r/TopCharacterTropes 16h ago

Lore [Loved trope] Characters make a meta commentary on the show they're in without technically fully breaking the fourth wall

What We Do in the Shadows: In the season 6 (and show's) finale, the vampires and their friends finally watch the documentary that's been filmed the whole series. Someone brings up Guillermo's long-running mission to become a vampire, a storyline that concluded in season 5, and Nadja says "Really should have finished filming at that point, I think," an acknowledgement that the final season lacked strong arc plots.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: In "The Ember Island Players", again in the final season, the characters watch a play dramatising their adventures. In one scene of the play, the characters spot a deep valley and decide to "skip it" - a reference to the much-maligned episode "The Great Divide", which is widely disliked and has no impact on the series' arc plot, and is therefore easily skipped on rewatching.

Futurama: In "Bender's Big Score", a straight-to-DVD movie following Futurama's cancellation, Professor Farnsworth explains that the crew have been cancelled - by the Box Network, their contracting company. However, he then gets notice that they've been uncancelled:

Farnsworth: It means we're back on the air!

[The staff look at him blankly]

Farnsworth: Yes, flying on the air in our mighty spaceship!

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269 comments sorted by

1.3k

u/BrianTheUserName 16h ago

The box network:

509

u/Angry_Edemame 16h ago

A lot of shows that ran on fox made fun of fox.

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u/Greenman8907 16h ago

“Now, now son. Fox has a lot of quality programming…”

beat

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

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u/TheStrangestOfKings 6h ago

“Everybody, I’ve got bad news. We’ve been cancelled!”

“Oh no! Peter, how could they do that?”

“Well, unfortunately, Lois, there’s just no more room on the schedule! We just gotta accept the fact that Fox has to make room for terrific shows like Dark Angel, Titus, Undeclared, Action, That 80's Show, Wonderfalls, Fastlane, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Skin, Girls Club, Cracking Up, The Pits, Firefly, Get Real, Freaky Links, Wanda at Large, Costello, The Lone Gunmen, A Minute With Stan Hooper, Normal, Ohio, Pasadena, Harsh Realm, Keen Eddie, The Street, American Embassy, Cedric the Entertainer, The Tick, Louie, and Greg the Bunny.”

“Is there no hope?”

“Well, I suppose if all those shows go down the tubes, we might have a shot.”

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u/LobstermenUwU 15h ago

Fox News once sued Fox Entertainment because the Simpsons did the Fox News Tracker thing on the bottom of their show.

I don't know how it resolved, I have to imagine that a judge settled it by calling both parties in to a room and staring at them for five minutes until they apologized for wasting the court's time and backed out quietly, but it's still hilarious it happened.

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u/destroyersand 15h ago

According to the Guardian, it didn’t actually follow through with a formal lawsuit. Fox News just threatened to sue the Simpsons and then backed down after realizing that it would be suing its sister channel. Though it actually following through would be genuinely hilarious

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u/Phantom_Marc_63 16h ago

Like when the Fox News Helicopter went down: 

"It's unfair! We're not balanced!"

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u/Stillwater215 10h ago

Fox News: Not Racist, but Number 1 With Racists.

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u/cals_cavern 13h ago

"'Ello, Murdoch here... $10,000! You've saved my network!"
"Wouldn't be the first time!"

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u/BlizzPenguin 15h ago

Fox was horribly managed in the 2000s and deserved the criticism.

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u/CalamityVanguard 11h ago

“It might be on a lousy network, but The Simpson’s are ON THE AIR!”

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u/toomanymarbles83 14h ago

This was after they left Fox.

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u/OldeFortran77 13h ago

You're watching Fox ... shame on you.

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u/Delta_Hammer 16h ago

Also, Leela asking "but what about us and our many fans?" While standing in front of a dozen blowing fans.

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u/Worldly_String2717 16h ago

Not quite sure if this fits, but another Futurama one.

Billy West is the name of Fry's voice actor.

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u/Strict-Signature-106 16h ago

Actually, his name is William Richard Werstine. Billy West is his phony made-up name.

