# TV episodes with (relatively) subtle movie parodies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102 "2014-01-17T21:55:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/1 "2014-01-17T21:55:46Z")
Subtle: meaning not the annual Christmas episode where a character dreams that he’s Ebenezer Scrooge. I saw this twice in the same week: syndicated episodes of 30 Rock and Modern Family, that ended with a parody of the famous final shot of The Godfather (closing the door of Michael’s office in Kay’s face) Or the 30 Rock episode where Tracy is developing a porn video game, that’s one long parody of Amadeus. And The Simpsons did this all the time – like the episode where Homer is suddenly Flanders’ best friend, that includes a parody of Terminator 2. These tickle my inner movie geek - I feel like “I get it! Ha! I’m cool!” 🙂 Others? ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/2 "2014-01-17T21:58:39Z")
One of the Seinfeld episodes had a bit of parody of Midnight Cowboy. I’d have to look up the details though. [Found the youtube clip.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6KElMnn1Bw) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/3 "2014-01-17T21:58:42Z")
Not sure if this counts, but _ **All in The Family** _ did a version of Kurosawa’s _ **Rashomon** _, in which Archie, Meathead and Edith each tell very different stories about an encounter they witnessed between Archie and a black repairman (played by future _ **Barney Miller** _ star Ron Glass). Archie, of course, remembers the black repairman as a thug and himself as a perfect gentleman, while Meathead remembers the repairman as a grinning, shuffling Uncle Tom and Archie as a neo-Nazi. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/4 "2014-01-17T22:12:43Z")
**Modern Family** does this all the time, but my absolute favorite was from the episode “Fulgencio” where they parodied the baptism murders from **The Godfather**. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/5 "2014-01-17T22:24:20Z")
The most recent full season of **Doctor Who** had an episode called “Journey to the Center of the TARDIS”, which is an homage to the classic Jules Verne yarn [Journey to the Center of the Earth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_Center_of_the_Earth). ---
**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:** [January 17, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/6 "2014-01-17T23:53:13Z")
Seinfeld did it with “JFK” except instead of the president getting shot it was Mets player Keith Hernandez getting spit on. “Back and to the left.” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/7 "2014-01-18T00:00:37Z")
[Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUrK8CNHQz0&feature=player_detailpage#t=1457) my favourite scene from _Spaced_. See if you can guess what it’s parodying. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/8 "2014-01-18T00:05:01Z")
The final shot of the first season of **Weeds** was a **Godfather** parody. It would have been far less subtle if they could have gotten the rights to the Godfather Theme, but the budget didn’t allow it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/9 "2014-01-20T23:53:48Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Not sure if this counts, but _ **All in The Family** _ did a version of Kurosawa’s _ **Rashomon** _, in which Archie, Meathead and Edith each tell very different stories about an encounter they witnessed between Archie and a black repairman (played by future _ **Barney Miller** _ star Ron Glass). Homages to that show are so common that it has a [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon_effect). Note, I said Wikipedia, not TV Tropes. The term “Rashomon effect” is actually used in formal literary circles. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/10 "2014-01-21T01:12:51Z")
One episode of **Chicago Hope** had them putting together an ad campaign. When it was revealed, it was a parody of the opening credits to **E.R.** (I didn’t realize it because I never watched **E.R.** The two shows were both set in Chicago hospitals and premiered opposite each other). **Community’s** parody of **My Dinner With Andre** was fairly subtle. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/11 "2014-01-21T01:20:35Z")
**Raising Hope** has done **The Wizard of Oz** , **It’s A Wonderful Life** , and **Rear Window** and probably a few others I didn’t recognize as parodies. A google search says they’ve also done **Almost Famous** and **Back to the Future**. I’m not good at picking up on parodies – I just don’t expect them. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/12 "2014-01-21T01:27:09Z")
The late 50’s Western show _Cheyenn_e had episodes that were virtual remakes of, e.g. _To Have and Have Not_, and _Treasure of the Sierra Madr_e. Why yes, I am indeed the king of topical references. Why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/13 "2014-01-21T01:34:21Z")
