10 Funniest Episodes Of Gilmore Girls

While Gilmore Girls had its dramatic moments, the dramedy also had some truly laugh-out-loud funny episodes in its original run. The cast of Gilmore Girls were perpetually falling in and out of love, so, although the show maintained a fairly low-key tone throughout, there was never any lack of drama. Admittedly, the series was hardly a soap opera, and it is no surprise that actor Milo Ventimiglia’s suggestion that his character should be brutally killed off was ignored by the showrunners. However, whether it was Luke’s secret daughter or Rory’s choice of college, there was plenty of conflict in Stars Hollow.

Related

Gilmore Girls Revival: Why Sookie & Dean Are Hardly In A Year In The Life

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life brought back the original cast for the miniseries, but why did viewers see so little of Dean and Sookie?

This means that it can sometimes be hard for viewers to remember just how funny the series was. Gilmore Girls was as much a comedy as a drama, and the series prioritized its funny side more often than fans might recall. The harsh realities of Lorelai’s character arc might have shaped many episodes, but her goofy attempts to balance running the Dragonfly Inn with her hectic personal life made many more hilarious. Similarly, Logan’s Gilmore Girls exit might have been a sad moment for Rory, but her friendships with Paris and Lane provided the show with some of its funniest moments.

10 “A Tale of Poes and Fire,” Season 3, Episode 17

Lorelai Scrambles In This Madcap Misadventure

Season 3, episode 17, “A Tale of Poes and Fire” isn’t devoid of real character development, as is the case with some of the funniest episodes of Gilmore Girls. The outing sees Jess surprise Luke by winning the local Walmart’s employee of the month award, while Lorelai struggles with the prospect of Rory potentially picking Yale over Harvard, and both these plots force the older characters to contend with their young charges growing up and choosing their own paths in life. That said, “A Tale of Poes and Fire” is on this list for a reason, and that is the titular Edgar Allan Poe society’s arrival.

Lorelai books the Edgar Allan Poe society into the inn and is hilariously shot down when she tries to pepper some references to the iconic Gothic horror writer’s work into her interactions with the fans. Later, she endures a comically bad reading of Poe’s work before a fire at the inn leaves her scrambling to find alternative accommodation for the Poe appreciators. Jess’s quick-witted one-liners and the fight between two Poe superfans make this a classic Gilmore Girls episode, and Lorelai’s poignant realization that the inn’s damage is surprisingly substantial doesn’t dull the humor of this one.

9 “Teach Me Tonight,” Season 2, Episode 19

Kirk’s David Lynch-Inspired Short Is Unforgettably Funny

Season 2, episode 19, “Teach Me Tonight,” has the makings of a straightforwardly dramatic Gilmore Girls episode, but the episode takes an inspired left turn late in its runtime. Rory attempts to tutor the rebellious Jess to ensure that he doesn’t get held back, but his insistence on distracting her results in a car crash and a fractured wrist. While this plot line might be dramatic, Lorelei’s decision to play Kirk’s quirky short film “a film by kirk” completely changes the tone of this outing.

Inevitably, Kirk’s mysterious magnum opus “a film by Kirk” turns out to be a bizarre Lynchian odyssey that lets the show affectionately parody the world of avant-garde cinema. The town’s rapturous reaction and the sheer absurdity of the movie ensures that “Teach Me Tonight” is one of the funniest episodes of the Gilmore Girls, and this early outing might be the show’s best use of Sean Gunn’s deadpan Kirk. He remains a pivotal supporting star for years to come, but Kirk shines brightest when he finally takes center stage presenting his bizarre, surreal, and utterly hilarious short film to the world.

8 “You Jump, I Jump, Jack,” Season 5, Episode 7

The Life and Death Brigade Were Charming In Their Debut Outing

Logan is one of Rory’s funnier love interests, especially compared to the dour Dean and bitter Marty. However, few of his episodes are outright funny thanks to his rough relationship with his father, Mitchum, and Mitchum’s contentious interactions with Rory. Fortunately, season 5, episode 7, “You Jump, I Jump, Jack,” showcases Logan at his funniest alongside the Life and Death Brigade, a group of friends whose shtick eventually wears thin over the years. In their first introduction, Colin, Finn, and Logan are disarmingly funny, and their wild night with Rory makes for one of the show’s most purely fun episodes ever.

7 “We’ve Got Magic To Do” Season 6, Episode 5

Paris’s Brief Flirtation With Socialism Is Hysterical

Season 6, episode 5, “We’ve Got Magic To Do” mostly focuses on an underemployed Rory organizing a DAR dinner for Emily, eventually culminating in Richard confronting Mitchum over his patronizing comments on Rory’s potential prowess as a journalist. Whether or not Mitchum is right about Rory, this plot is inevitably overshadowed when Rory gets Paris to help her out in the kitchen. What follows is a workday so tough that Paris ends up briefly embracing socialism, directing the kitchen workers to unionize and taking an antagonistic position against their management in typically over-the-top, quintessentially Paris fashion.