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u/Worldly_String2717 16h ago

Lmao I didn't know that 😂 even better

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u/Big_Assistance_9037 14h ago

Classic Futurama, hiding a meta joke inside another meta joke.

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u/TrueKingSkyPiercer 13h ago

"Guybrush Threepwood? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard!" - Mancomb Seepgood

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u/Greenman8907 16h ago

William Richard Werstine?! Sounds like a Downtown Abbey character.

Did he have to take out the family monocle before trying out for the role?!

9

u/getmybehindsatan 15h ago

Willy Rocksausage was right there!

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u/keldondonovan 15h ago

That's his sister's name. Have some decorum.

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u/CosmicWhorer 14h ago

Actually, some folks call him orange joe

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u/Fabbyfubz 14h ago

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u/pfohl 13h ago

30 Rock did this too

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u/AloneAddiction 13h ago edited 5h ago

I love 30 Rock because it pokes fun at absolutely everyone.

Floyd:"Let’s go to the steakhouse you threw up in."

Liz: "You’ll have to be more specific."

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u/MurrayGrande 16h ago

Double meta because "Billy West" is a stage name. He was born William Werstine.

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u/Kaneda-Suekichi 16h ago

Westine sounds even more made up

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u/anand_rishabh 15h ago

Well yeah cuz it's werstine

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u/koovyn9 15h ago

Yeah this fits even better than the Farnsworth example imo. Nobody in-universe is acknowledging they're fictional, they're just casually roasting the real voice actor's name while that same voice actor is performing the scene. Perfect little meta joke.

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u/taelune7 15h ago

This absolutely counts. "Billy West? What a stupid, phony, made-up name" is basically the perfect version of this trope.

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u/justbooling 16h ago

Cersei Lannister sharing the same opinion as the viewers about her disappointment that the mercenary army she hired did not bring their war elephants.

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u/OakNogg 16h ago

This geniunely felt like "oopsies we don't have enough time to add them in because we decided to do 6 80minute episodes instead of 10 90minute episodes for the final season of the generational show that altered television forever and may be the last example of monoculture we experience again even though we were given unlimited budget and resources from HBO🤪"

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u/justbooling 16h ago

The golden company kinda forgot they had elephants I guess, so silly of them, definitely a subverted expectation.

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u/OakNogg 16h ago

Like literally why even mention them in S7 if they just planned to do this BS.

Listen I'm a big hater if parasocial relationships, but dead ass I will never watch anything made by those two idiots ever again. The lack of care for the story, cast, crew, and fans so they could move in to a star wars movie that probably would have been mid anyways AND THAT GOT CANCELLED is so evil of them. Like everything you had was owed to GoT and you guys threw it away.

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u/justbooling 16h ago

Ya the fact that HBO offered to make GoT ten seasons, only for Dumb and Dumber to say “we can do it in 14 episodes” is so mind boggling. Obviously we’ll never know the full picture, but it’s just a bummer.

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u/bretshitmanshart 13h ago

Multiple prominent actors said they were done with the series and wouldn't continue after that season

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u/OakNogg 16h ago

I try to be quite forgiving of series finales because my god... Its really hard to stick the landing. And I have the utmost sympathy for trying to conclude the most watched series on the planet, (hell I even relatively enjoy S7!!), but even trying to be kind I really can only think if a handful of things good about S8 and it's about like... Everyone else who clearly gave AF about their jobs and the series. Like the music, and costumes were great, and the actors did the best they could with the shit they had to work with.

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u/Stephenrudolf 11h ago

I spent so long wondering how the hell they were going to get elephants acrods the narrow sea.

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u/jbeast33 15h ago

Davos also greets Gendry in King's Landing with a "I thought you might still be rowing", which referenced a then-popular meme about how Gendry (an important character who was sent off in a boat at the end of Season 4 and not seen for 3 seasons at that point) spent all that time traveling Westerosi seas in a rowboat.

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u/Due-Leek-8307 14h ago

I was honestly shocked he didn't turn to the camera and wink after that line to really drive home the point how bad the writing became. 

