Nitpicking

[chessiegal]

In season 1 the door across the entry door in their house was a bathroom. It later turned into a closet.

[readster]

On 9/1/2019 at 7:40 AM, Kiki777 said:

I didn't mind the Stars Hollow musical either (though it did drag on a bit). It was supposed to be bad.  The exposition and silly choreography reminded me of many scenes from The Simpsons whenever they do musicals or dance numbers.

But the LDB scene did bug me- I agree that it was out of place and really did seem like a dream sequence at first.  When I realized it wasn't, my first thought was: how did the guys get their hands on an animatronic crow (programmable to say 'get ready, Rory!') at such short notice??

Another thing was, the revival made it pretty clear that Rory and Logan were meeting up when they "were in the area". So, they were pretty much explaining they couldn't just do a booty call when ever one of them were free, but aligned to their schedules. Apparently the LDB had jobs too, so they just dropped things, dropped TONS of money out of nowhere like that? No calls, no going: "Man, forget about paying for the new car I was hoping for now." But oh right, they were RICH.

[junienmomo]

On 9/1/2019 at 7:40 AM, Kiki777 said:

On another nitpicky note, I read elsewhere on this forum that the sets changed over the years.  Can anyone point some out?  The only one that stood out to me was the living room at Richard&Emily's house (there was a wall that disappeared after season 1)

Luke’s was different after season 1, not to mention the weirdness in his apartment layout over time. 

Lorelai’s house’s side doors seemed to move as well.

I never quite figured out how they got to Luke’s when they were avoiding Doose’s after the breakup with Dean. First of all it was 6 am and all they had to do wa go around an extra block. No climbing around stuff.

[ghoulina]

They weren't just avoiding Doose's, though. It was also his house and the routes he took. 

[Taryn74]

The idea that a 16 yo and his buddies were out at 6am playing basketball or whatever Rory was afraid of, was utterly laughable.

[John Potts]

On ‎12‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 5:40 PM, marineg said:

Also, from Concert Interruptus, I hate how Lorelai offered to give hers and Sookie's Bangles concert tickets to Madeline and Louise

The problem I had with that was that it was tickets for The Bangles! I actually owned* a Bangles album, but I'm Lorelai's age (well, I'm the same age as Lauren Graham, I assume Lorelai is the same age). I can accept that Rory might be a fan of them because she shares a lot of her mother's tastes, but Madeline & Louise should be all, "How old are you - sixty!?"

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 6:55 PM, clack said:

Which brings up a pet nitpick -- Richard can afford to give 10 or 15 million to Yale, but is thrown into crisis when he's threatened about losing his pension.

I don't think he gave enough to pay for the whole building, just enough for it to be a "significant" donation. I'm sure Yale has a sliding scale of rewards for donors (plaque on a bench, listed on a board of significant donors, building named after you, statue erected in the courtyard, etc) and Richard gave enough to make it up to the "building named after you" level. Though that doesn't mean that there was any consistency over R & E's wealth!

* I think I still have it (on tape!)

[chessiegal]

Repeating myself - if you try and make sense of finances on this show, it will leave your head spinning. The money they had reflected the plot du jour.

[Taryn74]

3 hours ago, John Potts said:

The problem I had with that was that it was tickets for The Bangles! I actually owned* a Bangles album, but I'm Lorelai's age (well, I'm the same age as Lauren Graham, I assume Lorelai is the same age). I can accept that Rory might be a fan of them because she shares a lot of her mother's tastes, but Madeline & Louise should be all, "How old are you - sixty!?"

That's assuming they would even know who the Bangles were.

Even more incredulous was that there were college-aged guys trolling for chicks there.  Ha ha ha ha, no.

[Katy M]

On 9/3/2019 at 4:37 PM, ghoulina said:

They weren't just avoiding Doose's, though. It was also his house and the routes he took. 

I wonder if they thought about just driving.  I know it's within walking distance, but under the circumstances...

[andromeda331]

On 9/15/2019 at 1:01 PM, Taryn74 said:

That's assuming they would even know who the Bangles were.

Even more incredulous was that there were college-aged guys trolling for chicks there.  Ha ha ha ha, no.

That's the really weird part. I can buy Madeline and Louise going if only for free tickets and/or maybe though they'd mock the Bangles during the concert. But what were the college age guys doing there? Were they really expecting a lot of chicks there for them? Most are going to be Lorelai's age not college age or younger. They clearly weren't fans since they left the concert early for a party or whatever back at their apartment. Why did they even go if they were having something going on at home? They could have picked up chicks anywhere else but blow money on a Bangles concert hoping to pick up chicks? 

