October, 2000. In the month and year when the first episode of Gilmore Girls aired, Tania Rego was also born, a 25-year-old Galician who confesses to being a fanatic of one of the shows that enjoys great sympathy among TV series fans. "I have lost count of the times I have cried and laughed with the story of Rory and Lorelai Gilmore. I see my life reflected in every episode," she says.
"I vaguely remember watching random episodes when it arrived in Spain. It was broadcast on La 2 and I was a teenager back then. Since that moment, I have watched it countless times, and recently it has become an annual tradition," also recalls Berta F. Del Castillo, Digital Communications Manager at Freemantle Spain and a film and series critic.
The thirtysomething points out a well-known fact. For many fans, returning to Stars Hollow every autumn has become more than a routine, it's a ritual. The first leaf falls, and it's time for a rewatch. Gilmore Girls is available on the main streaming platforms (Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+), making it easy to binge-watch its seven seasons.
Scene from Gilmore Girls.NETFLIX
Last year, the series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino was among the top 10 most-watched fiction shows on these platforms. In the United States, Netflix recorded 500 million hours of viewing the series in just the first half of 2024, surpassing hits like Stranger Things. Despite the streaming giant's major successes, there is one constant metric: the enduring popularity of Gilmore Girls almost 18 years after its finale. According to Netflix's biannual report, the first season surpassed five million views from January to June 2025.
"Its fast-paced, witty, and culturally referential script maintains its freshness despite the passage of time. Although some jokes or specific attitudes of the characters would be avoided today, the essence has not gone out of style," says Pilar Baradat, a predoctoral researcher in Communication at Blanquerna, a center of Ramón Llull University. "Over the years, it has established itself as a reference series for both the original audiences and those who have joined now. Social media helps influence more people to revisit it."
In a Reddit thread, hundreds of users share why they rewatch the series so often: "It's like a buffet of comforting food"; "it's my biggest emotional support"; "it helped me get over a breakup"; "it brings me closer to my mother"; "it reminds me of my childhood."
"It represents a space of comfort and familiarity that is particularly appealing in turbulent times like the present"
A study from the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, published in 2009, revealed that rewatching our favorite series "can reduce feelings of loneliness and alleviate the decline in self-esteem and mood." Television series act as a certainty anchor in times of uncertainty: they are like a defense mechanism in moments of stress. Faced with so much overstimulation and catalog saturation, we end up turning to that "kind" content, which we hold the best memories of.
"It represents a space of comfort and familiarity that is particularly appealing in turbulent times like the present. That feeling of home, belonging, and idealized everyday life continues to be one of the series' greatest charms," Baradat considers.
For Baradat, Gilmore Girls captures like few others the most romantic atmosphere of autumn: warm tones, cozy sweaters, soft and nostalgic music, town festivals, daily coffee with pancakes at Luke's... "Everything conveys a caricature of what we think of when we hear autumn, even if our autumn has nothing to do with Connecticut's," she says.
But what is the ingredient that manages to connect with mothers and daughters across generations? "It is one of the fictions that best explores the conflicts of mother-daughter relationships, but also friendships, romantic relationships, the sense of community... It's a happy place born in a time when entertainment proposals did not underestimate the viewer," says F. Del Castillo.
Although the series concluded in 2007, exactly a month before the presentation of the first iPhone, it has also found a younger niche on TikTok. There, Generation Z users post montages with memorable scenes and discuss their favorite couples. Rego points out that the character of Rory, although unbearable at times, manages to connect with adolescent frustration: "You empathize with that imposter syndrome that many of us suffer from or with the feeling that everything promised to you professionally ends up being a fraud."
But it doesn't matter what stage of life you are in: there will always be a resident of Stars Hollow you can identify with. "It's very interesting how time affects which characters you connect with the most and how your perception of each of them changes. The way you experience romances also evolves," says F. Del Castillo. "Right now, the romantic interest I find most attractive is Luke. A man with his own business and healthy habits who goes above and beyond for Lorelai and would literally do anything to make her happy... Where do I sign up?"
With no possibility of spin-offs beyond the 2016 miniseries, A Year in the Life, which divided critics due to its abrupt ending, Baradat insists that Gilmore Girls "still have many years of popularity ahead, perhaps more in October than in July." With the reunion of the lead actresses at the last Emmy Awards, the announcement of a documentary to celebrate the 25 years, and Lauren Graham's recently inaugurated star on the Walk of Fame, it seems that the series is experiencing a new golden age.
"It will accompany me throughout my life, in all stages. It's like my safe haven on gray days. It excites me to know that the Gilmores will always have a place on television," concludes Rego.