At last month’s Emmy Awards, Lauren Graham, alongside her on-screen daughter Alexis Bledel, paid tribute to the beloved series that brought them together. Graham quipped, “Twenty-five years ago a show called ‘Gilmore Girls’ premiered and apparently took the season of fall hostage.”
‘Gilmore Girls’ first aired on October 5, 2000, on the WB network, and its 25th anniversary is seeing a surge of renewed interest. A new documentary, ‘Drink Coffee, Talk Fast,’ is currently in production. Popular brands like Cotton On, Owala, and Vera Bradley have launched new ‘Gilmore Girls’ themed collections, with the Vera Bradley line selling out completely in just five minutes after over 85,000 people signed up for email alerts. Even actors Jared Padalecki and Matt Czuchry — known to fans as Rory’s boyfriends Dean and Logan — recently reunited for a Panera Bread commercial promoting their fall menu.
This commercial perfectly highlights the second part of Graham’s Emmy remark. It’s been 18 years since the show concluded, 11 years since it first arrived on Netflix — sparking a massive resurgence as a streaming favorite — and nine years since the revival mini-series, ‘A Year in the Life.’ Yet, as temperatures drop and leaves transform into vibrant hues, countless fans embark on an annual television pilgrimage to the idyllic, fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
Social media platforms like TikTok are brimming with videos celebrating autumn as the prime ‘Gilmore Girls’ rewatch season. Dedicated fans in Reddit forums and Facebook groups eagerly discuss whether they should start their annual viewing on September 1st or October 1st. Vanessa Marano, who played April Nardini on the show, even posted her own fall countdown on Instagram to commemorate the anniversary.
Kevin T. Porter, host of the ‘Gilmore Guys’ rewatch podcast, notes that the show’s autumnal connection is deeply ingrained. “Literally the first shot of the theme song is just like a bunch of orange-leaf trees, and the color timing of the whole montage of the theme song is autumnal color,” he explained. “So that’s inherent to it.”
Image: A screen full of orange leaves superimposed with the words “Gilmore girls.” (Credit: WB)
Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, the series centers on Lorelai Gilmore (Graham) and her daughter Rory (Bledel), whom she had at 16. Living in the impossibly charming Stars Hollow, they navigate life more like best friends than a typical mother-daughter duo, interacting with a colorful cast of townspeople, including quirky neighbors, various love interests, and eccentric local characters.
Since its arrival on Netflix, ‘Gilmore Girls’ has become even more popular than during its original broadcast run. Nielsen reported it as one of the top 10 streamed shows across all platforms in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Surprisingly, the show is actually much less focused on fall than its widespread reputation suggests. Its very first scene, shot near Toronto, shows Lorelai bundled up, walking through a town with bare trees. After the pilot, production moved to the WB lot in Burbank, California, meaning any autumn ambiance had to be carefully crafted. According to a recent analysis by Mental Floss, only 48 of the show’s 153 episodes actually take place in the fall, compared to 53 set in the spring.
So, what truly cemented the show’s connection to this particular season?
Sherman-Palladino herself has stated that autumn was central to her initial vision for ‘Gilmore Girls.’ After selling the show, she and her husband, Dan Palladino (a writer, director, and producer for the series), took a trip to Connecticut. They were captivated by the hayrides, pumpkin patches, and other seasonal delights they encountered.
“The jaded woman that I am, I was like, ‘This is like central casting laid this out for us. People don’t live like this,’” Sherman-Palladino shared with The Hollywood Reporter last year. “But they do in some places, and that creatively fed me the rest of the show. Most of the show is about Lorelai creating this world that she and her daughter can both grow up in together.”
Scott Patterson, who played Luke Danes, the beloved grumpy diner owner and Lorelai’s eventual love interest, suggested in a video interview that the show’s autumnal ties are linked to its themes of family coming together.
‘Gilmore Girls’ begins with Lorelai needing to reconnect with her estranged parents, Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard (Edward Herrmann), to secure funds for Rory’s private school tuition. This obligation blossoms into weekly Friday night dinners, a cornerstone of the show throughout its seven seasons.
The fall is “when families should be coming together,” Patterson emphasized.
Image: The show frequently featured Thanksgiving episodes, including the fan-favorite “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving” in Season 3, starring Alexis Bledel, Lauren Graham, and Melissa McCarthy. (Credit: WB)
Porter also connected the show’s autumnal appeal to its relaxed, unhurried atmosphere. “There’s a languid, sort of laconic pace to everything on the show that makes it go down smooth,” he noted, highlighting “the coziness of it” as a key factor tying it to fall.
Jennie Whitaker, who runs a P.R. agency in Austin and organizes an annual fan fest in Connecticut (aptly held in the fall), believes the association stems from how people outside the Northeast perceive the region during this time. “I think of Maine as, like, sailboats in the summertime,” she said. “When you say, ‘When do you want to go to Connecticut?’ I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t say fall.”
Kathleen London, who co-hosts the yearly ‘Destination Stars Hollow’ event in Brighton, Michigan, suggests that ‘Gilmore Girls’ filled a niche in seasonal entertainment. “When you think of small town, you think of either Christmas or fall,” she explained. And as London points out, the Hallmark channel already dominates the Christmas season.
‘Gilmore Girls’ consistently prioritized fall holidays over winter ones. For instance, in “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving” (Season 3, Episode 9), Rory and Lorelai juggle four separate Thanksgiving dinners. In “Kiss and Tell” (Season 1, Episode 7), Rory shares her first kiss story with best friend Lane while both are dressed as pilgrims, surrounded by a cornucopia.
Fittingly, the final episode of the revival franchise, ‘A Year in the Life,’ is simply titled “Fall.” It brings the Gilmore story to a close with the four pivotal final words that Sherman-Palladino had originally envisioned for the end of the initial series, a conclusion she couldn’t deliver due to a contract dispute before the final season.
Rory: “Mom?”
Lorelai: “Yeah?”
Rory: “I’m pregnant.”
As Patterson wisely observed, fall is a time for family. And for generations of viewers, ‘Gilmore Girls’ remains a cherished annual tradition.
“It’s like a valuable antique that your grandparents left,” Patterson said. “I do a lot of conventions, and you’ll see four generations: the grandmother, the mother, the daughter, and the daughter’s daughter. And it’s extraordinary.”