Season One, Episode Fifteen: “Christopher Returns”

Season 1, episode 14: “Christopher Returns”
Original air date: 1 March 2001
Directed by: Michael Katleman
Written by: Daniel Palladino

Summary: Rory’s father, Christopher, visits Stars Hollow for the first time. Old grievances come to a head at a disastrous family dinner, and Lorelai and Christopher discuss their relationship.

On this page: All References in Chronological Order | References Sorted by Category | Frequent References | Indigenous Land Acknowledgment

All References in Chronological Order

01:05 – 🗺️ mention
RORY: When I met her at Easter, you said she could be the one.
CHRISTOPHER: Mm, the one to be gone by Memorial Day.

Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a US federal holiday honoring military personnel who died while serving the US armed forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May, with the most recent Memorial Day prior to this episode falling on 29 May 2000. The most recent Easter Sunday was 23 April 2000, meaning Christopher’s relationship with his ex lasted only about a month after he described her to Rory as possibly being “the one.”

02:25 – 🗺️ mention
LORELAI: My father hit his head surfing Rincon a couple of years ago. His judgment’s a little off.

Rincon “is a surf spot located at the Ventura and Santa Barbara County line [on the Pacific Coast of] Southern California, United States. Also known as the ‘Queen of the Coast’, Rincon is one of the most famous surf spots in California, known around the world for its well-formed waves and long rides” (Wikipedia). The word rincón in Spanish refers to an angle or corner.

02:30 – 🏷️ mention + 🎥 mention
LORELAI: You’re that guy who crashed his new Porsche two hours after his parents gave it to him for his 16th birthday.
CHRISTOPHER: And you were the girl in the Pinky Tuscadero t-shirt sitting right next to me.

Porsche is a German automobile manufacturer best known for its high-performance luxury sports cars. Today, base prices for different models range from about $70,000 to over $110,000 USD.
Carol “Pinky” Tuscadero is a character, played by actress Roz Kelly, from the US television sitcom Happy Days (1974-1984). Like her boyfriend, Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli, played by Henry Winkler, Pinky is a motorcycle enthusiast and mechanic. She rides a pink motorcycle and wears pink clothing, and her nickname derives from her signature color. A spin-off of Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi (1982-1983), was mentioned previously in episode 13.

06:15 – 🎥 reference
LUKE: That doesn’t even resemble clever.
KIRK: I’m dumbing it down for you, Alfalfa.

Our Gang is a series of comedic US short films created by Hal Roach and produced from 1922 to 1944. The series follows the adventures of a group of poor neighborhood children, including a boy named Alfalfa. The character, played by Carl Switzer, was introduced in the 1935 short Beginner’s Luck and quickly became one of the series’ most popular characters. Alfalfa sports a goofy and distinctive hairstyle, with a spindle of hair sticking straight up from the crown of his head, and is known for singing off-key versions of popular songs to comedic effect. He is a central character in later franchise installments, including the 1994 film The Little Rascals (dir. Penelope Spheeris), in which he is played by Bug Hall.

06:45 – 🗺️ mention + 🏷️ mention
CHRISTOPHER: I rode my bike out from Berkeley.
DEAN: Really? What do you got?
RORY: It’s a 2000 Indian.
CHRISTOPHER: I got an ’86 Suzuki.

Berkeley is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in California. “It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. … Berkeley is home to the oldest campus in the University of California, the University of California, Berkeley” (Wikipedia). The city is located in the ancestral territory of the Chochenyo band of the Ohlone people.
As mentioned in the last episode, Christopher rides a motorcycle manufactured by US company Indian Motorcycles. This particular model was produced from 1999 to 2003 in Gilroy, California and sold under the name Indian Chief. The brand was founded in 1901.
Suzuki Motor Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, wheelchairs, and other mobility products.

08:10 – 🏷️ mention + 📖 reference
LORELAI: I assume you mean did we get our toaster fixed, and no, it’s been cold Pop-Tarts for a week. It’s like a damn Dickens novel.

Pop-Tarts is a brand of pre-baked toaster pastry “consisting of a sweet filling sealed inside two layers of thin, rectangular pastry crust” (Wikipedia). They are designed to be warmed inside a toaster or microwave oven, but can also be eaten straight from the package. They were first produced by Kellogg’s in 1964. Pop-Tarts were featured previously in episode 13.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) “was an English novelist and social critic who created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era” (Wikipedia). His work is so influential in the English-speaking world, the word “Dickensian” might be used to refer to something “resembling or suggestive of conditions described in Dickens’ novels, [especially] squalid and poverty-stricken” (Dictionary.com). Dickens portrayed such conditions in many of his novels, including Oliver Twist (1839), Bleak House (1853), Hard Times (1854), and others. He was mentioned previously in episode two.

