As October comes to a close and Texas finally cools down, the weather and leaves aren’t the only things changing for the fall. Although Christmas might be more well-known for its seasonal movies, autumn offers a handful.
The WB’s early 2000’s hit, Gilmore Girls, has recently made a comeback among students primarily due to its heartfelt storyline and fast-paced humor. Gilmore Girls follows single mother Lorelai Gilmore and her teenage daughter Rory Gilmore in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
The autumnal element of the show – which many fans do not recognize exclusively in the first few episodes in each season, but actually throughout the entire series, subliminally – comes into play in Gilmore Girls as early in each episode as the theme song. Regardless of the time of year, fall foliage is displayed behind the title as Carole King’s “Where You Lead, I Will Follow” sets the sappy mother-daughter mood for the rest of the forty-or-so minutes. There is also hazy, orange-tinted footage of snippets from the show playing to introduce the characters. All-in-all, the feel-good vibes, which are so commonly associated with the changing of the leaves, really begin to pour out of the TV screen as soon as the viewer hits play on Netflix.
Beyond the opening and the theme song, the Gilmore girls, as they are referred to within their tight-knit community, truly add on to the pumpkin-spicy tone of the show just through their daily lives and personalities. They begin and end each day in a quaint diner owned by one of their best friends (who else?). Rory attends a rich, polished, ivy-covered private school through the first few seasons. Lorelai runs a cozy inn (obviously with her other best friend, because why not) and maintains a southern-style cottage for her and her daughter. None of this is even worth mentioning, however, when one considers the standalone contributions of the lead characters’ fashion choices. Lorelai and Rory’s collective wardrobe is so overwhelmingly east-coast early-2000’s styled that viewers may feel inadequately dressed after watching the show. The fashion influence both characters have had recently, especially on teens, is almost unmatched by any of the show’s contemporaries.
It has clearly been established that Gilmore Girls has attained the title of the most popular show to watch during fall, but there seems to be a lesser known, yet equally justified, contender. The Hallmark Channel, linked to the parent company also known for gifts shops and greeting cards, has an insurmountable autumn movie collection. While the channel might be infamous for its sometimes-ridiculous Christmas films, it has not received nearly enough attention for the specials it airs throughout the harvest season.
Although these movies may become fewer and further between as Christmas grows sooner, there are still a handful of Hallmark fall movies to be seen. The titles may not be very promising, but they hold a humble quality unmatched by any other made-for-TV film collection. Standout titles include “Love, Fall, and Order,” “Sweet Autumn,” “Falling for Vermont,” among others.
In a similar vein to the Christmas lineup, the Hallmark fall movie collection offers, besides whatever complexity the viewer may extract, both breathtaking scenery and serendipitously amusing writing. This random quality writing seems to be more present in the fall movies than the more frequently watched Christmas movies. This might explain why Hallmark gets a bad rap; most people watch the movies at a time when the quality is significantly lower.
When judged at face-value, many think that Hallmark movies offer no entertainment value due to their repetition of themes and plotlines. This may apply to a handful, but there is an unspoken captivation held by each that is not achieved by any other movie in any other genre.
The autumn Hallmark movies deliver an unexpected charm that comes not from the plot itself, but from what we, the audience, know about these films. They are, to some level, written in a formula. They do not, because of this, offer much complexity. And yet, an effort is still made. A channel is still filled, for most hours of the day, with seasonally appropriate movies. They feature actors who have dedicated decades to the art of shallow acting for nothing more than small-scale fame. These actors allow the surroundings to speak for themselves rather than vainly attempting to deliver the performance of a generation. Hallmark movies, especially during the fall season, are humble and easy to follow.
The Hallmark Channel is notable because it does not expect success when it releases films. Their movies are not made to sell out theaters, make famous actors, win Academy Awards, or be adored by loyal fans. But they have achieved something: they are, for lack of a better word, a true hallmark of the autumn season. So, while one may think Gilmore Girls to be the catch-all series to turn on this time of year, one must consider Hallmark to be an adequate alternative.
