Rilo Kiley is really f*cking on
My top 10 favorite RK-adjacent appearances in pop culture
Rilo Kiley, and particularly lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jenny Lewis, is undisputed Xillennial indie rock royalty. Pitchfork exclaimed, “In the mid-2000s, Lewis was like an indie rock Joni Mitchell for the soul-bearing Livejournal era, or an emo Dylan, the poet laureate of AIM away messages.” Dramatic!!
The band had been on my concert bucket list since I was in high school, and a couple weeks ago, I finally got to see them perform at the lovely Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.1 I didn’t realize how rich in history the venue is! It has hosted famed guests like Weird Al, Tegan and Sara, David Bowie, Ice-T, and The B-52’s, among many others. The band sounded lovely, the lights were cool, and there’s something deeply satisfying about seeing a band that shaped your formative years play their songs live. It’s also very comforting to me how often Jenny wears polka dots, cheetah print, and/or a tiara – sartorial staples from my high school years.
In addition to the band members’ musical trajectories, I have always been fascinated by their child acting careers. Starting when she was 2.5 years old, Jenny Lewis (lead singer) made appearances in 250+ commercials, plus TV shows and movies including The Golden Girls, Growing Pains, Troop Beverly Hills, Rosanne, Baywatch, the controversial Don's Plum, and Big Girls Don't Cry...They Get Even. I recognized Blake Sennett (lead guitarist) from Salute Your Shorts, and he also appeared on Boy Meets World, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more.2
Rilo Kiley’s music has permeated pop culture for 25+ years. Their songs have been featured in a truly iconic slate of TV shows, including Dawson’s Creek, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, The OC, One Tree Hill, Six Feet Under, and Girls, among many others. (Also, importantly, the movie John Tucker Must Die.) In chronological order, let’s explore my top 10 favorite Rilo Kiley-adjacent appearances of the band’s members in pop culture!
Jenny Lewis and Danny Pintauro Anti-Drug PSA (1986)
Jenny Lewis and Danny Pintauro (Who’s The Boss?) are bonafide stars! Although I have no idea who the intended target audience for this PSA is, the kids are very convincing in their anti-crack stance. This is one of those videos where you’re like, “Wait, is this real?” and yes, yes it is. I was not alive in 1986, but this clip makes me feel like I was there.
Jenny Lewis as a menacing child on The Golden Girls (1987)
In this The Golden Girls episode, Jenny Lewis plays Daisy, a Sunshine Cadet assisting the girls with a fundraiser. Blanche puts a teddy bear in the pile of things to be donated and offers it to Daisy to keep once she expresses interest in it. When the girls realize the bear is actually Rose’s, not up for grabs, Daisy doesn’t take it well. She molts into an evil, maniacal tween who cruelly holds the sweet little teddy bear hostage!! In a stunning and satisfying turn of events, the usually dimwitted Rose outsmarts Daisy, letting the door hit her on the way out.
Jenny Lewis interviewed for Teen Set (1991)
I’d never heard of Teen Set, “an ill conceived video magazine aimed at teens [that] completely missed the mark.” But IMHO, this YouTube description and its comments don’t pass the vibe check. Looks like another case of ‘let’s not take this seriously because it’s aimed toward teenage girls’. Tale as old as time, unfortunately. To me, Teen Set seemed incredibly interesting, if not ahead of its time. (This clip is more engaging than like, 95% of podcasts today lol.) 15-year-old Jenny says there’s no downside to acting, and I would love to know what she’d say now, in retrospect.
Blake Sennett on Boy Meets World (1995)
As you may know, my favorite genre of entertainment is Gen X Ensemble Casts. Anything featuring an even loosely-related cast of somewhat-to-very familiar characters fills me with warmth, joy, and comfort. They’re like the big brothers and sisters I never had. This Boy Meets World scene between bullies and jocks from rival schools impressively features Blake as a lackey to Adam Scott’s (!!) character and Eric Balfour (!!!!) as the jock. Nothing’s more satisfying than recognizing an extremely niche guest star or feverishly looking up actors on IMDb and Wikipedia to connect the dots.
“Go Ahead” in a Volkswagen France commercial (2007)
The best car commercials don’t even have cars in them; they just have Jenny’s voice and the open road. I’m completely sold. This is the most compelling Volkswagen feature in pop culture since Mandy Moore’s “Candy” music video, if you ask me.