[Taryn74]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

They could have picked up chicks anywhere else but blow money on a Bangles concert hoping to pick up chicks? 

Exactly, LOL.

Maybe ASP wanted to get a more modern band but it didn't pan out so she had to go with someone Lorelai would have enjoyed as a teen, whether or not it made any sense for the rest of the storyline. 

Some really small changes would have made all the difference though - the guys could have been ticket rippers, working security, working the T-shirt table, etc and still caught Madeline and Louise's eye so they made plans to sneak out and meet up with them. Or heck, this is Madeline and Louise. They could have said they were going to the bathroom and just left to go look for guys.

[chessiegal]

I don't think a more modern band would have worked for the storyline. The original idea was for Sookie, Lorelai, and Rory to go. Madeline, Louise, and Paris were a last minute addition when they were studying with Rory. Lorelai was trying to foster a tenuous relationship into something friendlier.

It always impressed me who ASP could get to appear on the show. I don't remember the name of the band that appeared on Girls in Bikinis', Boys Doing the Twist - had never heard of them, never occurred to me they were a real life band until I saw them on Austin City Limits.

[Guest]

On 9/15/2019 at 11:35 AM, John Potts said:

I don't think he gave enough to pay for the whole building, just enough for it to be a "significant" donation. I'm sure Yale has a sliding scale of rewards for donors (plaque on a bench, listed on a board of significant donors, building named after you, statue erected in the courtyard, etc) and Richard gave enough to make it up to the "building named after you" level.

I just looked it up and to have a building named after them at Yale in 2015 (so obviously 10 years after the show), someone donated $150 million. If you're looking for a bargain, you can get a courtyard named after you for only $20 million.

[scarynikki12]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I don't remember the name of the band that appeared on Girls in Bikinis', Boys Doing the Twist - had never heard of them, never occurred to me they were a real life band until I saw them on Austin City Limits.

The Shins! I love them. I did think it was a shame that Lane couldn't have seen them perform because I guarantee they're on her list of beloved bands.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

don't think a more modern band would have worked for the storyline. The original idea was for Sookie, Lorelai, and Rory to go. Madeline, Louise, and Paris were a last minute addition when they were studying with Rory. Lorelai was trying to foster a tenuous relationship into something friendlier.

Aerosmith?  A band popular when Lorelai was younger.  Something edgy enough for Lane to also like (and for her mother to forbid).  Popular enough int he early '00s for Madeline and Louise to like.  And def something college guys might go to.

Edited September 17, 2019 by Katy M

[chessiegal]

I maintain the original plan was for Sookie, Lorelai, and Rory to go. The Bangles had been a big part of Lorelai's teenage life. No other band would do.

As for teenage boys being there, once Madeline and Louise were thrown into the mix, the plot required college age guys.

[Katy M]

6 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I maintain the original plan was for Sookie, Lorelai, and Rory to go. The Bangles had been a big part of Lorelai's teenage life. No other band would do.

As for teenage boys being there, once Madeline and Louise were thrown into the mix, the plot required college age guys.

No other band?  Lorealai only liked the Bangles and nobody else?  We have proof-positive that she wasn't into Aerosmith, or another band that was actually also popular with teens at the time?  And, you're actually incorrect.  The original plan was for Sookie, Lorelai, Rory AND Lane to go. I don't really see Lane being into the Bangle that much, either.  Too pop sugary for her tastes.

[chessiegal]

Yes, Lane was supposed to go, but no way Mrs. Kim would have let her. Lorelai talks about following the Bangles everywhere they went in concert until Rory came along. That's a good sign of serious devotion.

[Katy M]

5 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Yes, Lane was supposed to go, but no way Mrs. Kim would have let her. Lorelai talks about following the Bangles everywhere they went in concert until Rory came along. That's a good sign of serious devotion.

But only that episode, right?  That wasn't a season-long/series-long arc.  I don't think they ever mentioned the Bagles again.  She could have done that same stuff about Aerosmith.

[chessiegal]

From Season 1:

Quote

MAX: I think we should date.
LORELAI: Why?
MAX: Because I think we both want to.
LORELAI: Well I want to be in the Bangles but that doesn’t mean I quit my job and get a guitar and ruin my life to be a Bangle, does it?

[Taryn74]

They could have gotten tickets to see U2. It's established Lorelai and Rory both had an obsession with Bono. One that I whole-heartedly share, btw. Heh. And they are still modern enough that early-2000s teens, even ones who aren't music-obsessed like Lane or Dave, wouldn't have been all WTF is that?

[John Potts]

7 hours ago, deaja said:

If you're looking for a bargain, you can get a courtyard named after you for only $20 million.

