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Gilmore Girls Season 1, Episode 3, "Kill Me Now": Pop Culture Rewatch
Episode 326th September 2025 • Friday Night Readers: Pop Culture Rewatch of Gilmore Girls • Friday Night Readers
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Welcome to Gilmore Girls Season 1, Episode 3, "Kill Me Now": Pop Culture Rewatch ! In this podcast episode, I share the books and pop culture referenced when Rory went golfing with Richard.

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Books, Pop Culture, and Other Mentions:

Full Show Notes For Gilmore Girls Season 1, Episode 3, "Kill Me Now": Pop Culture Rewatch

Time Stamps:

  • 01:30 What Happened in Stars Hollow
  • 03:54 The Gilmores' World of Books
  • 06:55 Oy With the Pop Culture Already
  • 12:36 Book Tease

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About Friday Night Readers: Pop Culture Rewatch of Gilmore Girls :

Friday Night Readers: Pop Culture Rewatch of Gilmore Girls is an unofficial pop culture rewatch of Gilmore Girls hosted by Friday Night Readers. We dive deep into each episode, featuring the Gilmores’ world of books, as well as their fast talk. Oy, with the pop culture already! Learn what the Gilmores are actually talking about, so you can read and live more like them as you rewatch. Life’s short; read fast!

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Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome to Friday Night Readers,

an unofficial pop culture

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rewatch of Gilmore Girls.

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We dive deep on each episode featuring

the Gilmore's world of books, as

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well as their fast talk or with the

pop culture already learn what the

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Gilmores are actually talking about so

you can read and live more like them.

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Life's short read and rewatch fast.

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Before we begin, I want to take a

quick note to the fact that this week,

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my entire social media feed has been

filled with the Dawson's Creek reunion.

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In many ways, Dawson's Creek was

the predecessor to Gilmore Girls.

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It premiered a few years earlier on the

same network, the wb, and was formative

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in shaping how viewers my age grew up.

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Seriously, if you didn't watch the

latest episode, you might as well not

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come to school the next day because no

one would have anything to say to you.

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Watching the cast re unite on stage

to raise money for the lead actor

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James VanDerBeek, who is battling

cancer and sadly couldn't attend.

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Brought me to actual tears.

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So what does this have

to do with Gilmore Girls?

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It reminded me that in an age when so

much of our media consumption scrolls

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past us in microseconds, our favorite TV

shows can still hold incredible power.

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This podcast and all of my content

for that matter, is meant to help you

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embrace the unforgettable feelings

that art can bring us, and to

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celebrate the lasting marks they leave.

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Now let's talk about what

happened in Stars Hollow in season

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one, episode three, kill me.

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Now the episode begins with

Emily cataloging all of the

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maids she's gone through.

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Her latest, who she calls

Mira, is actually Sarah.

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Richard then refers to the first

Lorelai, his mother in the past tense.

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But it's hard to say if

this is truly a plot hole.

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Luckily for the writers, it can

also be interpreted as meaning that

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she was accomplished not before her

death, but rather quote in her day.

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Rory has to pick a team sport to play

at Chilton and Emily suggests you

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learn golf with Richard at the club.

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With which Lorelei disagrees.

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Emily boasts that.

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Lorelei is just nervous.

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She'll actually like the club, and to

be honest, she's probably not wrong.

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Emily utters what I deem to be her

second most savage burn of the series.

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You can use her old golf clubs.

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They're upstairs gathering dust

along with the rest of her potential.

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Ouch.

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What do you think?

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Did Emily Cross the line here at the

independence inn Lorelai plans a double

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wedding for snooty blonde twins and

their moody mother, whose demands force

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her to beg coffee, coffee, coffee.

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By the way, did I mention

the twins are marrying twins

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back at the Gilmores?

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Richard is not too thrilled

about his golf outing with Rory,

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but obliges on the golf course.

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We learned that Richard is the

executive Vice President of the

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Gehrman Driscoll Insurance Company.

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We also learned that Rory and

Lorelai planned to backpack in Europe

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after her high school graduation.

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Kirk who is still technically Mick

delivers swans to the inn, which

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Michel hates on account of once

being attacked by a band of them.

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Lorelei and Rory reconvene at Luke's

and Lorelei is surprised to learn.