Buffy the Vampire Slayer had two of the best: Lyle and Tector Gorch, two of the desperadoes from [The Wild Bunch](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065214/?ref_=nv_sr_1) show up as vampires in the otherwise dismal episode [Bad Eggs](http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Bad_Eggs). I am so glad I’d recently rewatched _The Wild Bunch_ before seeing that episode. Gave me a fist pounding moment of geek happiness, it did. Lyle returned in the much better episode [homecoming.](http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Homecoming) Also, [Older and Far Away](http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Older_and_Far_Away) has a plot device lifted from Luis Bunel’s surrealist art movie [The Exterminating Angel.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056732/?ref_=nv_sr_2) ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/14 "2014-01-21T02:12:42Z")
Psych does this rather frequently. One of my favorites is the Twin Peaks homage, [Dual Spires](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_Spires). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/15 "2014-01-21T02:24:47Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > **Raising Hope** has done **The Wizard of Oz** , **It’s A Wonderful Life** , and **Rear Window** and probably a few others I didn’t recognize as parodies. A google search says they’ve also done **Almost Famous** and **Back to the Future**. I’m not good at picking up on parodies – I just don’t expect them. _The Back To The Future_ one guest-starred Christopher Lloyd and he was driving a DeLorean so I’m guessing you didn’t miss the reference - you must have missed the episode completely 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/16 "2014-01-21T02:30:19Z")
**That '70s Show** did **Reefer Madness**. I was going to say they did a parody of it, but RM itself was so over the top that the T7S version hardly had to exaggerate anything to be funny. **Everybody Hates Chris** had a more subtle homage to **The Bicycle Thief**. Chris’s bike gets stolen and he spends the rest of the episode trying to find it and reclaim it. As in TBT, he eventually gets fed up and steals, or tries to steal, someone else’s bike. As in TBT, he immediately gets swarmed by bystanders. People watching TBT for the first time tend to yell at the screen, “Where were all these people when **his** bike got stolen?!” On EHC, adult Chris says on the voiceover, “Where were all these people when Tupac got shot?!” ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/17 "2014-01-21T02:40:07Z")
_The Simpsons_ have done several parodies of _The Graduate_ (the part where Benjamin shows up at the church and starts pounding on the window during the wedding). It happened in the episode where Homer thinks he’s going to die from blowfish poisoning, and the one where Marge’s mom marries Mr. Burns. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/18 "2014-01-21T02:40:09Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > The late 50’s Western show _Cheyenn_e had episodes that were virtual remakes of, e.g. _To Have and Have Not_, and _Treasure of the Sierra Madr_e. > > Why yes, I am indeed the king of topical references. Why do you ask? I saw those episodes and I figured Warner brothers just didn’t want to pay for new scripts those weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/19 "2014-01-21T02:58:38Z")
The sitcom, **Get Smart** , was almost entirely movie spoofs… with the title some sort of pun-play on a cinematic title, and references to the movie’s plot and/or characters in the episode. In fact, as a kid, the series was an introduction, of sorts to many classics of cinema. Years later, I’d see a movie and start to say, “Hey, they ripped off Get Smart!” Ship of Spies Rebecca of Sunny-Folk Farm Casablanca The Amazing Harry Hoo (Charlie Chan) Bronzefinger Witness for the Persecution Dr. Yes The Mild Ones The King Lives (A send up of Prisoner of Zenda, with Max channeling Ronald Coleman) The Secret of Sam Vittorio (Bonnie and Clyde transformed into Connie and Floyd) Tequila Mockingbird (send up of the Maltese Falcon) Absorb the Greek To Sire with Love Greer Window (Rear Window) The Not So Great Escape Valerie of the Dolls The Treasure of C. Errol Madre Ice Station Siegfried The Apes of Wrath House of Max The Mess of Adrian Lissenger (The List of Adrian Messenger) How Green Was My Valet Smartacus What’s It All About, Algie? Hello, Columbus, Goodbye, America I am Curiously Yellow ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102/20 "2014-01-21T03:16:23Z")
[Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261392/?ref_=nv_sr_6) has several, including Daredevil, Scooby-Doo, Batman, Chasing Amy (if you count a character saying that Chasing Amy would never work as a movie), and more. [Dogma](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120655/?ref_=nv_sr_6), another Kevin Smith movie, features a couple, including an homage to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-episodes-with-relatively-subtle-movie-parodies/679102.md?page=2)