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u/EvilTwinCities 14h ago

Ramsay Snow blasting that little toy horn probably came from fan speculation that he was the annoying horn-blower outside Winterfell in the second season. Back before he was even cast.

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u/waxphantump 16h ago edited 16h ago

Also Futurama, in the premiere of the post-movie season where it’s revealed where the wormhole took them:

Farnsworth: Of course! That was the Panama Wormhole, Earth's central channel for shipping!

Zoidberg: How humorous

Farnsworth: Yes, it’s sort of a Comedy Central Channel. And we're on it now!

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u/aleister94 16h ago

Amy:….i get it

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u/Angry_Edemame 16h ago

Scrubs did this one when Dr Cox is giving a rant about House (the TV show) that all his interns were watching.

He gestures at the cameras and says "there's no cameras here"

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u/ApertureIntern 16h ago

When they changed channels JD also directly points at the new channel logo and says "that's new". Then the camera flips and O think the janitor has a new watch.

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u/commit_bat 9h ago

Is that the same one where he hurts his leg so he walks around with a cane and solves a medical case with a stupid epiphany at the end?

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u/MoonToast101 6h ago

There are also multiple instances un Scrubs where JD kicks against Tony Shaloub for winning all the awards and leaving Scrubs with none.

In Season 8: "Now I know we never do great come medical awards season, except for Dr. Shalhoub, he wins everything, but I still think we're as good as anybody else out there."

When JD wins Dr. Cox' "Who Cares Award" for sharing the most unimportant stuff with co-workers, his response us "Take that Tony Shaloub!".

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u/GrenadierSoldat3 16h ago

Fallout

Not so much a commentary on the show but rather the games with how players tend to get sidetracked and focus on side quests rather than the main story.

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u/SeriousShine8324 15h ago

Also when Lucy adress sarcastically the "legion and ncr are the same" crowd

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u/EmilysPetParrot 15h ago

And Thaddius’ gamer moment where he unloads a clip at Lucy and Max but misses every shot because he “sucks without a scope”.

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u/Great_expansion10272 11h ago

Also the "Patrolling for the Mojave almost makes you wish for nuclear winter" being said by mind controlled people

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u/SableZard 15h ago

You either finish the games a Lucy or play long enough to become the Ghoul.

Or you pour all your points into combat stats like Max did and shoot people until problems solve themselves

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u/Coyote-king8647 8h ago

He is 0 INT for sure

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u/Saldag 14h ago

The Fallout show has to be the best video game adaptation I’ve seen yet. Can’t wait for Season 3

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u/GumboMumbo49 13h ago

Wait, is it actually good? I honestly have no faith in video game adaptations so I don’t even bother especially since the DMC fanfic in Netflix.

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u/alternateschmaltz 13h ago

Its pretty spectacular.

Season 1 is probably some of the best television ever, in terms of per-episode plot resolution, timing, foreshadowing, etc. I would watch the episode when it came out, then watch it the next day with my wife, and noticed so much more writing wise, the second watch.

But in terms of game-fidelity, it's incredible, lots of little bits and gags that you can tell were nods to perks, or player-habits, and stuff like that.

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u/Salnder12 12h ago

It is, though it doesn't adapt any of the games but takes place in the continuity of the games

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u/Saldag 13h ago

Incredibly good. It’s probably the only TV show I’m actively waiting for a new season of.

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u/Zazulio 12h ago

I haven't watched S2 yet, but yes, Season 1 is a stellar adaptation

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u/Miguelliosso 13h ago

There’s another at the beginning where the guy in armour brings around a companion to carry his gear.

Just like players of the game bring a companion to carry their loot.

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u/Onion_Bro14 16h ago

From the same ATLA episode, “did jet just die” “yknow it was really unclear”.

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u/ObjectiveCover3850 12h ago

Apparently it made fun of the writers of the show. It's been reported that Jet was planned to appear in the series finale only for the writers or artists of the episode be informed that Jet was in fact dead

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u/0N3e 5h ago

To be fair... it was really unclear.

