Footnotes to the TV series
EMILY: Well, I certainly hope you’re feeling better now because I want you to come to dinner tomorrow night.
LORELAI: Tomorrow? Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving.
In 2002, Thanksgiving Day was on Thursday 28 November – very close to the original episode broadcast date of 26 November.
There has actually been far too many events for them to have all occurred before the end of November, and by my reckoning it’s almost Christmas. But we’re in TV Land here, where the timeline can be stretched a long way.
The scenes in the administration building were also filmed at Pomona College in Los Angeles, in the Bridges Auditorium.
EMILY: Richard Gilmore, you are going to give these girls the wrong impression.
RORY: What impression is that, Grandma?
LORELAI: That you were the Helena Bonham Carter of the society set?
Helena Bonham Carter (born 1966), English actress. She rose to fame in 1985 film A Room With a View, and became a favourite choice for playing a virginal “English rose” in period dramas – something she was uncomfortable with. Bonham Carter gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s, and has had many major roles, including awards for biographical film and TV The King’s Speech, Enid, and The Crown.
Lorelai is referring to the fact that in 1994, Helena Bonham Carter began an affair with fellow actor Kenneth Branagh while they were filming Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, even though Branagh was married to actress Emma Thompson at the time (they married in 1989).
Branagh and Thompson divorced in 1995, and Bonham Carter and Branagh broke up in 1999. They have all made peace with one another now, and the three of them had major roles in the Harry Potter film series. Helena Bonham Carter married director Tim Burton in 2001, the year before this episode aired. They divorced in 2014.
Amy Sherman-Palladino seems to have modelled her image very heavily on Helena Bonham Carter, who is known for her eccentric fashion and dark aesthetic, and for playing quirky female roles. I’d imagine she would be one of Sherman-Palladino’s favourite actresses, as well as her style icon.
The scenes at Yale University in this episode were filmed at Pomona College, a private liberal arts college in Claremont, a suburb of Los Angeles.
You will notice in these outdoor scenes that it doesn’t look as if it’s -1 degree outside. They aren’t even wearing winter coats.
In the Mood
A popular big band era jazz standard recorded by Glenn Miller. It’s based on the 1930 composition “Tar Paper Stomp” by Wingy Manone, in a new arrangement by Joe Garland, with lyrics added by Andy Razaf. First released by Edgar Hayes and His Orchestra in 1938, the 1939 Glenn Miller version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1983. It is considered one of the most important musical works of the 20th century.
Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)
A 1936 song by Louis Prima, who first recorded it with the New Orleans Gang. It’s been recorded many times, most notably by Benny Goodman. Part of the big band and swing eras, it’s a favourite for film and television soundtracks.
Walkin’ My Baby Back Home
A 1930 jazz song written by Fred E. Ahlert, with lyrics by Roy Turk. It charted in 1931, with highest-charting versions of that year by Nick Lucas, and Ted Weems, with both reaching #8. Nat King Cole’s 1951 version also went to #8, and it was most successful in 1952, when Johnnie Ray took it to #4.
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby
By the Beautiful Sea
A 1914 popular song by Harry Carroll, with lyrics by Harold R. Atteridge. Originally recorded by the Heidelberg Quintet, it topped the charts for six weeks during the outbreak of World War I.
These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)
A 1935 song by English songwriters Eric Maschwitz (under the name Holt Marvell), lyricist and Jack Strachey, the composer. It is said to have been inspired by a youthful romance with cabaret singer Jean Ross. The song wasn’t an immediate success, even after featuring in the 1936 London revue Spread It Abroad, until famous West Indian pianist and singer Leslie Hutchinson found the music on top of Maschwitz’s piano, and liked it. He recorded it the same year, and after this it became a great success, recorded by musicians all over the world, including Benny Goodman, and Billie Holliday, whose version peaked at #5 in 1936.
A String of Pearls
A 1941 song composed by Jerry Gray, with lyrics by Eddie DeLange. It was recorded by Glenn Miller becoming a #1 hit. It is a big band and jazz standard.
All the music at the dance marathon is provided by the band, The Swingin’ Deacons, a band from Lynchburg, Virginia. They have a 1999 album, House of the Blues Swings!
PARIS: Look, you don’t have to be nice, you don’t have to tie up loose ends. I get it, I’m a distraction. Now either pull a Boxing Helena, or give me back my hand.
Boxing Helena, a 1993 mystery thriller and body horror film directed by Jennifer Lynch, the daughter of David Lynch. It stars Sherilynn Fenn as Helena, a woman kept captive by a surgeon, played by Julian Sands, who amputates her limbs while holding her captive. The film did poorly at the box office, and received negative reviews, being branded both disturbing and tedious.
Sherilynn Fenn, who was in Twin Peaks, was reportedly Amy Sherman-Palladino’s preference to play Lorelai in Gilmore Girls. She later appears in the show in two different roles.
This episode introduces the character of the Town Loner, a mysterious and eccentric hermit who is thought to live “in the hills” around the town. This has a bit of a “cabin in the woods” vibe, and the show has something of a fascination with eccentric loners, who are depicted as both dangerous and wise.
The Town Loner comes out of isolation to stage a protest in the church tower, but the words that he yells are seemingly meaningless babble, and the banner that he unfurls is backwards, so the words cannot be read. Lorelai (brilliantly?) interprets this as a statement on man’s inability to communicate.
The Town Loner is played by Daniel Palladino, in an uncredited cameo.
LORELAI: So it’s a girl?
SHERRY: Yeah. Christopher would’ve been happy with either, but I really wanted a ballerina.
Apparently Sherry thinks any girl is automatically a “ballerina” – perhaps a reflection on Amy Sherman-Palladino’s upbringing by a ballet teacher. Of course, not every girl wants to be a ballerina, and plenty of boys enjoy ballet.
It’s notable that Lorelai also enrolled Rory in ballet classes when she was a little girl, so her views and Sherry’s are not that different here.
SHERRY: Well, here’s the gang.You’ve got Gail, Judy, Maureen, Linda, Susan and Alice.
Gail is played by Rain Denise Wilson, in her first role.
Judy is played by Jennifer Jostyn, who had previously been in some minor films.
Maureen is played by Cynthia Ettinger, known for her work in theatre, and who had roles in The Silence of the Lambs, Seinfeld, Touched by an Angel, The Practice, Felicity, and Providence; she later went on to have a major role in the TV series Carnivàle.
Linda is played by Kate Orsini, in her fourth role; she would later have regular roles on The Bold and the Beautiful, and General Hospital.
Susan is played by Kate Rodger, who had been in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and would later appear on The O.C.
Alice is played by Ames Ingham, in her final of five roles.
Christopher and Sherry’s home in Boston is filmed at the Warner Bros back lot on French Street – it’s not far from where they film the town meetings.
There are green balloons out the front, because “green is the new pink”, so green for a girl baby. Although Lorelai and Rory think this is strange, I’ve heard of people using green for gender reveal parties because they are “so over” pink and blue, or to make a statement about gender neutrality, or they simply don’t know the sex of their baby (so why have a reveal party to reveal you don’t know anything???). So this trend ended up becoming mainstream. Sherry was ahead of her time!
The green balloons signal “green for envy”, because Lorelai is very jealous of Sherry.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 