“Juliet’s supposed to be chaste”

LOUISE: So now Brad can be Friar Tuck and I can be Juliet.
PARIS: Wrong … Juliet’s supposed to be chaste.

Paris ditches Louise (who wants the part of Juliet) in favour of Rory (who desperately doesn’t want the part). Her reasoning is that Juliet is meant to be chaste and pure, and Louise isn’t. Which is strange, because when you act, you literally pretend to be someone you’re not.

Perhaps Paris doesn’t believe Louise has enough acting talent to even pretend to be pure, but knowing Paris, she just loves the idea of forcing Rory into a part she doesn’t want where she has to interact with Tristan.

Amusingly, Madeline seems to think the “chastity” issue doesn’t disqualify her from being Juliet, and it’s only when she learns that Juliet has more than three lines that she gives up the idea. My head canon is that Madeline thought Paris said Juliet was supposed to be chased!

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”

PARIS: Hey, I’m the director and I’ll decide who’s born to be what, and Brad is Romeo.
LOUISE: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

A popular misquote from William Congreve’s 1697 play, The Mourning Bride, previously discussed. The quote is often wrongly attributed to Shakespeare, and as they are currently studying Shakespeare, I think this is meant to imply that Louise is one of those people who use the quote without understanding its origin or context. It’s the second time she has used it against Paris.

Louise is correct that Paris is barring Tristan from being Romeo out of pique that he didn’t want to date her more than once. Paris does eventually give in and give the part of Romeo to Tristan, although she clearly doesn’t have much faith that he will stick with the project until the end (her lack of confidence in him turns out to be well-founded).

“Only one free of ex-girlfriends”

PARIS: Fine, you have four other acts to choose from. Take your pick.
TRISTIN: Yeah, well Summer’s in Act 1, Beth and Jessica are in Act 2, Kate’s in Act 3, and uh, Claire, Kathy, and Mary are in Act 4. So this is the only one free of ex-girlfriends.

Technically yes, but Tristan has been on a date with Paris and kissed her goodnight, and he kissed Rory at Madeline’s party. Louise and Madeline have expressed plenty of interest, and as they are meant to date a new boy every week, it’s not very believable that Tristan wouldn’t have been their boyfriend at some stage, at least briefly.

Note that this is another example of a Beth as an ex-girlfriend – Dean has an ex-girlfriend of this name back in Chicago, who went on to date his cousin. It seems odd to me that Tristan teased Rory by calling her Mary, when he already had an ex-girlfriend named Mary – unless he went out with her after that.

The Gang’s All Here

TRISTAN: Well, well, the gang’s all here.

Tristan references the popular song, Hail, Hail, The Gang’s All Here, written by Theodora Morse under the name D.A. Esrom, to a tune by Arthur Sullivan for the 1879 comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance. Although published in 1917, it had been referenced in American newspapers as a popular song since 1898, often sung at political gatherings and sporting matches.

Traditional Elizabethan

PARIS: We’re doing traditional Elizabethan.
RORY: Elizabethan? But I thought the point of this was to . . .
PARIS: The point is to get an A, not to make Romeo and Juliet into a Vegas lounge act. Besides, we have the death scene. It’s classic, it’s famous.

Surely Rory is right, and the point is to provide your own unique interpretation of the scene? I can’t see how they could get any more than a B+ for the project doing it Paris’ way, and a very strict teacher (which Chilton is meant to have) might even give them a D for not following instructions.

Brad Langford (Adam Wylie)

BRAD: I’m Brad. From the third period Shakespeare.
LOUISE: He’s the answer to our lack of boys problem. Isn’t that swell?

This is the first time we meet Rory’s schoolmate Brad Langford, played by Adam Wylie. Although uncredited for this episode, Wylie was already an experienced actor with a lengthy CV. Brad was a gentle soul who lived in terror of Paris, and seemed to get along fairly well with Rory.

Brad is roped in to provide a male character for their group project, even though he tends to throw up from nerves when speaking in public. This leaves the role of Romeo open for Tristan.

The Monkees

RORY: Hey.
MADELINE: Hey.
LOUISE: We’re the Monkees.

The opening words to the theme song of The Monkees television show, a sitcom running from 1966 to 1968, starring the American pop group, The Monkees, as four young men trying to make it as a rock and roll band. The verse says:

Hey hey, we’re The Monkees

And people say we monkey around

But we’re too busy singing

To get anybody down

The show utilised a number of innovative new wave film techniques to the sitcom format, and won two Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Even after its run ended, it continued its popularity thanks to reruns, in particular a massive resurgence after 1986, when it was shown on MTV.

Note that this is essentially the same joke used in regard to Fat Albert in Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Jane

While waiting for the group project meeting to start, Madeline reads Jane magazine (1997-2007). This was a women’s fashion magazine founded by Jane Pratt, aimed at the 18-34 market, and designed for those young women who had grown up with Sassy (1988-1996), a feminist magazine for teenage girls which had Pratt as the first editor. Jane’s reputation was for being witty, quirky, trashy, and occasionally thoughtful, with a readership who saw themselves as “wild and crazy” party girls.

It folded because it’s young readership were now getting more interested in digital platforms, such as Jezebel. Jane Pratt went on to found the infamous xoJane online magazine (2011-2016).

Madeline is reading the November 2001 issue with Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro on the front cover. This issue actually had a double front cover, and you can see Madeline holding up the one with Shirley Manson, P. Diddy, and Alicia Keys on it. The magazine that month had interviews with other music stars, including Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Sheryl Crow, and Tommy Lee.

The Twilight Zone

PAUL: I think it’s a conspiracy getting us ready for the day we’re all gonna be raised by machines. No human contact whatsoever.
LORELAI: You know my mother, don’t you?
PAUL: The, uh, Twilight Zone marathon was on all week.

The Twilight Zone, an American media franchise created by Rod Serling. Each episode is in genres such as science-fiction, fantasy, suspense, or horror, often with a macabre or unexpected twist, and usually with a moral attached. The original series ran from 1959 to 1964, and it was revived in 1985, 2002, and 2019, as well as being made into films and a radio show, and inspiring various books, games, and theme park attractions. A popular and critical success, it is considered one of the best television series ever made.

Paul’s theory about being raised by machines with no human contact sounds like something from The Twilight Zone, although I can’t locate an episode with the same plot. It’s a tiny little bit like the 1962 episode I Sing the Body Electric, written by Ray Bradbury, about three children raised by a robot “grandmother”. Far from being a nightmarish scenario, the robot carer is kind and empathetic, and the children love her dearly.

Paul enjoys science-fiction shows, like Lorelai (and like Luke). It must be one of the reasons she feels drawn to him. Although mentioning you have mummy issues before you even get to the first date doesn’t seem like a great idea.