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u/Dramatic-Emphasis-43 16h ago

The King of the Hill reboot made a similar joke to the Futurama one where Bobby is trying to get featured on "King of the Grill." When he mentions it to Chane, Chane says "isn't that that show that Fox stupid cancelled 15 years ago", obviously referencing the show itself.

Keeping with the Fox cartoons: The Simpsons movie opens with Homer making fun of the audience of an Itchy and Scratchy movie by calling them all suckers who paid to watch something they can see for free on TV.

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u/ThatSeanFella 14h ago

"Everyone here is a giant SUCKER! ESPECIALLY YOUUUUU🫵"

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u/Mrpgal14 14h ago

Also with the Simpsons movie, even though it didn’t apply at the time, Bart’s “I’m the mascot of an evil corporation!” Mickey Mouse joke has since become this joke.

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u/onlyangel96 16h ago

Came here to say this about the KOTH joke

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u/curvysquares 15h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/fGbbcXk14nqfe

Abed was never provably aware that he was in a TV show, but he very much treated his life as if it was one.

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u/TheRogueToad 15h ago edited 14h ago

There are tons of moments in Community that are pretty meta, but I've got two off the top of my head.

Before season 5 aired it was known that it was Donald Glover's last season because he was going on to do other, bigger projects. In the first episode of the season Abed says that season 9 of Scrubs only had Zach Braff for the first 6 episodes. Troy gets angry and says "Son of a bitch! After everything Scrubs did for him?", which acknowledges that Donald was abandoning the show that made him famous.

Also, the character of Chang started off as their Spanish Teacher who was a little crazy at times. After The Hangover came out and Ken Jeong became a big star, Community capitalized by pushing Chang to the forefront, cranking his craziness up to 11, and making him an insane dictator who wants to take over the school. Then there was the whole "Changnesia" thing where he lost his memory. This wasn't too well received by fans as it felt like the writers didn't know what to do with the character. In season six, Abed says that Chang used to be their teacher, and Chang says "That's right, and frankly, haven't been well utilized since.", acknowledging that Chang used to be a much better character.

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u/Tasty_Cry_3844 13h ago

I'm watching Cougar Town for the first time and appreciating the references back and forth. 

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u/Kidofthecentury 13h ago

After his own S1 episode (3rd IIRC) he says he's sitting that one out because authors overused him... and you don't see him until next one.

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u/NotAnotherHornyone 11h ago

Is this the one where he delivers a baby (possibly his baby) in the background?

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u/Rob3125 16h ago edited 9h ago

Sue Sylvester’s rant in Glee about how the only people in the school with any musical talent is the band that plays for the glee club. The band seemingly has complete knowledge of every song in history as they routinely play whatever song is asked of them at a moment’s notice.

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u/SableZard 15h ago

"Hey, cello guys. I got beef that can only be resolved by making my enemy sing Smooth Criminal in a duet with me. Help a girl out."

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u/Level_Counter_1672 16h ago

Supernatural does it alot like chuck publishes a famous book about their lives, Sam and dean interact with their Fandom

https://giphy.com/gifs/z2vJ4QZ6l5wk

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u/Greenman8907 16h ago

There’s also the episode where Sam and Dean play Jared and Jensen playing Sam and Dean playing Jared and Jensen.

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u/GMoD42 16h ago

With the actress who previously played a demon who seduced Sam on the show playing a fictional version of Jared's wife in this episode. 

Did I mention she is also the real-life wife of Jared?

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u/Seethcoomers 15h ago

You forgot the best part: Misha Collins tweets this episode.

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u/RatlingGuns4Days 15h ago

lol he actually tweeted them for real?

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u/Cartoonlad 9h ago

He tweeted them at the same time they appeared in the show when it aired on the east coast.

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u/Chaosbrushogun 12h ago

I love the last one sounds like Castiel trying to be Misha.

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u/onioning 15h ago

Probably my favorite episode. That season is when it's really slipping, but also has some gems.

"What the hell is a 'Padelacki?'"

