TV episodes that were a riff on, homage to, or parody of a movie (only two versions of It’s a Wonderful Life– one sitcom, one drama, ditto for A Christmas Carol)
Xena, Warrior Princess: s4.e17 “The Play’s the Thing”: parody of The Producers (1967) [year for clarity as there are two-- not a requirement]
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S7E15 “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang”: Parody of Ocean’s Eleven
The Goldbergs S4E1 “The Breakfast Club”: Parodies The Breakfast Club
Family Guy S8 E20 “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”: parody of The Empire Strikes Back
South Park S4E16 “The Wacky Molestation Adventure”: parody of Children of the Corn
The Simpsons “A Streetcar Named Marge” (S4E2): parody of A Street Car Named Desire and includes a side plot where Maggie pulls off a parody of The Great Escape, with bonus incidental music by Elmer Bernstein. (Part 2)
Quark E3 “The Old And The Beautiful:”; parody of ST:TOS episode “The Deadly Years”.
TV episodes that were a riff on, homage to, or parody of a movie (only two versions of It’s a Wonderful Life– one sitcom, one drama, ditto for A Christmas Carol)
Xena, Warrior Princess: s4.e17 “The Play’s the Thing”: parody of The Producers (1967) [year for clarity as there are two-- not a requirement]
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S7E15 “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang”: Parody of Ocean’s Eleven
The Goldbergs S4E1 “The Breakfast Club”: Parodies The Breakfast Club
Family Guy S8 E20 “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”: parody of The Empire Strikes Back
South Park S4E16 “The Wacky Molestation Adventure”: parody of Children of the Corn
The Simpsons “A Streetcar Named Marge” (S4E2): parody of A Street Car Named Desire and includes a side plot where Maggie pulls off a parody of The Great Escape, with bonus incidental music by Elmer Bernstein. (Part 2)
Quark E3 “The Old And The Beautiful:”; parody of ST:TOS episode “The Deadly Years”.
Seinfeld, S3E17, “The Boyfriend,” with its segment on “the Magic Loogie,” a parody of JFK
TV episodes that were a riff on, homage to, or parody of a movie (only two versions of It’s a Wonderful Life– one sitcom, one drama, ditto for A Christmas Carol)
Xena, Warrior Princess: s4.e17 “The Play’s the Thing”: parody of The Producers (1967) [year for clarity as there are two-- not a requirement]
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S7E15 “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang”: Parody of Ocean’s Eleven
The Goldbergs S4E1 “The Breakfast Club”: Parodies The Breakfast Club
Family Guy S8 E20 “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”: parody of The Empire Strikes Back
South Park S4E16 “The Wacky Molestation Adventure”: parody of Children of the Corn
The Simpsons “A Streetcar Named Marge” (S4E2): parody of A Street Car Named Desire and includes a side plot where Maggie pulls off a parody of The Great Escape, with bonus incidental music by Elmer Bernstein. (Part 2)
Quark E3 “The Old And The Beautiful:”; parody of ST:TOS episode “The Deadly Years”.
Seinfeld, S3E17, “The Boyfriend,” with its segment on “the Magic Loogie,” a parody of JFK
That '70s Show: s4e3 "“Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die”: Halloween episode, homage to Hitchcock with riffs on multiple films: Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds, and North by Northwest.
TV episodes that were a riff on, homage to, or parody of a movie (only two versions of It’s a Wonderful Life– one sitcom, one drama, ditto for A Christmas Carol)
Xena, Warrior Princess: s4.e17 “The Play’s the Thing”: parody of The Producers (1967) [year for clarity as there are two-- not a requirement]
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S7E15 “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang”: Parody of Ocean’s Eleven
The Goldbergs S4E1 “The Breakfast Club”: Parodies The Breakfast Club
Family Guy S8 E20 “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”: parody of The Empire Strikes Back
South Park S4E16 “The Wacky Molestation Adventure”: parody of Children of the Corn
The Simpsons “A Streetcar Named Marge” (S4E2): parody of A Street Car Named Desire and includes a side plot where Maggie pulls off a parody of The Great Escape, with bonus incidental music by Elmer Bernstein. (Part 2)
Quark E3 “The Old And The Beautiful:”; parody of ST:TOS episode “The Deadly Years”.
Seinfeld, S3E17, “The Boyfriend,” with its segment on “the Magic Loogie,” a parody of JFK
That '70s Show: s4e3 "“Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die”: Halloween episode, homage to Hitchcock with riffs on multiple films: Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds, and North by Northwest.
NewsRadio S4E22 “Sinking Ship”: Parodies Titanic
New category:
Famous cliffhanger episodes and how they left us
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield (including Tito Puente!) with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Dallas: “Who Shot JR?” Obvious followup to #2.
The West Wing: “What Kind of Day Has it Been”. Someone just took a shot at the president.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Dallas: “Who Shot JR?” Obvious followup to #2.
The West Wing: “What Kind of Day Has it Been”. Someone just took a shot at the president.
The Walking Dead “Last Day on Earth”. Negan establishes his dominance by choosing one series regular to kill by use of “Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe.” Before it fades to black, we see the murder occur from the perspective of the victim, who is revealed to be Abraham in the Season 7 premiere.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Dallas: “Who Shot JR?” Obvious followup to #2.
