# Inside Jokes on TV Shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498 "2013-02-16T14:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Flying\_Saucer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Flying\_Saucer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flying_Saucer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/1 "2013-02-16T14:30:06Z")
Tony Hale recently guest-starred on an episode of _Up All Night_. When he met Will Arnett’s character, he said, “What’s up, my brother?” – a reference to the fact that the two men played brothers on _Arrested Development_. Similarly, Alicia Silverstone recently appeared on several episodes of _Suburgatory_. When Jeremy Sisto first meets her, he says he’s “clueless” about ordering smoothies while a Cranberries song plays in the background. Both of these are allusions to _Clueless_, which starred both Sisto and Silverstone. Does anyone know other inside jokes like these? I know _Arrested Development_ and _30 Rock_ indulged in them all the time, but I’m looking for other examples. I don’t mean jokes like [Pixar’s A113](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A113), but rather gags that are specific to the actors or the situation. There doesn’t seem to be a section for this on TV Tropes, but if I missed it, please let me know. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/2 "2013-02-16T14:47:18Z")
When Dan Castellaneta guested on Veronia Mars, he muttered a “D’oh!” when he walked away from a team of students who had given an incorrect answer. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/3 "2013-02-16T14:49:46Z")
On a first season ep of _Justified_, a character asked Raylan if he liked westerns. Drawled Olyphant, “Used to.” Anti: When Maureen Lockhart guest-starred on _B5_, they completely avoided having her encounter Bill Mumy’s character. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/4 "2013-02-16T15:24:56Z")
**Castle** has Nathan Filion dress as Mal Reynolds from **Firefly** for a costume party, though he called it a “space cowboy” costume. **Doctor Who** had an episode, “Remembrance of the Daleks,” which was set a the time **Doctor Who** was first broadcast. In one scene, they show BBC-TV about to introduce the first episode of **Doctor Who** ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/5 "2013-02-16T15:40:25Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > . . .Anti: When Maureen Lockhart guest-starred on _B5_, they completely avoided having her encounter Bill Mumy’s character. I remember. She played June Robinson on an earlier series with Mumy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/6 "2013-02-16T15:41:56Z")
> [@Flying\_Saucer](#): > > There doesn’t seem to be a section for this on TV Tropes, but if I missed it, please let me know. I think you’re looking for [Shout Out](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ShoutOut/LiveActionTV); my favorite is Richard Dean Anderson being told they’ve managed to MacGyver a solution on STARGATE, but Tom Wopat needing to slide through the window of a Dodge Charger on SMALLVILLE comes pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/7 "2013-02-16T15:45:10Z")
[Actor allusion](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ActorAllusion/LiveActionTV) would also apply. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/8 "2013-02-16T15:50:24Z")
In _Hamlet_, Hamlet asks Polonius, when they’re talking about Polonius’ acting past, who he had played. Polonius replies that he did enact Caesar. He was killed in the senate. Then he adds, “Brutus killed me.” Richard Burbage would have certainly played both Hamlet and Brutus, and it’s pretty clear that whoever played Polonius was also Caesar in Shakespeare’s earlier play. OK, I’ll play by the rules. When Robin Williams guest starred on _Happy Days_ (the spinoff episode that launched _Mork and Mindy_), Mork watches _The Andy Griffith Show_ on tee-vee. Mork wonders aloud about Opie - “Why would an earth boy have a Martian name?” Oh, when Jay Leno guest-starred on _Baywatch_, in one scene he’s explaining to a puzzled David Hasselhoff about a show where “the car could talk to him.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/9 "2013-02-16T15:50:31Z")
On _The Simpsons_, they’ve referenced the voices of Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil (and their father) to the Cranes on _Frasier_ many times. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/10 "2013-02-16T15:54:34Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I remember. She played June Robinson on an earlier series with Mumy. I’m assuming this is a subtle joke _LiS_ fans will appreciate? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/11 "2013-02-16T15:55:23Z")
John Lithgow on _Third Rock from the Sun_: “The same thing happened to meeeeeeee!” If you don’t get it, the Big Giant Head showed up, played by William Shatner. He apologized for being late, saying there was a man on the wing of his airplane. Shatner was in the classic _Twilight Zone_ episode [“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734600/combined). Lithgow starred in the segment of [the Twilight Zone movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086491/combined) that remade that episode. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/12 "2013-02-16T16:34:22Z")
On a recent episode of “Raising Hope”, when the family is visiting Hollywood, wacky mother Martha Plimpton (of “The Goonies”) is talking about how fleeting fame is and says, (words to the effect), “One day you can be starring in a Steven Spielberg movie and the next you’re playing a wacky mother in a sit com.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/13 "2013-02-16T16:46:30Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Castle** has Nathan Fillion dress as Mal Reynolds from **Firefly** for a costume party, though he called it a “space cowboy” costume. Not just that one - the show is filled with _Firefly_ nods: “Two by two, hands of blue” - Castle makes the gesture while wearing blue medical gloves “You’ve never heard of Serenity?” - Long pause and a slow head turn [Castle rattles of a long burst of Mandarin] “Semester abroad?” “No, just a show I used to love.” In a nod to the supporting cast, one Halloween show had Ryan and Esposito dressed as a doctor and a soldier, since the actors were previously on _General Hospital_ and _Generation Kill_. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/14 "2013-02-16T16:52:24Z")
**June** Lockhart played Billy Mumy’s mother in Lost in Space. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/15 "2013-02-16T17:01:23Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > **June** Lockhart played Billy Mumy’s mother in Lost in Space. And _her_ name was Maureen Robinson! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/16 "2013-02-16T17:05:47Z")
One of the best lines ever on _Frasier_ was when his ex-wife “Nanny G” said plaintively “Do you have any idea what it’s like to play the same character for twenty years?!” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/17 "2013-02-16T17:21:56Z")
On Rosanne when they switched actors for the older daughter there was a line like “We sent our daughter of to school and when she came we didn’t even recognize her”. Also, the Arquette credits on Friends. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/18 "2013-02-16T18:01:16Z")
Speaking of Firefly, Adam Baldwin was part of the cast of the hardly -seen -by -anybody -but -me procedural The Inside. In one of the scenes he’s talking to a colleague: “So what did you do this weekend”- he says. “Oh, we went to the movies.” “Anything good” “Nah, a western space opera” Adam Baldin tries to contain a smile. Obviously the Serenity movie was playing in theaters at the time. Baldwin’s “you got me” reaction makes me believe that it was all an unrehearsed moment. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/19 "2013-02-16T18:42:22Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > On a recent episode of “Raising Hope”, when the family is visiting Hollywood, wacky mother Martha Plimpton (of “The Goonies”) is talking about how fleeting fame is and says, (words to the effect), “One day you can be starring in a Steven Spielberg movie and the next you’re playing a wacky mother in a sit com.” On the first episode of “Raising Hope” a tv in the background is showing a news segment talking about a guy who made a list to right his past wrongs “and you’ll never believe how it ended” at which point the tv stops. A reference to “My Name Is Earl” which didn’t get a proper ending. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/20 "2013-02-16T18:52:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > On Rosanne when they switched actors for the older daughter there was a line like “We sent our daughter of to school and when she came we didn’t even recognize her”. Reminds me of the line in _Poldark_ when the new Dr Ennis is reunited with his fiancee after being held for months in a French POW camp: “You don’t understand, Caroline. I … I’m not the same man who went away!” I kept waiting for her to say “No, by Jove, I don’t think you are!” :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498.md?page=2)