Twenty-five years ago, “Gilmore Girls” officially took the season of fall hostage.
The light-hearted dramedy followed the lives of fast-talking, coffee-obsessed and quirky mother-daughter duo Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel), who lived in the cozy and close-knit town of Stars Hollow.
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, “Gilmore Girls” premiered on Oct. 5, 2000. The show aired for seven seasons from 2000 to 2007, first on The WB before it switched to The CW. Nine years after the series ended, the stars of the show reprised their roles for the Netflix four-part miniseries “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.”
Over two decades later, the show has become a pop culture phenomenon, with fans rewatching the hit show year after year, especially when days get shorter and temperatures drop.
In recent months, the nostalgia has hit a high after Graham and Bledel reunited at the 2025 Emmys. Earlier this month, a handful of actors were by Graham's side when she got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Scott Patterson, known as Luke Danes, spoke with TODAY.com about supporting his former on-screen love interest, why he's rewatching every episode again on his iHeartRadio “I Am All In...Again! with Scott Patterson" podcast, and where he envisions Luke, Lorelai and Rory would be up to in a reunion special.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
It's so awesome to celebrate the 25th anniversary of 'Gilmore Girls.' How was it reuniting with Lauren Graham and other cast members at her Walk of Fame ceremony?
It was such a fun day. What a great occasion. Much deserved for Lauren, great to be there by her side and supporting her. She's a star of that show and just did a remarkable job with that character. (I) always, always support her whenever I can.
This year is a milestone year for the show. Have you been reconnecting more with former castmates or have you always stayed in touch?
I keep in touch with as many people as possible. I do a lot of conventions so I’m always seeing Sean (Gunn) or some other cast members that do conventions. Not everybody does them. I keep pretty plugged in.
It’s not like we’re on a “Gilmore Girls” cast group chat. But if we do a new project, we’ll get some text messages, “Hey, saw the new thing. Great. Let’s get together.” Those kinds of things. So it’s always nice and Lauren’s gathering was a chance to reconnect with some people.
Tell me about rewatching 'Gilmore Girls' for a second time on your podcast, 'I Am All In... Again!', and how you are feeling about it?
We’re on the second go-around. We just finished recapping Season 3, Episode 1, and it’s where Christopher (David Sutcliffe) and Sherry (Mädchen Amick) are pregnant. Lorelei and Christopher will not be getting together. Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard (Edward Herrmann) do not know and when they find out, they ridicule Lorelai and she limps into the diner trying to heal our rift because we weren’t talking. We had a big blowout.
I love this scene where she comes in and says, “Don’t see me as Lorelai. If you don’t want to talk to me, I’m Nancy or Minnie or whoever... I just need to talk.” So she sat down, talked and got emotional.
The beauty of that scene, for me, is how vulnerable she is and how clever she is to come in and say she needs to talk to me so much, she needs her friend so much that she's willing to do it under a pseudonym, which is really funny. Then just watching Luke kind of melt. His heart is reopening again.
I love the writing on this show. It’s so special that we got to do that every day. Let’s face it, it’s the cherry on top of the cake of all of our careers. We’ll never outdo this show. There will never be another “Gilmore Girls” and these characters are going to live forever. So (I’m) very lucky in that regard, I feel very, very grateful to be a part of this 25-year phenomenon. And let’s raise our glasses to 25 more years.
What is something new that you are doing this time around?
There’s a new segment I’m doing, it’s called “This Is Not Old Man Music.” We’re doing the music of the show. I just interviewed Sister Sledge, which was an amazing interview. But we’re going to be talking about the music of the show, the musicians and stars.
We're just going to do what the fans do. We're going to keep re-watching, sharing new insights, new opinions. We're just having a blast doing it.
Would you be up for another 'Gilmore Girls' reunion?
Oh, yeah, I think they could twist my arm (laughs).
What would you picture Luke doing?
Same. I think that’s the beauty of the characters, is they don’t change. I think that’s what fans want and that’s really how it should be. I don’t think Luke has changed, he’s just gotten a little older. I don’t think Lorelai’s changed.
I don’t think, especially in Luke and Lorelai’s case, that you want to change them too much. You really don’t. I think that’s why people love them. They’re their own people. They have their own strength. They don’t need each other, but they want each other and they’re willing to span that bridge to get to one another and do all that it takes.
But she's maybe a grandma, according to the ending of 'A Year in the Life.'
Well, she is — and (maybe) she's been one for eight years, yeah. And maybe (she's) a mother, who knows? I don't know. I don't want to start rumors.
Rory's boyfriends have been a big part of the show. Jared Padalecki and Matt Czuchry did a Panera commercial together, Lauren called out Milo Ventimiglia and Jared for not being at her Walk of Fame and said, 'Points for Logan.' What team are you now?
I'm team none of them. I like them all as people. But as characters, I think Rory, once she gets her act together, and she probably has by now, she's been a mother for eight years, I think there's going to be a new energy coming into her life and a new person — and maybe she's already found someone!
So if there is a new iteration or Christmas special, maybe we meet this person. They've been together for, you know, seven years or eight years. Or maybe she's been a single mother and she meets somebody. Maybe it's a guy who just opened a diner somewhere (laughs). I'll leave the creative writing to the creative writing team.
I know there's a documentary coming out, are you involved?
Yeah, (I have) nothing to do with it. They never came to me and made a deal.
