Coffee at Luke's: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gabfest (Smart Pop Series) (29 page)

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Authors: Jennifer Crusie,Leah Wilson

Tags: #Humor & Entertainment, #Television, #History & Criticism

BOOK: Coffee at Luke's: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gabfest (Smart Pop Series)
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Ed
—2000-2004 NBC series about a lawyer who moved to small-town Ohio after his big city life fell apart, and set up his own law firm in a bowling alley.
 
Jenny:
People thought this was quirky, but in Ohio, bowling alleys have the best food. Plus that’s where all the foot traffic is. Ed was a genius.
 
 
Edmund Gwenn
—Veteran of more than eighty films who played Kris Kringle in 1947’s
Miracle on 34
th
Street
. Playwright George Bernard Shaw personally cast him in several of his plays.
 
Entertainment Weekly
magazine
—Publication focused on entertainment media such as films, music, TV shows, etc.
 
Jenny:
Could somebody tell them to quit reviewing my books as chick lit? Thank you.
 
 
Epaphroditus
—Companion of the apostle Paul who so devoted himself to his missionary work that he became very ill and almost died.
A Family Affair
—First Andy Hardy film, released in 1937.
 
Family Friendly Programming Forum
—Organization of more than forty advertisers whose goal is to increase family friendly television. The shows it advocates have to appeal to and be appropriate for different generations, and resolve conflicts responsibly.
Jenny:
You know, just like your family does.
 
The films of Woody Allen
—Diverse body of work by prolific writer, actor, and director who often casts himself in his own films. His works include
Annie Hall
,
Manhattan
, and
Hannah and Her Sisters
.
 
Jenny:
Not to mention Mia and Her Daughter. Well, it’s the elephant in the living room; let’s say howdy.
 
 
The Financial Times
—Business newspaper distinguished not only by its content but by the pink paper it’s printed on.
 
Jenny:
If a woman’s group did that, there would be comments and snickers. I’m just saying.
 
 
Foghorn Leghorn and the baby chicken hawk
—Warner Brothers’ cartoon characters that are often at odds with one another.
 
Frasier Crane (
Cheers
,
Frasier
)
—Secondary
Cheers
character who received his own long-running spin-off. Crane was an intellectual radio psychologist from an upper-class background who was often snobbish and reserved.
 
Frank Capra
—Classic American director who produced many popular films in the 1930s and ’40s, including
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
,
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
, and the perennial holiday favorite
It’s a Wonderful Life
.
 
Gidget
—1950s and ’60s teen who loved sand, sun, and surfing. The character was adapted from a novel for several movies and a television show starring the perky Sally Field.
 
Jenny:
I bet she loves being called “perky.”
 
 
Gloria Steinem
—Feminist icon who started her career as a journalist in the 1960s, founded
Ms. Magazine
, and went on to become one of the most recognizable faces of the movement.
 
Golden Age of Hollywood
—Hollywood era characterized by the rise of the studio system and spanning the years from the start of “talkies” in 1927 through the 1940s. Most films produced during this period fell into the categories of Westerns, comedies, film noir, musicals, and biopics.
 
Gomer Pyle
—Character on
The Andy Griffith Show
who worked at the Mayberry filling station first as an attendant and then a mechanic. His character later left the show to join the United States Marine Corps.
 
Jenny:
The few, the proud, the spun-off.
 
 
Goober Pyle
—Character on
The Andy Griffith Show
who replaced his cousin Gomer as mechanic at the filling station.
 
Gore Vidal
—Prolific American writer of novels, plays, and essays famous for his wit and outspoken opinions, who ran for Congress in the 1960s.
 
Harold Peary
—Distinctive voice actor best known from the radio, television, and film comedies
The Great Gildersleeve
.
Hiltons
—Refers to the Hilton Hotel family, which includes celebutante sisters Paris and Nicky.
 
Hugh Jackman in a white leisure suit
—Reference to Jackman’s starring role in
The Boy from Oz
, a Broadway musical about the life of the Australian singer/songwriter Peter Allen.
 
I’m With the Band
—Memoir by Pamela Des Barres, a famous groupie in the 1960s and ’70s who had affairs with Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison, and other rock stars.
 
Infuriating teenage gabfest
—Reference to the CW’s “Aerie Girls,” whose comments followed every episode of
Gilmore Girls
and
Veronica Mars
during the 2006-2007 television season.
 
It Happened One Night
—1934 screwball romantic comedy directed by Frank Capra and starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable. The first film to win all five major Academy Awards.
 
It’s a Wonderful Life
—classic 1946 film directed by Frank Capra and starring Jimmy Stewart. After George Bailey contemplates suicide to save his family from financial ruin, his guardian angel appears to show him that his life matters.
 
