Gilmore Girls is the ultimate comfort show: It’s set in a small town where it’s perpetually autumn and where quirky but kind neighbors abound; it contains just enough low-stakes, easily resolved drama to keep you entertained but not stressed out, and, of course, it centers around an idyllic mother-daughter relationship. Because of all of that cozy perfection, it can be tough to figure out where to go next when you’ve reached the end of the series and need to move on from Stars Hollow.
Thankfully, you don’t need to stray too far. There are plenty of other shows that capture the same pleasant vibes, pop culture-reference-heavy dialogue, and tangly relationships—of the family, friend, and romantic varieties—as Gilmore Girls. Here, find 23 series with similar sensibilities that should tide you over until your next GG rewatch begins.
1. ‘Ginny & Georgia’
Ginny & Georgia isn’t an exact Gilmore Girls dupe, but its basic premise is uncannily similar: The series begins when newly widowed Georgia—who had her daughter Ginny when she was 15 and who’s no stranger to a perfectly timed pop culture reference—moves her family to a small New England town. In the series’ first episode, she even notes: “We’re like the Gilmore Girls, but with bigger boobs!” Need I say more?
2. ‘Mom’
If you’re after a complex mother-daughter relationship with plenty of comic relief, Mom is your show. It stars Anna Faris as Christy Plunkett. She moves to Napa to get her life together and to reconnect with her estranged mother Bonnie, played by Allison Janney. Both mother and daughter are recovering addicts, and core to repairing their relationship is their ritual of attending AA meetings together. The show strikes a near-perfect balance of exploring addiction and other serious issues with sensitivity and honesty, while also being truly hilarious.
3. ‘This Is Us’
Make sure you keep a box of tissues close at hand once you’ve hit play on This Is Us. The show’s six seasons jump back and forth in time, charting the complex, decades-long story of the Pearson family—led by Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack (Jess Mariano himself, a.k.a. Milo Ventimiglia), with their three kids, Kate, Kevin, and Randall (played by Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, and Sterling K. Brown, respectively).
4. ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’
“Life’s short, talk fast” has long been hailed as an unofficial tagline for Gilmore Girls and its screwball comedy-inspired, relentlessly fast-paced dialogue, as established by creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. She may have outdone even herself in that category when she created The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel over a decade later: It stars Rachel Brosnahan as the titular character, a 1950s housewife who decides to chart a new course as a standup comedian after her husband leaves her—and who could easily go toe-to-toe with Lorelai Gilmore in a speed-talking and wit competition.
5. ‘Jane the Virgin’
Jane the Virgin might as well be called Villanueva Girls, since it, like Gilmore Girls, revolves around a responsible, book-obsessed daughter, the fun-loving mother who had her as a teenager, and the strict grandmother who doesn’t always approve of her progeny’s antics—though, unlike Gilmore Girls, it takes a hilariously over-the-top, telenovela-style approach to telling the three women’s stories.
6. ‘Never Have I Ever’
For yet another take on the “multiple generations of women navigating their differences and finding common ground” plot, look no further than this Mindy Kaling-created show. It centers around Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s Devi, a high-achieving high school student, as she grapples with her grief over the death of her father, her social standing and romantic pursuits, and, of course, her complicated relationship with her mother.
7. ‘Better Things’
In comparison to the gentle, idyllic vibe of Lorelai’s life in Stars Hollow, Better Things take a much grittier view to single motherhood. Its five seasons follow Pamela Adlon’s Sam, a working actress in L.A. who’s juggling raising her three daughters, dating around, and dealing with her own difficult mother—who lives right across the street.
8. ‘Parenthood’
After Gilmore Girls wrapped in 2007, Lauren Graham returned just a few years later in another very Lorelai-like role as Parenthood’s Sarah Braverman, a single mother of two. The show—which is based on the 1989 film and 1990 series of the same name—follows three generations of the extended Braverman family and is filled with plenty of quirky characters, (usually) low-stakes drama, and warm and fuzzy feelings of community.
9. ‘Bunheads’
In the time between Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amy Sherman-Palladino created Bunheads. The show starred Sutton Foster as an ex-Vegas showgirl who settles down in a small town after getting married and getting a job teaching at her mother-in-law’s ballet school. Devastatingly, the show was canceled after just one season, but it has gained a cult following in the years since—and for good reason: In addition to the delightfully quirky premise, it also featured plenty of GG alums, from Emily Gilmore herself (Kelly Bishop) as the aforementioned mother-in-law, to Liza Weil, who you’ll know best as Paris Geller.
10. ‘Derry Girls’
Derry Girls may seem like a world away from Gilmore Girls—it takes place in Northern Ireland in the ‘90s, during the Troubles—but its fast-talking, hilarious characters and powerful female relationships would surely fit right in in Stars Hollow. The shows even share 50% of their titles!
