It’s not that often when metal creeps its way into mainstream pop culture. So when metal/hard rock acts do actually pop up in beloved sitcoms, dramatic films, cartoons or even reality series, it’s kind of awesome. So in the weekly column Remember When, Metal Insider recalls the most random instances of metal’s elite appearing in front of the camera.
Listen, we won’t judge you if you spent your Thanksgiving weekend watching the Gilmore Girls revival on Netflix. Maybe you were just really excited to see Lorelai and Rory Gilmore back together in Stars Hollow, Connecticut… well, if you did watch, then you also caught the return of Sebastian Bach as Gil.
Sure, the former Skid Row singer is no stranger to the big screen (having appeared in plenty of reality series, and popping up in random movie cameos). However, you’ll probably recall Bach’s most notable acting gig coming from the WB/CW series. We first meet Bach’s recurring character Gil in season 4, after he joins Rory’s best friend Lane’s band Hep Alien as a guitarist. While he’s obviously older than the rest of his bandmates (he even has a wife and family, and runs his own sandwich shop when not rockin’ out on stage), he ultimately teaches the band the true meaning of “rock n’ roll,” helping the band belt out some classic rock covers and display some true rock attitude onstage…
Ok, so all of that sounds pretty hokey. But Bach’s character ended up becoming well-liked by fans, hence why he was invited back for the show’s miniseries revival. Plus, it’s still astonishing to think that the singer behind “Slave To The Grind” actually had a recurring role on a show like Gilmore Girls, and maybe it introduced a whole lot of younger fans to Skid Row. At the very least, it gave us possibly the most bizarre moment we may have ever witnessed on a TV screen: Bach covering Gwen Stefani’s “Hollerback Girl” at a Bat Mitzvah….
In case you don’t believe us that that’s a real thing… Watch for yourself:
Anyways, here’s a short clip of Hep Alien performing “Hanging On The Telephone” (which we guess kind of makes more sense than “Hollerback Girl”):
And here’s a compilation of Hep Alien:
Here’s also a clip of Bach showing off his comedic chops (fair warning, there is lots of breast feeding talk in this clip… no, seriously):
And if you really want to see more of Bach as Gil, then you can watch Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life on Netflix now (he appears in the episode titled “Winter,” in case you weren’t planning on watching the entire miniseries).