“Rest Of My Life” and “Capturing Moods” in a Mischa Barton horror/thriller (2009)
The O.C. wasn’t Rilo Kiley’s only connection to my beloved Mischa Barton. Barton played a sadistic ex-girlfriend in the 2009 independent horror-thriller Homecoming. It received 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is highly unfair. It should get at least a 30%, with 10 percentage points for starting Mischa Barton and 20 percentage points for having not one, but TWO Rilo Kiley songs featured on the soundtrack.
IMDb incorrectly credited Rilo Kiley as ‘Rilo Kilery’, so I did what any upstanding pop culture historian would do and immediately submitted a correction. I cannot stand the injustice!
“Moneymaker” in Audrina Patridge Carl’s Jr. commercial (2009)
I am SO curious to know how exactly Rilo Kiley’s “Moneymaker” was chosen to soundtrack a commercial for Carl’s Jr., a fast food chain known for their tongue-in-cheek portrayal of hot, scantily clad women suggestively eating oversized burgers. In this particular ad, Audrina Patridge, reality star of The Hills fame, is eating a teriyaki burger in a bikini.
Their ads gross me out, although with today’s political climate, it hasn’t even aged badly. (Alix Earle did a Superbowl ad for them this year.) I hope everyone at least got their $$$ bag.
SPIN’s In My Room: Jenny & Johnny (2011)
Then-couple Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice, who were making music during Rilo Kiley’s hiatus as Jenny and Johnny, gave SPIN a tour of their Los Angeles “bungalow”. This is my 2010s version of MTV Cribs!!!! Jenny shows off personal effects, including a RUN-DMC/Beastie Boys mixtape given to her by late former child actor Corey Haim in the 80s, a jar of Stumptown Coffee that she ordered off the internet, and a giant cardboard cutout for The Wonder Years movie, featuring a 12-year-old Jenny Lewis, that Jenny begged her mom to take home from their local movie theater in Van Nuys.
SPIN-related: Chuck Klosterman said in a 2006 article that Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis [were] indie rock’s version of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. They’re my Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
Jenny Lewis’s “Just One Of The Guys” Music Video (2014)
In addition to Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis also has a catalogue of solo material. I remember seeing her at the Boston Calling music festival around this time and thought, “Yeah, Jenny Lewis will be cool forever.” It’s not just me – even Academy Award-winning celebrities cannot underestimate her impact. Apparently, Anne Hathaway was brought “back from the depths” by “A Better Son/Daughter”. She was such a fangirl that she felt awkward about actually becoming friends with Jenny Lewis IRL. Anne Hathaway appeared, alongside Kristen Stewart and Brie Larson, in Jenny’s music video for “Just One Of The Guys” in 2014. I love a music video where people seem like they’re genuinely having fun.
Jenny Lewis’s CBS interview (2014)
Anthony Mason: It almost sounds like you felt like you didn’t want to finish this record.
Jenny Lewis: *Grimaces* Yeah.
AM: Why do you think that was?
JL: I was afraid.
AM: What are you afraid of?
JL: Well, I didn’t want it to suck.
DRAMATIC VOICEOVER: Judging by the reception for Lewis’s new single – it doesn’t.
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A couple days later, they performed in New Haven, CT, where they didn’t know why pizza was called “apizza”, but I’ll let it slide. It’s Neapolitan dialect! Like when people say their family is from “Apulia,” (half of mine is!) it’s English for Puglia. More on Italian American Connecticut stuff in next week’s letter ;)
He’s credited in early TV appearances (~early-mid-90s) as Blake Soper, later TV appearances (~late 90s-00s) as Blake Swendson, and Blake Sennett as a musician. His full name is Blake Sennett Swendson.
I hate to be "that guy" but just as you did with IMDB, I'm submitting a correction.
You say in the Jenny & Johnny section
“...a giant cardboard cutout for The Wonder Years movie, featuring a 12-year-old Jenny Lewis, that Jenny begged her mom to take home from their local movie theater in Van Nuys.”
It isn’t the “Wonder Years” movie, it is The Wizard.
Great article though! I love Rilo Kiley!
I had nooo idea that Jenny went back that far! I first heard Rilo Kiley at my college's dining hall around 2007 and got really obsessed with them ("Silver Lining" was my jam). I'm going to have to watch these earlier videos later.