Footnotes to the TV series
When Lorelai realises that the chick Stella is somehow missing, even though it was in a secure cage and had previously been fine, Lorelai screams out the chick’s name in a way reminiscent of the way Stanley calls to his wife Stella in an iconic scene from A Streetcar Named Desire.
It seems to be a truism in television comedy that anyone named Stella, especially an animal, will escape or disappear so that their name can be yelled in the same manner.
RORY: William Shatner. Is this the one where he sings Tambourine Man?
LANE: And Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
RORY: Remind me to get this for my mom for her birthday.
William Shatner (born 1931) is a Canadian actor, author, producer, and director, best known for playing James T. Kirk, the Captain of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek.
He also has a musical career, which began in 1968 with the spoken-word album The Transformed Man, giving recitations of songs such as Mr. Tambourine Man and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, interspersed with dramatic readings from Shakespeare.
This is the album which Lane has, and it was widely mocked and parodied for its unique style, becoming a camp classic. Rory plans to buy it for Lorelai’s 33rd birthday, which is perhaps a month or so away at this point.
Although he did other albums, after 2004 William Shatner began collaborating with some big musical stars, and even brought out an album that was critically acclaimed.
Lane has an entire section of her CD filing system taken up with Sinatra – the Capitol Years.
Francis “Frank” Sinatra (1915-1998) was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the twentieth century. Beginning his career in the big band era, he found success as a solo artist in the 1940s. One of the biggest performers at Las Vegas in the 1950s, he also forged a successful career as a Hollywood actor. Sinatra won eleven Grammy Awards, including the Legend and Lifetime Awards, and continued recording and touring until shortly before his death.
In 1953, Sinatra made a career revival by signing a contract with Capitol Records. Between 1954 and 1962 he brought out 22 albums which contain some of his best known songs, such as I Get a Kick Out of You, My Funny Valentine, They Can’t Take That Away From Me, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Young at Heart, The Lady is a Tramp, and Come Fly With Me. These would all become concert standards for him.
Lane classifies some music as “pretty boy rock” in her CD filing system, including Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, The Wallflowers, and Bush.
Bon Jovi [pictured] is an American rock formed in 1983, with its lead singer and songwriter being John Bon Jovi. Their 1986 album Slippery When Wet gained them international recognition. They will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Duran Duran are an English rock band, earlier discussed as one of Lorelai’s favourite bands as a teenager. Maybe she contributed to Lane’s music collection, or introduced Lane to their music.
The Wallflowers are an American rock band formed in 1989 by Jakob Dylan and Tobi Miller. Their self-titled debut album came out in 1992, and their most successful album was the 1996 Bringing Down the Horse.
Bush are a British rock band formed in 1992, founded by Gavin Rossdale and Nigel Pulsford. They found immediate success in 1994 with the release of their debut album Sixteen Stone, and went on to become one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s. They were always far more popular in the US than in their home country.
The glimpse into Lane’s music collection in this episode is fascinating, and demonstrates the eclectic nature of her musical tastes and interests.
RORY: Well I guess that just leaves bass player for the Foo Fighters.
LANE: I also wouldn’t rule out keyboardist in the Siouxsie and the Banshees reunion tour.
The Foo Fighters are an American rock band, earlier mentioned as one of Lane’s favourites. Their bass player is Nate Mendel.
Siouxsie and the Banshees [pictured] were an English rock band, formed in 1976 by singer Siouxsie Sioux (the stage name of Susan Ballion) and bassist Steven Severin (the stage name of Steven Bailey). Their 1978 debut album The Scream was critically acclaimed, and the band were highly influential in the punk, post-punk, and Gothic rock music scenes. They disbanded in 1996. The band have been compared to The Velvet Underground, another of Lane’s favourites. The keyboardist for Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1987 to 1995 was Martin McCarrick.
RORY: Hey how’s it going?
LANE: Very well. I have discovered that in addition to my lameness in geometry I also will not become a biologist, French translator, or Civil War buff.
Apparently Lane didn’t get great results in her mid-term exams – at least not in Geometry, Biology, French, and American History. A reminder that Lane has a school life too with homework and exams, and that unlike Rory she isn’t an academic whiz-kid.
You can see that Lane has a sheet of music up, so she is apparently teaching herself to read music, as well as familiarising herself with multiple genres of popular music. This helps explain her lacklustre school results – she is bright, focused, and hard working, but is simply far more interested in music than school. If only her parents had sent her to a music school, she would have aced everything, but only Rory gets educational opportunities and a chance to shine at what she’s good at.
Luke and Lorelai discuss painting the diner, and bond as Luke reveals some of his family’s history with the diner, which used to be his father’s hardware store. Taylor leads a group of interested townies to spy on them, although there’s nothing to actually see as they haven’t started painting yet.
This will become a well-worn running gag that the inhabitants of Stars Hollow will turn out en masse to stick their nose into anyone’s business, even if it isn’t very interesting. They have a special fascination with Luke and Lorelai, demonstrating that they are the “power couple” of the show.
LORELAI: Oh. Huh. Here it is [reading]: “Three hammers, Phillips-head screwdrivers -”
LUKE: “… and three boxes of nails in assorted sizes.”
The Phillips-head screwdriver was invented by businessman Henry Phillips in the 1930s and first used on the 1936 Cadillac. Phillips-head screwdrivers are designed to be self-centering, and allow a tighter fit than most screwdrivers.
LUKE: No stenciling!
LORELAI: Excuse me – do you even know what stenciling is?
LUKE: Does Martha Stewart do it?
LORELAI: Yes.
LUKE: (firmly) No stenciling.
Martha Stewart (born Martha Kostyra in 1941) is an American businesswoman, writer, and television personality. The author of numerous cooking and craft books, her magazine Martha Stewart Living was founded in 1990, and her television show of the same name ran from 1993 to 2005. Both magazine and show focus on entertaining, lifestyle, food, crafts, decorating, and DIY. The model for the program’s TV studio was the Stewarts’ country house in Connecticut.
LORELAI: Oh, maybe we could add a little stenciling on the ceiling.
Stenciling is adding a picture or pattern to a design by using a stencil – a thin sheet of material with a pattern cut into it that can be painted over so the paint only goes into the patterned area. Stencil refers to the material itself, and the design it produces. One of the earliest of art techniques, found in prehistoric cave paintings, stenciling is commonly used in home decorating and DIY projects.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 