For hoards of people, Gilmore Girls is the definitive comfort show. Some restart from the pilot at the first sign of fall, and some maintain a steady replay year round. Built on strong coffee and cool moms, Gilmore Girls follows Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, a young mother and her teenage daughter, in the quirky small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
One of the many great things about Gilmore Girls, and other shows from its era, is its sheer volume. The series is no match for binge culture, we dare you to try and finish all seven seasons in a week. These days, television seasons are getting shorter and shorter, with shows like Succession, considered to be one of the greatest shows of all time, have only 39 episodes from start to finish. Gilmore Girls capped its run at a total 153 hour-long episodes of absolutely stellar television, not including the four reboot episodes from Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
Here are 11 series that will fill the Stars Hollow shaped hole in your heart, and keep you busy for hundreds more hours.
This Is Us
Total episode count: 106
Just like Gilmore Girls, This Is Us is responsible for the disappointment of millions who lament having just normal parents, rather than ones written by television writers. Jack Pearson doesn’t exist, but your dad does, come back to earth and give him a call. While we’re on the subject, Jack is played by short-shorts daddy Milo Ventimiglia, who graced the Gilmore Girls universe as Jess Mariano. The series also stars Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Justin Hartley, and Chrissy Metz. Warning, sobs ahead.
Parenthood
Total episode count: 103
A mega series with a mega ensemble cast, Parenthood sits just one degree of separation from Gilmore Girls, sharing its lead actress, Lauren Graham. The series, an adaptation of the 1989 film, follows three generations of one family in Berkeley, California. Through the stories of each nuclear family, the show explores issues of health and identity, divorce and infidelity, and everything else that plagues the modern American family.
Dead to Me
Total episode count: 30
Starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me is a dark comedy that, at its core, is about the bonds women build. Applegate and Cardellini play two grieving women who meet in therapy and become besties.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Total episode count: 43
From the mind of Amy Sherman-Palladino, who famously created Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will scratch the same dialogue itch that Gilmore Girls does. Both series are undeniably Sherman-Palladino in nature, with their fast-talking, whip-smart dialogue and funny leading ladies. The series stars Rachel Brosnahan as a New York housewife turned famous stand-up comedian in the late 1950s.
Maid
Total episode count: 10
Less laughs here, but a lot more respect for your mother. This 2021 series stars Margaret Qualley as a young mother who finds work as a maid after escaping her abusive husband. The story comes from Stephanie Land’s memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive. Like Gilmore Girls, Maid is a reminder of the strength of single mothers, and the literal hard work it takes to raise a kid on your own.
Little Fires Everywhere
Total episode count: 8
From the Haus of Witherspoon, Little Fires Everywhere is a miniseries from 2020 which follows two very different families, with two very different mothers. Based on the novel of the same name, it stars our lady Reese alongside Kerry Washington. It’s heavier than Gilmore Girls by miles, but it’ll get you thinking about the complexities of motherhood.
The Sopranos
Total episode count: 86
Of all the shows on this list, this is the one Lorelei would watch. A series that changed the TV landscape, The Sopranos is a crime drama series that follows Tony Soprano, a New Jersey mobster who turns to therapy to ease his panic attacks. Throughout the series’ six seasons, we see Tony struggle to balance his family life with his responsibilities as the leader of an organized crime division.
Friday Night Lights
Total episode count: 76
This small-town sports drama stars an ensemble cast helmed by Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, following a high school football team in small-town Texas. Striking a slightly more serious tone than Gilmore Girls, the fictional small town of Dillon serves as a backdrop to explore issues like family, racism, and socioeconomic class.
Shameless
Total episode count: 134
Shameless is about a dysfunctional family, the bread and butter of Gilmore Girls. That said, this series is far more gritty and, shall we say, raunchy than the Warner Bros. darling. The series follows the Gallagher family, led by a drunken, neglectful patriarch, exploring the ways his addiction affects his six children.
Transparent
Total episode count: 41
This 2014 series explores family in a different light, through issues of sexuality and gender identity. Transparent’s Pfefferman family is led by Jeffrey Tambor, who plays a transgender woman, Maura. The show explores her coming out and its effect on her family, also exploring the lives of her children, who struggle with identity in their own ways.
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