Huckleberry

JACKSON: So, I hear the huckleberry crops are gonna totally suck this year!
[Sookie just looks at him.]

Huckleberry is an American dialect word for the shrub fruit known as the bilberry – a variant of the English dialect word hurtleberry or whortleberry. In America, the term huckleberry is applied to several different species of berry, including dangleberries and blueberries.

The peak season for huckleberries finishes in mid-September, so by this time of year the huckleberry crop would normally “suck” anyway. No wonder Sookie gives Jackson a look.

The huckleberry crops serve as a reminder of Huckleberry Finn.

Scrunchies

LORELAI: Last week there was a huge debate over whether plaid scrunchies were acceptable head wear [at Chilton]. People took sides, things got ugly, the scrunchie motion finally passed and I’d like to think I was the tie breaker.

A scrunchie is a fabric-covered elastic hair accessory, used to tie back long hair. Scrunchies were particularly fashionable during the 1980s and ’90s. They were falling out of style in 2000, but at Chilton are still a source of concern.

Later in the episode, we learn that Lorelai’s championing of plaid scrunchies has led some parents to put her down as lower class, as they speculate that her child must be at Chilton on a scholarship, rather than because of rich grandparents.

Joan of Arc

LORELAI: Sookie, I need coffee to go.
SOOKIE: [holding her head in her hands] There’s fresh over there.
LORELAI: Ooh, good. [picks up an empty pot] Fresh in my first lifetime as Joan of Arc.

Joan of Arc (c1412-1431) is a Catholic saint who is a patron of France, and considered a heroine in her home country for her role in the Hundred Years War, where she led the French army to victory. Since the Middle Ages, women have seen her as an inspiring example of a brave and active woman.

It is somehow typical of Lorelai that even in a joke, she imagines her first lifetime as a national heroine and proto-feminist icon.

Artie Shaw

DRELLA: I am the Artie Shaw of harpists.

Artie Shaw (1910-2004) was an American musician who grew up in Connecticut, widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz clarinetists of all time. He led one of the most popular big bands through the 1930s and ’40s, and is best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter’s Begin the Beguine.

A serious artist, Shaw was a perfectionist who was known for forming bands, working to make them successful, and then quickly disbanding them. In 1954 he stopped playing the clarinet, explaining that he had taken the instrument as far as it could go. After World War II, Shaw gradually withdrew from the world of music to pursue a writing career.

This comment may explain why we never see Drella again after this episode – like Artie Shaw, she simply felt she had achieved the pinnacle of success as a harpist and stopped playing. Of course, given her constant rudeness to staff and customers, it is quite believable that Lorelai sacked her. Artie Shaw was apparently a very difficult person as well.

The actor portraying Drella, Alex Borstein, was originally cast as Sookie on Gilmore Girls, playing her in the original, unaired pilot. Borstein was unable to continue in the role as she was still contracted to the sketch comedy show MADtv. Although busy voicing Lois Griffin on Family Guy, Borstein managed to appear as various characters on Gilmore Girls from time to time.

Mozart

Lorelai suggests that Drella play some Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era, who wrote more than 600 works which are regarded as some of the greatest symphonies, operas, choral works, and chamber music of all time. He is extremely popular to this day.

Lorelai’s Forbidden Musical Artists

After stopping Drella from playing Black Sabbath, Lorelai also bans her from playing any compositions by Steely Dan, Boston, and Queen.

Steely Dan is an American jazz rock band founded in 1972 by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Their biggest hit is Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, peaking at #4 in 1974. Steely Dan broke up in 1981; after reuniting in 1993 they continued touring together until the death of Walter Becker in 2017. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

Boston is an American rock band founded in 1976 by Tom Scholz, with many of their songs becoming staples on classic rock radio. Their biggest hits include More Than a Feeling (1976), Don’t Look Back (1978), and Amanda (1981).

Queen is a British rock band founded in 1970, with their classic line-up being Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon. They became a success with their self-titled album in 1974, and the 1975 A Night at the Opera brought them international acclaim. Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) was their first single to go to #1, still regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. They are one of the biggest-selling bands ever, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.