5 Classic TV Shows That Always Feel Like Fall

September 22, 2026 marked the Northern Hemisphere’s official first day of fall, also known as autumn in some parts of the world. This particular season also has a notable connection to the world of American television. While TV series these days begin at much more varied times throughout the year, September was traditionally a time when new selections of episodes would begin airing, and the reason these became known as “seasons” was because they were tied to seasons of the calendar. To mark the beginning of fall 2026, here is an alphabetical look at five classic TV shows that always conjure up a sense of autumn.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Dawson’s Creek
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Mad Men 
5. Twin Peaks

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) will always evoke the season that includes Halloween. The series’ Gothic focus and emphasis on supernatural themes and motifs naturally tie it to the season, and every other season of the show included an episode specifically focused on Halloween itself. Several seasons were also tied to the academic year: the early seasons took place while the characters were in grade school, and later seasons took place in college, which traditionally begins in fall and lasts until early the following summer.

Dawson’s Creek

Another high school-focused drama that aired at the same time as Buffy was Dawson’s Creek, which followed the lives of a group of students from school in Massachusetts to college in Boston over the course of its six-season run. As with Buffy, numerous seasons began at the start of characters’ school years, reinforcing the show’s link to fall. While the series was filmed in North Carolina, it was shot at locations intended to double as the New England region where Massachusetts is located. New England, of course, is renowned for its colorful fall foliage, and the show’s frequent use of tree footage further added to its autumnal associations.

Gilmore Girls

Another show very closely associated with fall is the 2000s show Gilmore Girls, which ran from 2000 to 2007 and followed the adventures of mother and daughter Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) in a small town. Its visual aesthetic was very fall-centric, emphasizing cozy clothes, warm colors, and indoor gatherings, and it also became closely associated with the season as a whole due to the extensive number of episodes that take place during that time of year.

Mad Men 

Mad Men (2007-15) told the story of an advertising agency in 1960s New York, and the city itself was a factor in the show’s autumnal connections, as fall is sometimes regarded as the best time of year to see NYC. The show’s nostalgic tone likewise called to mind a season that tends to evoke images of the past drifting away and transitions to new chapters. Additionally, the first four seasons of Mad Men premiered in summer and therefore built towards their respective climaxes as fall progressed. References to autumn were further incorporated into the show through its music: the theme song contains an instrumental sample of the classic track “Autumn Leaves.”

Twin Peaks

The David Lynch and Mark Frost-created Twin Peaks spanned three seasons of TV and one feature film, and while only the second season began airing in the fall, the entire series contained many elements reminiscent of that season. The prominence of dark, dense forests in the show enhanced the autumnal atmosphere, as did the setting of the titular town of Twin Peaks (filmed at locations in Washington). Trees played a major visual role in the show, which often showcased them indoors in the form of the town’s many wood-paneled interiors and outdoors via the fir trees that surround the town and feature heavily in the opening credits. Additionally, small towns enveloped in mystery tend to naturally evoke strong feelings of fall, and Twin Peaks stands as one of the definitive examples of a small-town mystery.