It's Time To Head Back To Stars Hollow For New Netflix 'Gilmore Girls' Series

If you've detected a greater degree of squee in the pop-culture atmosphere recently, it probably has something to do with all roads once again leading to Stars Hollow, the bustling yet bucolic small town that is home to sardonic, sharp-tongued Lorelai Gilmore, her sweet, studious daughter Rory and their circle of eccentric, idiosyncratic family and friends.

That's right, folks, after nearly a decade's absence (which has most definitely made the heart grow fonder, one dare say), the much-loved 2000s TV series Gilmore Girls has returned.

Streaming service Netflix, which has proven quite canny in its revival of various dormant properties, will premiere four 90-minute Gilmore Girls telemovies (under the umbrella title A Year In The Life), with almost all of the show's core cast returning to engage in banter, exchange pop-culture references, gulp coffee, wolf junk food and occasionally get real about their thoughts, feelings, regrets from the past and hopes for the future.

Reviewers have been requested to keep information about A Year In The Life - the four telemovies are, appropriately enough, divided into the four seasons of the year - to a minimum, which is fine, really, because Gilmore Girls always was and continues to be more about the tone, the mood and the pace than the storylines. Don't get me wrong, what the show is about is important, but how it's about it is what gives Gilmore Girls its particular kick.

Now if you're already a fan, chances are you've set aside some serious couch time. But if you're a fair-weather follower or even a total newbie, we're happy to provide you with a few guidelines and words of advice.

What's All This About?

Here's the breakdown: Lorelai (Lauren Graham) had her daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel) at the age of 16, which caused a bit of friction between the free-spirited Lorelei and her upper-crust parents, Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard (Edward Herrmann). When it became clear that teenage Rory was pretty darn smart, her grandparents offered to pick up the tab for a private school in return for regular Friday-night dinners with Rory and Lorelai, a reconciliatory move that resulted in renewed family ties but also the odd dinner-table scrap. There was also plenty of romantic-comedy and screwball-comedy shenanigans involving the men and boys in the lives of Lorelai and Rory, not to mention the colourful characters of Stars Hollow.

There Will Be Tears

Sadly, veteran character actor Herrmann died two years ago (as many critics said in tribute at the time, his portrayal of the big-hearted, even-tempered Richard made him America's honorary Grandpa), and A Year In The Life acknowledges this by making the loss of Richard a pivotal point - his death is felt keenly by Lorelai and Rory but especially Emily (giving the excellent Bishop even more to work with, and she rises to the occasion). Richard was always the peacekeeper between the warring Emily and Lorelai, and the two women struggling to find common ground, express their individual and shared grief and remain true to themselves is, for mine, some of the most resonant and meaningful material in these new episodes.

Nobody's Perfect

Ask any Gilmore Girls fan about their favourite character and you'll get a variety of answers - one of the show's strengths was its rich gallery of supporting players (even the characters generally considered the worst, such as Rory's rich-boy beau Logan, played by The Good Wife's Matt Czuchry, will have a defender or two). And it is a given that viewers are there for Lorelai and Rory - they're the leads, after all. But as New York magazine TV writer Margaret Lyons astutely pointed out in a "hard truth" article a few years ago, "Lorelai and Rory are, at least sometimes, terrible people". Rory, wrote Lyons, can be selfish, with a lack of impulse control that manifests as bad decisions. And Lorelai can be self-absorbed to an extraordinary degree, secure in the belief that "her I'm-so-kooky routine delights the neighbours". Of course, maybe that's why Gilmore Girls fans have taken these two to heart - even your best friends have traits that drive you effing bonkers on occasion.

Don't Binge!

This advice comes from personal experience. I watched and very much enjoyed Gilmore Girls when it aired on commercial TV over a decade ago, but there was a stage when I found myself a bit behind. So, I did the primitive version of binge-watching by getting hold of a DVD box set and scarfing down multiple episodes in one go, as opposed to my usual weekly drip-feed. And I was left with the artistic version of indigestion - too many rapid-fire witticisms played havoc with my appreciation of the show. Yes, we all know Netflix is the home of binge-watching, and God bless it for giving us too much of a good thing, but I would recommend you pace yourself come November 25. Take breaks. Get some air. Stars Hollows ain't going anywhere.