Never thought I’d see the day when new episodes of Gilmore Girls were available. My wife and I loved watching the show when it was on the WB (remember that wacky network?)and later the CW back in the early aughts. It always had a reputation as a “chick flick” type of show, but that was lazy pigeonholing, probably because the cast featured very strong female characters. In my humble opinion, it was one of the best written shows going, and show creator/producer/writer Amy Sherman-Palladino and her writing partner husband Daniel are true geniuses.
The show never made much of a dent in the ratings during its seven seasons on the air. But the episodes hold up very well (due to the strong writing, naturally), so it gained a new generation of fans thanks to the magic of Netflix. So much so that they “got the band back together” and created four new 90-minute episodes which debuted on Netflix yesterday.
My wife and I watched the first one last night, and after nearly a decade away, they haven’t missed a beat. All the things that made me love Gilmore Girls were present and accounted for:
The characters and the dialogue make the show, but for a music-head like me, the songs are a great big cherry on top. As soon as I saw Grant-Lee Phillips reprising his role as the town troubadour, I knew all was well in Stars Hollow. (And the woefully underappreciated Sam Phillips – no relation to Grant-Lee – is still featured in transitional “la-la” music too!). Later in the show, we got to hear snippets of Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love”, and Kirk singing The Carpenters segueing right into the Shonen Knife version of “Top of the World.”
The Tom Waits song “Time” was a perfect choice for the scene at Richard’s funeral.
And Lane’s band (featuring Sebastian Bach from Skid Row!) rocked out a great version of Joe Jackson’s “I’m the Man.” Joe could rock it too:
Grant-Lee also chased off a competing town troubadour (his sister), played by Louise Goffin (Carole King’s daughter, who duets with her mom on the show’s theme song). But my favorite moment was when Grant-Lee was featured later in the show, doing a Fountains of Wayne tune, “Valley Winter Song.” It was probably only 10 seconds of screen time, but it truly made my day.
Here’s the original from Fountains of Wayne, it first appeared on their fantastic album Welcome Interstate Managers.
Being on Gilmore Girls has been a boon to Grant-Lee Phillips’ career too, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Here’s a quote from a recent interview:
“It’s wild. When I first started appearing on that show, I couldn’t really get a sense of how it would impact my notoriety, my profile. But what I have experienced is there’s a younger crowd especially—and this exists all over the world where I tour—they have discovered me through the ‘Gilmore Girls.’ They show up to my gig in Hamburg with their ‘Gilmore’ DVDs. I think it’s quite amazing,” he explained. “I’m very grateful for ‘Gilmore Girls,’ and the fact it’s turned on a whole new generation to my stuff.”
Here’s a clip of all of Grant-Lee’s tunes on the original run of GG:
Thank you Amy Sherman-Palladino for a wonderful Black Friday gift for every member of your cult audience: more heaping helpings of greatness. And thank you Netflix for giving Gilmore Girls a new home.
On the Forbes list of the highest paid comedians for this year, there are a few surprises… head-scratchers, even.
It’s not surprising at all that Kevin Hart tops the list. Seinfeld is a no-brainer as well. But I actually had to Google “Terry Fator” because I’d never heard of him before… and I consider myself a comedy aficionado. Turns out he is a ventriloquist/impressionist who won Season 2 of America’s Got Talent and parlayed that into a standing gig at the Mirage in Vegas. Who knew that having puppets in your act could be so lucrative?
Another dude that plays with dummies, Jeff Dunham, was also in the top 5, raking in a cool $13.5 mill. And I threw away my sock puppets when I was a kid. Who’s the dummy now?
Names 9 and 10 were unknown to me as well, but maybe that’s because I’m xenophobic (it’s OK, so is the president-elect). Russell Peters is Canadian and John Bishop is a Brit. Forbes even wrote about Russell Peters’ lack of name recognition.
I suppose Terry Fator, Russell Peters and John Bishop have millions of reasons to not care about whether I’ve heard of them or not. 
I want to be adored (just like The Stone Roses), but I don’t want to be “doored” when I’m riding my bike.
The “Dutch Reach” is a simple way for car drivers to reduce the number of “doorings” tremendously. By opening your driver’s side door with your right hand instead of your left, you’re more likely to look backward for oncoming cyclists. Here’s a fun 90-second video from Outside magazine that demonstrates it:
Windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and saving cyclists’ lives. Thank you Holland!
I never thought the creator of Beavis and Butthead would be the preeminent prophet of our time.
Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite. (Every nation gets the government it deserves.)
— Joseph de Maistre, 1811
Unless you are living under a rock (or perhaps living in Iraq), you’re familiar with Kevin Hart, the pint-sized comedian/actor/producer/rapper/(insert any other title here, Kev’s done it).
Perhaps you’ve seen him in one or more of the gazillion movies he’s made. Perhaps you’ve seen his comedy specials, or his TV shows, or his TV guest appearances, or his comedy tour, or have followed him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, the website for his new movie, the website for his comedy tour, or his official website.
Maybe you’ve even downloaded the emoji app that’s nothing but his faces:
As if being Kevin Hart weren’t enough, he also has a rap alter ego, Chocolate Droppa.
Because that’s exactly what this world needs, whether this world knows it yet or not.
A few Hart thoughts:
You done said…