Kirk’s short film is reminiscent of a section of the 1977 surrealist horror film Eraserhead, written, directed and produced by David Lynch, previously discussed as Amy Sherman-Palladino’s favourite director. Shot in black and white, it was Lynch’s first feature-length film. Starring Jack Nance in the lead role, it tells the story of a man left to care for his grossly deformed child in a desolate industrial landscape.
Upon release, Eraserhead received negative reviews, being described as “pretentious”, in “sickening bad taste” and “unwatchable”, and opened to small audiences, with little interest shown in it. It gradually gained a cult following as a midnight movie, and today is critically lauded as a film that is both beautiful and nightmarish. It was the favourite film of Stanley Kubrick, and an influence on The Shining.
Note that the poster advertises the film as “A film by David Lynch” – Kirk seems to have used the tagline as the inspiration for his film’s end title.
The other actors in Kirk’s film are Mary Lynn Rajskub and Jon Polito as the girlfriend and the father respectively. Rajskub had been in the sitcom Veronica’s Closet and has since gone on to numerous other shows, such as 24 and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Polito was a veteran actor who worked with the Coen Brothers several times, and appeared in the TV shows Crime and Homicide: Life on the Streets. Neither actor includes Gilmore Girls on their filmography!
If they are supposed to be other people from Stars Hollow helping Kirk out, we never see them again. Perhaps Kirk actually hired professional actors for his film. It doesn’t seem out of character.
From 1994 to 1999, George Clooney played Dr Doug Ross on the hit medical drama ER. George Clooney played a handsome doctor working in a hospital emergency room, so Lorelai is getting on the doctor’s good side by this comparison.
JESS: I just can’t wait for that learning to begin. Hey, are we gonna do some of those Schoolhouse Rock! songs?
Schoolhouse Rock! is a series of short animated educational musical films that aired during Saturday morning children’s programs on the ABC network from 1973 to 1984, with a revival between 1993 and 1996 (when Rory and Jess were aged 9 to 12). Themes covered grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics. Soundtrack albums and songbooks were released as tie-ins.
Jess consistently equates formal education with something dated and childish, but I think he actually would learn better if the facts were presented as rock songs!
KIRK: No, I’m sorry, I have the wrong person. Who’s the guy who directed all those Facts of Lifes? … Asaad Kelada, sorry. In my soul I know I am Asaad Kelada.
Asaad Kelada (born 1940), Egyptian-born American director who was educated at the Yale School of Drama. He has directed many television sitcoms, including Rhonda, The Facts of Life, Family Ties, and Who’s the Boss?
RORY: What about, my mother is two? LORELAI: Never saw it – Angie Dickinson?
RORY: You’re impossible.
LORELAI: You’re right. You’re Impossible was the one with Angie Dickinson.
Angeline “Angie” Dickinson (born Angeline Brown in 1931), actress who began her career on television in the 1950s before making her breakthrough in Western films Gun the Man Down (1956) and Rio Bravo (1959).
In her six-decade career, Dickinson has appeared in more than fifty films, including Ocean’s 11 (1960), Point Blank (1967), and Big Bad Mama (1974). From 1974 to 1978 she starred in the crime series Police Woman, for which she won a Golden Globe and three Emmy Awards. In 1980, she starred in Brian de Palma’s erotic crime thriller Dressed to Kill, for which she received a Best Actress Saturn Award. In her later career, she starred in several TV movies and miniseries, and played supporting roles in films such as Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994) and Big Bad Love (2001).
Dickinson often played sultry femmes fatale and provocative roles, becoming known as a sex symbol. She is regarded as one of the sexiest television stars of the twentieth century.
A 1973 caper film directed by George Roy Hill, involving two grifters, played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and their plan to con a mob boss, played by Robert Shaw. Set in 1936, it was inspired by real life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff, as told in the 1940 non-fiction book, The Big Con by David Maurer. The Sting received rave reviews and was a box office smash, becoming the #2 film of the year. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Rocky
A 1976 sports drama film, directed by John G. Avildsen, with screenplay by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars in the title role as Rocky Balboa. It’s a rags-to-to-riches tale of a working-class small-time boxer in the slums of Philadelphia who gets a shot at a world heavyweight championship. Made on a shoestring budget, it was a sleeper hit, becoming the #1 film of 1976. Critically acclaimed, it solidified Stallone’s career and led to him becoming a major movie star. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is regarded as one of the greatest sports films ever made.
Crimes and Misdemeanours
A 1989 existential comedy-drama directed by Woody Allen, who also stars as Clifford Stern, a documentary filmmaker. The other main character is Judah Rosenthal, played by Martin Landau, who commits a very serious crime, and, stricken with guilt, turns to the religious teachings he had rejected. Cliff and Judah only meet once, at the end of the film, which has a philosophical message. A box-office flop, it was lauded by critics, and is regarded as one of Allen’s best films.
The Singing Detective
A 1986 BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, directed by Jon Amiel, and starring Michael Gambon. It is about a mystery writer, suffering writer’s block and ill in hospital, who enters a fantasy world involving his novel, The Singing Detective. Although ratings were modest, it was highly influential, and greatly praised in America, where it was later shown on PBS and won a Peabody Award. It is regarded as one of the greatest British TV programs ever made. Rory calls it a “mini-series”, but in fact it was six episodes – a normal run on British television.
