“Oy, with the poodles already.” 

Ah, Gilmore Girls, the infamous coming-of-age show about a mother and daughter trekking through life’s daily drama with a clever quip always at hand—the true comfort show of all comfort shows. 

Everyone’s always talking about Gilmore Girls—or are they? The last time I heard someone else talk about Gilmore Girls was… never! You’d think that such a popular, long-winded show would have countless conversations dedicated to it and countless, countless articles. Hmm. Maybe it’s a regulation that every Gilmore Girls fan isn’t allowed to meet because the world would simply implode if they did.

So, I’ve taken it upon myself to be that writer, to publish that Gilmore Girls article and bring it back into the conversation! Now, get ready to head over to Luke’s, because this is going to be incredibly cheesy. 

Gilmore Girls is the coming-of-age story, mixed with real family issues, romantic setbacks (and romantic successes), and a whole cast of characters who meld together in such an interesting way. Every single character has their own wide set of quirks, ranging from being overly stubborn about decorating to having to mix their obsessions with rock and punk music with their incredibly strict mother. 

To top it all off, all of the characters are sharp-witted, clever, and have a mouth that will run off thousands of jokes before you can even get a breath in. The constant back-and-forth is done so well—combined with thousands of references, most I still don’t get—that it makes the perfect dialogue.

For many others, including me, it’s also a source of nostalgia and comfort. Personally, I first watched Gilmore Girls with my grandma. My dad would always be shocked she was watching this show with a 12-year-old, but who says all of those jokes didn’t go completely over my head? While I didn’t get half the references back then, it was incredibly influential to the way I perceived humor and the way I thought high school and college would be like (I seriously thought I’d be exactly like Rory, and something inside of me still hopes that to be true). 

But trust me, trying to make Lorelai Gilmore-like jokes to your friends in middle school is not a good idea. 

More importantly than my personal humor and desires, however, were the memories I made with my grandma. There’s nothing quite like bonding over a show, movie, or book.

Senior Irene Fernandez also has a fond experience with Gilmore Girls: “Gilmore Girls is actually the perfect show. Whenever I watch it, I always fall into the mindset of wanting to be Rory, moving to Connecticut, and finding a Jess lookalike. I love most of the characters especially Rory, Luke, Lane, and Paris. A show who literally has Chad Michael Murray, Jared Padalecki, and Milo Ventimiglia has to be among the best. Gilmore Girls is definitely my comfort show.” 

Continuing on, Irene says:  “The characters are well-developed and one of the best parts is seeing everyone interact with each other and seeing the Gilmore family dynamic. The fashion is immaculate and the show has so many references to film, food, and literature. I’m currently trying to read all the books Rory mentions in the show (408). This show is a classic and a must-watch! #teamjess”

Speaking of the beloved Jess, let’s just get this out of the way. With any popular show or movie, there will always be a debate over which boy is best. And since this is an opinion piece, I have full reign. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to go into too much detail. 

Actually, scratch that. I went into so. much. detail. I can’t even fathom trying to shorten what I wrote so, instead,  I’ll give you the extremely short synopsis of Rory’s boyfriends. Dean very bad. Jess good, very good, very, very good. Logan… Um… That’s all.

If I got paid to write articles by the word, then I just lost out on some very good money. However, I’m sparing you all from my complete and total unrelenting rant about Dean and my favoritism of Jess. Feel free to debate me below, though.

As for Lorelai, there’s no debate whether or whether not Luke is the right choice. He is. End of discussion. 

Now, in regard to Lane, who isn’t a Gilmore girl… Dave was the best boyfriend. I’m sorry, why did they put her with Zack? Who wasn’t good for her in any way? And the show gave her TWINS with HIM? And she stopped pursuing a career in music even when HER MOM FINALLY SUPPORTED HER? I have a lot of feelings about Zack, and I truly feel like it was a cop-out with Dave because the actor left the show. Sigh.

Sorry, I promised not to rant. Anyway. 

Let’s quickly talk about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. While I did watch this well over four years ago, I still have a long, festering dislike of it. This isn’t an article dedicated to spoilers, so I’ll keep it brief. The ending of the season was just… not needed. It could have gone in an entirely different direction. The way it went was entirely unnecessary, possibly putting her into the same thing her mother went through earlier in the show. I just can’t see how that should’ve been the major plot point when bringing back a show 10 years later. 

However, some positive aspects I do remember are Jess’ growth and his positive influence on Rory and how the show paid its respects to the actor who played Richard, Edward Hermann. 

Besides that, I may completely disregard Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life for the rest of my life. I’m just hoping that if a second season comes out, it turns things around. I still can’t wrap my head around the way it ended, especially without giving us an explanation.

Despite how Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life left off, Gilmore Girls still stands out from the huge mass of shows available because it’s a heartwarming example of family, friends, and small-town life with incredibly unique characters. It’s the show little girls want to live inside when they get older. It’s the show that brings together clever humor with entertaining, and sometimes dramatic, life events. It’s a show that has so many incredible elements all at once that it is deserving of more than one simple watchthrough. 

And as cheesy as it may sound, Gilmore Girls influences me to this day. It will always have a special place in my heart as my comfort show and so much more.