This podcast covers New Girl Season 2, Episode 15, Cooler, which originally aired on January 29, 2013 and was written by Rebecca Addelman and directed by Max Winkler.
Here’s a quick recap of the episode:
The guys determine they’re all ready to have sex again and have a night out togther. However, Jess gets paranoid while she’s home alone, and makes the guys come home early. She tries to show them she’s not a “cooler” so they play their second on-screen game of True American, which leads to an exciting predicament for Jess and Nick shippers…
We discuss Pop Culture References such as:
- Abu Nazir (Homeland) - During the game of True American, Schmidt calls out “Abu Nazir” who is a fictional character from the TV Show Homeland.
- Inspector Gadget - When trying to get Nick to kiss Jess, they encourage him to inspect her tonsils like Inspector Gadget.
Additional Pop Culture References such as:
- Band of Brothers - When they guys see Holly at the bar, they confirm they’re like the group from Band of Brothers. Band of Brothers is a dramatized account of "Easy Company", assigned to the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division during World War II.
- Gang related / Crips - Jess heard the sounds at the door and was worried it was gang related. She was also concerned about her blue curtains and whispered “Crips” when on the phone with Nick. The Crips are a gang based in the coastal regions of southern California whose members traditionally wear blue clothing.
- “I am not a crook” - During the True American game the loft calls out “I am not a crook”. Amid charges for the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon infamously said, "I am not a crook" during a press conference in Orlando, Florida.
We also cover Schmidt’s dismissal of Shivrang’s “English” accent as our “Schmidtism” this episode as well as give Schmidt’s dancing an honorary Schmidtism. In our “not in the 2020s” section we talk about how Schmidt makes light of Nick being sad. We also discuss how Cece “lying” for Schmidt so he can move on is a “yes in the 2020s” moment as well as how comfortable Sam was in his relationship with Jess. We also explore the careers of Brooklyn Decker (Holly), Sal Stowers (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Girl), and Andree Vermeulen (Beth), the guest stars of this episode.
Also in this episode were the following guest stars who we do not discuss in the podcast: David Walton (Sam - discussed on S2E3), M. Hasna M. (a movie-goer), Jocelyn Osorio (Andrea), Katie Wee (Palm Reading Girl), Brenda Song (Daisy), and Satya Bhabha (Shivrang).
Additionally in the podcast we discuss how the beer that the loft is drinking is Heisler beer and mention a few other shows that also use this fake beer brand. We had also previously included links to find “instructions” on how to play True American on S1E20’s show notes which can be found here.
While not discussed in the podcast, we noted other references in this episode including:
- London Fog - Schmidt refers to Nick as London Fog, telling him he’s “hot to trot”. London Fog is an American coat manufacturer known for making trench coats, raincoats, jackets, and parkas. London Fog was also a nightclub in the 1960 in Los Angeles and is a hot tea-based drink including Earl Grey tea, milk, and vanilla syrup.
- 401(k) - When Nick is trying to convince Holly that Schmidt is happy he mentions that he has a 401(k) which is an employer-sponsored pension plan where employees can deposit into their retirement funds directly from their paycheck and is sometimes matched by their employers. There are two main kinds including an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and tax exempt or EET.
- Throughout the game of True American, there were many historical and political references such as:
- Clinton - Bill Clinton was a former US president who was impeached after lying to a grand jury about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, who was at the time a White House intern.
- Joe Biden - Joseph Biden Jr. was born in 1942 and was elected the 46th President of the United States in 2021. Prior to his time as President he was also the Vice President of the United States and the Delaware Senator for 36 years, being sworn in just after he turned 30.
- Howard Dean Scream - Howard Dean is a retired American politician who was the Governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and is also a physician, author, and lobbyist. When he was a Presidential Candidate in 2004, he lost the Iowa Caucus to John Kerry and while reassuring his supporters listed out the states he would win and screamed “Yeah!” which became popularly known after it was broadcasted over 600 times in the next 4 days.
- Hawley-Smoot Tariff - This is a United States tariff in 1930 that was passed to help American farmers by raising taxes on imports by up to 20%. The stock market did not react favorably to its passage and the timing coincides with the start of the Great Depression as the tariff raised prices that led to other countries having retaliatory tariffs on US goods as well.
- Mulligan - This is a golf term that means the second attempt after the first one didn’t work. The earliest known use of the term is from 1931 in a daily newspaper in Detroit and most believe that the term came from a golfer with the last name Mulligan.
- Iron Curtain - This is the political and military barrier that the Soviet Union created after World War II to keep itself from the Western and non communist countries. Although it had been used sparingly since the 19th century, Winston Churchill, the British prime minister, used the term in a speech in 1946 which solidified the usage of the term.
- “Amber Waves of Grain” - This is a lyric from an American patriotic song called “America the Beautiful” which refers to fields in the plains area where wheat (which is golden in color) is grown. The song was written by Katharine Lee Bates in 1893 and was set to music and officially titled “America the Beautiful” in 1910.
- Mason-Dixon Line - This was a line separating the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia which also was seen as the border between the North and the South during the American Civil War. It originated when Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed the land in the 1760s to solve a border dispute which had been going on for almost a century.
- Gettysburg - This was a battle during the American Civil War fought in July 1863 which is described as the war’s turning point and involved the largest number of casualties in one battle in the entire war. It is also the location where President Lincoln gave his famous speech, the Gettysburg Address.
- Bull Run - This battle was the first major battle of the American Civil War in July 1861. This battle caused both sides to realize that this war was going to be much longer and bloodier than anticipated and highlighted many of the problems that were typical during the first year of the American Civil War.
This episode got a 10/10 Rating from both Kritika and Kelly and we both had the same favorite character: Nick!
Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 16!
Music: "Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com
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