09:10 – 🏷️ reference
LORELAI: All of my bad-girl moments happened with him. My worst fashion choices, my big-hair days, the wearing the Bonne Bell Lip Smackers around my neck…

Lip Smackers is a line of flavored lip balms produced by Bonne Bell Cosmetics from 1973 to 2015, when the brand was sold to Markwins Beauty Products. Lip Smackers initially came in simple flavors (Strawberry, Lemon, and Green Apple), but later became known for quirky flavors and collaborations with brands like Tootsie Roll and Dr Pepper. They were designed to be collectible, and in the 1980s it became trendy, especially among young girls, to wear them on lanyards around one’s neck (as seen in vintage advertisements). According to the Lip Smackers website, they were the world’s first flavored lip balm.

10:15 – 🗺️ mention
CHRISTOPHER: What kind of international cuisine?
RORY: He kind of hops around. Last month it was his salute to Paraguay.

Paraguay is a landlocked country in South America, sharing borders with Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia. Paraguayan cuisine bears both indigenous Guarani and European influences due to Spanish colonization and Italian and German immigration to neighboring countries.

11:40 – ⭐ reference
JACKSON: Boy, I gotta tell you, did they get your description wrong. … Much more George Clooney than Brad Pitt.
…
ANDREW: I’m going with the Billy Crudup comparison myself.

George Clooney (born 1961) is a US actor and filmmaker. At the time this episode aired, he was probably best known for the US medical drama ER, on which he appeared from 1994 to 1999, and the Coen brothers film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). He would also star in Steven Soderbergh’s box-office hit Ocean’s Eleven, which premiered about nine months after this episode aired. He was named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1997.
Brad Pitt (born 1963) is a US actor and film producer. At the time this episode aired, he was known for roles in A River Runs Through It (1992), Interview with the Vampire (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), Seven (1995), and Fight Club (1999), among others. He would also star alongside George Clooney in Ocean’s Eleven (2001). He was named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 1995 and again in 2000.
Billy Crudup (born William Crudup, 1968) is a US stage and film actor. At the time this episode aired, he was probably best known for his role in Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film Almost Famous.

12:20 – 📖 reference
CHRISTOPHER: What’s the book of your dreams right now?
RORY: Well, that would definitely be the Compact Oxford English Dictionary.
…
RORY: Dad, no. It costs a fortune.
…
RORY: It has every word ever recorded in the English language, plus origins and earliest usage.
CHRISTOPHER: You sure you wouldn’t rather have a car? They weigh about the same.

“The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP)” (Wikipedia). Due to the dictionary’s prodigious size (the current edition, published in 1989, comprises 21,728 pages across 20 volumes), a compact version also exists; it was created by photographically reducing the pages of the original, thereby accommodating more text per page and condensing the contents to a single volume. The resulting text is so small, a magnifying glass is included with purchase. The Compact OED currently retails for $490 USD on the OUP website.

12:35 – 🎥 reference
CHRISTOPHER: Holy mother! This is the monolith from 2001!

In Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, a mysterious black slab, or monolith, appears throughout the solar system. Though the monolith and the Oxford English Dictionary actually have opposite natures (the significance of the monolith is subject to audience interpretation, while the OED exists specifically to provide concrete meaning), they do share similar dimensions and physical heft.

17:50 – 🎧 mention
LORELAI: You know the opening lick to “Smoke on the Water.”
CHRISTOPHER: And I’ve since mastered the opening lick to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

“Smoke on the Water” is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, from their 1972 album Machine Head. Its highly recognizable four-note opening riff was ranked #4 by Total Guitar magazine on their 2004 list of “Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever.”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. It is one of the band’s most popular and recognizable songs, and their most performed song overall.

18:00 – 🎧 reference
RICHARD: I’m a Chuck Berry man, myself.
…
LORELAI: Chuck Berry?
RICHARD: Yes, Chuck Berry. He was all the rage when I was in school.
LORELAI: Ah, so we’re talking pre-“My Ding-a-ling”?

