Category: S3Ep6: Take the Deviled Eggs

The Shakers

TAYLOR: Well, fine, if you feel like that, maybe I will just stop showing up altogether. Maybe I’ll convert to something else and give them my generous weekly donation …

REVEREND SKINNER : Maybe the Shakers in Woodbury would take him.

RABBI BARANS: Yeah, he’s already got the beard. Can you make furniture, Taylor?

The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Christian founded in England in the 1740s. They emigrated from England in the 1770s and settled in Revolutionary colonial America. They were initially known as “Shaking Quakers” because of their ecstatic behaviour during worship services.

They practice a celibate and communal utopian lifestyle, pacifism, charismatic worship, and their model of equality of the sexes. They are also known for their simple living, architecture, technological innovation, music, and furniture.

In real life, there are only two Shakers left in the US, Arnold Hadd and June Carpenter, who live in the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community in Maine [pictured]. The idea of them living in nearby Woodbury is purely fictional. Of course, the reverend and the rabbi may just be teasing Taylor.

Red Lobster

RABBI BARANS: Is the whole shellfish thing really serious? Because, I gotta tell you, some of these Red Lobster commercials . . .

Red Lobster is a chain of casual dining restaurants headquartered in Orlando, Florida. They have more than 700 locations worldwide. It first opened in Lakelands, Florida in 1968, and specialises in seafood, including lobster, crab, fish, molluscs, and shrimp.

The rabbi jokingly refers to the fact that shellfish are not kosher, and therefore forbidden in Judaism.

“I can’t even look at this mayonnaise”

RABBI BARANS: Ugh, I can’t even look at this mayonnaise.

A joke based on the stereotype that Jewish people hate mayonnaise, preferring mustard as their condiment of choice. It has nothing to do with mayonnaise not being kosher – there’s no religious stipulation against it.

Jewish comedian Milton Berle once cracked, “Anytime somebody orders a corned beef sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise, somewhere in the world, a Jew dies” – I guess, dies in horror? Although Milton Berle himself ate mayonnaise on his corned beef sandwiches, making fun of people eating mayonnaise became a staple of Jewish comedy.

The Reverend and the Rabbi

RABBI BARANS: Reverend Skinner and I share the church for services, Taylor, so if there’s gonna be a protest, it’ll be a joint decision.

Reverend Skinner and Rabbi David Barans are introduced in this episode, and we also learn that the church is shared between the (vaguely unnamed) Protestant and Jewish congregations, while the reverend and the rabbi are firm friends.

The town has apparently gone through Reverend Nicholls, and the reverend who buried Louie Danes, and Reverend Melmin (who is Seventh Day Adventist), and now here’s Reverend Archie Skinner. I’m not sure if Stars Hollow has a lot of reverends, or a high turnover of them.

Reverend Skinner is played by Jim Jansen, who had roles on numerous TV shows. He has played a reverend several times, including on Nikki, Melrose Place, and Step by Step. He previously played someone named Skinner in Just the Ten of Us.

Rabbit Barans is played by Alan Blumenfeld, who has a similarly extensive CV. He played a rabbi again in the 2017 film Pinsky. Like Jim Jansen, he has appeared in Matlock, Hangin’ With Mr Cooper, Murphy Brown, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Diagnosis Murder, and Felicity.

Florida

[Gypsy looks under the hood of Jackson’s truck]

GYPSY: Oh, goody, a trip to Florida!

Florida, previously mentioned several times, a state in the Southeastern region of the US, between Georgia and Alabama. It is the only US state which borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and was the first state in the continental US to be permanently settled by Europeans – by the Spanish, in St. Augustine, in 1556.

The Spanish named it La Florida, because of its verdant greenery, and because it was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon during the Easter season, or Pascua Florida (Festival of Flowers). Florida is the third most populous state in the US, and is a popular place for vacations, because of its warm climate, theme parks, and beaches.

“Andrew Jackson, not Alfred E. Neuman”

LUKE: And he paid cash? … Did you make sure Andrew Jackson was on the bills, not Alfred E. Neuman or someone?

Andrew Jackson, previously discussed. Former president Andrew Jackson is on the US $20 bill.

Alfred E. Neuman, the fictitious mascot and cover boy of the humour magazine Mad. The image had been used since the 19th century in advertising, and for Roosevelt’s political campaign in the 1930s. Mad magazine claimed the image in 1954, and named him “Alfred E. Neuman” in 1956. Since his debut, he has appeared on all but a handful of the magazine’s covers.

In 1967, the magazine published pictures of joke coins and a three dollar bill with Alfred E. Neuman’s face on it. Despite being an obvious satire on coin collecting, some readers cut the notes out of the magazine and were able to use them in Las Vegas money-changing machines, leading to federal authorities moving to stamp out this counterfeit operation.

Mad magazine went on to publish fake Monopoly money, and smaller versions of the three dollar bill which were given out as novelties at trade shows and conventions.

Jan and Dean

LUKE: I know a little about cars, that was all gibberish.

KIRK: Oh, well, would you mind not telling people about this? I’ve cultivated a reputation as sort of a car aficionado and in reality, all I have is a Jan and Dean record.

Jan and Dean, rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (1941-2004) and Dean Torrence (born 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles popularised by the Beach Boys. Their song “Surf City” (1963) was the first surf song to reach #1. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Several of their songs are about cars, including “Drag City” (1963), “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena” (1964), and “Dead Man’s Curve” (1964).

In 1966, Berry had a serious car accident on Dead Man’s Curve in Beverley Hills, two years after writing a song about it. He was in a coma for two months, and had to recover from brain damage and partial paralysis. He returned to the studio in 1967, almost a year to the day since his accident.

“It’s all the way in Boston”

RORY: Yeah, but … it’s all the way in Boston.

LORELAI: I’ll drive you there if you want … Yeah, I’ll do some Boston shopping …

Boston is about two hours drive from the location of Stars Hollow, which is a significant journey, but never made to seem like a big deal in this episode. Lorelai and Rory would have spent four hours getting to and from a baby shower, but Lorelai makes it sound like a fun shopping trip. Mind you, this is the woman who drove to New York to go shopping, and drove home again without getting out of the car.