The West Wing: “What Kind of Day Has it Been”. Someone just took a shot at the president.
The Walking Dead “Last Day on Earth”. Negan establishes his dominance by choosing one series regular to kill by use of “Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe.” Before it fades to black, we see the murder occur from the perspective of the victim, who is revealed to be Abraham in the Season 7 premiere.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “The Gift.” Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn, and the world; the episode ends with a shot of her gravestone, leaving viewers to wonder, until the next season, if and how Buffy could return from the dead.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Dallas: “Who Shot JR?” Obvious followup to #2.
The West Wing: “What Kind of Day Has it Been”. Someone just took a shot at the president.
The Walking Dead “Last Day on Earth”. Negan establishes his dominance by choosing one series regular to kill by use of “Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe.” Before it fades to black, we see the murder occur from the perspective of the victim, who is revealed to be in the Season 7 premiere.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “The Gift.” Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn, and the world; the episode ends with a shot of her gravestone, leaving viewers to wonder, until the next season, if and how Buffy could return from the dead.
Batman: “Hi Diddle Riddle.” Molly slips Batman a molly at a dance club while the Riddler knocks out Robin with a tranquilizer gun and abducts him. Batman is in no condition to persue the gang and is forced to turn over his keys to the police. Will he save Robin? Tune in tomorrow! Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel!
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Dallas: “Who Shot JR?” Obvious followup to #2.
The West Wing: “What Kind of Day Has it Been”. Someone just took a shot at the president.
The Walking Dead “Last Day on Earth”. Negan establishes his dominance by choosing one series regular to kill by use of “Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe.” Before it fades to black, we see the murder occur from the perspective of the victim, who is revealed to be in the Season 7 premiere.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “The Gift.” Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn, and the world; the episode ends with a shot of her gravestone, leaving viewers to wonder, until the next season, if and how Buffy could return from the dead.
Batman: “Hi Diddle Riddle.” Molly slips Batman a molly at a dance club while the Riddler knocks out Robin with a tranquilizer gun and abducts him. Batman is in no condition to persue the gang and is forced to turn over his keys to the police. Will he save Robin? Tune in tomorrow! Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel!
Doctor Who: “The Sound of Drums.” The Master artificially ages the Doctor, the Troclofane descend on Earth to kill 1/10th of the population, and Martha uses the vortex manipulator to escape.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Dallas: “Who Shot JR?” Obvious followup to #2.
The West Wing: “What Kind of Day Has it Been”. Someone just took a shot at the president.
The Walking Dead “Last Day on Earth”. Negan establishes his dominance by choosing one series regular to kill by use of “Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe.” Before it fades to black, we see the murder occur from the perspective of the victim, who is revealed to be in the Season 7 premiere.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “The Gift.” Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn, and the world; the episode ends with a shot of her gravestone, leaving viewers to wonder, until the next season, if and how Buffy could return from the dead.
Batman: “Hi Diddle Riddle.” Molly slips Batman a molly at a dance club while the Riddler knocks out Robin with a tranquilizer gun and abducts him. Batman is in no condition to persue the gang and is forced to turn over his keys to the police. Will he save Robin? Tune in tomorrow! Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel!
Doctor Who: “The Sound of Drums.” The Master artificially ages the Doctor, the Troclofane descend on Earth to kill 1/10th of the population, and Martha uses the vortex manipulator to escape.
The Good place: “Michael’s Gambit” The group figures out that they are actually in the bad and have their memories erased.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds”. Picard has been altered by the Borg, and the Enterprise is ready to use its weapon to stop them from reaching Earth. “Mr. Worf. Fire.”
The Simpsons: “Who Shot Mr. Burns.” Mr. Burns enrages everyone in Springfield with his evil shenanigan and is shot by a mysterious assailant. Dr. Hibert says “Well I couldn’t possibly solve this mystery. Can YOU?” while pointing to the fourth wall, the view pulls back to show he is pointing at Chief Wiggum who answers that he’ll give it a shot seeing as how it’s his job.
Dallas: “Who Shot JR?” Obvious followup to #2.
The West Wing: “What Kind of Day Has it Been”. Someone just took a shot at the president.
The Walking Dead “Last Day on Earth”. Negan establishes his dominance by choosing one series regular to kill by use of “Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe.” Before it fades to black, we see the murder occur from the perspective of the victim, who is revealed to be in the Season 7 premiere.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “The Gift.” Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn, and the world; the episode ends with a shot of her gravestone, leaving viewers to wonder, until the next season, if and how Buffy could return from the dead.
Batman: “Hi Diddle Riddle.” Molly slips Batman a molly at a dance club while the Riddler knocks out Robin with a tranquilizer gun and abducts him. Batman is in no condition to pursue the gang and is forced to turn over his keys to the police. Will he save Robin? Tune in tomorrow! Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel!
Doctor Who: “The Sound of Drums.” The Master artificially ages the Doctor, the Troclofane descend on Earth to kill 1/10th of the population, and Martha uses the vortex manipulator to escape.
The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit” The group figures out that they are actually in the bad and have their memories erased.
My Name Is Earl: “Dodge’s Dad” - Joy is about to tell everyone who Earl Jr.'s real father is.
That was both the season, and the series, finale. Then the network cancelled the show. Grrrrr.