Chuck Berry (born Charles Berry, 1926-2017) was a US “singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the ‘Father of Rock and Roll’, he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive” (Wikipedia). His guitar solos and style of showmanship also had a lasting influence on the genre.
“My Ding-a-Ling” is a novelty song written by Dave Bartholomew in 1952. The lyrics describe a toy consisting of “silver bells hanging on a string” that the singer receives from his grandmother. It quickly becomes apparent that the toy, referred to as a “ding-a-ling,” is a double entendre for a penis, giving a sexual slant to the rest of the lyrics. Chuck Berry’s cover, released in 1972, became his only #1 Billboard Hot 100 single in the United States.

18:25 – 🎥 reference
CHRISTOPHER: Lucy, Schroeder, you laying [sic] on the coffee table.
LORELAI: You pretending it was a piano.
18:30
LORELAI: I don’t know if it was a production, Mom. It was just one song.
CHRISTOPHER: “Suppertime.”
RICHARD: Did you write that? That was really very good.
LORELAI: Dad! That’s from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. It’s a famous musical.

“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa” (Wikipedia). It is based on Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, which was referenced previously in episode three. In the musical number “Suppertime,” Charlie Brown’s dog, Snoopy, complains dramatically of his hunger and celebrates the arrival of his food.
Young Lorelai and Christopher also imitated the Peanuts characters Schroeder and Lucy. In this scene from the first Peanuts film, A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), Lucy lounges against Schroeder’s piano as he practices, a dynamic they repeat in multiple Peanuts cartoons.

20:00 – 🗺️ mention
RICHARD: Well, Straub, how is retirement treating you?
EMILY: Yes, do tell us about the Bahamas.
STRAUB: You can get an entire island there for the cost of a decent house here.

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, “is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. … The archipelagic country consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets” (Wikipedia). Contrary to Straub’s comment implying an impoverished state, the Bahamas is the richest country in the West Indies, with an economy based on tourism and offshore finance.

21:05 – 🗺️ mention
LORELAI: I hate President Bush! … He’s stupid, and his face is too tiny for his head, and I just want to toss him out.
STRAUB: That is the leader of our country, young lady.

George Walker Bush (born 1946) is a US politician “who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000” (Wikipedia). Though Bush was frequently mocked in the popular discourse for his bumbling public persona, his most controversial acts as president had yet to occur at the time of this episode, which aired less than two months after he took office.
In late 2001, following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan, initiating a global “war on terror” that would last almost 20 years, displace 38 million people, and cause 940,000 deaths from war violence (Costs of War). He also ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq on the belief that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction, though these were never found. The Patriot Act, which he signed into law in 2001, has been criticized for eroding the constitutional rights to privacy and due process.
Bush is often referred to as George W. Bush in order to differentiate him from his father, George H. W. Bush, who served as the 41st president of the US from 1989 to 1993.

22:35 – 🎓 reference
STRAUB: Our son was bound for Princeton.

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746, it “is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution” (Wikipedia). Like the previously mentioned Harvard University, Princeton is a member of the Ivy League.

26:30 – 🏷️ feature
Rory sits in Richard and Emily’s kitchen drinking a can of Hansen’s soda.

Hansen’s Natural is a brand of soft drink that originated in California in the 1930s.

28:10 – 🎥 reference
CHRISTOPHER: Next time we get this group together, we’re gonna have to frisk for weapons.
LORELAI: Hand out gags.
CHRISTOPHER: Employ six individual Cones of Silence.

Get Smart (1965-1970) is a US comedy television series created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. A parody of the spy genre, it follows the inept Maxwell Smart, or Agent 86, an employee of CONTROL, a secret US counterintelligence agency. The “Cone of Silence” is a device on the show designed to allow secret conversations; in a recurring gag, it actually does the opposite, allowing those outside the apparatus to hear the conversation easily while those inside can hardly hear each other.
In telecommunications, a “cone of silence” is a blind spot over an antenna, where the signal disappears. (It may also be referred to as the “antenna blind cone.”) A British drama film called Cone of Silence, based upon a real-life 1952 plane crash, was released in 1960; it was adapted from David Beaty’s 1959 novel of the same name.

28:40 – 🏷️ mention
LORELAI: Mrs. Dominski undulating in her big, fat Underalls is forever carved into my brain.

Underalls was a US brand of women’s undergarments manufactured by Hanes from 1976 until the 1990s. “The product was noted for being a combination of pantyhose and panties together, presumably to prevent panty lines” (Wikipedia). The background of this television ad from 1978 looks suspiciously like the Warner Bros. lot where Gilmore Girls was filmed.

31:55 – 🎥 reference
LORELAI: You know, all those crazy people saying horrible things were directing them at me, not you.
RORY: They were directing them to you because you had me.
LORELAI: No, they were directing them at me because I screwed up their big Citizen Kane plans.

