Few shows are able to obtain enough viewership to get renewed for a third season. Many shows get canceled while developing their plot lines. In fact, Statista shows that 26.9 percent of all shows on Max get canceled, competitors like Disney+ drop 21 percent of shows, and one of the most popular streaming networks, Netflix, has a 10.2 percent cancellation rate.
The “Gilmore Girls” series is an exception in this barrage of cancellations, having run for seven seasons straight from 2000 to 2007. The “Gilmore Girls” pilot episode aired almost 25 years ago, so how come the show was listed in the top ten most-watched TV shows on Netflix last year?
In 2023, 23 years after the pilot episode, “Gilmore Girls” recorded roughly 500 million hours of viewership on Netflix, according to The New York Times. This beat “Stranger Things,” a show which went viral on popular social media platforms like TikTok. As “Stranger Things” came out nine years after the end of the “Gilmore Girls” series, it is surprising to me that the latter would obtain a higher level of viewership than its more modern opposition.
What’s outstanding about “Gilmore Girls” is that it’s become a place of warmth and nostalgia for many Americans of all races, genders, and generations. “Gilmore Girls” came out over two decades ago, but it’s earned a place in the hearts of viewers from younger audiences like Gen Z because of the way it connects to people’s lives. Whether you’re going through a breakup like Lorelai Gilmore — one of the two main characters — or applying to college like Rory Gilmore — the other — the Gilmore girls are with you.
Rory inspired me when applying to high schools to stay driven and dedicated. Her character is resilient and strong, traits which kept me motivated to work hard in my high school applications, just like Rory when she was applying to Harvard and Yale.
The New York Times states, “Between late 2020 and the middle of 2023, streaming viewership of “Gilmore Girls” was on average about 14 percent higher in the fall and winter than in the spring and summer, according to Nielsen. The show had particularly high engagement in January, according to Nielsen, as well as in October, November, and August.” I believe this is because of the comfort people find in the autumn themes featured in the show, like sweater weather, rain, and hot cocoa.
People keep returning to “Gilmore Girls” as if they lived in Stars Hollow, where the show is set. After a difficult time in their lives, people go back and rewatch “Gilmore Girls.” The small Connecticut town just radiates the feeling of quirkiness and coziness that draws viewers back again and again.
The town of Stars Hollow is full of interesting and weird characters, from former Broadway dancers and town troubadours who fight for territory to councilmen that obsess over maintaining the town’s perfection. The show is an escape from people’s realities.
Many people forget about problems and get absorbed into the bubble of the small town. escaping into little Stars Hollow and hanging out with the Gilmore girls. Whether it’s a longtime relationship gone sour, losing your grandpa, or having a sick dog, people turn back to “Gilmore Girls.”
Yanic Truesdale, the actor who portrayed a grumpy Frenchman that worked at Lorelai’s inn, said that “Gilmore Girls” is “the show that will never die,” lovingly revealing that “Gilmore Girls” has and will endure the test of time.