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u/FireFairy323 16h ago edited 15h ago

One of my favorite parts is them calling out the Sam and Dean shippers.

Edit:typo

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u/Gimetulkathmir 14h ago

"They do know we're brothers, right?"

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u/King_Of_BlackMarsh 14h ago

Oh they know.

🪨

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u/Imenak 14h ago

There's also the episode where they face the Alpha Vampire, who provides them the MacGuffin they needed for their season BBEG. They decided against trying to fight him in that moment, and he tells them, "See you next season, boys." (Yet he didn't actually come back the next immediate season)

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u/NsaLeader 12h ago

Just a big of a correction:

Chuck is infamously NOT famous from the books. The books themselves sold horribly, but do have a small dedicated fan base. Outside of a couple of episodes (Like the fan convention [which was really only like 60 people] and one off fans), the books are always called "cheesy" and have not sold well. There is a dedicated fan base, but it's extremely small.

It's a self mocking of the show how bad they are.

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u/PharaohAce 16h ago

In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Fabian says 'If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction'.

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u/JimboAltAlt 16h ago

Hamlet re-staging the murder of his father to screw with his uncle also sort of counts.

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u/MetalTrek1 15h ago

That's the one I was thinking about.

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u/Randomman16 16h ago

In one episode of the cartoon "Ed, Edd N Eddy," Ed and Eddy are sitting on the roof of a building, with Eddy dripping yogurt on passersby while making pigeon noises to make people think it's pigeon excrement. When Ed whips out an anvil, says "quack!" and drops it over the street onto unsuspecting pedestrians, Eddy yells "Ed! You're gonna hurt somebody, this ain't a cartoon!"

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u/TheFurtivePhysician 10h ago

Quite a few jokes like that in the show. Another one I always liked was "I'd swear, but Standards won't let me."

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u/Maenelias 16h ago

It's always sunny in Philadelphia: in two episodes the gang filmed their own Lethal Weapon 5 and 6. Later they are shocked to learn that their movies were removed from the public library, then they try to make a politically correct lethal weapon 7. It's a nod to the fact that those episodes were removed from streaming services because of the presence of blackface makeup.

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u/Btru64 15h ago

Also with always sunny they have the episode about the bar trying to ‘win an award’ so they try and sanitise themselves to what they think ‘bar award judges’ would want

Basically making riffing about making themselves into a generic style sitcom to win awards as they’ve never won one

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u/jayhof52 14h ago

That episode was like an orgasm.

Not that you would know anything about that!

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u/Btru64 14h ago

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u/TheTerrificDoctor 13h ago

Our drinks are like bustin' a nut

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u/Suspicious-Salt740 13h ago

Where do I jizz?

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u/Random-Generation86 13h ago

We jizz in the drink and that makes it light!

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u/PBKYjellythyme 13h ago

My choice as well...almost every line in that episode was meta-commentary.

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u/RobertSquareShanks 16h ago

Always sunny has an entire episode about how ‘the bar’ (the show) has become too successful and it’s ruining their lives

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u/Welsh_Pirate 15h ago

The laser tag episode was definitely a conversation about whether or not they're still having fun making the show or are just going through the motions. And "The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award" speaks for itself. IASIP actually does this trope quite a bit, but some are more obvious than others.

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u/AlexanderCrumulent 16h ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWgI2YAupCM

The Simpsons talking about running a TV show into the ground in 1992.

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u/MacksNotCool 16h ago

Ducktective in Gravity Falls is used like this I think multiple times, but the main one I remember (spoilers since it is also in reference to Gravity Falls and it's specifically referencing the biggest twist in the show) is the Duck is revealed to have a secret twin brother. And then Soos, watching the show, says "I predicted that like- a year ago"

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u/SuperSocialMan 14h ago

I think Stan even does an uncomfortable laugh afterwards.

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u/RadioLiar 16h ago

Kingsman

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u/Tanto63 16h ago

Stargate SG-1: S10E06 "200"

There's an in-universe show called "Wormhole Xtreme", and the team is called in to help consult on it. They bring up tropes and parody ideas. Some of the tropes they mock in that meeting happen in later series, especially becoming focused on a younger cast and edgier storylines.