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Rory had a good day.

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Then Richard calls Rory about loaning

Mencken's Chrestomathy from him,

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which makes her excited for Friday

night dinner to Lorelai's dismay.

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This ladies and gentlemen, unofficially

solidifies their newly formed bond.

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And causes Lorelei to pick a fight

with Rory over who has the bigger

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chest is all well that ends well.

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Lorelei pulls off the double

wedding and makes up with Rory.

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They attend Friday night dinner

and Richard shares both Mencken's

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Chrestomathy and his memoirs to Rory's

the light, the Gilmore's world of books.

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Let's break down this episode's

most iconic literary references

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for those taking the Rory Gilmore

Reading Challenge with us on

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Friday night, readers.substack.com

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where we read from the list of

books mentioned on Gilmore Girls.

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First at the club, Rory shares with

Richard all the salacious tales she

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learned from the women in the steam room.

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And Richard says it's Peyton Place.

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Peyton Place, may best be known as an

American prime time soap opera in the

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1960s, or even as a 1957 film, but it was

first a book by Grace Metalious, and it

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has the absolute best plot description.

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I cannot write this one any better, so I'm

just going to quote it directly for you.

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Switch off those TVs, kill your

mobiles, and settle down With the most

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controversial book ever written Once

denounced as wicked, sorted, cheap

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moral filth, Peyton Place was the top

read of its time and sold millions

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of copies worldwide way before Twin

Peaks, survivor, or Big Brother.

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The curtains were twitching in the

mythical New England town of Peyton Place

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and this soapy story exposed the dirty

secrets of:

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Incest, abortion, adultery,

repression, and lust.

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I don't know about you, but I'm adding

this to the very top of my to be Red

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List immediately talk about Juicy Next.

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Of course, this episode is very

much about Richards and Rory's

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sharing of HL Mencken's, A Mencken's

Chrestomathy and his memoirs.

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I've got to admit to you, this

is one Gilmar Girls reference.

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I'm absolutely clueless about.

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But in a weird way, this just

amplifies for me how special Rory's

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and Richard's literary connection is.

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My research tells me that HL Mencken

was one of the most influential

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American journalist critics and cultural

commentators of the early 20th century.

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He was known for his satirical

critiques of American life, politics,

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religion, and cultural trends.

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So it does make sense that our

aspiring journalist, Rory and her

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newspaper reading grandfather Richard.

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Both like his work, the Day's Trilogy,

including Happy Days, newspaper days,

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and Heathen Days is the collection of

books considered his memoirs covering his

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childhood early career in journalism and

his life in American intellectual circles.

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One more fun fact.

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Rory's Line Golf is a good walk.

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Spoiled is often attributed to

American author Mark Twain, but

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there's no confirmation of this fact.

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I've looked many times over the years.

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Curious about every single book

mentioned in this Gilmore Girls episode.

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Even the obscure references most people

miss, like the very subtle blinking.

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You might miss it, quote from

a must read Children's classic.

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Head to this episode's

page at Friday night.

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readers.substack.com

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When you grade to a paid membership,

you'll get printable episode guides

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for every Gilmore Girls episode.

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Perfect for tracking your own

Rory inspired reading journey.

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Oy with the pop culture already now.

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Because I want you to understand even

more of the Gilmore Girls fast talk.

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Here's what some of this episode's best

pop culture references mean fashion.

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We have got to talk about Rory's golf

outfit while fitted Oxford shirts

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like hers were kind of in at the

time, paired with her outdated style

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of high-waisted and two short khakis.

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It just looks like she's wearing

a uniform rather than a quote fit.

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At the time, we preferred to layer

our fitted Oxford shirts and would

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probably pair them with boot cut or

flared khakis that were more akin to

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the styles of denim or cargo pants.

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As for Rory's striped knitted cap with a

pompom on top, well, I'm not sure where

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it came from or what to say about it

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other than that, every time

my sister golfs, I send her

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a picture of Rory wearing it.

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Movies and tv.

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Michel tells Lorelei, she's quote, the

teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoon.

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It is my deepest hope.

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You already know what this

means because Charlie Brown

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cartoons are feel good bliss.

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They're also super seasonal, making

them perfect for Gilmore Girls fans.