James Dean
—1960s bad boy movie idol and sex symbol who tragically died young in a car wreck. He starred in such films as
Rebel Without a Cause
and
Giant
.
 
Joan and Melissa Rivers
—Mother and daughter duo who work red carpet shows together and deliver fashion commentary.
 
Jenny:
At least Melissa still has expressions.
 
 
Joan of Arcadia
—CBS show that aired from 2003 to 2005 featuring a teenage girl who could see and speak to God. Its cancellation was controversial and caused an uproar from fans.
 
Jenny:
God wasn’t happy, either.
 
 
Joel McCrea
—Handsome leading man from the 1930s and ’40s who starred in dramas, comedies, and Westerns, such as
Foreign Correspondent
and
Sullivan’s Travels
.
 
John Lennon and the Julian vs. Sean saga
—Reference to the rivalry between Lennon’s sons, Julian and Sean. John spent more time with and had a better relationship with his and Yoko’s son, Sean, which his son from his first marriage, Julian, resented.
 
Jenny:
Plus Sean got a Playstation and Julian totally didn’t.
 
 
Julia
—1960s television series aired on NBC about a widowed single mother. The program was considered groundbreaking at the time for its portrayal of African-American women in a non-stereotypical way.
 
Julian Schnabel
—New York City artist and filmmaker famous for his neo-expressionist “plate paintings”—paintings done on canvases of broken ceramic plates—and for directing the film
Basquiat
.
Katharine Hepburn
—Independent, outspoken actress who starred in such pictures as
The Philadelphia Story
and
The African Queen
, had a decades-long relationship with Spencer Tracy, and made menswear fashionable before its time.
 
Kathleen Freeman
—Character actress in film, stage, and television whose career spanned more than fifty years, from the 1940s until her death in 2001. Freeman had regular or recurring roles in many sitcoms and films series including Peg’s mom on
Married . . . with Children.
 
Key West
—Short-lived 1993 FOX series about a factory worker who became wealthy and moved to the small town of Key West to try his hand at writing, finding inspiration in the exploits of his quirky neighbors.
 
Kim Jong Il
—The leader of North Korea about whom little is known. It has been established that he has a nuclear weapons program; also, he is widely reputed to be a playboy.
 
Jenny:
Nukes, a real chick magnet.
 
 
Koches
—Reference to family of Ed Koch, an outspoken former NYC mayor.
 
Leave It to Beaver
—Television comedy that ran from 1957 to 1963 on, first CBS and then ABC, which revolved around the coming of age of young Beaver and his older brother, Wally. The show is best remembered for its idyllic portrayal of suburban American life.
 
Life with Father
—1950s CBS television comedy based on the book and movie of the same name. The show chronicled the lives of a Victorian father, his wife, and their four sons.
 
Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper
—Powerful arch-rival Hollywood gossip columnists from the late 1930s through the early 1960s.
 
Love Finds Andy Hardy
—1941 romantic comedy featuring Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy. A popular guy, Hardy gets tangled up with three girls at once, one of whom is played by Judy Garland.
Jenny:
Then Mickey went on to get married eight times. None of them to Judy Garland.
 
Mario Battali
—New York City restaurateur, cookbook author, and popular Food Network host who owns eight Italian restaurants in Manhattan.
 
Jenny:
And my favorite Iron Chef. The man is poetry in motion.
 
 
Married . . . with Children
—FOX comedy, premiering in 1987 and lasting for eleven seasons, that chronicled the lives of a blue-collar Chicago family, including dim-witted ex-high school football star Al, his big-haired wife, his promiscuous and equally dim-witted daughter, and his very smart but socially awkward son.
 
Mary Grace Canfield
—Actress who played Gomer Pyle’s girlfriend in
The Andy Griffith Show
. She was often cast as the “plain” girl, and is best remembered as the clumsy, eccentric carpenter Ralph Monroe in
Green Acres
.
 
Maureen Dowd asks Are Men Necessary?
—Reference to the bestselling book
Are Men Necessary?
by Pulitzer-Prize winning author and columnist Dowd.
 
Mayberry
—Idyllic, bucolic town in which
The Andy Griffith
show was set.
 
Jenny:
Drawls, dust, and fishing holes. It wishes it were Stars Hollow.
 
 
Mayflower-descended values
—Reference to a rigid, Puritanical mind-set toward morality and socially acceptable behavior.
 
Meet John Doe
—1941 Frank Capra film starring Gary Cooper and
 
Barbara Stanwyk. After the publication of a fraudulent but popular news story, a businessman hires a tramp to be the face of the resulting political movement.
 
 
Merry Pranksters
—Members of a California commune led by author
 
Ken Kesey, who crisscrossed the United States in a psychedelic bus and held “acid tests” as a way to get people turned on to LSD.
Jenny:
Everybody passed.
 

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