Porter often comes off as Gilmore Girls' defense attorney, largely borne of his previous knowledge and love of the show. "Subjectively, absolutely, I enjoy it as much as I did when I was first watching it. Objectively, it's fun to bring other people in," he said. "A lot of it is nostalgia, but that said, I would still stand by it and say it’s a quality show."

Still, even as a fan whose love of the show runs deep (his favorite episodes include season four entries "The Reigning Lorelai" and "Raincoats and Recipes," plus the exquisite season six episode "Friday Night's Alright for Fighting"), Porter appreciates the disagreement. "That's more natural," he added.

Gilmore Guys is produced "in a bubble" out in Los Angeles, as Porter describes it, but it's come around at a time when—haven't you heard?—podcasts are the hot "new" thing. The effect of Serial on the podcast world is clear: One look at the most downloaded podcast episodes list on iTunes boasts nothing but Serial until the 13th slot. The iTunes Store's podcast page loudly asks if one is "New to Podcasts?" as soon as it's opened. For those who've been fans of podcasts for some time—including Porter and Adejuyigbe—the enthusiasm about the form isn't new. But even Gilmore Guys is finding converts.

"We’ve had several tweets say, ‘Gilmore Guys turned me onto podcasting in general,'" Porter said. "That’s really cool to think about, that we’re turning someone onto not just a show, but an entire format."

Taylor Hotter

By comparison to Serial, Gilmore Guys's success is modest; it may be the most popular Gilmore Girls podcast (and there are a few), and it was featured among the top comedy shows on iTunes for sometime, but it's hardly burning up the charts. Of course, Serial also has the benefit of public radio, sponsorships, and listener donations. Gilmore Guys is a completely independent venture—everything is done by Porter, Adejuyigbe, and the guests they can pull in to gab Gilmore with them.

"We don’t have … the force of a crew, even if it’s one other person: an engineer in the room, someone who can do the uploading or clean up the show," Porter said. "The talent [of these other shows], all they do is come in—they prep, but they pretty much come in, get out, and that’s it. For us, we’re pretty much doing everything."

Additionally, Guys boasts strong listener participation relative to its size—the hosts record a bonus episode devoted just to going through their mail, and they rap about all those who leave reviews on iTunes.

"People email us these long, thought-out perspectives … talking about how they like the show on their commute, walking onto campus, all these things," Porter said, adding that the show's numbers were modest at first but grew quickly. "It was a complete shock to us."

The podcast is making its way through season two now, and will continue through the series's sixth. There's been some debate about whether or not to include the seventh season, produced by David S. Rosenthal instead of the Palladinos and widely considered the worst Gilmore Girls has to offer. Adejuyigbe is in favor of it—"the more that Kevin says its awful and the more people tell me it’s awful, the more I really want to [cover it]," he said—but he wants to end on a more positive note by covering the Palladinos' one-season-wonder Bunheads.