Why Gen Z Loves Gilmore Girls

What you can learn from the classically bingeable show to make your own writing feel timeless

When Gilmore Girls originally ran on the WB and CW in the 00s, it maxxed out with just over 7 million viewers, but averaged closer to 4 million viewers per episode over its seven-season run. That’s no small feat, and it was one of the only shows (possibly the only one? memory fails) to be broadcast on the CW after the absorption of the WB network.

Suffice it to say, Millennial and Gen X viewers (who would have been the target audience for the show’s original run) enjoyed it.

But the original fandom pales in comparison to the legacy. Gilmore Girls is consistently ranked in the top 100 most popular shows by virtually every single metric and by every single source. It was the 9th most-streamed show on any platform in 2022 and when it was re-released via syndication in 2016, it generated over 100,000,000 views across the entire series run.

If Millennials and Gen X enjoyed Gilmore Girls, Gen Z freaking loves it.

But why? And how can you apply this to your own writing.

Timeless Character Archetypes

Lorelai is the poor little rich girl, a long-beloved trope. Raised in opulence and wealth, with the world’s opportunities at her feet, she felt trapped and stifled and ran away from home at 17. She loves to claim that she “did it all on her own”…