The Great Gatsby

LORELAI: He’s liked you for ten years? … Wow. That is some serious Great Gatsby pining … You’re his Daisy.

The Great Gatsby, 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway’s interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, and Gatsby’s obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. The novel was inspired by a youthful romance Fitzgerald had with a socialite named Ginevra King, and the riotous parties he attended on Long Island’s North Shore in 1922.

The novel received generally favourable, if restrained, reviews, but was a commercial disappointment, selling less than 20 000 copies in the first six months. When F. Scott Fitzgerald died in 1940, be believed himself a failure, and his work forgotten.

During World War II, the novel experienced an abrupt surge in popularity when the Council on Books in Wartime distributed free copies to American soldiers serving overseas. This new-found popularity launched a critical and scholarly re-examination, and the work soon became a core part of most American high school curricula and a part of American popular culture. Numerous stage and film adaptations followed in the subsequent decades.

Gatsby continues to attract popular and scholarly attention. Contemporary scholars emphasise the novel’s treatment of social class, and its cynical attitude towards the American Dream. The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary masterwork and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel.

The 1974 film version of The Great Gatsby, starring Robert Redford as Gatsby, featured Richard Hermann, who plays Richard Gilmore, in the minor role of Ewing Klipspringer, the mooching party guest who decides to simply never leave.

Shields and Yarnell

LORELAI: [hangs up, speaks to Sookie] Hey, Shields and Yarnell, what’s going on?

Shields and Yarnell, a famous mime duo formed in 1972, comprising Robert Shields (born 1951) and Lorene Yarnell (1944-2010). Their speciality was a sketch called “The Clinkers”, where they portrayed two robots. They had their own show, The Shields and Yarnell Show (1977-78), and appeared on hundreds of other programs, including The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, The Sonny and Cher Show, and The Muppet Show. Career highlights included shows for two American Presidents, a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II, and a tour of China with comedian Bob Hope. They were married in 1972 and divorced in 1986, periodically reuniting to tour with their act.

Lorelai addresses Sookie as Shields and Yarnell because of the way she tries to get Lorelai’s attention on the phone.

In the picture, Yarnell is on the left and Shields on the right.

Ramada

LORELAI: [on phone] Oh, no, sir, I’m afraid we don’t offer a complimentary breakfast … Uh, yes, sir, I realize the Ramada does.

Ramada is a large multinational hotel chain, and the first Ramada hotel was opened in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1954. The name is literally Spanish for “branch”, but ramadas (“porches, arbors”) were temporary open-air structures, popular in Arizona at harvest time. The company translates their name as “shady resting place”. It is now owned by Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.

There are two Ramada hotels in Connecticut – one in Windsor Locks, just north of Hartford, and the other in Groton, where Lorelai’s relative once lived. Presumably the customer is considering remaining in Windsor Locks [pictured], which is at the airport. It’s a modest budget-priced two and half star hotel, and in reality they don’t offer a complimentary breakfast – they don’t serve breakfast at all, some days. It’s obviously nowhere near the luxury and charm of the Independence Inn.

Calves Liver

JOE: I can’t tell you how many times I kicked myself for not asking you out that summer. It just seemed like every time I got close, we’d end up talking about the best way to make calves liver or something.
SOOKIE: Sautéed with caramelized onions.

Liver and onion is a classic dish, widely eaten in the US, UK, and Germany, often accompanied by bacon. It is sometimes called Liver Berlin Style. There are variations on the dish in French, Italian, Spanish and Latin American cuisine.

Michel’s Deposition

MICHEL: My neighbor had this dog, a frisky little scamp that used to love to yap to his friends all night long. It was so cute. Then one day he disappeared. I told the police what I knew, but sadly the adorable little chatterbox was never found. It was tragic.
LORELAI: You got rid of a dog? …
MICHEL: I will gladly show you the transcript from the lawyer and the results of the lie detector test.
LORELAI: You’re heinous.
MICHEL: And very well rested.

Compare with Richard’s retort that at least he and Emily will be well rested, after Lorelai says they are both going to hell for snapping up a dead man’s property so quickly.

Michel, the (unproven) dog killer! It is actually possible to beat a lie detector test, although quite difficult. Michel is obviously a very cool customer. It’s much easier to fail one while being innocent, due to anxiety. These false positives are why evidence from one is not admissible in a court of law in the US.

Michigan

[Lorelai walks up to Michel at the front desk]
LORELAI: Okay, so you’ll come in early and set up the conference room for the group from Michigan.

Michigan, a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwest in the US. It has a population of over 10 million, and is the largest by area east of the Mississippi River at 97 000 square miles (250 000 square km). Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit, among the nation’s most populous and largest metropolitan economies. The name Michigan derives from a Gallicised variant of the Ojibwe word mishigami, meaning “large water” or “large lake”.

Rory Meets Francie in a Parking Garage

[Rory walks through an empty parking garage. She hears a noise, and turns to find Francie]
FRANCIE: Good, you’re here. We need to talk.

This scene is based on the Watergate investigation by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, who secretly met a contact known as “Deep Throat” in a parking garage between 1972 and 1973. Their information would help lead to the uncovering of the greatets scandal in US history, and the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon.

In 2005, attorney Mark Felt would out himself as Deep Throat, after which Bob Woodward told everyone exactly where they had met – Space D3 in The Quotidian Underground Parking Garage beneath the Oakhill Office Building in Rosslyn, Virginia [pictured]. It has since become a tourist attraction.

Leavenworth

RORY: Paris, the cafeteria workers serve hundreds of students a day. A little gravy spillage is natural.
PARIS: I see. So I should just sit quietly and shovel in whatever slop they throw my way like some inmate in the chow line at Leavenworth doing twenty to life? I don’t think so.

The United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth (USP Leavenworth) is a federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas that was the biggest maximum security prison in the US from 1903 to 2005, after which it became a medium security prison.