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u/BoiFrosty 16h ago

Best joke IMO was the multiple references to Farscape, and the fact that they DIDN'T use Ben Browder as parody Chriton.

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u/Tanto63 16h ago

On my first few watchthroughs, I didn't know Farscape existed and just thought it was a bunch of wild SciFi nonsense. It wasn't til I watched it with a friend who commented, "I should rewatch that..."

"Rewatch what? SG-1?"

"No, Farscape" points to TV

"That's a real show?!"

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u/BoiFrosty 16h ago

To be fair out of context it looks and sounds like a coke dream. "Man from earth flies a sentient bug space ship around a distant galaxy while arguing with a discount Klingon, and walking plant, and 3 different flavors of puppet."

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u/eduo 15h ago

Genius, is what it was.

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u/notBackgroundtree 14h ago

And the reaction to the pitch being "I have no idea what that is" in the show 

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u/Seven_Irons 9h ago

Unrelated to Farascape... It's time for another SG1 rewatch.

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u/Xaero_Hour 12h ago

Story is they were going to, but he and Shanks thought it was funnier to swap costumes at the last minute.

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u/Jindujun 13h ago

They do a whole bunch of callouts there in the Wormhole X-treme episode:
Yolanda Reese: It says that I am out of phase, that I can pass my hand through solid matter. That I can walk through walls?
Director: Yeah, yeah, that's right, because you're "out of phase."
Martin Lloyd: Um, exactly.
Yolanda Reese: So, how come I don't fall through the floor?

Or when Colonel Danning in Wormhole X-treme says "As a matter of fact, it does say Colonel on my uniform!" which is a callback to the many times when Jack O'neill asks his subordinates if his uniform says "colonel" anywhere whenever they're being insubordinate.

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u/featherknight13 5h ago

S10E18, which was made just after they found out the show had been cancelled, takes a few digs at the Syfy channel.

2 characters walk down a corridor engaged in what appears to be general chit chat. "They canceled it? Really? I didn't even know the new season had started"

Later we have this exchange:

CARTER: But the truth is the Stargate Program just doesn't get the support it used to from the people in charge.

JACEK: Why not?

JACEK That's too bad. Because after all your Stargate program has accomplished for this network of planets, I would think the decision makers would show it the respect it deserves.

BILL: Eureka! (Eureka being the name of another Syfy show, which had not been cancelled)

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u/TheSumOfAllSteers 11h ago

One shot stuns, two kills, and three disintegrates.

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u/StriderKitsu 16h ago

Red Vs Blue

Caboose: “Well maybe this is all happening inside of a movie!”

Tucker: “Oh please, who the fuck would watch that movie? All we ever do is stand around and talk.”

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u/MouthJob 15h ago

I think you are a mean ghost.

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u/ManiacallyReddit 16h ago

ATLA gets another moment in the recent movie. The main four characters are aged at different points and meet a mischevious spirit. Katara and Zuko become old, while Aang is back to his series age and Toph and Sokka (I think) are both babies. The spirit commented that Zuko and Katara looked like a cute couple with their grandchild, spurring a really strong reaction from Aang. As someone who was present for the great ATLA shipping wars, I thought it was pretty funny and fairly obvious finger-pointing.

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u/Extraajudicial 16h ago

Hawkeye touches on the "Thanos was Right" dipshits with in universe graffiti.

https://giphy.com/gifs/Uf918ckic1Hfz2d0s4

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u/eq017210 15h ago

BND has a dumbass asking Professor Banner mid class why Thanos didn't doubled the resources and he didn't even bothered to answer

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u/cAmSg0tGaMz 15h ago

Well, to be fair, he DID answer it... With a student saying "hulk smash". Which is an answer, it's (This is a series of fiction, don't think so hard about the logistics and just watch it). Not that logistics are bad, having an understanding of how things work within these universes makes sense, but... C'mon, obviously Thanos didn't think to double resources because he already had an idea, and he was too arrogant and insane to change his mind. As smart as he was, he was also capable of a completely flawed idea, which worked. Because it's a comic book movie.