Citizen Kane is a 1941 US drama film directed by Orson Welles, who also stars as publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane. The film follows Kane’s life and careers in journalism and politics, examining the effect of his ambition on his relationships, spiritual well-being, and personal legacy. Though fictional, the character is a composite of several real-life business magnates, most notably US newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst.
The film “is frequently cited as the greatest film ever made” (Wikipedia). It was among the inaugural group of films selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry when the Registry was established in 1989.

32:30 – 🗺️ mention
RORY: Where does Dad have a misspelled tattoo?
LORELAI: Ah, ah. Another story for another time. Possibly before your first trip to Mazatlán.

Mazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It is a popular tourist destination for both Mexican and international travelers, with resorts lining its 10 miles of Pacific beaches (MazatlanVisit).
The city’s name “comes from the [indigenous] Nahuatl language and means ‘Land of deer’ (mazatl ‘deer’ and tlan referring to a place abundant with something)” (Wikipedia).

33:00 – 🎥 feature
Lorelai wakes up wearing a pajama set with an I Love Lucy print.

Lorelai’s pajamas were created by loungewear brand Nick & Nora. The print, which depicts Lucy Ricardo, her best friend Ethel Mertz (played by Vivian Vance), and lots of chocolate candies, is a reference to one of the show’s most famous and iconic episodes, in which Lucy and Ethel go to work in a candy factory. A pink version of the pajamas can be seen here on Poshmark. They seem to be a rare item, as they are priced in the hundreds on resale sites.
I Love Lucy is referenced in dialogue later in this episode at 34:25.

34:15 – 📖 reference
CHRISTOPHER: Well, I know you well enough to know that when you say no coffee, especially in the morning, all is not right in Whoville.

Whoville (sometimes written Who-ville) is a fictional town appearing in two children’s books by Theodor Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Seuss. In Horton Hears a Who! (1954), the microscopic town is located on a dust speck, which must be shielded from destruction by a kindly elephant named Horton. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957), the town is targeted by the Grinch (referenced previously in episode 13), who wishes to sabotage the town’s holiday celebrations.

34:20 – 🪶 reference
CHRISTOPHER: So, last night.
LORELAI: Ah, last night was Chernobyl and the Hindenburg combined.

Chernobyl is a city in Ukraine, partially abandoned today because of the disaster that occurred there when a reactor exploded at a nuclear facility in 1986. The disaster “is one of only two nuclear energy accidents rated at seven—the maximum severity—on the International Nuclear Event Scale, the other being the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. … It was the worst nuclear disaster in history, and the costliest disaster in human history” (Wikipedia). Two engineers were killed in the explosion, and 237 workers were hospitalized, with 28 dying of acute radiation syndrome over the next three months. In 2006, the World Health Organization predicted 9,000 cancer-related deaths would result from the disaster in the coming decades.
The Hindenburg disaster occurred in 1937, when the German airship Hindenburg, filled with highly combustible hydrogen gas, caught fire and crashed in the US state of New Jersey. Of the 97 passengers and crew aboard, 35 were killed, with an additional fatality on the ground. “The publicity shattered public confidence in the giant, passenger-carrying rigid airship and marked the abrupt end of the airship era” (Wikipedia).

34:25 – 🎥 + 🏷️ reference
LORELAI: My father’s probably only hit another man in college wearing boxing gloves and one of those Fred Mertz, Golden Gloves pullover sweaters.
CHRISTOPHER: Fred Mertz?
LORELAI: I Love Lucy, Fred Mertz.
CHRISTOPHER: Landlord to Ricky, husband to Ethel, I know. It’s just a weird reference.

Lorelai woke up wearing an I Love Lucy pajama set at 33:00 and wears them throughout this scene.

I Love Lucy (1951-1957) is a US television sitcom that follows middle-class couple Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (played by real-life married couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) and their friends, fellow married couple Fred and Ethel Mertz. Fred (played by William Frawley) was raised on a Midwestern farm, served in World War I, and lived through the Great Depression. A curmudgeonly sort, he often trades jibes with his wife, with whom he owns the brownstone where Lucy and Ricky are tenants. Fred was once a Golden Gloves boxer and wears a Golden Gloves 1909 sweater in one episode of the show.
I Love Lucy was referenced previously in episodes six and fourteen.
Golden Gloves of America is an amateur boxing organization that held its first competition in 1928; the first Golden Gloves event, prior to Golden Gloves of America’s status as a corporation, took place in 1923. (On this basis, Fred’s 1909 sweater seems to be anachronistic.) A pair of golden boxing gloves has served as a symbol of the organization since its inception.

