JuicyTalk
When it comes to shows full of quirky characters, Gilmore Girls was always the winner, hands down. The show had a huge cast, with not only several main characters but also numerous recurring ones, and day players who came in and out, and there was something unique about each one. While people like Luke, Lane, or Lorelai’s parents are easy to remember, so many secondary characters came through the show that they tend to slip the mind.
Some Gilmore Girls characters were in more than a single episode, but something about them just proved forgettable. Others were only there for a brief moment to further the plot, making it easy to see why they aren’t remembered. All of them played important roles, though, at least in the grand scheme of things.
Trevor
Season 4
Ah, poor Trevor, the rebound guy. Many of Rory and Lorelai’s love interests on Gilmore Girls are memorable, but this one, not so much.
Trevor, played by David Rogers, was the first guy that Rory went out with after she and Jess broke up, and while he seemed like a decent enough guy, it was obvious that he and Rory didn’t have that much in common. He didn’t even seem to be up to verbally sparring with her, which is pretty much one of Rory’s love languages. Overall, their date was incredibly awkward, and the poor guy ended up disappearing to study in Barcelona in their sophomore year.
Drella
Season 1
Back in the first season of Gilmore Girls, the Independence Inn had a harpist (at least in the show’s first four episodes) named Drella. Drella is rude, sassy, and kind of terrible at her job (despite being a good harpist). She would refuse song requests and play Black Sabbath if no one else was around to hear her.
Played by Alex Borstein of Family Guy fame, the character didn’t stick around long. However, Borstein returned to the show in later seasons as the character of Miss Celine. Additionally, the actor was originally meant to play Sookie, but ended up dropping the role due to scheduling conflicts with her other shows.
Glenn Babble
Seasons 4 & 5
It’s surprising that more people don’t remember Glen Babble, Rory’s co-worker at the Yale Daily News. Played by Ethan Cohn, he appeared in 12 episodes of Gilmore Girls across seasons 4 and 5 and was incredibly socially awkward and easily flustered.
While he was often in the background, he shared a storyline with Rory and Paris where they all go to the beach together during Spring Break (the Spring Break trip being one of the several things Gilmore Girls got extremely right about college life). He’s also the writer that Rory became jealous of when his story was picked up by The New York Times. She spent the summer traveling through Europe and learning about this made her feel guilty for not working on her writing.
Bootsy
Season 2
Bootsy was a recurring character in season 2 of Gilmore Girls, played by Brian Tarantina (who fans might recall from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). Bootsy also returned for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Tarantina only appeared in six episodes of the show as the character, and the actor unfortunately passed away in 2019.
While Bootsy was a former schoolmate of Luke’s, he was also the proprietor of the Stars Hollow newsstand. We never learn much about this character, but we do learn in one episode that his father owned the newsstand before him and passed it down to Bootsy.
Kyon
Seasons 4, 5, & 6
This often-forgotten character only appeared in a handful of Gilmore Girl episodes. Kyon, played by Susane Lee, was a foreign exchange student from Seoul whom Mrs. Kim took in after Lane left home. She appeared studious and respectful at first glance and seemed baffled by certain American customs.
She grew over her few episodes, though, eventually becoming friendly with Lane and showing more of her true personality. She even ended up falling for the bassist of Hep Alien (another character many find hard to recall).
Lucy & Olivia
Season 7
Lucy, played by Krysten Ritter, and Olivia, played by Michelle Ongkingco, are two college friends of Rory’s who don’t stick around very long. She meets them at an art gallery her senior year of college, and they end up being there for her in a time of need. Lucy constantly refers to her boyfriend as simply “Boyfriend” when speaking of him, while Olivia’s catchphrase is “genius.”
Lucy and Olivia do have a brief rift with Rory over the course of their friendship. Lucy is dating Marty when the trio first meet, but they eventually break up. The circumstances of the breakup (Marty and Rory had been friends, but he had long harbored feelings for Rory, which Logan revealed to Lucy) caused brief issues between Rory, Lucy, and Olivia, but they smoothed things over soon enough.
Robert “Grimaldi”
Seasons 5 & 6
Robert Grimaldi (not his actual name) was so forgettable that Rory couldn’t even think of his actual last name and made up “Grimaldi”. Played by Nicholas Holmes, Robert was one of Logan’s pals and a member of the Life & Death Brigade. He only really interacts with Rory in an episode where they go to a Pulp Fiction-themed party together.
Robert was just another rich, arrogant guy who flitted through Rory’s life, so it’s not surprising to see why people tend to forget he existed. Plus, he was very similar to two of Logan’s other friends, Colin and Finn; the three were basically interchangeable, which doesn’t make remembering Robert any easier.
Beau Belleville
Seasons 4 & 6
Everyone may love Nick Offerman, but they certainly didn’t love the character he guest-starred as on Gilmore Girls, so it’s probably for the best that so many have forgotten that the character Beau Belleville ever existed. Beau is Jackson’s older and creepier brother. He thankfully only shows up a couple of times—once for Davey’s birth and again for Davey and Martha’s baptisms.
Showing up for his nephew and niece isn’t what made Gilmore Girls fans dislike him, though. No, that was due to his aggressive pursuit of Lorelai after his cousin Roon told him that she was a “nympho.”
Francie Jarvis
Seasons 2 & 3
It seems like more people should remember Francie Jarvis, played by Emily Bergl, as some consider her one of the most hated side characters on Gilmore Girls, but she was also somehow one of the most forgettable. Francie goes to Chilton with Rory and is the leader of the Puffs, the secret society that Paris desperately wants to be invited into. The character often clashes with Paris and sometimes Rory, such as during their senior year over the class’s senior gift.
Despite how few people apparently recall the character, Francie still made an appearance in the revival. She and Paris ran into each other, which upset Paris and caused her to lament to Rory about her insecurities about her current life path.
Tobin
Seasons 3 & 4
Ah, dear, sweet Tobin, played by Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall fame. Tobin appeared in a few episodes as the night manager of the Independence Inn. Unlike many of Stars Hollow’s residents, though, he was fairly quirkless, making him more difficult to remember.
Tobin was a nice guy, and he got along well with Lorelai and Sookie, but that made him more bland than anything. The one thing people might recollect him for was his and Michel’s dislike of one another, which was rather amusing, considering Michel had some of the best snarky one-liners on Gilmore Girls.
