The 10 Funniest Running Jokes in the TV Series Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls remains one of the most beloved and popular shows on streaming. Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel starred in the story about a mother-daughter duo dealing with love, life, loss, and hope while living in the quirky town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

Famous for its pop culture-laced dialog and fast banter, Gilmore Girls is as popular today as it was during its original seven-year run in the early 2000s. A huge reason for its success is its unique vibe and style, featuring several running gags that enhanced the show’s quirky factor and cemented it as a fan favorite.

10. The Hollow’s Inhabitants

Stars Hollow is a quirky town. Conveniently located about half an hour from Hartford, Connecticut, Stars Hollow is relatively small, quaint, and lively. There’s a true sense of community among its inhabitants, who apparently all know each other since childhood.

The show features many of the town’s curious inhabitants – Gypsy, Bootsy, Andrew, Miss Patty, and Babette, among others. However, it briefly shows or mentions multiple characters who fit into the town’s weirder side. For example, the town loner, who Lorelai describes as Stars Hollow’s Boo Radley. There’s also Fay, who owned a flower store and left to live in the caves after her break-up with Art, who owned the flower shop; Kirk mentions sometimes they can hear “Delta Dawn” playing from a distance.

9. The Pro-Con Lists

Rory is one of television’s most famous know-it-alls. Studious, responsible, and ambitious, Rory dreams of attending an Ivy League college and majoring in journalism, aiming to become the next Christiane Amanpour.

One of Rory’s main traits is her fondness for making pro-con lists, especially during her intense high school days. Rory makes them for almost everything; she made one to decide between Dean and Jess and one to decide on her ideal job after college. Most memorably, she makes a large pro-con list to choose between Harvard and Yale, ultimately going for the latter.

8. Michel’s Rudeness

Michel is one of Lorelai’s closest friends. He is the concierge at the Independence Inn, later following Lorelai and Sookie to the Dragonfly. Once Sookie leaves, he becomes Lorelai’s best friend, notably being one of the few attendees to her initial wedding to Luke in the revival.

Despite his positive qualities, Michel is a rather stereotypical portrayal of a French man. He is openly rude and short-tempered, to the point where it becomes unclear why he is a concierge at all. However, Michel is among the show’s funniest characters, his rudeness being one of his most notable and surprisingly endearing qualities.

7. Emily And Her Maids

It’s not an overstatement to say Emily Gilmore is the best character in Gilmore Girls. Witty, clever, and high-maintenance, Emily is the third Gilmore girl and the show’s secret weapon. Her contentious relationship with Lorelai is every bit as important to the show’s fabric as Lorelai’s bond with Rory.

One of Emily’s main traits is her demanding personality. She has a different maid in almost every episode, dismissing them for valid reasons like not understanding simple instructions – no walnuts in the salad! – to minor nuisances like setting a fourth place at the table. The show once features a storyline about one of the maids suing her for wrongful dismissal, with Lorelai agreeing that her mother has ridiculously high and unreachable standards for her hired help.

6. Stars Hollow, Land Of QuirkI.

Stars Hollow is one of television’s best fictional towns. It might be overly quirky and with an annoyingly close sense of community, but it’s also wildly original and always hectic: no matter the time of year, there always seems to be some strange event happening.

Among the most memorable Stars Hollow events are the 24-hour dance marathon, the incredible Festival of Living Art, the knitathon to raise money for the old bridge, the End-of-Summer Madness Festival, and the movie festival where Kirk screens his now-iconic film, the appropriately titled “A Film by Kirk.”

5. Sookie’s Clumsiness

Melissa McCarthy has starred in many films since leaving Gilmore Girls. However, her role as the loveable and enthusiastic Sookie St. James launched her into stardom, earning her a devoted and loving legion of fans. Sookie is one of the show’s sweetest characters, a loyal friend and an excellent chef whose food charms everyone.

For all her strengths, Sookie is something of a mess, especially in the early seasons. Clumsy and easily distracted, Sookie often suffers accidents – she once burned the back of her uniform after an incident with her utensils. Although chaotic and accident-prone, Sookie is a genius chef with a can-do attitude that goes a long way.

4. Life’s Short, Talk Fast

The Gilmore girls talk fast. Like, really fast. Lorelai and Rory have a unique and highly entertaining way of communicating, speaking incredibly fast and burning through references and events that most others fail to understand.

However, the two protagonists aren’t the only ones that talk fast on the show. Almost everyone does: Emily, Paris, Jess, Logan, Rory’s Chilton and Yale classmates, and major supporting characters like Jason and Christopher. In fact, it’s the characters who talk slower, like Luke and Dean, that stand out among the show’s cast.

Gilmore Girls rose to prominence thanks to its unique premise and pop culture-laced dialog. Lorelai and Rory are pop culture machines obsessed with classic films, beloved sitcoms, and trashy, so-bad-they’re-good movies. They are also cultured about real-world events, referencing the Iran-Contra affair, Mary Kay Letourneau, and the Kennedys, among many others.

The references go beyond Lorelai and Rory. Every character in Gilmore Girls is well-versed in pop culture and politics. Figures like Paris, Jess, Richard, and Logan are the most likely to keep up with the girls’ savvy, but unlikely characters like Luke and Taylor have also matched Lorelai and Rory on occasion.

2. Kirk’s Many Talents

Sean Gunn played the scene-stealing Kirk throughout Gilmore Girls, returning for the revival. Kirk is Stars Hollow’s resident jack-of-all-trades; throughout the show’s seven seasons, he has multiple jobs, including mailman, mold inspector, jewelry salesman, realtor, and tow truck operator. Kirk also begins several failed businesses, including a t-shirt venture, a diner, and a poorly-conceived copy of Uber called Ooober.

Kirk’s many talents are among the show’s best storylines. He usually has a new job every episode, allowing him to interact with many characters, offering his brand of weird insights before disappearing, probably searching for a new job.

1 Coffee Is Life

If there’s one thing the Gilmore girls love more than each other, it’s coffee. Lorelai drinks ridiculous amounts of coffee, to the point where she declares she probably was coffee in a previous life. The Pilot’s first scene is Lorelai asking Luke for coffee despite already having had 5 cups; Luke even calls her a “junkie.”

The girls’ obsession with coffee is a recurring topic throughout the show, with Luke and Richard chastising them for drinking so much. Emily, the show’s third Gilmore girl, also has a fondness for coffee, although hers doesn’t receive as much attention as Lorelai’s.