Decades Later, is Gilmore Girls Still Connecticut’s Comfort Show?

Watching reruns of a classic or familiar tv show is one of my favorite ways to de-stress, and a show set right here in Connecticut has been one of our go-to's - Gilmore Girls. Decades later, I find that we're not alone.

Comfort shows is the term I first heard when describing a movie or tv show that provides an escape from stressful times or situations. I've had quite a few over my 5 decades of tv consumption. In the 80's & 90's I watched Cheers to destress after a long day, and Seinfeld reruns were always good for a laugh. My mom and grandma loved The Golden Girls, Quincy, and Hart to Hart. Around the turn of the century, Amy Sherman Palladino took in Washington Depot, New Milford, Lichfield, and Bridgewater while she was staying at the Mayflower Inn and dreamed up a tv series about a young mother and her high-school aged daughter in the midst of this beaufitul corner of Connecticut and came up with Gilmore Girls.

Gilmore Girls premiered in October 2000 and lasted 7 seasons, since it ended in 2007 there has been a revisit called "A Year in the Life', and every time one of Gilmore's stars has been interviewed since, someone has asked 'Will there be more?"

Just recently New Milford had a few Gilmore Girls cast members in town for a reunion event, and I believe there is another one scheduled for later on in 2025.

My comfort from watching the show comes from the theme song sung by Carole King and her daughter, and occasional Connecticut landmarks and towns that pop up in conversation throughout the show. It tickles me every time I hear 'Naugatuck' of "West Hartford' come out of a character's mouth.

A recent rerun of Mystic Pizza on HBO sent my wife and I down a nostalgic trip to Connecticut in the 90's, when Mystic Pizza-Mania ruled here. That buzz has faded a bit, but Gilmore Girls has not. In my opinion, Gilmore Girls should officially be 'Connecticut's Comfort Show".