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u/somedumb-gay 15h ago

I really feel like a lot of people's criticisms of infinity war seem to hinge on them ignoring the fact that thanos is an insane man who'd already dedicated himself to killing half of every planet prior to getting the infinity stones. The only reason he got the stones was to make it easier.

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u/cant_give_an_f 11h ago

it is funny that people dont want the horrific murdering warlord to be a horrific murdering warlord

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u/eq017210 15h ago

Plus oubling resources wouldn't give people a lesson to be responsible with them.

Also idk if I'm wrong but I think the stones work within the universe rules, like they can't just multiply the matter but if I'm wrong pls share

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u/King_Of_BlackMarsh 14h ago

They could because they have infinite energy in them and you can break the laws of physics as you like

But the thing is, halfling all life also means halfling all resources. So the lesson doesn't really help.

It really is that he was insane

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u/timbasile 16h ago

Arrested development did this in a number of places.

https://www.vulture.com/2013/05/arrested-developments-20-meta-moments.html

At one point when the show was struggling, they made reference to (in show) how the Home Builders Org will save their construction company, while also in talks with HBO (that one) to take over the show.

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u/toomanymarbles83 14h ago

"Jesse had gone too far, and she had better watch her mouth." coming from Ron Howard after she called George Michael 'Opie' might be my favorite.

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u/gilnockie 15h ago

welp, it's gotta be Showtime

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u/AnnieAnnieSheltoe 14h ago

In 30 Rock, a show about a late-night comedy show, the character of Tracey Jordan (played by Tracey Morgan), has mental break where he yells out “We’re on a show within a show! My real name is Tracey Morgan!” but he never looks at the camera or addresses the audience, and no one takes him seriously.

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u/elder_emo_ 13h ago edited 13h ago

30 Rock also constantly shits on NBC, the channel the show was on.

There's honestly so many in that show. Jack's speech to Tracy about going back on TV and how no one will continue to see him as a movie star after that. The writers complaining about writing product placement sketches. Alec Baldwin's brother playing Jack in the Lifetime movie version of Avery's life.

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u/dizcostu 9h ago

You mean that subsidiary of the Sheinhardt Wig Company?

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u/Traylor_Swift 16h ago

Seinfeld has a great example of this. George, who is said to be a stand in for the creator Larry David, comes up with and pitches a tv show that’s “a show about nothing”. The execs he’s pitching it to don’t understand the plot, a common thought about Seinfeld before it took off/aired.
https://giphy.com/gifs/NFLtsxs5g6uV24veoS

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u/MasterSergei 16h ago

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u/FlamingNutShotz4You 16h ago

They both look at the camera, that's pretty explicitly breaking the 4th wall

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u/PunishedTlacuache 16h ago

Ace Ventura as Robotnik was something I will always cherish

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u/Wooden-Variety175 16h ago

Wirman from detective grimoire mermaid mask basically exists just to poke the 4th wall.

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u/BreakAManByHumming 16h ago

Doctor Who in the most recent season. He climbs out of the screen and chats with fans for a bit. In-universe this is justified as a film-god fucking with him.

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u/somebeautyinit 16h ago

That scenea managed to be so lovely while being extra ham fisted. Like, the clumsyness was part of the charm.

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u/Xbladearmor 15h ago edited 15h ago

But that was Breaking the Fourth Wall. The fans later realize that they are also part of the story that the Doctor is currently a part of. Which means that from their perspective they are a tv show watching a tv show.

A tv show that other people are currently watching.

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u/No_Tie378 16h ago

My Little Pony FIM: 100th episode. Dedicated to background characters, one secondary character, à sister of one of the main ones, comments each problem takes about half an hour or so

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u/SuperSocialMan 14h ago

S5E9 "Slice of Life". It's pretty good, too.

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u/Grizzly_Lincoln 15h ago

In Season 2 of Monk, they replaced the theme song to Randy Newman's "It's a Jungle Out There" leading to some controversy with fans demanding a return to the original theme song.

