Luke Danes' (Scott Peterson) relationship with Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) on Gilmore Girls was one of the most iconic elements of the series. But the show's creators revealed that the character was initially imagined as a woman named Daisy. The decision to change the diner owner's gender ultimately shifted Gilmore Girls' tone for the best.
Gilmore Girls follows the lives of Rory and Lorelai Gilmore in the quaint town of Stars Hollow, and Luke Danes plays a pivotal role in the mother-daughter duo's lives. Initially, Luke started off as just the owner of the local diner that Rory and Lorelai frequent. As time went on, Lorelai and Luke's chemistry became undeniable, and that was incorporated into many of the show's storylines over the years. The pair went on to become one of the most iconic "will they, won't they" couples in television history. Eventually, they ended up together in the original series' finale and got married in the Netflix series, A Year in the Life.
Simply put, Gilmore Girls could have been a completely different show if Luke had remained Daisy. The seemingly marginal decision was made in order to balance the number of female and male characters on the show. Creator Amy Sherman-Palladino told EW that little was altered when they changed the character from female to male, since the role itself was written to be unisex. In fact, the series' now-iconic opening in which Lorelai begged Luke for more coffee would have had the exact same dialogue. Even so, Peterson and Graham's immediate chemistry just elevated the scene and hinted that there might've been more than just platonic feelings between the two characters.
Sherman-Palladino's mission to create a show with mainly female protagonists was admirable. In recent years, television shows have made impressive strides to show more stories about women on screen. For the CW show to do this more than 20 years ago demonstrated that the show was ahead of its time. Nevertheless, it was unrealistic to have a show without a male protagonist in the central female characters' lives. Gilmore Girls was still completely focused on Lorelai and Rory, which always made sure that it was first and foremost a show about women.
Luke provided Gilmore Girls with some necessary layers. Lorelai is a character that the audience is usually rooting for. She dates a number of men throughout the show, even though it's painfully obvious from the get-go that Luke is her perfect match. Having him present in her life added a healthy contradiction to the show. He is her complete opposite and because of that, it allowed the CW series to show off Lorelai's strengths and weaknesses. This fleshed out her character in necessary ways because Luke made her life more interesting. Lorelai is zany and fun, whereas Luke is grounded and slightly grumpy, and their dynamic made for electric television. That relationship pulled the audience in for each episode and kept them coming back for years. While Gilmore Girls likely could have created a great dynamic between Daisy and Lorelai, the show might not have had the same magic without Luke.