35:20 – ⚖️ reference
LORELAI: You are out of your mind! You are completely insane! You have flipped your lid! Charlie Manson is freaked out by you right now!

Charles Manson (born Charles Maddox, 1934-2017) was a US criminal and leader of the California-based Manson Family cult of the late 1960s. Manson was obsessed with the Beatles’ 1968 self-titled album (often referred to as the White Album due to its plain cover design), which he believed contained coded messages foretelling an apocalyptic race war; he referred to this conflict as “helter skelter,” borrowing the title of one of the Beatles’ songs. In 1969, Manson’s followers “committed a series of at least nine murders at four locations” (Wikipedia), and in 1971, he was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. “The prosecution contended that, while Manson never directly ordered the murders, his ideology constituted an overt act of conspiracy.”
Manson’s psychological state has been the subject of extensive analysis, with possible diagnoses including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In 1997, a parole panel noted his “exceptional, callous disregard for human suffering” (Wikipedia) and his lack of remorse for or understanding of his crimes. He remained in prison until his death in 2017. It is worth noting that, while Manson may have had one of these disorders, people with serious mental illness commit only a tiny proportion of violent crimes; they are much more likely to be victims of violent crime (SAMHSA).
A Manson Family member, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, was referenced previously in episode nine.

35:55 – 🏷️ mention
LORELAI: Andrew from the bookstore called, and Jackson, and the UPS guy, and oh, it was the lead story on the Stars Hollow webpage.

The United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is a US multinational shipping and receiving company founded in 1907. It is one of the largest private employers in the country.

36:05 – 🎧 reference
CHRISTOPHER: I’m as mature as you.
LORELAI: What!? The Offspring is your favorite band.
CHRISTOPHER: So? You’re into Metallica!
LORELAI: Well, Metallica is way more substantial than the Offspring.
CHRISTOPHER: Here we go, it’s the same Black Sabbath riff all over again.
LORELAI: Ugh! The Offspring have, like, one chord progression. They use it over and over. They just pop on new words and call it a single.

The Offspring is a US punk rock band formed in California in 1984. They are one of several bands “credited with reviving popular interest in punk rock” (Wikipedia) in the 1990s. “A signature style of the Offspring are their chorused ‘whoas’, ‘heys’, or ‘yeahs’. The band’s former labelmates NOFX poked fun at them for this in their song ‘Whoa on the Whoas'” (Wikipedia). The Offspring’s biggest hits (to date, and at the time of this episode) include “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” “The Kids Aren’t Alright,” and “Why Don’t You Get a Job?”
Metallica is a US heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. “The band’s fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding ‘big four’ bands of thrash metal… Metallica ranks as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time…[and] has been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines such as Rolling Stone” (Wikipedia).
Black Sabbath was an English rock band formed in 1968. “They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with their first three albums Black Sabbath, Paranoid (both 1970) and Master of Reality (1971)” (Wikipedia). The band was mentioned, and their song “Iron Man” was featured briefly, in episode four.

36:45 – 🏷️ feature
CHRISTOPHER: What did our having sex mean to you?
LORELAI: It meant that Jose Cuervo still has amazing magical powers.

Christopher pulls a bottle from his pocket at 28:50.

Jose Cuervo is a Mexican brand of tequila with a history dating to the 18th century. It is the world’s best-selling brand of tequila, accounting for a third of the US market and a fifth of the global market (Wikipedia).

37:00 – 🎥 reference
LORELAI: We can’t get married, Christopher. We don’t even know each other as adults.
CHRISTOPHER: Let’s get married and get to know each other as adults.
LORELAI: Well, that’s very Fiddler on the Roof of you.

Fiddler on the Roof is a 1964 Broadway musical with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. A film adaptation directed by Norman Jewison was released in 1971. It tells the story of a Jewish family living in Russia around 1905 and centers the father, Tevye, as he tries to preserve religious and cultural traditions amidst changing times. He is challenged, in particular, by his daughters’ determination to marry for love and what he sees as unsuitable choices of husbands. Tevye’s marriage to his wife, Golde, was arranged traditionally, and in the musical number, “Do You Love Me?”, they discuss the role of romantic love in their relationship.

38:00 – ⭐ reference
CHRISTOPHER: Rory might be my only child.
LORELAI: That’s not true. If Tony Randall can crank one out in his seventies, you have decades left to spawn.

