Fifteen years after "Gilmore Girls" hit the airwaves, rumors started to circulate that the original cast and creators might come together again for a revival. It took the news cycle by storm.
See, “Gilmore Girls” ran on TV for seven seasons, but creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel only got to work on six of them because of a contract dispute.
Fans — both streaming newcomers and television diehards — wanted to see how Sherman-Palladino would end the show on her own terms.
Kevin T. Porter was one of those fans. He started the "Gilmore Guys" rewatch podcast in 2014 with co-host Demi Adejuyigbe, around the time the series was added to Netflix. Porter was blown away by the response to his show. But he knew it wasn’t just about the podcast. It was about "Gilmore Girls" and the fandom around it.
“It was almost like being pastors of a church, in a way, and we were just kinda like the figureheads leading the flock,” Porter said.
Our podcast team saw the power of the fandom firsthand at several festivals across Connecticut. We heard fans describe the show as a comfort watch, “a warm blanket,” “a hot cup of coffee,” “a bowl of soup,” or “a big connector.” People told us that when they were really going through it, they turned to "Gilmore Girls".
But the original fan weekend started right here in Connecticut, just before the launch of the 2016 Netflix revival of “Gilmore Girls” called “A Year in the Life”. Today, fans call the now annual gathering the "Firelight Event". It features costume contests, trivia, book signings, karaoke, and cast members.
But festival organizer Jennie Whitaker says that most of all, this found family of fans come back year after year “to see the people they’ve become friends with.”
What is it about "Gilmore Girls" that inspires so many people to come together 25 years after its premiere?
Yanic Truesdale, the actor who played Michel Gerard on "Gilmore Girls", has a theory.
“It’s such a rare thing to have a show 25 years later to be as popular, that it’s hard to analyze,” Truesdale said.
He mainly credits the writing and the world that creator Amy Sherman-Palladino built in Stars Hollow.
“The show is very much about a community and a sense of community and helping each other,” Truesdale said. “I think people are lacking that and perhaps they’re yearning for it.”
This episode we explore the special "Gilmore Girls" fandom that feels a lot like the fictional community we re-watch on our screens.
"Generation Gilmore Girls" is hosted by Chloe Wynne. This episode was reported, written, and produced by Lily Tyson and Chloe Wynne. It was edited and produced by Cassandra Basler. Sound design and mixing by Jay Cowit. Megan Fitzgerald is our project manager. Ayannah Brown and Tyler Russell are our visuals producers. Our show art was created by Sam Hockaday.
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