Gilmore Girls: All the pop culture references in A Year In a Life

A reference to John Oliver and Amy Schumer didn’t make it into the Gilmore Girls revival, but plenty of famous names, places, and things were cited by Lorelai, Rory, Emily, and Co. during Gilmore Girls: A Year in a Life. Ahead, a full list of the many, many references (and make sure to leave any we missed in the comments section).

Episode 1, “Winter”

• Lorelai tells Rory she should sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables
• Rory jokes that if Stars Hollow loses its phone booth, Superman wouldn’t be able to “save us from Ben Affleck.”
• Lorelai and Rory joke about Zoolander 2.
• Rory wrote a Talk of the Town piece for the New Yorker, has an interview with Conde Nast, and one of her freelance pieces was spiked by The Atlantic.
• What’s on Lorelai’s DVR: Restless Virgins, Deadly Honeymoon, Killer Crush, Mini’s First Time, Accidental Obsession, Murder In a College Town, Crimes of the Mind, Fatal Acquital, Not With My Daughter, Baby Sellers, Unfinished Betrayal, The Girl He Met Online, The Boy He Met Online, Deadly Vows, Lying Eyes, Lies He Told, My Nanny’s Secret (a.k.a. all Lifetime movies)
• “Did I tell you I attacked Gail Collins?” —Rory
• Kirk starts a ride sharing business called Ööö-Ber.
• Roy Choi is a pop-up chef at the inn; Anthony Bourdain was, too (but he parked in Sookie’s spot).
• Lorelai says Peter Jackson could hang the painting of Richard at the Argonath.
• Lorelai keeps the Lord of the Rings references coming in response to the painting of Richard: “Wizard, you shall not pass!”
• Emily says Rory is “traipsing around” from couch to couch like Llewyn Davis.
• “She learned all her language skills via The Breakfast Club.” —Lorelai on Rory
• “Let’s just call him Doogie Howser,” Paris says. “You mean Neil Patrick Harris?” Luke responds.
• “I’ll send you a DVD with my top picks. I’ll also include a copy of Gone Girl. NPH was great in that.” —Paris
• Emily on going to therapy: “You have been trying to get me into a therapist’s office ever since you saw that Tony Soprano show.”

Episode 2, “Spring”

• Sandee Martin tells Rory she wants Sandee Says to be bigger than The Huffington Post.
• Over martinis, a very sloshed Naomi makes an all too real joke about Brexit: “God, I hate England. I’m voting for Brexit. It’s just a protest vote. It will never win.”
• A whole group of A-list stars are nearby filming a movie, but since the set is actually in neighboring town Woodbury, all the headliners are holed up in an inn there, instead of the Dragonfly. Things we learn about these stars: Matthew McConaughey reads three newspapers a day, Jessica Chastain buys toiletries all over town, and Daniel Radcliffe wants a mini fridge. “Jennifer Lawrence is never ever going to stay here, and what’s the point of living if we’re never going to bag Jennifer Lawrence?” Michel moans. When Lorelai tells Rory about the debacle she jokes, “Play him some Skrillex. That always calms him.”
• Kirk pays homage to David Lynch’s Eraserhead with his own zany, pretentious artsy film.
• Paris says she sounds like a “Blake Shelton song” after ranting about seeing Tristan again.
• Paris says Lena Dunham is moderating a panel discussion with her at the 92nd Street Y.
• During Rory’s meeting at Condé Nast, GQ editor Jim Nelson (played by Dan Bucatinsky) keeps comparing her to David Foster Wallace, mentioning his 2005 collection of essays, Consider the Lobster.
• “Viggo Mortensen is you! He’s totally you,” Lorelai exclaims to Luke while watching 2005 thriller A History of Violence. “Seriously, David Cronenberg owes you money. He must have dropped by the diner, saw you, got inspired and turned you into this ex-thug guy.”
• “Be thinking about lines.” “Like Scarface.” “Wrong lines.”
• Upon arriving in New York, Lorelai says she’s going to punch NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan “in the sack.”
• Cronuts are out and “crodocakes” are in. Rory visits the crodocakes line to interview hopeful buyers when we find out the bakery is called “Monique Aswell,” no doubt a nod to Dominique Ansel, the New York-based creator of the original cronut.
• Of course Lorelai watches Outlander! When she tells Rory she’s never had a one-night stand, Rory asks, “How?!” Lorelai’s response: “Mom at 16 for starts. Hot in Outlander, but elsewhere…”
• Rory has a one-night stand with a wookiee. ALL THE STAR WARS JOKES!
• During a screaming match with Sandee from Sandee Says, Rory trades insults that start with “get”: “Get lost,” “Get a better office,” “Get a better attitude” — until Rory loses it and just yells, “Get Shorty!”

Watch EW Reunites: Gilmore Girls streaming now on the new People/Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN). Go to PEOPLE.com/PEN, or download the PEN app on Apple TV, Roku Players, Amazon Fire TV, Xumo, Chromecast, iOS, and Android devices.

