Flashback Friday: Gilmore Girls – The Ultimate Fall Comfort Show
22 years and a revival later, Gilmore Girls (The original GG before Gossip Girl) remains an all-time fall comfort show for most of us. The show became a cult classic and one of the most beloved shows of all time. Every year as the autumn season draws close, viewers, old and new, come back to it and binge-watch the series with some take-out and coffee. The show became famous for its fast-paced dialogues, pop culture references and witty banter between the characters. In the words of Lorelai Gilmore, “It’s just my favourite time of year. The whole world changes colour.”
The series follows the three generations of Gilmores and how they learn to deal with their personal and professional lives and maintain a civil relationship with each other. It is centred around a 30-something single mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and her teenage daughter, Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) who live in Stars Hollow, a small picture-perfect town where everyone seems to know everyone and gossip travels faster than light (all for good, sometimes). In an interview, showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino said that she envisioned “a warm and candy-coloured” Stars Hollow and “you want that feeling of warmth,” this is exactly what the town and townspeople give and we couldn’t have asked for anything better. The sense of family and community was taught to many through the show. Planning events with the people of Stars Hollow gave us all something to look forward to as we leave the summer behind every year.
Fun Fact: According to Sherman-Palladino, the name for Stars Hollow was inspired by Mia Farrow’s home in Connecticut called Frog Hollow.
We know the storyline by heart, but there is a feeling of nostalgia, comfort and a sense of familiarity, every year that we return to it. It feels like being at home with your loved ones getting together every holiday season. From the opening theme song itself, the show sets the fall, cosy mood for you and the connection between the mother-daughter duo. It is known to be the “greatest theme song in the entire world”. The singer Carole King re-recorded the song with her daughter Louise Goffin, especially for Gilmore Girls, to become more relevant to the show.
Moreso, the showrunner wanted a snappy delivery from the characters as she believes that “comedy dies slow,” which is why we have almost (read: felt like we have) lived through the fights between Lorelai and Rory, Rory and her boyfriends, the neighbours bickering about something or the other and so much more drama. There was something about the crisp scent in the air that you could sense from the other side of the screen and the fresh smell of coffee at Luke’s Diner; I mean there is a reason various media outlets consider Gilmore Girls as one of the greatest shows of all time. It’s like every year we return to the show, it brings back all these feelings that we had forgotten over the year.
Fun Fact: According to a media outlet, it is estimated that the characters drank over 500 cups of coffee across the course of the show overall and at any hour of the day. It may not be the best thing for your health but, if the weather calls for it, why not indulge in something caffeinated?
With that being said, Gilmore Girls was a show that was way ahead of its time, it showed a young single mother who was raising a teenager and healing from generational trauma at the same time. Even though Lorelai’s parenting skills were questioned, it was more than that; there was a best friend story in there who just happened to be a mother-daughter duo. It had a way of blending real life and their problems with fantasy and gave it a whimsical feel. At the same time, we are given a reality check that things aren’t always that pretty. The Gilmores are a ‘hot mess’ but, they always find a way back and things fall into place.
Fun Fact: During a vacation, Sherman-Palladino and her husband, producer and writer Dan Palladino stayed at an inn, which later became the prototype for The Independence Inn, where Lorelai worked before starting The Dragonfly Inn. This is where the backstory for Gilmore Girls was formed.
Even after the finale, the legacy was kept alive via re-runs and online streaming, which gathered new audiences along the way. Moreso, we got to live with the Gilmore girls one last time (unless the showrunners decide otherwise) through the revival episodes. The nostalgic appreciation for the series just keeps getting stronger as we never saw a bond like Lorelai and Rory ever since on our screens. So, let’s welcome autumn, the Gilmore style – coffee, books, food and laughter.
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