Footnotes to the TV series
Rory tells Lorelai that Paris Geller’s father is a bigwig at a huge pharmaceutical company. There are no pharmaceutical companies in Hartford, and very few in Connecticut. The biggest would probably be Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., a global company which then had its headquarters in New Haven, less than an hour’s drive from Hartford.
SOOKIE: What on earth were you thinking?
LORELAI: That I could still skate.
SOOKIE: It’s not like riding a bike you know.
Sookie is referring to the common phrase that a skill that is once learned and never forgotten is “just like riding a bike”.
Opinions vary as to whether ice skating is just like riding a bike – some people say they easily picked it up after decades off the ice, just a little wobbly to begin with. Others find that after a long break from skating, they have no idea how to balance any more and have gone back to beginner status. Sore legs and feet are common, just as Lorelai is experiencing.
JACKSON: Yes, great, I know, but all I’m asking you is to try stuffing something a little different this time huh? [holds up a funny-looking zucchini]
SOOKIE: A zucchini tush?
JACKSON: Just a temporary name.
SOOKIE: You want me to serve my customers a genetically engineered vegetable that’s named after a butt?
JACKSON: Hey this is an all natural vegetable hybrid that’s perfectly safe, completely delicious, and yes it looks a little odd but you can put in on the map!
Tush is American slang for “buttocks”, short for tochus, which is derived from the Yiddish word tokhes. It’s ultimately from the Hebrew for “beneath”.
Jackson says that his buttocks-shaped zucchini is a hybrid, but he doesn’t say of which other vegetable – maybe a summer squash. Unlike Jackson’s impossible rasquat, zucchini and summer squash cross-pollinate very easily, even with no human intervention. Sometimes the result looks like a short round zucchini, just like the one Jackson presents to Sookie, and a buttocks-shaped one sounds unusual but by no means impossible.
JOSHUA: Well Richard, it looks like we’re gonna be stuck with you for a while longer. It was just a touch of angina.
EMILY: But you have to watch your diet.
JOSHUA: Yes, that’s going to be very important. No more red meat, heavy desserts and you’re going to have to exercise regularly.
Angina is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by not enough blood flow to the heart muscle. Typically brought on by exertion or stress (such as the trouble Richard was having at work), the pain or discomfort is often accompanied by sweating (which is why he kept turning the heat down). It can be made worse by having a full stomach and by cold temperatures, so a big Christmas dinner helped create the perfect storm for Richard’s angina.
Dr Reynolds’ diet suggestions probably indicate that Richard’s tests showed he has high cholesterol, which is common with angina patients. Gentle exercise is recommended – despite Emily saying “golf doesn’t count”, it would probably be good for him. Almost certainly Dr Reynolds is also going to give him some form of medication.
Due to improvements in modern medicine, the prognosis for angina is quite good, with 92% of patients surviving for five years after diagnosis.
LUKE: It’s a nice tie.
EMILY: It’s Brooks Brothers.
Brooks Brothers are the oldest men’s clothing company in the US. Founded in Manhattan in 1818, Brooks Brothers have outfitted 40 of the 45 American presidents. Their neckties are made in either Britain or Italy. In 2000, Brooks Brothers was owned by British firm Marks & Spencer.
There are a number of Brooks Brothers store near Hartford where Emily might have bought Richard’s tie – their store at the mall in Farmington is only about 20 minutes drive away. However, it is just as likely that she bought it from a department store in Hartford.
EMILY: That’s what I’ve been trying to find out but this woman keeps pestering me with idiotic questions like “What’s the number of my insurance policy and how long have we had it.”
NURSE: I need to get this information.
The US does not have a nationalised healthcare system, and before anything can happen in a US hospital, multiple insurance forms need to be filled out.
EMILY: My great uncle founded this hospital – You insensitive paper peddler! His portrait is hanging in the lobby, go look. It’s right above the sign that says “Founder”!
There are a number of hospitals in the Hartford area Richard could have been taken to, but they are either too old or too new to be founded by Emily’s great-uncle. Also, none of them had a single founder, being started by universities, religious organisations, or civic committees.
Emily’s great-uncle founding the hospital lets us know that her family must have been both wealthy and important, and that they were connected with the Hartford area.
LORELAI: I feel like this is one of those moments when I should be remembering all the great times I had with my dad, you know. The time he took me shopping for a Barbie or to the circus or fishing and my mind is a complete blank.
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by Mattel and launched in 1959. The doll was created by Ruth Handler, based on a German doll named Bild Lilly. The doll was named after Ruth’s daughter Barbara. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, and Barbie herself has become a cultural icon.
If Lorelai was given a Barbie as a small child, she might have received Malibu Barbie, the iconic doll of the 1970s.
LUKE: Whoa, calm down.
LORELAI: No I can’t calm down. I need a cab. What’s the number? God, it’s something-cabs, cabs-something-something, 1-800-cabs? Can somebody tell me the damn number of the cab guy?!
Lorelai might be thinking of 1-800-TAXICAB, established in 1999 as a national hotline to connect people to their local taxi companies – there are four in Hartford that Lorelai could have used.
LORELAI: Tonight’s my parents big Christmas celebration. There’s good food, these amazing apple tarts, big tree. It’s the only holiday I actually enjoy going over there for, and this year I’m uninvited.
LUKE: Why the hell would anyone celebrate Christmas two weeks early?
In fact the Christmas party is on Friday 15 December, ten days before Christmas – but that’s pretty close to two weeks.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 