# 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:** 3
**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, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/41 "2013-02-16T21:37:57Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > [Actor allusion](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ActorAllusion/LiveActionTV) would also apply. One from that page too good not to mention: > [@](#): > > In one 2004 episode Frasier’s ex-wife, the children’s entertainer Nanny G, asks him if he has any idea what it’s like playing the same character for twenty years. Of course, Kelsey Grammer knows exactly what it’s like, having played Frasier since 1984. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/42 "2013-02-16T22:08:53Z")
Rob Morrow played FBI agent Don Eppes on _Numb3rs_. In one episode, the villain threatens to have him reassigned to Alaska. Thoughtfully, Don said, “I’ve never been to Alaska.” The inside joke is that Morrow played a doctor working in Alaska for several years on _Northern Exposure_. ---
**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, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/43 "2013-02-16T22:58:01Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > One from that page too good not to mention: Psst! Post #16. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/44 "2013-02-16T23:17:34Z")
I think the episode of Star Trek Enterprise that had Dean Stockwell meet Scott Bakula had one say to the other something about wanting to meet under better circumstances. They of course did on Quantum Leap. ---
**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 17, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/45 "2013-02-17T00:03:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Psst! Post #16. Told you it was good!! :smack: ---
**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 17, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/46 "2013-02-17T00:08:09Z")
Former Playboy Centerfold Angela Dorian played a number of bit roles in the 1960s. She is probably best \*remembered, if not in name, among \*“Star Trek” fans as the human form of the “Isis” character in “Assignment Earth.” Anyway, in the movie “Rosemary’s Baby,” one of her bit roles, Rosemary (Mia Farrow) crosses paths with her doing laundry (I think), and tells her that she looks a lot like actress Victoria Vetri, which was Angela Dorian’s real name. \*Yeah, I know someone might take exception, but it’s not open for debate. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/47 "2013-02-17T00:34:18Z")
I feel like all of Seinfeld is an inside joke, and if you don’t watch the show from beginning to end you miss a LOT of the humor which probably alienates people. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/48 "2013-02-17T02:33:33Z")
> [@Flying\_Saucer](#): > > 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_. Jeffrey Tambor played Will Arnett’s father (as he had previously on AD) when Tambor guest starred on Running Wilde, and they made some AD references at the time. > [@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.” That two parter had several references, from the Hollywood studio being run by Brian Doyle Murray, reprising his role as Greg’s boss on Yes Dear, to Garrett Dillahunt kicking the NBC exec in the nads for cancelling My Name Is Earl (which is kind of weird that it’s a show in the Raising Hope universe since characters from that show like Patty the Daytime Hooker have crossed over). There was also another episode right after that one where Burt and Virginia’s sex tape they made when Jimmy was a kid wound up in the hands of Jimmy and Christine Hughes (Mike O’Malley, Liza Snyder) from Yes Dear (and they also mentioned their kids, Logan and Dominic, and living in their inlaws guest house) Yes Dear, My Name Is Earl, and Raising Hope are all Greg Garcia shows, in case anyone was wondering what’s up with all the references and crossovers. ---
**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 17, 2013, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/49 "2013-02-17T07:57:54Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > \*Yeah, I know someone might take exception, but it’s not open for debate. You have definitive proof? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/50 "2013-02-17T08:02:52Z")
In one episode of Community, featuring Chevy Chase, they have to do a drug awareness play. Troy and Abed are wearing bee costumes nearly identical to the ones from the Saturday Night Live bees sketches. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/51 "2013-02-17T14:30:39Z")
In Supernatural the boys are on a case in Hollywood and are on the studio tour. Sam has a reaction when they are about to enter the Gilmore Girls set. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FAFQQwSY6EQ/hqdefault.jpg "Gilmore Girls in Supernatural?!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAFQQwSY6EQ) In another episode they find out that someone is writing books detailing their adventures. It’s pretty funny when they discover the online fan world which is full of complainers and slashfic. Just just the online Supernatural fans. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ke6ekjknw64/hqdefault.jpg "Slash fic reaction") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke6ekjknw64) ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/52 "2013-02-17T14:52:21Z")
> [@listedmia](#): > > In one episode of Community, featuring Chevy Chase, they have to do a drug awareness play. Troy and Abed are wearing bee costumes nearly identical to the ones from the Saturday Night Live bees sketches. On _3rd Rock From the Sun_ Mary (Jane Curtain) and Dick are at a SciFi convention and she laughs when people in Conehead costumes walk by. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/53 "2013-02-17T15:06:57Z")
On the TV series The A-Team, in the pilot episode, while at Hollywood Park, Face reacts with a look of recognition to a guy dress up as a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica. Face, of course is portrayed by Dirk Benedict, who starred in Battlestar Galactica. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/54 "2013-02-17T16:03:13Z")
There was an episode of How I Met Your Mother that ended with Barney writing his thoughts about the events of the ep in his computer, Doogie Howser-style, complete with the DH music playing behind him. On Roseanne, besides the example cited upthread, there was a scene where the Tanners are watching Bewitched and commenting winkingly on the Dick York/Dick Seargent “Darren” swap. ---
**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 17, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/55 "2013-02-17T16:59:27Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > On Roseanne, besides the example cited upthread, there was a scene where the Tanners are watching Bewitched and commenting winkingly on the Dick York/Dick Seargent “Darren” swap. One of the things I loved about the film version of _Bewitched_, in early drafts, was the proposal to switch the actor for Darren halfway through, without comment from any of the other cast. I can’t recall who was suggested for the role/s other than Robert Picardo. May have been pure fanwank, but it would have put my butt in a theater seat. ---
**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 17, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/56 "2013-02-17T17:15:03Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > On Roseanne, besides the example cited upthread, there was a scene where the Tanners are watching Bewitched and commenting winkingly on the Dick York/Dick Seargent “Darren” swap. Sorry, I don’t get it. What was their association with _Bewitched_? 😕 I never watched an episode of _Roseanne_, nor did I see the film version of _Bewitched._ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/57 "2013-02-17T18:34:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Sorry, I don’t get it. What was their association with _Bewitched_? 😕 > > I never watched an episode of _Roseanne_, nor did I see the film version of _Bewitched._ In one of the earlier seasons, they replaced the Becky actress, then replaced the replacement with the original a few seasons later. ---
**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 17, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/58 "2013-02-17T19:01:05Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > In one of the earlier seasons, they replaced the Becky actress, then replaced the replacement with the original a few seasons later. Sara Gilbert? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/59 "2013-02-17T19:07:12Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Sara Gilbert? :dubious: No, Gilbert was Darlene, the younger daughter. Lecy Gorenson was the first Becky, replaced by Sarah Chalke (later of Scrubs), then replacing Chalke herself. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inside-jokes-on-tv-shows/650498/60 "2013-02-17T19:28:56Z")
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