2006–2009
Book of Daniel
Points for obscurity on this one—it’s a show that lasted only four episodes in 2006. Aidan Quinn is an Episcopalian priest, as is his father. His sister-in-law’s husband has run off with $300,000 of church funds and he’s here confronting the sister-in-law about a mystery woman the husband was known to be sleeping with. A secret, and a great Vassar reference, is revealed.
Jericho
The scene doesn’t really look it, but the show is about a post-nuclear-war America, with the survivors rebuilding life in the Midwest. Vassar is revealed as a character point for a former IRS agent.
Thanks to Jessica Forsyth ’95 for the tip.
Open Window
Strong indie drama with a young couple dealing with the aftermath of the wife having been assaulted by a home intruder. The clip referencing Vassar is just a throwaway scene establishing the husband being out of the house while she's being attacked; he's an assistant theater professor, and the clip is a quick conversation after a rehearsal with his department head.
Girlfriends
This is a late episode in a long-running sitcom focusing on African-American middle-class characters. It’s especially interesting as there are relatively references from Black characters across the whole gallery. (The other main ones are Cedric the Entertainer Presents and Living Single.) In this clip, the wealthy fiancée of one of the main characters is being brought into the circle of the three main women (two of which don’t like her), and she reveals some of her history.
Thanks to Stacy Long for the tip.
Running With Scissors
Semi-autobiographical film on Augusten Burroughs's childhood, with him living under the care of an oddball psychiatrist in the doctor's home.
Thanks to Pirilti Onukar '16 for the tip
Veronica Mars
In the second-season finale of this detective show set in a high-school context, Veronica Mars is having a dream where she’s seeing her friend who was killed in the prior season. Vassar seems to be a good choice in the afterlife as well.
Thanks to Lauri Friedman Scherer ’99 for the tip.
Georgia Rule
This movie’s not nearly as bad as its reputation, although you may not believe me from watching these scenes. Lindsay Lohan is a wild child whose mother (Felicity Huffman) has parked her for the summer before she goes off to college in Idaho with her grandmother (Jane Fonda). Lohan’s sexual forwardness is somewhat at odds with the sedate Mormon lifestyle of the nice young man she meets. Here she’s being introduced to his girlfriend. In later scenes, Lohan’s fighting with her mother and grandmother about her future plans is lagely oriented around whether she’s lying to them about her stepfather sexually abusing her.
The Education of Charlie Banks
This movie takes place at an unnamed college. It was shot at Brown, but from a couple of references that place them in Poughkeepsie, it would appear that it’s supposed to be Vassar.
The L Word
Drama about a group of LGBT people—emphasis on the L. In this scene, Cybill Shepherd is the now-lesbian ex-wife of Bruce Davison.
Cold Case
This procedural investigates old cases - sometimes more than a century old - and uses dramatic re-enactments. Downton Abbey, it ain't.
American Dad
Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame has this show about a superpatriot CIA agent. It draws heavily on post-9/11 right and center-right tropes for its humor...and this entry takes the Vassar-girl-as-radical joke a little farther than usual.
Me & Orson Welles
Claire Danes makes her second appearance (see Igby Goes Down) in this period piece about Welles’s Mercury Theater. A character point for an intelligent woman.
Hamlet 2
A funny film with English comedian Steve Coogan creating a very crazy theatrical production that stirs up some community ire in Tucson. Saturday Night Live alum Amy Poehler delivers our line, playing ACLU attorney Cricket Feldstein. A character point of no particular moment.
Thanks to Chris Larkosh ’87 for the tip on this one.
Generation Kill
David Simon's series about modern warfare, following a company of Marines through Iraq is a very rough, crude ride. In this clip, some of the Marines are chewed out for making sexist comments toward a female soldier.
Monk
This comedy series about a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder finds him needing to question a chess master. His partner’s daughter comes to the rescue, with money and skills.
Friday Night Lights
A popular tv drama set in the world of Texas high-school football, here a substitute guidance counselor is learning the ropes from a veteran. Nice to see Vassar treated as a good school!
Thanks to "Big" Dave Landres '95 for the tip.
Nothing But the Truth
This terrible, self-important film is based loosely on the story of Judith Miller, the New York Times journalist who went to jail to protect her source, mixed in with the Valerie Plame story about outing a CIA agent. (Can you think of a more miscast screen couple than Kate Beckinsale and David Schwimmer? There’s a truly nauseating conjugal visit scene.) Beckinsale, the journalist, has revealed the identity of a CIA agent and is being threatened with jail if she doesn’t reveal her source. In the second scene, she’s doing a TV interview from jail with someone who’s supposed to be a Barbara Walters-type.
Thanks to Avery Chenoweth ’80 for the tip.
The Cleaner
This short-lived A&E show about a, wait for it, rogue/underground substance abuse counselor, has people hiring Benjamin Bratt to get their loved ones off drugs when they can't go through above-board channels. Here's a scene of one of these initial consultations, about a Vassar woman who's starting to lose it.
NYC Prep
Vassar begins to appear on reality television. This show follows the lives of wealthy prep-school kids in Manhattan, and one admits (on a tragically bad date) to applying to Vassar. For a fictional treatment of New York City prep-school kids, see Gossip Girl.
The Rebound
A direct-to-DVD romantic comedy has the male lead occasionally job hunting; this brief scan of his resume reveals him as a Vassar grad.
Thanks to Brandon Impastato '20 for the tip.
Taking Woodstock
This Ang Lee film focuses on a poor Jewish family in 1969 who are neighbors to Mr. Yasgur—whose farm hosted Woodstock. In this scene, son Demetri Martin with his immigrant parents are trying to extend their bank loan...and Vassar’s freak flag flies high.
Dare
An indie teen romance, somewhat dark and better than average, has a trio of teens exploring their sexuality and determining the next step in their lives.
Pushing Daisies
This short-lived quirky genre-fluid show developed a devoted but small fan base and alas lived for only two short seasons. The show is a bit hard to describe—part fantasy, part comedy, involving bringing the dead back for brief periods, with lots of rules—but it had immense charm, and a great cast: Lee Pace, Swoozie Kurtz, Ellen Greene, and the always vibrant Kristen Chenoweth, who per the episode description for the final episode, apparently went to Vassar "on a jockey scholarship." That bit was cut from the actual episode as it aired, although I did find a shooting script to confirm it was there. The full description reads: "The past becomes the present when one half of the Darling Mermaid Darlings’ arch rivals, the Aquadolls, is killed. In order to find the murderer, the Darling Mermaid Darlings must come out of retirement with Ned as their manager and Olive as their stylist. Chuck, of course, cannot participate. Olive gets close to Sid, with whom she shares her experiences in gender discrimination, what with him being a male synchronized swimmer and her attending Vassar on a jockey scholarship. But was Sid jealous enough of the headliners to commit murder?"
Continue to:
Page One: 1920s & 1930s
Page Two: 1940s
Page Three: 1950s
Page Four: 1960s
Page Five: 1970s
Page Six: 1980s
Page Seven: 1990s
Page Eight: 2000–2002
Page Nine: 2003–2005
Page Eleven: 2010–2012
Page Twelve: 2013–2015
Page Thirteen: 2016–2019
Page Fourteen: 2020–2022
Page Fifteen: 2023–
Genre Index
Star Index
Literature, Plays, and Poems
Music and Radio Broadcasts
Alternative Media
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