OK, I'll check down the back of my sofa... Nope, guess I'll have to postpone my dream of having a building named after me (for now).

[Kohola3]

8 hours ago, deaja said:

I just looked it up and to have a building named after them at Yale in 2015 (so obviously 10 years after the show), someone donated $150 million.

ASP must have thought we were morons to buy this BS.

[scarynikki12]

I didn't have an issue with Rory and Lane being enthusiastic about seeing The Bangles. Lane's a music buff and Rory grew up surrounded by 80s references and pop culture so it makes sense. And I think the appeal for Louise and Madeline was a trip to New York while Paris liked being included so they didn't need to know or like the music to get excited.

My issue was the fact that Lorelai gave away the tickets at all. When Sookie rushes in to do the tickets reveal it's implied that: 1) they were hard to get (and possibly sold out), which would logically mean that 2) they were expensive. Sookie got them as a thank you for that wedding cake so I took it to mean she didn't pay for them so at least there's that but her grateful client went out of his way, and at his own expense, to get those prime seats and Lorelai just gives them away. Sookie should have been pissed at her rather than happily going along to the nosebleed seats. And Lorelai shouldn't have had an easy time buying those new seats since they implied that it was so hard to get tickets. Actually, that could have been part of the college guy subplot: Lorelai can't get seats from the theater so she buys from a scalper who turns out to be one of the college guys. That would explain why they were at all.

[Taryn74]

15 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

And Lorelai shouldn't have had an easy time buying those new seats since they implied that it was so hard to get tickets. Actually, that could have been part of the college guy subplot: Lorelai can't get seats from the theater so she buys from a scalper who turns out to be one of the college guys. That would explain why they were at all.

Yes! I like that idea. I actually got to thinking about it earlier, the college guys had primo seats just a couple of rows behind Rory, Paris, and crew. So they would have had to buy those tickets way in advance, too.  LOL it was just so silly.

[andromeda331]

10 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I didn't have an issue with Rory and Lane being enthusiastic about seeing The Bangles. Lane's a music buff and Rory grew up surrounded by 80s references and pop culture so it makes sense. And I think the appeal for Louise and Madeline was a trip to New York while Paris liked being included so they didn't need to know or like the music to get excited.

My issue was the fact that Lorelai gave away the tickets at all. When Sookie rushes in to do the tickets reveal it's implied that: 1) they were hard to get (and possibly sold out), which would logically mean that 2) they were expensive. Sookie got them as a thank you for that wedding cake so I took it to mean she didn't pay for them so at least there's that but her grateful client went out of his way, and at his own expense, to get those prime seats and Lorelai just gives them away. Sookie should have been pissed at her rather than happily going along to the nosebleed seats. And Lorelai shouldn't have had an easy time buying those new seats since they implied that it was so hard to get tickets. Actually, that could have been part of the college guy subplot: Lorelai can't get seats from the theater so she buys from a scalper who turns out to be one of the college guys. That would explain why they were at all.

Now that would make a lot more sense!

[clack]

It probably was ASP who was a Bangles fan. She gave them a shout-out in a previous episode, perhaps she heard back from them, and she then indulged her fan-girl self by writing an episode featuring the band.

In other words, my guess is that she wanted to bring the Bangles on the show, and then wrote the episode to feature them, rather than writing the episode first and only then go looking for a band to bring on.

Besides, Rory and Lane would totally be into the all-girl bands of the 70's and 80's -- the Runaways, the Go Go's, the Bangles.

[andromeda331]

Just now, clack said:

It probably was ASP who was a Bangles fan. She gave them a shout-out in a previous episode, perhaps she heard back from them, and she then indulged her fan-girl self by writing an episode featuring the band.

In other words, my guess is that she wanted to bring the Bangles on the show, and then wrote the episode to feature them, rather than writing the episode first and only then go looking for a band to bring on.

Besides, Rory and Lane would totally be into the all-girl bands of the 70's and 80's -- the Runaways, the Go Go's, the Bangles.

Yeah I can see Rory and Lane into the band and wanting to go Lane's into various different bands and Rory probably grew up listening to them with Lorelai. I can see Lorelai and Sookie too. The hard part is to see why there were college age guys there. They seemed to be there alone and only went to pick up chicks. There weren't going to be that many college age or younger girls at the concert. Majority are going to be Lorelai's and Sookie's ages. That's the part that doesn't make any sense. Who were they planning to pick up? 

[txhorns79]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Who were they planning to pick up? 

Well, in the pilot, young-ish 20-something guys are eager to pick up Lorelai (until they hear she is Rory's mom), so maybe they were looking for someone like that? 

