With the festive season in full swing, audiences are returning to countless Christmas classics and familiar TV specials to bring some coziness to the cold winter months. But it’s not just established Christmas narratives audiences are seeking; nostalgia and comfort are also big drawcards for this time of year.
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Gilmore Girlsis the epitome of the early 2000s comfort show, with its large fanbase often rewatching the series at least once a year. Set in the small Connecticut town of Stars Hollow,Gilmore Girlsmakes for perfect festive viewing and has episodes across all of its seasons that are sure to deliver some Christmas cheer.
8Forgiveness And Stuff - Season 1, Episode 10
Christmas wouldn’t be completewithout a little tensionbetween family members, andGilmore Girlsis a masterclass in showcasing this complex issue.Forgiveness And Stuffis full of cozy winter traditions, colorful Christmas decorations, and a festive family feud.
In this episode, Lorelai is uninvited from her parents' Christmas party. Though she’s upset at being snubbed and missing out on her beloved apple tarts, she resigns herself to spending the night without her daughter Rory. When disaster strikes the Christmas party, Lorelai rushes to join Rory and her parents at the hospital and manages to reconcile with them – to a certain degree.
7The Bracebridge Dinner - Season 2, Episode 10
One thing that unites the world during the holiday season is preparing and eatinga decadent meal with your closest family and friends. This episode from the second season ofGilmore Girlscenters around just that. Though it comes with a medieval twist,The Bracebridge Dinnerhighlights the fun and hilarity of festive feasts.
Lorelai’s inn has been hired to host an elaborate medieval-themed banquet for a large company. When the company is snowed in and unable to make it, Lorelai instead invites her family and friends so that nothing goes to waste.The Bracebridge Dinneris full of mouth-watering food, winter sleigh rides, and drunken dinner table talk that showcases the best that the festive season has to offer.
6That’ll Do Pig-Season 3, Episode 10
ThoughGilmore Girlsdoesn’t always havea special Christmas episodeevery season, there are still ones that contain enough wintery elements to celebrate the season.That’ll Do Pigis set some time after the Christmas holiday but centers around Lorelai’s grandmother coming to visit as well as the town’s annual winter carnival.
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In this episode, Rory navigates the difficulties of a new relationship, and Richard’s mother comes to visit unannounced. While Lorelai helps her parents entertain her grandmother with a dinner at the inn, Rory heads to the winter carnival with a very jealous Jess.That’ll Do Pigcontains all the best elements of the festive season – family, friends, cozy sweaters, winter games, and plenty of snow.
5In The Clamor And The Clangor - Season 4, Episode 11
For those who live near traditional churches, Christmas often means hearing church bells ring out a little more than usual. Though the sound of bells is often romanticized,the reality can be quite different. This episode in the fourth season combines this with a good dose of tension between family and friends.
After the church bells in Stars Hollow are repaired, they begin to ring out every hour in the town. Meanwhile, Rory’s best friend Lane is struggling with hiding her rock band from her strict mother. Lorelai and Luke have a falling out, and Lane ends up running away from home. When all seems lost between Luke and Lorelai, she shows up at his house to ask him to help her break the church bells again.
4Women Of Questionable Morals- Season 5, Episode 11
Not everyone is in the right climate to see snow during the festive season, but it’s hard to deny the association it has with the holidays. The first snow of the season is Lorelai’s favorite time of year and, in Stars Hollow, heralds their annual Civil War reenactment.
As the snow continues to fallacross town, Lorelai encounters one disaster after another because of it. Her resentment toward snow grows, and she ends up despising the season she usually loves. Lorelai later visits Rory’s father due to a death in his family and conceals the fact from her boyfriend Luke. By the end of the episode, Lorelai is racked with guilt, and angry about the snow, but Luke cheers her up with her own personal ice rink.
3Just Like Gwen And Gavin - Season 6, Episode 12
Season six ofGilmore Girlsis another that lacks an explicit holiday episode, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t onewith Christmas merriment.Just Like Gwen And Gavinhas elements that typify the festive season, such as receiving unwanted gifts, spending time with family members you ordinarily wouldn’t, and the return of the annual Stars Hollow winter carnival.
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In this episode, the winter carnival is being organized by town oddball Kirk for the first time. Kirk takes a dislike to Lorelai’s suggested stall of her dog reading fortunes, but she persists with the idea anyway. Rory receives a mountain of presents from her ex-beau Logan as he tries to make things up to her. Meanwhile, Luke begins to spend time with his newly discovered daughter April and finds it rather awkward.
2Merry Fisticuffs - Season 7, Episode 10
In the divisive final season of the original series,Gilmore Girlsdoes what it does best in terms of showcasing the nuance and difficulty of complex relationships. InMerry Fisticuffs, both Lorelai and Rory are faced with some awkward obligations in the lead-up to Christmas. These obligations quickly become problems, highlightingthe trouble that Christmas can bring.
Rory is forced into pretending she doesn’t know a friend’s boyfriend despite having met him in her freshman year of college. Lorelai must suffer through planning a wedding celebration that she clearly doesn’t have her heart in. Both of their partners, Logan and Christopher, become upset. Near the end of the episode, a fistfight breaks out between Christopher and Luke, who attack each other among the Christmas decorations in the town square.
1Santa’s Secret Stuff - Season 7, Episode 11
Rounding out the previous episodeon a much lighter note, this episode from season seven centers around a belated Christmas celebration in theGilmore Girlshousehold. After returning from a visit to Logan in London, Rory helps Lorelai teach Christopher and Gigi their somewhat unorthodox Christmas traditions.
From taping the mistletoe to a ceiling fan to make kissing ‘more of a sport’ to making the most of the post-Christmas tree sale,Santa’s Secret Stuffis full of fun festive elements to make for great holiday viewing. The episode closes with Lorelai walking through the first snow of the season to Bing Crosby’s classic songChristmas Eve Will Find Me.
