Although Gilmore Girls might not seem to owe a lot of inspiration to the late, great David Lynch, one hilarious scene from the original series is inspired by the director’s feature debut. David Lynch’s movies are famously challenging, and none are more intense and disturbing than his debut feature Eraserhead. A surreal, oblique story, 1977’s Eraserhead is the trippy story of Henry, a luckless printer who fathers a bizarre reptilian monster baby in a post-industrial hellscape. If that plot summary sounds confusing, that is likely because Eraserhead prioritizes memorably strange imagery and nightmarish atmosphere over plot mechanics.

Although the cast of Gilmore Girls included a few stars from Lynch’s later work, like Mädchen Amick and Sherilyn Fenn, and one of the show’s funniest scenes ever is an affectionate parody of Lynch’s inaccessible debut.

Gilmore Girls Season 2 Episode 19’s “A Film By Kirk” Parodies Eraserhead

Kirk’s Short Film Is Clearly Based On David Lynch’s Feature Debut

In season 2, episode 19, “Teach Me Tonight,” Lorelai is dismayed to learn that the Star Hollow Movie Festival will once again be showing 1946’s sentimental family Western The Yearling. Fortunately, local Stars Hollow oddball Kirk tells Lorelai that he has a short film he has been working on for five years that could be a perfect start to the festival. As a result of Lorelai’s intervention, Kirk finally gets to debut his short film “a film by kirk.” The surreal short is heavily indebted to Eraserhead, from its black-and-white visuals to its plot.

Shot in moody black and white with a series of canted camera angles, “a film by kirk” is immediately recognizable as an Eraserhead parody. Specifically, the short film spoofs the segment of Lynch’s movie where Henry meets his girlfriend’s parents for dinner. While the rest of “Teach Me Tonight” centers on Rory’s chaotic Gilmore Girls love life, viewers see “a film by kirk’ in its hilarious entirety. The short features stilted, stagy acting, and follows a young couple as they sit through an interminably weird family dinner with her parents. Kirk even says it took him 5 years to make.

Gilmore Girls’ Eraserhead Parody Nails The Tone Of David Lynch’s Movie

Eraserhead Is Famously Austere and Surreal

Eraserhead shares all of these specific details with “a film by kirk,” although Lynch’s movie is a lot longer at 89 minutes. What makes the gag so funny is that Eraserhead is even less accessible than much of Lynch’s later work, making Kirk’s deadpan tribute a perfect parody. For viewers who have never seen the cult film, “a film by Kirk” seems like a spoof of pretentious student films in general. However, for anyone familiar with Lynch’s labor of love, the parallels with Eraserhead are immediately obvious.

Within the space of a few scenes, the episode jumps from Rory’s dramatic car crash to Kirk’s absurd short film.

Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks might be easier to get into, but the creators of Gilmore Girls display a genuine affinity for Lynch’s oeuvre with this extended homage to his debut. While Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life struggled to recapture the mood of the original series, “Teach Me Tonight” highlights the show’s unique tone. Within the space of a few scenes, the episode jumps from Rory’s dramatic car crash to Kirk’s absurd short film. This deft dance between comedy and drama was what kept viewers coming back for more, and something few shows have recaptured since.

Gilmore Girls Featured Numerous Nods To David Lynch

Two Twin Peaks Stars Were Considered For The Role Of Lorelai

While “a film by kirk” is one of the show’s most unabashed love letters to the director’s output, there are many more references to Lynch’s work dotted throughout Gilmore Girls. As noted above, Twin Peaks stars Mädchen Amick and Sherilyn Fenn both had guest roles in season 3, and the pair narrowly avoided an on-screen reunion. Meanwhile, in season 2, episode 4, “The Road Trip To Harvard,” Lorelai complains that the situation is “Too David Lynch.” Lorelei’s love of Luke’s coffee and pie also calls to mind Agent Cooper’s obsession with the same.

Another character references the director’s 1986 classic Blue Velvet in one of the funniest Gilmore Girls episodes, season 3, episode 7, “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?” and Emily’s new beau from A Year in the Life, Jack, is played by Ray Wise of Twin Peaks fame. The show’s small-town setting also owes a debt to the offbeat eponymous town of Twin Peaks, although that American suburb hides a heart of darkness that Stars Hollow does not share. Thus, there are many David Lynch references, both subtle and obvious, to be found in the world of Gilmore Girls.