Creators add details no one need notice.

[Silentgoldfish]

@Tengu

Actually, it was ‘They should at least have a Roddenberry’s’ - it was a listing of restaurants the planet might have.

Correct quote:
“Don’t get your hopes up, we’re a billion miles from anywhere.”
“Yeah, it’s probably only got a Howard Johnson’s.”

Incidentally, is that just bagging a particular food chain or what? It’s a joke where not living in the US hinders enjoyment.

[Tuckerfan]

@Silentgoldfish

Correct quote:
“Don’t get your hopes up, we’re a billion miles from anywhere.”
“Yeah, it’s probably only got a Howard Johnson’s.”

Incidentally, is that just bagging a particular food chain or what? It’s a joke where not living in the US hinders enjoyment.

It’s a hotel chain in the US that at one time was quite popular, but ran itself into the ground thanks to mismanagement. IIRC, the chain was bought out by somebody and is still around, but it’s been ages since I’ve seen an ad for one.

[sjc]

@Jurph

Alan Moore’s The Watchmen is even more infamous for this. Historical references, like Pres. Ford tripping as he steps out of Air Force One, and pseudo-historical references, too. The letters “RR” keep showing up, sometimes back-to-back as a reference to the character Rorschach – but then later on, someone is reading a paper that says “Cowboy Actor In The White House: RR for Prez?” above the fold… on the next page the character has turned over the paper, and the subheading says “Redford persuaded to run by Dems” or somesuch.

A character named The Comedian has a throwaway scene where someone asks if he heard what happened to those two Post reporters – “Woodward and some Jewish name” – who were found murdered in a parking garage. He says something to the effect of “There’s a Berkeley paper claims they were killed because they had dirt on Nixon… just don’t ask me where I was that night… ha ha ha!”

There’s even a chapter which is panel-for-panel symmetrical from front to back, to mirror the symmetry of Rorschach’s mask. The attention to detail is amazing, and throwing in all the minutiae must have taken a ton of work!

Moore may be better known for this, but having read both the Watchmen and the Sandman series, I find that Sandman is chock-fuller of references than The Watchmen. I also find that his references are more for ranging.

(Part of this is just the nature of the stories being told. Alan Moore does a great job working in references in a story that is shorter and has a more limited scope.)