Tony Randall (also known as Anthony Randall, born Aryeh Rosenberg, 1920-2004) was a US actor known for his role as Felix Unger in the 1970-1975 television adaptation of The Odd Couple. “Randall was married to his high school sweetheart, Florence Gibbs, from 1938 until her death” (Wikipedia) in 1992. They had no children. In 1995, at the age of 75, he married 25-year-old Heather Harlan. Together, they had two children, born when Randall was 77 and 78 years old. He and Harlan remained married until his death in 2004.
The Odd Couple was referenced previously in episodes six and eleven.

References Sorted by Category

🎓 Academia

22:35 – Princeton University (academic institution)

🏷️ Brand Names

02:30 – Porsche (automobile)
06:45 – Indian Motorcycles (motorcycle)
06:45 – Suzuki Motor Corporation (automobile, mobility products)
08:10 – Pop-Tarts (toaster pastry)
09:10 – Lip Smackers (lip balm)
26:30 – Hansen’s Natural (soft drink)
28:40 – Underalls (undergarments)
34:25 – Golden Gloves of America (boxing organization)
35:55 – United Parcel Service (shipping and receiving)
36:45 – Jose Cuervo (tequila)

⭐ Famous Figures

11:40 – George Clooney (actor)
11:40 – Brad Pitt (actor)
11:40 – Billy Crudup (actor)
38:00 – Tony Randall (actor)

🎥 Film, Television & Theater

02:30 – Happy Days (television show), Carol “Pinky” Tuscadero (character)
06:15 – Our Gang (media franchise), The Little Rascals (also known as), Alfalfa (character)
12:35 – 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968 film), the monolith (plot device)
18:25, 18:30 – You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1967 stage musical)
- 18:25 – Lucy (character), Schroeder (character)
- 18:30 – “Suppertime” (musical number)
28:10 – Get Smart (television show), Cone of Silence (plot device)
31:55 – Citizen Kane (1941 film)
I Love Lucy (television show)
- 33:00 – “Job Switching” (season two, episode one)
- 34:25 – Fred Mertz (character)
- 34:25 – Ricky Ricardo (character)
- 34:25 – Ethel Mertz (character)
37:00 – Fiddler on the Roof (1964 stage musical, 1971 film), “Do You Love Me?” (musical number)

🗺️ Geography & Politics

01:05 – Memorial Day (US holiday)
02:25 – Rincon, California (surf spot)
06:45 – Berkeley, California (US city)
10:15 – Paraguay (South American country)
20:00 – the Bahamas (North American country)
21:05 – George W. Bush (US president)
32:30 – Mazatlán, Mexico (North American city)

🪶 History

34:20 – Chernobyl disaster (nuclear disaster)
34:20 – Hindenburg disaster (airship disaster)

📖 Literature

08:10 – Charles Dickens (author)
12:20 – Oxford English Dictionary (dictionary)
34:15 – Theodor Geisel (author), Dr. Seuss (pen name), Whoville (setting)
- Horton Hears a Who! (book)
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (book)

🎧 Music

17:50 – “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple (song)
17:50 – “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by the Rolling Stones (song)
18:00 – “My Ding-a-Ling” by Chuck Berry (song)
36:05 – the Offspring (band)
36:05 – Metallica (band)
36:05 – Black Sabbath (band)

🕊️ Religion

01:05 – Easter (holiday)

⚖️ True Crime

35:20 – Charles Manson (criminal and cult leader)

Frequent References

A few things come up so routinely in the show, I am not going to include an entry for them every time they do. I wrote about the following people, places, and things when they first appeared or were mentioned.

Christmas, Easter, Halloween (holidays)
Hartford, Connecticut (US city)
Harvard University (academic institution)
Herman Beeftink (piano and string composer)
Independence Inn (named for the American War of Independence)
Jeep (automotive brand)
New York, New York (US city)
Sam Phillips (series composer)
“Travel to Historic Brazil” (poster in Rory’s bedroom)
“Where You Lead” by Carole King and Louise Goffin (series theme)

Indigenous Land Acknowledgment

In beginning my work on this guide, I’ve come to realize just how many references (however subtle) the show contains to the Revolutionary War and the colonial history of the United States. It is important and necessary to acknowledge the people whose lands were usurped when these events took place, though this is not a simple matter. Please visit my land acknowledgment page to view the results of my research.

Episode citation: “Christopher Returns.” Gilmore Girls, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, season 1, episode 15, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, Hofflund/Polone, Warner Bros. Television, 2001.

Posted 15 July 2024