References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media Archives

Duluth reference on “The Deuce”

Sep 18, 2017 1 Comment

According to Perfect Duluth Day’s highly reputable sources, the HBO series The Deuce recently made a reference to Duluth.

In episode #2 a prostitute named Lori, who is a new arrival in New York City via Minnesota, is about to be arrested when her pimp stabs the cop and explains the guy is not really a cop. He searches the guy and finds rope and other torture instruments, then says, “We ain’t in Duluth no more, Dorothy.”

Find a clip of the scene to win the internet for a day.

Random References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media

Wheel of Duluth

Jul 24, 2017 No Comments

We don’t have a video clip, and the specific air date isn’t known, but at some point in mid-July 2007 — ten years ago — Duluth was the answer to a final puzzle on Wheel of Fortune.

A post in the PDD archives notes the clue was “on the map.” The contestant had just two letters to guess with, making it pretty much impossible, but anyone from Duluth could figure it out instantly.

_ _ L _ T _

History References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media

“Colder than the surface of Mars”

Jun 19, 2017 No Comments

Poet Dora Malech gets all Duluthy in a poem published in the May 29 issue of The New Yorker. It’s more that a reference — the poem is basically set in Duluth.

The text of “I Now Pronounce You” is available online, along with an audio track of the poet reading it.

Malech grew up in Bethesda, Md., and now lives in Baltimore. Her connection to Duluth is unknown, unless it’s as simple as the first line of the poem: “Our friends are getting married in Duluth.”

Art Poetry, References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media, The New Yorker

2 Dope Queens discuss Justin Bieber’s Duluth chakra

Jun 15, 2017 No Comments

At the very onset of episode #36 of the 2 Dope Queens podcast, hosts Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson drop a reference to Duluth while going over items on Justin Bieber’s tour rider.

PDD Quiz: Duluth in Popular Culture

Mar 12, 2017 No Comments

References to Duluth abound in popular culture; how many are you aware of? Take this quiz to find out! (Hint: you might have an edge if you’ve been paying attention to previous quizzes and the PDD blog.)

Our next PDD Quiz, reviewing the events of March 2017, will be published on March 26. E-mail question ideas to Alison Klawiter at [email protected] by March 23.

Random PDD Quiz, References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media

Mary Tyler Moore went to high school in Duluth … sort of

Jan 26, 2017 No Comments

Mike Michaels posted this image from The Mary Tyler Moore Show on Facebook yesterday, the date of Mary Tyler Moore’s death, noting the show featured the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Old Main building as the fictional high school of her character, Mary Richards.

“One of the show’s writers, Lorenzo Music, lived in Duluth and attended UMD. He married an actress who was a Denfeld grad,” Michaels wrote. “They both ended up starring in a CBS variety show and both wrote the theme song to The Bob Newhart Show. Lorenzo became even more famous as the voice of the doorman on the TV show Rhoda and the voice of Garfield the cat. He was also a TV producer.”

UMD’s Old Main building was destroyed by fire in 1993.

R.I.P. References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media, UMD

The parking meters in Hartford vs. Duluth

Dec 12, 2016 No Comments

A few weeks back PDD reported a Duluth reference in a new episode of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, prompting vague assertions that Duluth had been mentioned in an episode of the original run of Gilmore Girls.

Well, a more specific tip finally came in.

Duluth was name dropped in season 2, episode 3, “Red Light on the Wedding Night.” Lorelai’s fiance Max has his bachelor party cut short because his brother leap frogged a parking meter and didn’t make it, resulting in a hospital visit. According to Max, his brother “claims he wasn’t drunk. He’s saying that the parking meters in Hartford are taller than the parking meters in Duluth, so he just miscalculated.”

The episode originally aired Oct. 16, 2001. The Duluth reference is just after the 18-minute mark of the full episode; the bootleg clip above isolates the reference.

Videos References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media

Adam Ruins Everything references Duluth

Dec 10, 2016 No Comments

Adam Ruins Everything is at least the fifth television series to reference Duluth in 2016. Episode 23, which aired Dec. 6 on the cable network TruTV, features Adam Conover discussing “how deep Facebook’s tentacles really go,” with an example of a man who bought a “bacon double heart-attack burger” in Duluth after seeing an ad targeted through his Facebook likes.

Other shows that have referenced Duluth in 2016 include Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Robot Chicken, Vinyl and Lady Dynamite.

News and Current Affairs References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media

The year Joel Hodgson spent in Duluth

Dec 05, 2016 No Comments

On the Halloween episode of The Dana Gould Hour, guest Joel Hodgson briefly mentions his family lived in Duluth for a year. The conversation had steered to small-town television shows and personalities, and Hodgson recalled “picturesque slides of lighthouses” and how it gave a “mood of where you were.”

Hodgson, of course, is best known as the creator of the hit television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Gilmore Girls Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge Cake Ornament

Nov 27, 2016 No Comments

The Netflix revival of the TV comedy/drama Gilmore Girls features a brief and strange nod to the Zenith City. The last of the four new episodes includes a pre-wedding scene with Sookie St. James (played by Melissa McCarthy) showing a cake to Lorelai Gilmore (played by Lauren Graham) that has a miniature Aerial Lift Bridge on it labeled “Duluth.”

Bob and Joan

Jul 12, 2016 1 Comment

Bob mentions a couple of Northland towns at the beginning of their first song.

Art, History, Music, Videos References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media

Maria Bamford: Lady Dynamite of Duluth

May 22, 2016 5 Comments

With all the posts on PDD about References to Duluth in TV and Film we shouldn’t neglect to mention the newest and most obvious example. Lady Dynamite, starring Duluth’s Maria Bamford, premiered Friday on Netflix.

Duluth on HBO’s Vinyl

Mar 30, 2016 1 Comment

The new HBO series Vinyl references Duluth in season 1, episode 7. Richie and one of his lackies are in Las Vegas and pick up a couple of women. One says she’s from “St. Paul … Duluth, actually … trying to be fancy.” Richie cracks some joke about flying over Duluth.

News and Current Affairs References to Duluth in Film/TV or Other Media

Duluth in the House

Mar 23, 2016 No Comments

A quick Duluth reference in House, season 3, episode 18, “Airborne.”