Footnotes to the TV series
LORELAI (speaking on phone to pizza delivery guy): So what’s the next phase of the delivery saga? Mm-hmm …Well how long until your brother’s back with the Razor Scooter?
The Razor Scooter is a compact folding scooter manufactured by JD Corporation. Released in 2000, it became an immediate hit and was named the Most Popular Toy of 2001. Of course it is not suitable for delivering pizzas.
(Dean looks around Rory’s bedroom, and picks up a CD)
DEAN: Wow. Very clean. How much does it suck that they use Pink Moon in a Volkswagen commercial?
Dean is referring to the song Pink Moon by Nick Drake, earlier identified as one his favourite singers.
This is by far the most pretentious and hypocritical thing the usually down-to-earth Dean ever says in Gilmore Girls. Nick Drake had been obscure for decades when his song Pink Moon was used in a Volkswagen commercial. Without the commercial, Dean would never have even heard of Nick Drake, and as the commercial only came out in December 1999, he had been a Nick Drake fan for less than a year.
I can only imagine he was trying to impress Rory with his hipness, by making out that he had somehow known about Nick Drake previous to the commercial, to the point where he could feel betrayed that they used his music to sell Volkswagen. I’m not buying it.
In turn, Rory clearly went out and bought the Pink Moon album just because Dean liked it, then pretends that she knows and cares all about it to the same extent. But the show lets us know that, whereas that isn’t the case with Dean’s statement.
LANE: He likes Nick Drake and Liz Phair and The Sugarplastic
Nicholas “Nick”Drake (1948-1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based folk music. He produced three albums between 1969 and 1972, none of which were a commercial success, partly because Drake was reluctant to perform live or give interviews to promote his work. Suffering from major depression, he committed suicide by overdosing on prescribed antidepressants at the age of 26.
He remained somewhat obscure, although his work was re-released after his death, gathering him new fans as a doomed romantic hero. By the 1980s he was cited as a musical influence by artists such as David Sylvian and Robert Smith, and had gained critical appreciation; a “best of” compilation album was released in the 1990s. His career had a posthumous revival after his song Pink Moon was used in a 1999 Volkwagen Cabrio commercial, aimed at young people. Since then he has sold more than 2 million albums and downloads.
We can assume that Dean was one of the young people who became instant Nick Drake fans after seeing the VW commercial. As we later disover Dean is a car fanatic, it makes sense that he would discover a favourite singer through a car.
Liz Phair (born Elizabeth Phair in 1967) [pictured] is an American indie rock singer-songwriter. Her first album, Exile in Guyville, came out in 1993 to critical acclaim, and was hailed as a landmark in alternative rock. Her 1994 second album, Whip-Smart, brought her mainstream attention, and is her most commercially successful album. In 2000 her most recent album would have been Whitechocolatespaceegg (1998).
Liz Phair was born in New Haven, Connecticut, but grew up in Winnetka, a wealthy village just outside Chicago – it was a favourite film location for director John Hughes, as seen in movies such as Home Alone, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles. Liz Phair may have been chosen as a favourite singer for Dean because she is connected with both Chicago and Connecticut, his birthplace and later home.
The Sugarplastic is an alternative rock band founded in 1989 by Ben Eshbach and Kiara Geller. Their first album came out in 1995, and their third album, Resin, in April 2000. The most genuinely obscure of Dean’s choices, he may have become a fan quite recently. His indie/alternative tastes in music make him seem like a worthy beau for Rory. For now …
Lane’s parents set her up on a date with a theology major named Patrick Cho who drives a Lincoln Continental. The Lincoln Continental is a luxury car produced by Ford and first introduced in 1939. Rory mentions his car, seemingly as a point in his favour since she’s trying to cheer Lane up.
We learn that Max drives a Mustang. The Mustang is a car made by Ford, and originally based on the Ford Falcon; it was first produced in 1965.
LORELAI: So what does the deer look like? Huh? Does it have any distinguishing marks – besides the word Jeep imprinted on it’s forehead?
Jeep is a brand of American automobile, made by Chrysler; their range is in sport utility vehicles and off-road vehicles. The original Jeep was made in 1941 for the military, and was the primary four-wheel drive vehicle used by the Allies; after the war they were produced for civilian use. Lorelai’s car is a 2000 Jeep Wrangler (although in the show it is said to be a 1999 model).
A couple of episodes ago, a connection was made between Lorelai and Daisy Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard when Lorelai chose to wear denim shorts to Chilton. Another thing they have in common is that they both drive Jeeps – but Daisy’s was white, while Lorelai’s is tan. Gilmore Girls was filmed on several of the same sets at Warner Brothers as The Dukes of Hazzard – Stars Hollow High School was previously the Hazzard County Courthouse, for example.
After Gilmore Girls run ended, Lorelai’s Jeep was auctioned off in 2011, and sold to the highest bidder. It was bought by someone from Deep River, Connecticut – a small town with a selectman, a strong sense of community, a day devoted to colonial history, a quaint main street, and a town square with a gazebo. In fact, it’s gone to somewhere rather like Stars Hollow!
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 