[Guest]

On 9/17/2019 at 7:45 PM, scarynikki12 said:

Sookie got them as a thank you for that wedding cake so I took it to mean she didn't pay for them so at least there's that but her grateful client went out of his way, and at his own expense, to get those prime seats and Lorelai just gives them away. Sookie should have been pissed at her rather than happily going along to the nosebleed seat

Season 1 Sookie would do anything for Rory and Lorelai though. She baked cookies for Dean, offered to sell her car for tuition money, etc. I can totally see her being happy to give up the seats so Rory could make friends.

[Katy M]

12 hours ago, deaja said:

Season 1 Sookie would do anything for Rory and Lorelai though. She baked cookies for Dean, offered to sell her car for tuition money, etc. I can totally see her being happy to give up the seats so Rory could make friends.

Doesn't mean she shouldn't have at least asked her, though.  I'm actually a pretty nice person and will give something up for someone else. But, even though I would have said yes, it sometimes irks me when I'm not asked.  No, I don't say anything.  Just kind of a pet peeve.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Katy M said:

Doesn't mean she shouldn't have at least asked her, though.  I'm actually a pretty nice person and will give something up for someone else. But, even though I would have said yes, it sometimes irks me when I'm not asked.  No, I don't say anything.  Just kind of a pet peeve.

Yeah, I totally agree that Sookie's reaction doesn't justify Lorelai's actions. I was just saying I could see Sookie responding the way she did.

[andromeda331]

49 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Doesn't mean she shouldn't have at least asked her, though.  I'm actually a pretty nice person and will give something up for someone else. But, even though I would have said yes, it sometimes irks me when I'm not asked.  No, I don't say anything.  Just kind of a pet peeve.

48 minutes ago, deaja said:

Yeah, I totally agree that Sookie's reaction doesn't justify Lorelai's actions. I was just saying I could see Sookie responding the way she did.

Oh, definitely. I'm sure Sookie would have said yes anyway but it does bug me that Lorelai doesn't ask her. They were Sookie's tickets. They could have shown Lorelai getting off the phone when she called Rory into the kitchen and made the suggestion. 

[Guest]

I will say that it's also very in-character for Lorelai to put what she sees as Rory's needs above everything else - in this case Sookie's feelings.  

[Katy M]

14 minutes ago, deaja said:

I will say that it's also very in-character for Lorelai to put what she sees as Rory's needs above everything else - in this case Sookie's feelings.  

Not even just Rory's.  I think she puts her own needs above others also.

[Taryn74]

Ha ha ha totally on board with the last two comments.

I really do love this show, and I really do love Lorelai, flaws and all. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that.

[peacheslatour]

Arrggh, another Sookie gripe. Her recipe for deviled eggs. One part yolk to two parts mayonnaise!? Is she insane?

[chitowngirl]

Piling on the Sookie gripe train-in Hammers & Veils, Sookie tries to keep Lorelai out of the kitchen because she is making the food for Lorelai’s shower. Sookie is using the Inn’s kitchen and staff. And who is paying for all the supplies for the food?

OTOH-I like Lorelai’s dress at the shower and the way Rory’s face light up when she tells Kirk she built a house when they are discussing the stability of the gazebo.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Piling on the Sookie gripe train-in Hammers & Veils, Sookie tries to keep Lorelai out of the kitchen because she is making the food for Lorelai’s shower. Sookie is using the Inn’s kitchen and staff. And who is paying for all the supplies for the food?

And in (I think) the previous episode, Sookie calling Emily to blab about Lorelai and Max getting married? Boundaries. Ever heard of them?

[chessiegal]

36 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

And in (I think) the previous episode, Sookie calling Emily to blab about Lorelai and Max getting married? Boundaries. Ever heard of them?

To be fair, Sookie had no idea Lorelai hadn't told her mother. I would expect the bride's mother to be invited to the wedding shower.

[peacheslatour]

5 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

To be fair, Sookie had no idea Lorelai hadn't told her mother. I would expect the bride's mother to be invited to the wedding shower.

Still, Sookie knew exactly how much Lorelai didn't want her mother to know anything about her life because it just gave her ammunition to criticize Lorelai. I think she jumped the gun. The road to hell and all that.

[chessiegal]

26 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Still, Sookie knew exactly how much Lorelai didn't want her mother to know anything about her life because it just gave her ammunition to criticize Lorelai. I think she jumped the gun. The road to hell and all that.

Fair enough, but Sookie was consistently written as being naïve and somewhat clueless. I think this was consistent with how her character was written.

