As a temperate Portland October once again unfurls a misty coil around the city, it’s clear autumn is upon us. The start of fall ushers in colder weather, changing colors, and of course, the escapist Americana classic, Gilmore Girls.

Since its initial release in October of 2000, Amy Sherman-Palladino’s seven season dramedy’s grasp on popular culture is ever tangible, with the show garnering massive viewership, merchandise, and a stop on the Warner Brothers Lot Tour in Los Angeles. Ever-present in the minds and Netflix profiles of audiences near and far, Gilmore Girls is unquestionably one of the most consistently prevalent pieces of media during the autumnal and winter months. The show is known for evoking feelings of warmth, comfort, and nostalgia in the charming fictional Connecticut town of Stars Hollow.

Gilmore Girls’ association with autumn and its continuing popularity among young audiences is a phenomenon repeated every September, but why? Where does the association with specific times of year stem from within the show and why do people keep coming back to it over 20 years later?

Nothing speaks to misty mornings and the gradual cascade of colorful leaves more than Luke’s famous pumpkin pancakes or Taylor Doose’s annual harvest festival. But the true centerpoint of the lives of the Gilmore Girls is school. The strongest force establishing Gilmore Girls as a representative autumnal presence is the show’s focus on Rory’s educational journey, restricting each season’s timeline to the school year, notably omitting summer from the majority of the series. Chilton’s— and eventually Yale’s—prevalence in the storyline reminds audiences of their current school experience.

St. Mary’s Academy in downtown Portland is proudly home to a student-run club dedicated entirely to Gilmore Girls, with a roster of 20-25 members. Senior Sydney Hoffman started the club “[b]ecause I love Gilmore Girls! I was at a school event and I said as a joke, ‘If I were to start any club at SMA, I think I would start a Gilmore Girls club,’ and that’s how it started!” At each meeting, members “[w]atch Gilmore Girls and have discussions and polls about [Gilmore Girls] hot takes!” Hoffman discovered the show in seventh grade, and since then, estimates she’s rewatched the series around eight times. “I love knowing what to expect with each episode and how comforting the whole show is,” she adds.

There is an interesting psychological aspect of Gilmore Girls’ continued appeal. Preliminary findings from a series of four experiments conducted in  a 2009 study by the American Psychology Association (APA), elucidate the power of rewatching favored television programs in stimulating the feeling of belonging in viewers. This lends an explanation to why in times of distress or anxiety, it’s preferable to turn to a known entertainment option rather than something new, and why we feel so good if we do. 

With the establishment of a strong relationship between a viewer and fictional world, the APA note that, “some technological advancements serve to provide the experience of having needs met, without actually meeting the need” because “engaging in narratives leads to an increase in thoughts and emotions congruent with the ones presented in the narrative (Oatley, 1999).”

This explains why comfort can be so easily derived from the fictional worlds we wish to be a part of. The joy and belonging characters experience on screen can leak into our own perceptions of ourselves and our relationships with others and environments. 

Hoffman would agree, and says “I just really love [Gilmore Girls] because it is very comforting and I know what to expect… I also think that it is a way for me to escape from my current life for a little bit and gives me a view as to what life would be like in a very different (and unrealistic) life.”

Another study in 2017 by Slate, Ewoldsen and Woods revealed that parasocial relationships formed between humans and fictional entities, an experience growing in commonality as the rise of streaming services and media accessibility continues, can have enduring properties that contribute to, as described by the study, “retrospective imaginative involvement.” This phenomenon, in layman’s terms, speaks to the audience’s tendency to mentally interact with those fictional occurrences long after viewing has concluded. It’s why we still think about the shows, characters, and storylines that resonate with us when we aren’t currently watching that show and encountering those fictitious things.

This imaginative involvement ingrained in the majority of today’s viewers is beneficial to all media platforms, especially movies and television with strong setting and character components unique to their narrative. This helps extend the reach of entertainment beyond a contained fictional planet. This is shown by the myriad of conventions like Comic-Con, that draw participants decked in the garments of worlds like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and other fantasy/sci-fi heavy productions. It’s clear that movies and television last in the minds of audiences and pop culture far beyond a finale episode, and Gilmore Girls is no different. 

Sarah Case has been a fan of the show for around 20 years, and first watched it during the original broadcast. During COVID, Sarah and her family moved to Silverton, OR, and soon discovered that the small town shared many similarities with their beloved Stars Hollow. “I walk to work down the main street and people roll down their car windows and call out to me, waving. I once bumped into five different people I knew at the grocery store in one visit,” she says, “our town loves a parade, a festival, or any kind of celebratory tradition. Last Friday I watched the Homecoming Parade, where every school in the district (elementary, middle and high school) had a float. A lot of the floats were basically kids in basic costumes sitting on bales of hay on a flatbed trailer, waving and throwing candy. How Stars Hollow is that?”

“I started watching [Gilmore Girls] with my 12 year old daughter earlier this year. I realized – she’s precocious and verbal and witty (like Rory) and she might enjoy seeing a “smart girl” character portrayed in a way that doesn’t follow the classic “nerd” trope. Somehow the fact that Rory carries a book with her everywhere makes her seem actually cooler.”

Stripped to the basic components of appeal, Gilmore Girls might not seem as magical when the curtains are lifted on that factor that draws audiences in, but everyone knows our favorite TV shows and movies are more than just a formula for psychological support. The duality of perpendicular realities can enrich our interactions with the non-televised worlds we inhabit when we see the connections between the two, and don’t forget that favorite media works are often used as social connections.

Whether it’s with a mutual hatred of Christopher Hayden, a shared desire to dive into a stack of incredibly appealing Luke’s Diner pumpkin pancakes, or a wish to attend a Stars Hollow harvest festival, there’s no doubt Gilmore Girls presents an ability to bring people together. Though not the most critically acclaimed production to grace the silver screen, Gilmore Girls is an invitation to a world of love, hope, laughter, and comfort. Whether it will endure past the 2000s New England nostalgia’s grasp on today’s pop culture, or fade into the background of classics gently forgotten is anyone’s guess. Either way, it’s fall now, which means it’s time to start watching and invite the Gilmore Girls back.