Wednesday, October 5th marks the 16th anniversary of the first airing of Gilmore Girls. To celebrate, Netflix installed over 200 pop-up Luke’s Diners across the country. In every state, fans lined up to get their morning joe, but imagine my surprise when I walked in to see Luke himself behind the counter.
Scott Patterson—who plays Luke Danes on Gilmore Girls—was working the counter at Comoncy in Los Angeles, greeting fans, taking pictures and handing out that sweet, sweet, caffeine. Hundreds of fans lined up down the block for hours to get their free coffee complete with a Luke’s Diner coffee sleeve.
Beverly Hills was a quaint stand-in for Stars Hollow, while the coffee shop Comoncy was transformed into a modern-day Luke’s. Fans were more than ready, dressing up in Dragonfly Inn shirts, Gilmore Girls sweatshirts, and many were full-on cosplaying as Luke, with backwards caps and button downs as far as the eye could see. In other words, Beverly Hills was a sea of plaid.
There was definitely no enforcing of Luke’s rules, as a nearby cardboard stand-up of himself stated “No texting, no pictures of food,” among other things. These days seeing Luke’s famous “No cellphones” sign seems almost laughable, as everyone in line was either on Snapchat, texting or Instagramming their Gilmore experience.
Fans were excited to have their coffee handed over by Patterson, who joked with fans and gave out an abundance of hugs and photos. Did he give me grief? Yeah a little bit, but in a lovingly Luke-ish fashion, which made the experience all the more surreal.
Today’s countrywide pop-up event proved that fans’ love of the Gilmores hasn’t waned in 16 years, and you can bet all of them will be on their couch on November 25, possibly surrounded by junk food, binge watching Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life on Netflix.
Check out more photos from today’s Gilmore Girls pop-up event in the gallery below.
Did you get your coffee IV from a Luke’s pop-up today? Let us know in the comments and tag @nerdist and @justjennrecipes on instagram so we can see your cup o’ joe!
Images: Jenn Fujikawa, Netflix
