美国国家公共电台 NPR Ahead Of Revival, 'Gilmore Girls' Fans Descend On The 'Real' Stars Hollow

Ahead Of Revival 1, 'Gilmore Girls' Fans Descend 2 On The 'Real' Stars Hollow

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The fictional 4 town of Stars Hollow is the backdrop for the "Gilmore Girls" TV show. Stars Hollow is based on a real town called Washington, Conn. This weekend, some fans are making a pilgrimage to Washington, Conn., to celebrate the show's return to screens later this year. Davis Dunavin of member station WSHU reports.

DAVIS DUNAVIN: In case you haven't seen it yet, "Gilmore Girls" is about a mother and a daughter in a New England town full of eccentric characters.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "GILMORE GIRLS")

LAUREN GRAHAM: (As Lorelai) Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Dragonfly Inn.

LIZ TORRES: (As Miss Patty) Oh, will you look at this place.

SALLY STRUTHERS: (As Babette) It's a paradise. Oh, Lorelai, the babies that are going to be conceived on this property.

DUNAVIN: That inn was inspired by Washington's Mayflower Grace Inn. Manager Monica Neumann says the show's creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, hatched the idea during a weekend stay.

MONICA NEUMANN: She was really just captivated by the feel of the inn and the town of Washington, which is very much a small country town.

DUNAVIN: There's a locally owned grocery store and a diner in Washington, too, just like in the show. Neumann says it's a close-knit town where people see their neighbors on the street everyday.

NEUMANN: It is a little bit of a step back in time. But that - it refreshes and revives you and restores your faith in the community.

DUNAVIN: But Stars Hollow has a level of quirk 6 that maybe no real town can match. There's a wandering town troubadour with a guitar. A second troubadour shows up to challenge him, so he takes up the dispute at a town meeting.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "GILMORE GIRLS")

GRANT-LEE PHILLIPS: (As Grant) And there's no room for a second troubadour in Stars Hollow.

TED 5 ROONEY: (As Morey) Clearly.

MICHAEL WINTERS: (As Taylor) This is, hands down, the silliest thing I have ever heard.

PHILLIPS: (As Grant) All I'm asking is that the town troubadour laws be enforced.

WINTERS: (As Taylor) There are no town troubadour laws.

DUNAVIN: Mark Lyon is Washington's first selectman. He says he didn't know anything about "Gilmore Girls" - not even its connection to Washington, Conn. - until he got a call from someone who wanted to organize a three-day festival for fans.

MARK LYON: I'll admit that I have watched six episodes now. And while I don't recognize myself, or anybody in particular, it portrays 7 Stars Hollow as a caring community where people know each other. And we have some idiosyncrasies, all of us do.

DUNAVIN: Lyon says not everybody's happy about all the attention from outsiders. People here value their privacy. But he thinks the hubbub 8 will quiet down, and things will go back to how they've pretty much always been.

LYON: The Land of Steady Habits can be pretty well-defined by Washington. I don't see any big, dramatic changes. I mean, the town will continue on.

DUNAVIN: But this weekend, the town's offering fans some familiar sights from the fictional Stars Hollow, including, of course, a town troubadour.

For NPR News, I'm Davis Dunavin in Connecticut.