Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life

Gilmore Girls Season Has Arrived

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Here’s why we associate the series with autumn

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Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life

The leaves are fading to orange and crunching underfoot, pumpkin spice lattes are arriving in cafes, and the biting chill in the air just begs you to don your knitwear. Autumn is here – and with it, an uncontrollable desire to watch The CW’s classic comedy drama, Gilmore Girls. Here’s how to watch it in the UK, plus why we associate Lorelai and Rory with autumn.

How To Watch Gilmore Girls In The UK

Every episode of Gilmore Girls is available to stream on Netflix. But, luckily for UK viewers without a subscription, Gilmore Girls is also available to stream on ITVX totally free of charge – that’s all 153 episodes across all seven seasons.

In 2016, the series was revived with a four-part special entitled A Year in the Life. In the UK, this is available to stream on Netflix and Netflix only – and it will stay that way until 2026 due to an exclusive deal.

What Is Gilmore Girls About?

Gilmore Girls centres on mother-daughter duo Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, and their lives in the sleepy Connecticut town of Stars Hollow. At the beginning of the series, the sparky Lorelai (Lauren Graham) is a 32-year old single mother, having given birth to the intellectual 16-year-old Rory (Alexis Bledel) when she was only 16 years old herself. Fiercely independent, she is estranged from her appearance-obsessed upper-class parents, Emily and Richard, and Lorelai and Rory live modestly despite the mother having had a lavish upbringing.

We’re quickly introduced to the duo’s inseparable relationship and big dreams: Lorelai longs to own her own inn, while bookish Rory desperately wants to attend Harvard University. In the first episode, this desire introduces one of the series’ main conflicts: Lorelai reluctantly reaches out to her parents to ask for financial help so she can send Rory to prestigious private school, Chilton, and up her chances of going to Harvard. Emily and Richard happily agree to pay for Rory’s tuition – on the condition that the mother and daughter join the parents/grandparents for dinner at their house every Friday evening. Thus one of the show’s primary conflicts is set up, and all three generations of Gilmore girls must face their differences and complicated pasts, with these weekly dinners fueling the flames.

Who Stars In Gilmore Girls?

The main cast includes:

Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore
Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore
Kelly Bishop as Emily Gilmore
Edward Herrmann as Richard Gilmore
Melissa McCarthy as Sookie St James
Scott Patterson as Luke Danes
David Forester as Christopher Hayden
Keiko Agena as Lane Kim
Jared Padalecki as Dean Forester
Liza Weil as Paris Geller
Milo Ventimiglia as Jess Mariano
Matt Czuchry as Logan Huntzberger

Why Is Gilmore Girls Associated With Autumn?

There are many things tying Gilmore Girls to autumn (aka ‘fall’ in the States), the main being the setting of Stars Hollow. A sleepy Connecticut town, Stars Hollow lends itself perfectly to the autumnal aesthetic with wide leafy streets turning brown with the season. We also see fun seasonal events like Thanksgiving, Halloween and the town’s annual Autumn Festival during the series.

Meanwhile, with Rory’s schooling the main ongoing topic of the series, we naturally make that back-to-school connection when watching Gilmore Girls, and much of the series’ events take place during autumn as a result. Otherwise, there’s Lorelai and Rory’s penchant for coffee to consider: the duo often grab a hot cup from Luke’s and stroll the streets donning scarves, turtlenecks, knitted sweaters and autumn coats in warm hues like brown, red and orange – or hideaway inside for movie nights while Sookie bakes endless treats. The connections are undeniable.

If you watch the opening credits, the autumnal vibes are immediately clear. In fact, the whole Gilmore Girls series is warm and homely, with many viewers comparing watching it (and rewatching it) to a cosy blanket – which especially makes sense when you know exactly what is going to happen.

Where Was Gilmore Girls Filmed?

Gilmore Girls was filmed on a set in Burbank, California.

Is Stars Hollow A Real Town?

Sadly, Stars Hollow is not a real town, and the whole thing was created on a set in California, from Luke’s Diner to Patty’s dance studio. For some similar leafy spots, step in series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino’s shoes and venture to Conneticut, where she was inspired to create Gilmore Girls after strolling around the villages of Washington and West Hartford and the town of New Milford. ‘I’ve never been there in winter, when you’re snowed in and you can’t go anywhere, and you and your husband want to kill each other because you can’t go to a movie,’ Sherman-Palladino told The Deseret News in 2001. ‘But at the time I was there, it was beautiful, it was magical, and it was feeling of warmth and small-town camaraderie… There was a longing for that in my own life, and I thought – that’s something that I would really love to put out there.’