[peacheslatour]

6 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Fair enough, but Sookie was consistently written as being naïve and somewhat clueless. I think this was consistent with how her character was written.

It is. Probably why I don't really like her character. I just find her annoying. 

[Rachel81]

On 9/25/2019 at 12:12 PM, peacheslatour said:

Arrggh, another Sookie gripe. Her recipe for deviled eggs. One part yolk to two parts mayonnaise!? Is she insane?

Throughout the whole series, it was obvious the writers never bothered to read a cookbook and get an idea of what goes into any foods. The one that always gets me is when she's grilling Luke, "Do you put walnuts in your bechamel?!" It's a mother sauce: butter, flour, milk. No one would think to put walnuts in there.

And most of her food combinations sound terrible -- just throwing together a bunch of ingredients/foods the writers think sound fancy.

[scarynikki12]

Got another one! When Sookie and Lorelai are planning for their catering audition for Emily in season 4, Sookie makes WAY TO MANY BROCCOLI TARTS! Holy hell, I get that she goes overboard and Emily is the pickiest woman alive, but the woman had to have gone out and bought more cookie sheets in order to make these things. AND THEN THEY THROW THEM AWAY! The visual gag was not worth it for the food waste. And if they absolutely had to have Sookie make a shit ton of stuff (they did not) so that Rory's room would be in use when she came home to study, then they should have had her second guessing the kind of tart to have Emily taste, and have several different flavors on cookie sheets. She made what looked to be a thousand or so broccoli tarts and yet NONE of them were worthy of Emily's so-called impeccable taste? Bite me.

And Sookie is a renowned chef so pack those suckers up in tupperware and give them to your friends rather than throw them out. I swear, the money wasted on this show, and in that season alone, makes my wallet weep.

[chessiegal]

If you try and make this show about what would happen IRL or make common sense, you'll make yourself crazy. It's fiction written and acted for entertainment value, and I think overall they did a damn good job.

[junienmomo]

On 12/6/2019 at 2:32 AM, chessiegal said:

If you try and make this show about what would happen IRL or make common sense, you'll make yourself crazy. It's fiction written and acted for entertainment value, and I think overall they did a damn good job.

Comparisons to what IRL people and logic are kinda the point of this whole Nitpicking thread.

Nit of the day for me:

Emily was right about Bighead. LOL.

i can’t recall a single hat Lorelai wore in the show that wasn’t fugly. Maybe one of the knit hats like in the pilot.

[andromeda331]

On 12/5/2019 at 6:25 PM, scarynikki12 said:

Got another one! When Sookie and Lorelai are planning for their catering audition for Emily in season 4, Sookie makes WAY TO MANY BROCCOLI TARTS! Holy hell, I get that she goes overboard and Emily is the pickiest woman alive, but the woman had to have gone out and bought more cookie sheets in order to make these things. AND THEN THEY THROW THEM AWAY! The visual gag was not worth it for the food waste. And if they absolutely had to have Sookie make a shit ton of stuff (they did not) so that Rory's room would be in use when she came home to study, then they should have had her second guessing the kind of tart to have Emily taste, and have several different flavors on cookie sheets. She made what looked to be a thousand or so broccoli tarts and yet NONE of them were worthy of Emily's so-called impeccable taste? Bite me.

And Sookie is a renowned chef so pack those suckers up in tupperware and give them to your friends rather than throw them out. I swear, the money wasted on this show, and in that season alone, makes my wallet weep.

That was weird. Why was she making so many tarts? Why? How many people were they planning on serving? Plus she started making them before they even knew what the menu was. How did she know broccoli tarts were going to be okay? What's also weird is Sookie tells Lorelai when she's calling Emily to ask about the menu. Why would she do that? Shouldn't that be a talk between Emily and Sookie? Is Lorelai even really going to know all the questions to ask about the menu? And what about Sookie suggests she'd ever let anyone else talk to the client about the menu? 

[chessiegal]

3 hours ago, junienmomo said:

Comparisons to what IRL people and logic are kinda the point of this whole Nitpicking thread.

Not for me. Nitpicking is for pointing out inconsistencies in writing. For example, in the episode where Alex takes Lorelai fishing, at the start of the episode they're going on a Saturday, later in the same episode they're going on a Sunday. The writers couldn't get the day right in the same episode. Money is another glaring example. The Gilmores could afford elaborate parties, buying a time share in a private jet, but in another episode they can't afford 1st class tickets to Europe. For me, those are nitpicks.

[blueray]

When couldn't they afford tickets to Europe? I know there was one episode where Emily has people bumped but that was because she wanted the tickets at the last minute.  This probably cost her a good amount.