Have you ever thought about living in Stars Hollow? You’re definitely not alone. Gilmore Girls is a classic that never seems to lose popularity years after its series finale. And, Gilmore Girls just wouldn’t be Gilmore Girls without the town where it all takes place: Stars Hollow. So, what is it about Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory’s (Alexis Bledel) beloved hometown that makes it so special?
Gilmore Girls has many traits that make it unique and lovable, but one thing that stands out is the series’ unusual world building. When you think of “world building,” you probably think of science fiction or fantasy. It’s all about creating a world out of nothing that feels real, visceral, and somehow familiar. But, Gilmore Girls makes the interesting choice to apply this same tool to a realistic, lighthearted family drama. In fact, they do it so well that the world they build becomes a pillar of the show and a character all of its own.
Stars Hollow is the quintessential small town. It’s a fictional Connecticut town that represents all that one may think of when romanticizing the idea of coming from a small town where everything is steeped in tradition, and everyone knows each other. There are a few things compounded to make Stars Hollow feel like a real life small town. Stars Hollow’s positioning in the real world is frequently referenced and built into its lore. Stars Hollow is near Hartford; it’s close to Yale. There are even images of real nature in the opening sequence supposedly showing Stars Hollow. This takes Stars Hollow’s vibe from lovable and aspirational to seemingly attainable. It makes this place seem like a real one truly existing elsewhere.
Aside from its placement in the real world, the set-up of Stars Hollow, itself, is established and re-established. In Season 1, Episode 7 (The Breakup, Part 2), Rory is trying desperately to avoid running into Dean (Jared Padalecki.) In doing so, she needs to map out a roundabout way to get to Luke’s diner. As the titular Gilmore girls discuss how to get to Luke’s, they articulate just how close and interconnected the town landmarks are. This is re-established frequently as the series progresses and the various landmarks are made known. Viewers come to have a vague idea about where Lorelai and Rory live in respect to Kim’s Antique Store, Miss Patty’s Dance Studio, the gazebo, Luke’s Diner, etc. There’s a vague, implicitly laid out map of the town constantly drawing itself in viewers’ minds as the series progresses in a way that’s uniquely detailed for a show working in realism.
The layout of Stars Hollow, of course, isn’t its only important feature. There are many ways that series position characters to be more or less forced together on a day-to-day basis. Often it’s at a workplace, like in The Office or Parks and Recreation or school like Community or Gossip Girl. Sometimes it’s familial bonding like Full House. And, sometimes it’s about where the characters live or frequent like Central Perk in Friends or the loft in New Girl. Making sure characters are always in the same place builds on the drama and adds to the storylines. It makes fights more serious; it makes romances more awkward or forbidden or tense; drama is bigger. Stars Hollow’s closeness turns up the temperature of any storyline. All of these characters are sure to run into each other; everyone's sure to know the latest gossip. Even when Rory is away at Chilton or Yale or Lorelai is visiting her parents in Hartford, home base is always Stars Hollow, and there are always stories living there.
But, Stars Hollow is more than just a setting or a home base. It’s a well fleshed-out world that makes Gilmore Girls feel like somewhere viewers know and have actually been. There’s Gypsy (Rose Abdoo,) the town mechanic; Taylor Doose (Michael Winters), the town selectman and owner of Doose's Market and Taylor's Olde Fashioned Soda Shoppe; Luke (Scott Patterson) is the diner-owner; Miss Patty (Liz Torres) owns the dance studio and is the town busy-body; Babette (Sally Struthers) is the quintessential nosy neighbor. Jackson (Jackson Douglas) is the vegetable guy. And, Kirk (Sean Gunn) has about every job there is that wasn’t already accounted for. Viewers come to know all the characters and who will reappear for what purpose. But, the magic of Stars Hollow isn’t just about the fact that viewers know who the local “vegetable guy” is. It’s about hearkening back to a time that’s easy to imagine where there was a local “vegetable guy,” at all. The characters exist in modern times, but there’s an old-timey quaintness about the way they live their lives.
Gilmore Girls even has a town troubadour (singer-songwriter, Grant-Lee Phillips); a crooner perched on the street corner singing along with his acoustic guitar; another nod to a simpler time or even something you’d imagine in a storybook. And, it’s not just the town troubadour’s existence that is a pillar of Stars Hollow. It’s also his music. The music of Stars Hollow is specific, and it reinforces the simple, cozy ambiance of the locale. Singer-songwriter, Sam Phillips, composed the unique and familiar Gilmore Girls score. It’s often instrumental accompanied by a woman’s voice gently singing along, with lyrics replaced with hums or frequent “la-la”s. Stars Hollow has a specific and unshakable look, feeling, and even sound.
And, as is to be expected from a place – not stuck, but pleasantly and deliberately remaining – in the past, traditions are important in this town. As the seven seasons (and ultimate reboot, A Year in the Life) pass, viewers become more and more familiar with Stars Hollow’s myriad traditions. There’s the Winter Carnival, the Founders Firelight Festival, the Revolutionary War Reenactment, the Festival of Living Art, the Bid-a-Basket Festival, and of course, the 24-Hour Dance-A-Thon, among many, many others. Stars Hollow’s plentiful annual events are the kind of thing viewers know they’d roll their eyes at if they were really put on in their own town, but it’s hard not to want to attend Stars Hollow’s. The events are the kind of thing the community can count on and look forward to. And, these events are always welcome settings for the series’ intricately interwoven storylines to unfold.
And, if all else fails, the town members can always attend the frequent, lively, unexpectedly well-attended town meetings. In Stars Hollow, all the good parts of the past live on: community, old-timey fun, and genuine democracy. The downfalls of the past seem to have washed away with the tide. Stars Hollow is a utopia in some ways and the kind of place we know couldn’t really exist, at all. But, even so, when viewers close their eyes after binge-watching a few episodes of Gilmore Girls, it’s easy to imagine you could take a long car trip and make a left just before reaching Hartford, Connecticut, and you’d hear the town troubadour strumming in the background. And, that brings new meaning to “comfort watch.”