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I watch all the holiday specials

multiple times each and every year.

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Anyway.

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On the cartoon, the teachers

and adults have muffled voices.

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That sound like trombones,

sort of a wah wah wa.

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So Michel is essentially saying

that he's ignoring Lorelei's words,

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famous people.

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Emily says that if Rory has

fun golfing, she quote wins and

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Lorelai calls her Bob Barker.

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Now, I also hope you have the

joy of knowing Bob Barker.

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He was the longtime host of the game show.

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The price is right.

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Otherwise known as the game show we all

watched when we were homesick from school.

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He was a charming man known for

his catchphrase, come on down,

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calling audience members up to

play and his animal activism.

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Then when Emily places the golf hat

on Rory's head, she tells Rory quote,

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now you look just like Tiger Woods.

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While Tiger Woods remains to this

day, a popular professional golfer.

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The early two thousands were

really his golden years.

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He was a completely dominant

golfer, considered to be the best

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of the best in the entire world.

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Later though, he became known for

scandalous affairs, a bad and very public

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breakup with his wife and a terrible car

accident At the inn, Lorelai tells the

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bride's mother to have a massage by a man

who looks like Antonio Banderas, a suave

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Spanish actor, very popular at the time.

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He was known for his roles in movies

like Desperado and the Mask of Zorro.

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He was basically our honk.

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Also, Lorelai compares the Twins

to the Double Mint commercial.

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I'm guessing younger listeners may not

know what this is, but it refers to one

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of the most iconic commercials of the

:

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They marketed the word double through

a catchy jingle and sets of twins.

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I've linked a video of the commercial

in the show notes so you can watch it.

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Drella calls Michel Pepe le Pew,

which is simply referring to

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the Looney Toons, French cartoon

Skunk who acts very over the top.

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She's poking fun at his

background and personality.

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I've also linked a little cartoon

clip from YouTube in the show notes

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for you, and I've gotta tell you,

when I played it, it's so adorable.

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My cat's ears went up

and they got so excited.

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The sounds were so cute

and it was so fun to watch.

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Later, Lorelei says she's thinking

about Madonna and Sean Penn getting

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remarried while Madonna and Sean Penn

aren't in the news as much these days.

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She was the hottest pop star of the

:

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and she remained very famous

into the early two thousands.

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He has had a decades long career

as a renowned award-winning

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actor, two very big personalities.

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Their contentious 1985 to 1989,

marriage was often tabloid fodder.

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Music when Michel says he was once

attacked by a band of swans, Lorelei

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asks if this band was like the boy

band nsync, was it an all boy band?

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Kind of a scary, feathery

nsync kind of fiasco.

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Oh, listeners, where do I

begin telling you about nsync?

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The very center of my core as a teenager

at the turn of the millennium when

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Gilmore Girls aired boy bands were

all the rage and nsync was arguably,

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and in my personal opinion, the best.

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And not just because Justin Timberlake

was the cutest, although he was, you

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know how Gilmore girls fans picked

teams for Dean Jess and Logan?

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Well, we picked them for boy bands,

and when I tell you, my first foray

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into hosting digital content was

running an NSYNC chat group on AOL.

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Now that's America Online,

which is how we connected to the

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internet in those stone ages.

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I also slept overnight at the

Steamtown Mall in Scranton, which

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you may know from the office to

get front row concert tickets.

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Then I weasel my hormone driven high

school self into an after party.

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Where I snagged a few closeup photos

of the group and attempted to talk

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to Joey, but ultimately I got really

nervous and just stood there with

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my mouth open all the good old days.

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Next, the mother of the

brides pays, drella to play.

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Man, I feel like a Woman by Shania Twain.

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This was one of the most popular

songs and music videos of the time.

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Even today, when you hear women of

a certain age say, let's go girls.

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And a sing song Voice.

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It's a reference to the

beginning of this female anthem.

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I've also linked the music video for you

in the show notes so you can watch it.

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Book tease.

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Lastly, the time has come for me to be

what Jess called Rory, a book tease.

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Tune in next week when

we dive into episode 1.4,

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the Deer Hunter and books like

Who's Who and what's what in

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Shakespeare, as well as a reading of

Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 by Paris.

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