Episode 3, “Summer”

• Annie Hall: Lorelai quotes it to April when she talks about liking metaphysics at school. (“I once got in trouble for cheating on a metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me.”) April doesn’t get that she’s kidding, Lorelai says it was Woody Allen. April: “Woody Allen took metaphysics?” Rory cuts in and explains, “It’s from Annie Hall.”
• Lorelai and Luke are watching the French version of The Returned, but Lorelai complains he keeps falling asleep in the middle of episodes and they keep having to go back and start them over. “That puts you in binge-watching jail, Luke,” says Rory.
• Matilda: Logan says he got tickets for him and Rory to see it when she comes out to visit.
• Game of Thrones: “Whoa, give him a crystal sword, he’s a White Walker” – Rory, describing her first impression of Nat Compton. She also has the boy holding the parasol over her at the pool call her Khaleesi.
• Baywatch: Rory calls Luke “Mr. Hasselhoff” when he’s wearing a “Lifeguard” T-shirt at the pool.
• Wild: Lorelai reads Cheryl Strayed’s book at the pool.
• Rory mentions the Spotlight team at the Boston Globe while discussing the Stars Hollow Gazette with Lorelai
• Michel: “Do you have the George Clooney tequila? The one he enjoys with his celebrity friends on his many tequila-filled nights?”
• Lorelai does an impression of Marlon Brando in The Godfather while talking to Michel: “It has a quote for every circumstance.”
• “It’s like an Aaron Sorkin movie in here” – Rory (sarcastically), when Taylor says he hasn’t seen this much energy and excitement in the Gazette newsroom in a long time.
• Rory mentions Halt and Catch Fire while talking about computers in the newsroom.
• There’s a Hamilton reference, too. “Let’s have another round tonight,” Rory says to Lorelai, drinking after she ignores a call from Paul.
• Luke doesn’t know Pat LaFreida is a New Jersey-based meat purveyor.
• The 30-something gang loves Paul Thomas Anderson and There Will Be Blood.
• Doyle reviewed The Jungle Book for the Gazette and says he’s working with Michael Bay.
• There’s a Chinatown screening at Kurt’s theater.
• “They should make a Lifetime movie out of that poor Tori Spelling falling at Benihana. Teppanyaki: Grill of Death.” — Lorelai
• More Hamilton: The rap number in the Stars Hollow musical name-checked Lin-Manuel Miranda and his Broadway musical.
• The Stars Hollow musical ends with ABBA’s “Waterloo,” like Mamma Mia!.
• Carole King sings “I Feel the Earth Move.”
• David Carr: Rory has a photo of him hung up by her desk at the Gazette.
• When Rory pulls a bottle of scotch out of her desk at the Gazette, Jess says, “Very Lou Grant.”
• Rory, to Esther, who won’t pick up the phone because she’s filing something: “I don’t want to say you’ve been filing that same piece of paper for a long time, but when you started, Nora Ephron felt good about her neck.”
• Rory asks if Mysteries of Laurais a real show.
• Lorelai about Jack to Emily, quoting Kanye West: “I ain’t say he’s a gold digger.”
• Sandra Lee canceled on popping up at the Inn after talking to Ina Garten about it.
• Lorelai wonders if Colombia was mad about Narcos when Luke tells her not to make more coffee at the diner.

Episode 4, “Fall”

• Lorelai goes to the Pacific Crest Trail to relive Wild with a bunch of other women — though there’s a big book versus movie divide (Lorelai is on Team Book).
• Lorelai takes a break from packing for her hike to watch Snapped on TV.
• Luke mentions Doctor Who while criticizing the diner patrons who use his wifi.
• The Movie Women are watching Wild outside the hotel
• “I almost did Eat Pray Love but my miles were blacked out.”
• The Life and Death Brigade compare Kirk’s film to La Dolce Vita.
• “The minute I open this thing up it’s like The Hurt Locker. No one survives.”
• “We saw Grease and An Unmarried Woman…”
• Lorelai says one of her fellow hikers looked like Christian Bale in The Machinist.
• Lorelai asks the nuns if they know the whereabouts of Whoopi Goldberg.
• Katy Perry is considering buying the annex from the nuns.
• “Like the lyrics to “My Sharona”…”
• “I’ll be your Candy Spelling.”
• Trophy wife Serena (applying for DAR membership) was named after Bewitched.
• Miss Celine says Luke looks like Eli Wallach.
• Luke invites Kiefer Sutherland to the wedding.
• Rory tells her dad she was watching a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon.
• “Show me the money! Have you see Jerry Maguire? It was on Starz last night, and it’s delightful.”
• “What was the exact moment you became a Mamet play?” Lorelai asks Emily after she swears again.
• “There’s still a picture of you in the attic that Dorian Gray is consulting his lawyers about.” — Lorelai to Emily
• Rory quotes Casablanca to Dean: “Of all the gin joints in all the world.”
• Rory teases Dean about his Lord of the Rings obsession and terrible Smeagol impression.
• Sookie tells Lorelai that Jackson’s bear traps blast “Welcome to the Jungle.”
• “Where’s Right Said Fred when you need him?” — Jess after Luke comes downstairs in his wedding suit.
• The Social Network: Lorelai tells Rory to drop the “The” in her manuscript “The Gilmore Girls” because it’s “cleaner.”
• Lorelai and Luke compare notes on their “surprise” flash mobs for the wedding; hers is set to “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood; his is set to Steely Dan’s “Hey Nineteen.” (Miss Patty is going to switch Luke’s to “Karma Chameleon” by Culture Club.)
• Rory remembers that she wanted to marry Edward Scissorhands and Jerry Orbach when she was young.