cut shows Rory and Lorelai walking through town, and you can spot daisies everywhere.

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In the deleted scene, Kirk even stops by and grabs daisies for the post office.

8. For Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Amy said she tried to figure out how to get Max to appear in the revival and wanted to give him a little moment, but it just didn't work out.

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"One person I didn’t figure out how to get in was Scott Cohen, whom we love so much," Amy explained. "Not that we're not still thinking about him, but we couldn’t figure out how to get Max in there."

9. Mädchen Amick auditioned for the role of Lorelai Gilmore before she ended up playing Sherry on the series. Mädchen said she got "really far in the testing process," but the network felt like she didn't look "old enough to be a mother."

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She continued, saying, "I had thought [not looking old enough to be a mom] was kind of the whole point. Either way, it was really cool that Amy brought me back.”

10. Liza Weil originally auditioned for Rory. Even though she wasn't right for the part of Rory, the casting directors and Amy loved Liza so much, they created the role of Paris just for her.

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"The younger version of myself was really freaked out that that’s what they wrote,” Liza said when she talked about how she was initially concerned that they immediately thought she could play someone so brash and competitive. She added, "I couldn’t fathom that they would think that they could do that! But now I think it’s really flattering, and I’m really glad."

11. Teddy Dunn, who played Graham, the guy at Yale who Emily introduces to Rory and they go on one date, was reportedly supposed to be a bigger love interest for Rory. Teddy ended up not returning because he booked Veronica Mars.

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Fans believe he could've been Rory's Yale boyfriend before Logan was introduced.

12. Gilmore Girls almost had a spinoff called Windward Circle, which would've focused on Jess living in California and reconnecting with his dad. The Season 3 episode "Here Comes the Son" served as the possible show's backdoor pilot.

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Milo Ventimiglia revealed on an episode of the Gilmore Guys podcast that he learned about the spinoff in the beginning of Season 3. Then, he found out the show wasn't moving forward when he asked if he had to attend the annual TV Upfronts in NYC, and he said he was going, but just as a member of the Gilmore Girls cast, not for the spinoff.

13. Similarly, Lauren Graham revealed there was reportedly a possibility for Rory to get a spinoff after Season 7 if Alexis Bledel wanted to continue with the show. At the time, Lauren said she didn't want to return, but if a spinoff were to happen, she would've been happy to be a producer.

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"I did formally say at one point, 'I'm not coming back,'" Lauren began. "Then they thought, 'Well, can we do it with just Alexis?' I don't want to speak for her, but we both went back and forth. Ultimately, neither of us wanted to do it without the other one."

14. Prior to the Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix in 2016, there was reportedly a lot of interest to do a reunion movie, so much so that Amy actively tried to sell the rights to a movie, but Lauren said she was often told the show didn't have a "broad, wide enough" audience for a feature film.

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Lauren explained on the Gilmore Guys podcast that the show was often marketed as being only for women when it originally aired, and that limited the scope of how the show was perceived, when in reality, a lot of men enjoy the show as well.

15. And finally, the original Gilmore Girls series ended differently than Amy originally envisioned. Due to Amy and Dan Palladino departing the OG show prior to Season 7, the last four words they wanted didn't happen. However, when Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life premiered, the limited series gave us the original ending.

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Amy and Dan said that they would've had the original series end with Rory telling Lorelai she was pregnant when she was 22 or 23, and they liked the idea of Rory having to face that uncertainty right after college. Amy liked the idea of "history repeating itself and daughter following in mother's footsteps, where you lead, I will follow."