TUESDAY, JULY 17

"GILMORE GIRLS" - (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET)

"Farewell, My Pet" (TV-PG) (HDTV)

LORELAI AND CHRISTOPHER CONFRONT THEIR PROBLEMS - Two days after his by-pass surgery, Richard (Edward Herrmann) is on the road to recovery, and Rory (Alexis Bledel) returns to Yale, where she finds that Richard's economics class is now being taught by an attractive young professor, Tucker Culbertson (guest star Cameron Bender), who flusters Rory with his charm. While Lorelai (Lauren Graham) tries to distract herself from the issues in her marriage, she and Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) focus on planning a funeral for one of Michel's (Yanic Truesdale) beloved dogs. Finally, Christopher (David Sutcliffe) returns ready to talk, and he and Lorelai discuss the main problem that has haunted their marriage - Lorelai's feelings for Luke (Scott Patterson. Kelly Bishop, Keiko Agena, Liza Weil and Matt Czuchry also star. Jamie Babbit directed the episode written by Jennie Snyder (#2T7764).