10 Things You Learn Rewatching Gilmore Girls
5. Jess Mariano's Spin Off
Towards the very end of season three, there is an episode called Here Comes The Son, which unusually has less focus on the titular characters, and instead looks into the backstory of Jess Mariano and where he originated from.
The reception to this episode was mostly negative because it felt like a big block in the build up to Rory's Chilton graduation. As well, Jess' character plainly wasn't engaging enough to carry the whole episode.
However, the odd shift away from Rory and Lorelai makes a little bit more sense when you realise it is actually an unspoken pilot episode for Jess' very own spin off show. The working title was Windward Circle and the WB had committed to six episodes of the series, but was dropped to due to problems with the filming location in California.
It's hard to say how popular an alternative series about everyone's favourite bad boy would have been, but suffice to say the pilot episode didn't leave a good impression.