Stars Hollow, Connecticut (1779- ), population 9,973, is the New England town where the US television show, the “Gilmore Girls” (2000-2007), takes place. It is a 30-minute drive from Hartford, the state capital. Or would be if it were real! But the Hollywood backlot where it was filmed is still there. In fact, it has been there since 1939, appearing in nearly 400 films and television shows. It is where the Waltons went to church! In 2022 and 2023 for Christmas, Stars Hollow was recreated at the same backlot and admitted tourists at $69 a head.
Inspiration: As Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of “Gilmore Girls”, tells it, Stars Hollow is based on Washington Depot, Connecticut:
“I went on vacation to Connecticut, because I wanted to see Mark Twain’s house. I stayed at an inn, and it was very charming, in a tiny town, and everybody seemed to know each other, and there was a pumpkin patch across the street.”
But Edward Herrmann, who played the Richard Gilmore, the grandfather, sees it differently:
“Washington Depot is nothing like Stars Hollow; it is a weekend haven for New Yorkers.”
It does not even have a town square, much less a gazebo.
As Connecticut towns go, Stars Hollow is more like New Milford, Kent or Guilford than Washington Depot. But it is not really like them either:
The Hollywood backlot: Warner Bros Studio made Stars Hollow by simply adapting one of their backlots, in this case their biggest backlot of all: Midwest Street. Which is right next to New York Street, where “Friends” and “Blade Runner” were filmed.
Warner Bros Studio crows:
“With its small-town square, gazebo, courthouse, steeple church and street-level storefronts, Midwest Street can become ‘Anytown, USA’ for your next special event. A small tree-lined residential street meanders off the town square and is highlighted by four different homes. You may recognize Midwest Street from such productions as The Music Man, Rebel Without a Cause and Bonnie and Clyde, as well as the television shows The Dukes of Hazzard, Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars and Grease Live.”
At one point Lorelei Gilmore, the mother, even says, “This is River City!” The backlot played River City, Iowa in “The Music Man” (1962). And Rosewood, Pennsylvania in “Pretty Little Liars” (2010-2017). And so on.
Most of the shops are facades and most of the inside scenes were filmed on sound stages, like at Warner Bros Stage #14 and #18. But you can go inside the church, Luke’s Diner, Doose’s Market, Al’s Pancake World, and Lorelei’s house (where there is no wall between the front room and her daughter Rory’s bedroom – because they share the same invisible fourth wall).
Other locations:
- Yale University: played by Pomona College in Claremont, Calfornia;
- Chilton prep school: Greystone Mansion in Beverley Hills;
- Opening shot: Royalton, Vermont.
Other fakeness: When Lorelei said she could smell the snow, it was good old Hollywood mash potato flakes she was smelling! When Rory looks like she is drinking coffee at Luke’s diner, it is Coca-Cola in most cases.
Another universe: “Gilmore Girls” has Heisler beer and Let’s Potato Chips, which puts it in the Tommy Westphall Universe that many US television shows take place in.
See also:
- The Tommy Westphall Universe
- Jeanie Boulet – on Warner Bros Stage #11
- Blade Runner
- The TV mirror fallacy
- Apple-pie America
- Hollywood
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I gotta say, you scared me with this one, sir! It was an unexpected tangent for sure, and all I could think of was the Truman show
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