6 “Richard In Stars Hollow,” Season 2, Episode 12

Lorelei’s Retired Father Is Painfully Out-of-Place In Her Small Town

The premise of season 2, episode 12, “Richard in Stars Hollow,” is simple, straightforward, and very, very funny. Lorelai’s newly retired father, Richard, annoys Emily so much that she ships him out to Stars Hollow, where he proceeds to unintentionally aggravate Rory and Lorelai just as much. What makes the outing so funny is the episode highlighting the contrast between Richard’s world of high finance and corporate mergers with Lorelai’s utopian small town. Richard is as lost as a stockbroker in a Hallmark movie, and he soon finds himself confounded by how things work in Stars Hollow, ironically proving why Lorelai loves the place.

5 “Tick Tick Tick Boom,” Season 4 Episode 16

Jason’s Best Episode Is A Comedy Masterclass

Season 4 of Gilmore Girls is unusually funny thanks to the presence of Chris Eigeman’s Jason, the only one of Lorelai’s many love interests who can actually keep up with her motor-mouthed jokes. The entire outing is full of gems, but episode 16, “Tick Tick Tick Boom,” wherein Lorelai and Jason’s secret relationship is discovered, is a standout. Jason and Lorelai’s one-liners are hilarious throughout, while a subplot about Kirk over-zealously hiding Easter eggs around Stars Hollow and Taylor desperately searching for them before they rot is hysterical. All in all, a rare all-around funny outing for the show.

4 “Nick & Nora / Sid & Nancy,” Season 2, Episode 5

Jess Clashes With Stars Hollow The Minute He Arrives

While Gilmore Girls redeemed Jess, Luke’s nephew truly wanted nothing to do with Stars Hollow when he first arrived in the small town. Jess immediately sets himself apart from the quaint environs of Stars Hollow with his rebellious behavior and bad attitude, but Rory inevitably wants to see the good in this brooding bad boy. If this all sounds a little clichéd, that only makes it all the funnier when Luke nonchalantly pushes Jess into a lake to cut off his latest rant. It’s absurdly unexpected, cartoony in its simplicity, and one of the show’s funniest moments ever.

3 “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?” Season 3, Episode 7

The Dance Marathon Is Undeniably Funny Despite Its Ending

Although Jess landing in the lake might be the funniest ten seconds in Gilmore Girls history, the antihero still eventually gets the girl after an entire season of Rory struggling to choose between Dean and him. Her dependable, reliable small-town boyfriend, Dean, finally realizes that Rory has moved on before Rory herself does but, because this is the quirky world of Gilmore Girls, this realization occurs during a Depression Era-style dance marathon. Breathlessly choreographed and directed by High School Musical helmer Kenny Ortega, “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?” balances manic dancing with supposedly serious character development.

This ingenious gag results in one of the show’s funniest and most inventive episodes ever, as the Stars Hollow dance marathon makes Dean and Rory’s breakup bizarrely funny. Admittedly, the ending of “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?” keeps it from the top spot on this list as the conclusion features one of the show’s infamously sudden tonal shifts. However, the goofiness of characters debating their romantic potential without missing a beat in an increasingly desperate and messy dance marathon remains one of the show’s funniest moments thanks to Ortega’s solid direction in this outing.

2 “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving,” Season 3, Episode 9

This Thanksgiving Special Is Fast-Paced And Stuffed With Hilarity

Like “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?,” season 3, episode 9, “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving,” is firmly a high-concept episode. Rory and Lorelai attempt to eat four separate Thanksgiving dinners in one day, a well-meaning effort that soon goes almost inevitably awry. Lane’s house provides a few laughs, but it is Sookie’s drunken antics and Jackson’s attempts to deep-fry the titular turkey that make this episode a standout. Sookie’s Thanksgiving is funny enough to excuse the tiresome argument over Yale that occurs at the Gilmore Thanksgiving dinner later in the day, although what truly redeems this moment is the show’s funniest episode.

1 ”Friday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” Season 6, Episode 13

The Worst Gilmore Family Dinner Makes For The Funniest Episode

Season 6, episode 13, ”Friday Night’s Alright For Fighting” features the funniest Gilmore family dinner in the show’s history. There are also plenty of tears and harsh words exchanged during this meeting of the show’s titular family, but it is impossible not to laugh when Rory, Lorelai, Richard, and Emily are all firing on all cylinders. Since some of Gilmore Girls‘s most unloved plots began in season 6, it is a little surprising that this outing made it to the top spot on this list. However, the sheer pace of the episode’s endless quips and one-liners make it the best distillation of the unique ability Gilmore Girls had to blend character comedy and drama.

Cast

Lauren Graham , Scott Patterson , Sean Gunn , Keiko Agena , Matt Czuchry , Alexis Bledel , Yanic Truesdale , Kelly Bishop , Melissa McCarthy , Edward Herrmann , Liza Weil , Jared Padalecki , Milo Ventimiglia

Release Date

October 5, 2000

Seasons

7