Arthur
A 1981 comedy written and directed by Steve Gordon. It stars Dudley Moore as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York millionaire about to enter an arranged marriage with an heiress, but who falls for a working-class girl from Queens. The #4 film of 1981, Arthur was critically acclaimed, and considered one of the best films of the year. Its theme song, “Arthur’s Theme”, won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Sir John Gielgud won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Arthur’s valet.
Sophie’s Choice
A 1982 psychological drama film written and directed by Alan J. Pakula, adapted from the 1979 novel of the same name by William Styron. Set in 1947, it stars Meryl Streep as Sophie, a Polish immigrant with a dark secret from her past who shares a boarding house in Brooklyn with her lover, played by Kevin Kline, and a young writer, played by Peter MacNichol. It was a commercial and critical success, and Meryl Streep won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role.
Cabin Boy
A 1994 fantasy comedy film directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton. It stars comedian Chris Elliot, who co-wrote the screenplay with Resnick. Elliot’s character is a snobbish, unpleasant man who accidentally gets stuck aboard a boat out at sea, and goes on a fantastical voyage of self-discovery. The film received mixed reviews, and it is a matter of opinion whether it’s one of the worst films ever, an underrated work of comedic legend, or so bad that it’s good.
Desperately Seeking Susan
A 1985 comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman, partly inspired by the 1974 French film Céline and Julie Go Boating. Set in New York City, it stars Rosanna Arquette as a bored housewife, who becomes involved with a bohemian drifter named Susan, played by Madonna in her first major screen role. The film was a commercial success, and received mostly positive reviews, with acclaim for both Arquette and Madonna. It’s considered one of the best films of the 1980s.
Fletch
A 1985 neo-noir comedy thriller film directed by Michael Ritchie, based on the 1974 novel Fletch by Gregory Mcdonald. It stars Chevy Chase as undercover reporter Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher who begins investigating a murder scheme that has unexpected links with the story he is working on. The film received positive reviews, and was a commercial success, performing very well on home media, and becoming a cult film.
Urban Cowboy
A 1980 romantic western film directed and co-written by James Bridges and Aaron Latham, adapted from an article of the same name Latham wrote for Esquire magazine. The story revolves around the love-hate relationship between a couple named Buford and Sissy, played by John Travolta and Debra Winger. Set in Pasadena, Texas, much of the action takes place in a honky-tonk bar playing country music. A critical and commercial success, the soundtrack was also a hit.
Lorelai and Rory managed to whittle their list of films down to a trim 75 possibilities!
TAYLOR: It is a fine, wholesome motion picture. Moving story, lovely scenes of nature.
The Yearling, 1946 dramatic family film directed by Clarence Brown, based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It stars Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman, and was filmed on location in the Ocala National Forest in Florida. The film is about a young boy, played by Claude Jarman Jr, who adopts a troublesome deer, the “yearling” of the title.
The Yearling was praised by critics as a heart-warming family film, and was the #9 film of the year at the box-office. However, high production costs meant that it didn’t actually make a big profit. It won three Academy Awards, including a Juvenile Award for Claude Jarman Jr. A television adaptation was released in 1994.
Note that we later learn in this episode that when Taylor says, “Moving story, lovely scenes of nature”, he is quoting from the description given in the film catalogue.
After Lorelai complains that Taylor has chosen The Yearling for the past three years for Movie Night in the Square, Taylor unexpectedly gives her the job of choosing the movie instead, saying she has never volunteered once to help with this event (which is surprising to learn, since Lorelai loves film, and volunteers for most community festivals).
RICHARD: I think thirty five years of experience will qualify me to teach a course or two at that local business college of yours.
LORELAI: Oh my God. It’s Who’s the Boss?, the later years.
Who’s the Boss?, an award-winning sitcom which aired from 1984 to 1992. The series starred Tony Danza as Tony Micelli, a former baseball player who relocates to Fairfield, Connecticut to work as a live-in housekeeper to divorced advertising executive Angela Bower, played by Judith Light, and her son Jonathan, played by Danny Pintauro.
Tony had a daughter named Samantha, played by Alyssa Milano, and in Season 4, Tony goes back to school, enrolling at the same college his daughter would subsequently attend. By the later seasons, they are studying at the same institution.
Although it received lukewarm reviews, Who’s the Boss? was one of the most popular sitcoms of the mid-to-late 1980s, consistently rating in the top 10. It is still in syndication worldwide.
PARIS: I’m sorry, group leader, could you ask the Pigeon sisters if there is a point to this opus?
The Pigeon sisters are characters from the film The Odd Couple, previously mentioned. They are English sisters named Cecily and Gwendolyn Pigeon who live in the same building as Felix and Oscar. They were played by cousins Monica Evans and Carole Shelley in the original Broadway play, the film, and the 1970 sit-com, although their roles were gradually phased out in the television show.
The Pigeon sisters are friendly, flirtatious, ditzy, and as their name suggests, slightly bird-brained, rather like Louise and Madeline. Paris has no problem tearing down her friends in public; no wonder that Rory isn’t sure whether Paris is her friend or not.
An opus is an artistic work, especially one on a grand scale.
A sly joke against Gilmore Girls itself, which centres around a working single mother – Lorelai. Working mothers featured in 1990s television shows such as Murphy Brown, Judging Amy, Grace Under Fire, and Roseanne (which Amy Sherman-Palladino worked on).
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 