Footnotes to the TV series
TRIX: Now, talk to some old women, tell us what it’s like to be young.
LORELAI: Not nearly as much fun since the mandatory sunscreen rule, I’ll tell ya.
In the US, sunscreen began to be regulated in 1978, when Lorelai was ten years old. Apparently she hasn’t had as much fun since that age.
LORELAI: Hey, Jess. You like music, right? The Beach Boys said it best. None of the guys go steady ’cause it wouldn’t be right to leave their best girls home on a Saturday night. Rory is one of the best girls. She’s the best girl, if you want my opinion, and you don’t seem to have the first idea as to how she should be treated.
Lorelai quotes from “I Get Around”, the 1964 song by The Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love. The autobiographical lyrics describe the group’s reaction to their newfound fame and success, as well as their restlessness concerning the status quo, and their desire to find new hip places. Two lines say:
None of the guys go steady ’cause it wouldn’t be right
To leave their best girl home now on a Saturday night
Lorelai seems to be suggesting to Jess that he shouldn’t have a girlfriend if he’s too “hip and cool” to take her out on weekends. She never bothers asking Jess what the problem is, what his work schedule is like (he works two jobs, as well as going to school), or wonders why Rory can’t be bothered calling Jess or talking to him if any issues come up.
“I Get Around” became the Beach Boys’ first #1 hit in the US, as well as one of America’s biggest hits since the British Invasion and the beginning of an unofficial rivalry between Wilson and the Beatles. It also topped the Canadian charts and reached #7 in the UK. In 2017, “I Get Around” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
MAN 2: I was in France during the Big One.
MICHEL: Oh, that’s nice. So –
MAN 2: Nice? It was a war. What’s nice about that?
The Big One, an informal name for World War II.
This Doose relative is played by veteran actor Bob Larkin. He was born in 1929, so when World War II broke out, he was only ten years old. His character is apparently meant to be about ten years older than the actor’s real age.
RORY: Sure, when Dean said he’d call, he always called, but where’s the fun in that?
LORELAI: Oh, honey, don’t do that.
RORY: Do what?
LORELAI: Compare Dean and Jess, that’s not fair. They’re different people.
RORY: Clearly. One calls when he says he will and one doesn’t.
Dean phoned Rory obsessively – five times a night was considered normal in the early days of their relationship, when Dean presumably felt secure and happy. As he became less secure, he phoned Rory to the point that she began getting impatient, and at the height of his paranoia, rang 14 times while Rory was working on a school project, which alarmed her a little bit.
However, Rory is now seeing Dean with rose-tinted glasses, and now all she can remember is that Dean was reliable at phoning when he said he would. Lorelai tells her it isn’t fair to judge Jess against Dean – but then says that’s because Dean is so obviously superior! It would have been more helpful if she reminded Rory of all the times Rory got fed up with Dean’s obsessive phone calls.
LORELAI: One question. During this time that you watched TV, did homework, proofread articles for The Franklin, organized my sock drawer, returned emails and gave a much needed cleaning to your computer, did it ever occur to you to call him?
RORY: No.
LORELAI: Why?
RORY: Because he said he’d call me.
Before Rory was going out with Jess, she used to hang out at the diner all the time just to see him. Now he’s her boyfriend, she won’t even pick up the phone to talk to him when she’s all alone. Why do characters all turn into idiots when they begin a relationship on this show?
RICHARD: Well, she’s going to be staying with us, Emily. She just wants to know she’ll be comfortable.
EMILY: Yes, because we usually give our guests the towels we’ve stolen from the Holiday Inn.
Holiday Inn, previously discussed. Lorelai and Rory actually stole their wine glasses from a Holiday Inn they stayed in.
Emily is very uppity about stealing from hotels, considering that she and Lorelai stole their bathrobes when they stayed at a spa. (Although Lorelai had to stop Emily from returning hers).
RORY: [reads button] “Stars Hollow Hockey, 2003 semifinalists. Go Minutemen. The future is yours. Bring this button to Doose’s for fifty percent off your next purchase of Stove Top Stuffing.”
Stove Top is a brand of stuffing introduced by General Foods in 1972. It is a quick cooking (“instant”) stuffing that is available in supermarkets. Unlike traditional stuffing, Stove Top can be prepared on the stove, in a pot, and can also be prepared in a microwave oven. It is used as a side dish for meals as well as a medium in which some meats (pork, chicken) can be baked. It is sold in boxes and canisters.
There is a slight retcon or continuity error here, because in “Secrets and Loans”, the Minutemen were the school’s basketball team, not their hockey team. Unless all the sports teams have the same name???
LUKE: Dean had that girl for two years. You have a little fight after two months, you walk out, and it’s over?
Jess and Rory have actually been going over for a little over three months, since mid-November.
It annoys me that Luke says, “Dean had that girl for two years”. He had Rory? He owned her? And why does Luke call her “that girl” like he hardly knows her? It’s very strange and a bit creepy.
LUKE: When you date a girl like Rory, you’re involved with her whole family. Just like that last girl you dated, you were involved with her whole Petri dish.
Petri dish, a shallow, transparent lidded dish that biologists use to grow cell cultures, such as bacteria, fungi, and moss. The container is named after its inventor, German bacteriologist Julius Petri.
Everyone is so horrible about Shane on this show. Even Luke, who (rightly) urged Jess to be nicer to Shane when they were going out, now he speaks of her family as nothing more than bacteria!
JESS: I was attacked by a swan. Okay, you happy? A stupid swan.
LUKE: Now, how ’bout the real story?
Luke professes disbelief that Jess’ black eye came from a swan attack. Swans are notoriously aggressive during breeding season, and can do some damage when provoked – generally of the bruising variety, rather than breaking bones or anything. Breeding season is April to June, and this is February, but if you’re unlucky, swans can attack at any time.
I’m not sure why Luke doesn’t believe Jess at first, nor why Jess is too embarrassed to tell Rory the truth. For that matter, why is everyone so sure that Dean gave Jess the black eye? Had it happened before? Does Dean seem that dangerous? And if she believes Dean did hurt Jess, why is Rory angry at Jess, rather than Dean?
An interesting point to ponder: most swan-related injuries actually occur when the person is running away from the swan – falling over and cutting their knee, or getting a branch in their eye running through trees. (In one unfortunate case, drowning while trying to escape). Is it possible that this is really how Jess got a black eye, and is this why he is so embarrassed?
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 