11. ‘Sullivan’s Crossing’
It’s nearly impossible to imagine Scott Patterson, a.k.a. Luke Danes, doing anything other than wearing flannels and being grumpy in a small town, and thankfully, we don’t have to. He fulfills a similar role in Sullivan’s Crossing as Sully, who finds himself repairing his estranged relationship with his neurosurgeon daughter when she unexpectedly returns to their rural Canadian town. Fun fact: The show is based on a series of books by Robyn Carr, who also wrote the books behind Virgin River, another very cozy Gilmore Girls follow-up.
12. ‘Buccaneers’
In the same way that Gilmore Girls showcased ambitious women living their lives on their own terms, so too does this new Apple TV+ series—but here, the pursuit of freedom is even more subversive for the five young women at its heart, since it takes place in stuffy 1870s London. Plus, in other echoes of GG, Buccaneers features a tangly love triangle, as well as a very sweet relationship between Christina Hendricks’ Patti and her two daughters, Nan and Jinny, played by Kristine Froseth and Imogen Waterhouse.
13. ‘Trying’
This highly underrated British comedy is a perfect follow-up to the feel-good vibes of Gilmore Girls. It stars Esther Smith and Rafe Spall as Nikki and Jason, a couple who are struggling to conceive and turn instead to adoption, prompting three seasons’ worth of gentle chaos, hilarity, and very sweet moments.
14. ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’
If you think you have strong opinions on Rory’s boyfriends (Team Jess forever!), just wait until you’ve plowed through this Amazon original. You might be surprised at how powerfully you feel about whichever Fisher brother you’ve determined to be the best choice for Belly (Jeremiah, obviously).
15. ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is like if the neuroses, pop culture references, and whip-smart dialogue of Gilmore Girls were all cranked up several zany notches. It’s fun, funny, and full of original pop songs you won’t be able to get out of your head for weeks at a time.
16. ‘Schitt’s Creek’
The Rosebud Motel may not be able to hold a candle to the Dragonfly Inn, but the Rose family’s motel does feature a staff made up of just as many eccentric characters as Lorelai Gilmore’s B&B. Same goes for the mother-daughter relationship between Moira and Alexis Rose—they’re no Lorelai and Rory, but they do occasionally have their moments.
17. ‘Kim’s Convenience’
Another family-centric show, Kim’s Convenience is a sitcom about the Korean-Canadian Kim family, who run—you guessed it—a convenience store in Toronto. In addition to being both funny and very heartwarming, it’s also where Simu Liu got his start before becoming a Marvel superstar. The first season holds a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes—all of which adds up to a must-watch.
18. ‘The Good Witch’
Based on a series of Hallmark movies, and set in the fictional small town of Middleton, this seven-season series stars Catherine Bell as the titular kind-hearted sorceress, Cassie Nightingale, and Bailee Madison as her daughter Grace, who has some magical powers of her own. Between her similarities to Cassie—also a single mother to a teenage daughter and the manager of a local B&B—and her noted love of Bewitched, it’s safe to assume Lorelai Gilmore herself would be a huge fan of this show.
19. ‘Hart of Dixie’
You might feel a major sense of deja vu when watching Hart of Dixie: Its storylines, pacing, small-town setting, and overall vibe are eerily similar to Gilmore Girls, making it one of your best options when you’ve convinced yourself to take a break from Stars Hollow…but really don't want to.
20. ‘Ted Lasso’
One of the best things about Gilmore Girls is its innate kindness: Though the characters sometimes bicker and break apart, the show is never mean-spirited and typically leaves you feeling all happy. The same could be said of Ted Lasso, which stars Jason Sudeikis as the relentlessly optimistic titular character, an American football coach who accepts a job coaching a soccer team in the U.K., despite not knowing a thing about the sport.
21. ‘Hacks’
For a slightly different take on a complex mother-daughter(-like) relationship, you simply must tune in to Hacks. It stars Hannah Einbinder as Ava, an up-and-coming comedy writer who takes a job writing for Deborah (Jean Smart), a standup comedy legend whose popularity is starting to wane. Despite their constant butting of heads, the duo form a tight-knit bond based on their shared sense of very dry humor. And, just like in Gilmore Girls, the central pair are surrounded by a web of wacky characters—though Hacks’ Kayla makes GG’s oddballs seem bland.
22. ‘The Mindy Project’
Mindy Lahiri is basically a Sliding Doors version of Lorelai Gilmore: They’re both intelligent, independent women who have great style, talk a mile a minute, and date a rotating cast of charming men who weave into and out of their lives—with both of their rosters led by grumpy but secretly very sweet guys with whom they interact on a near-daily basis. Sold yet?
23. ‘Mike & Molly’
She may have been largely absent from the reboot A Year in the Life, but Melissa McCarthy has stayed booked and busy post-Gilmore Girls, giving us plenty more opportunities to revisit that Sookie St. James charm. She plays a similarly cheery character in Mike & Molly, a CBS sitcom that ran for six seasons starting in 2010 and stars McCarthy and Billy Gardell as the titular characters, who meet in an Overeaters Anonymous meeting and promptly fall in love.
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