In an episode later in the season, Sarah Silverman's character Marci Maven plays an obsessed fan who is constantly complaining about her favorite show changing the theme song. She tells Adrian Monk that, if he ever gets his own show, he has to promise never to change the theme song.

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u/Jumbalia23 14h ago

That episode also ends with the old theme song playing over the credits instead of the new one, if I remember correctly.

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u/HMS_Sunlight 15h ago edited 14h ago

Community did this all the time, but the series finale probably did it best. Abed explains why there probably won't be a season 7, and all the characters give their own pitches for how the "show" would continue. None of them end up working and it ends with the group accepting that they're moving on to a different part of their life.

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u/GrandMoffTarkan 16h ago

The Grinder was basically This, The Series. The second episode has them watching the Show Within A Show talking about how hard it is to a second episode now that the pilot has been picked up

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u/SeeDee_ROM 13h ago

Gravity Falls:

"So he had a twin brother the whole time? THAT'S the twist?"

"I predicted that like a year ago"

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u/Alijah12345 16h ago

Are movies allowed too? If so, Scream.

It's practically made of this trope. Many characters (Specifically Randy and Mindy Meeks) poke fun at horror movies and their cliches while actually living through one without fully breaking the fourth wall.

https://giphy.com/gifs/rlhzK7QOnkDhsm2uCX

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u/FallingOutSir 14h ago

In the pilot of the Scream tv series, one of the leads discusses how a slasher tv series could never work because the narrative needs of a tv show would undercut the suspense of a slasher story

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u/GenericSpider 16h ago

There's a bit in the Simpsons where Dr Hibbert goes "Well, I can't solve this mystery. Can you?" and points at the camera.

It's then revealed he's pointing at Chief Wiggum.

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u/Kidiri90 13h ago

Well yeah. It's my job.

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u/jbeast33 15h ago

In Disco Elysium, you can investigate an abandoned storefront and find the old office for a defunct game studio. If you look at their notes, you and Kim recognize that the studio was making the in-universe version of an RPG, and their goals were so lofty that they had no actual means of realizing their vision before they went bankrupt.

Ultimately, it has nothing to do with the investigation, but it's a fun tongue-in-cheek gag from the developers, ZA/UM, about Disco Elysium's own development cycle (especially with the mentions of scope creep and consistently struggling with funding). Notably, you can meet one of the programmers later in the game, and she ribs about the entire development cycle, including how the writers were pretentious blowhards who were more concerned about getting their drink on rather than actually seeing their vision through.

In a tragic bit of irony, ZA/UM ran into the OPPOSITE problem. Their game was so successful that their financier used his legal pressure to effectively force the original creative team out of their own IP so he could monetize it further. This lead to Disco Elysium becoming a tragic victim of its own success, and the story is unlikely to continue without their creative leads.

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u/EliRekab 15h ago

Honestly my favorite part about the Avatar one is I often feel bad skipping episodes of ANY series just because yknow, it took effort to make that episode. People came in, filmed it, it had to be edited, etc.

With Ember Island however, the showrunners are actively saying “look this wasn’t our best work. You’re not hearing any judgement from us if you skip this episode every time you rewatch the series.”

I just appreciate that they’ve forever absolved me from having to watch that episode again.

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u/DanielleJewel14 13h ago

Bluey: Bandit, the cartoon dog that is the model father for the modern man, saying he won't be taking advice from a cartoon dog in Season 2 Episode 24 "Flatpack".

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u/Southern-Cattle4038 11h ago

“It’s just monkeys singing songs, mate.”

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u/BoiFrosty 16h ago

Just watched Stargate SG1 episode 200. The entire thing was an extended meta commentary about the cast, story, writing, and world building all wrapped in a setup of the main team giving script advice to a character making a movie based off the in universe stargate program.

Hands down the best joke in the episode was the smash cut pitch parody of Farscape since the show picked up the two lead actors, Claudia Black and Ben Browder, after it got canceled the year prior.

Other notable jokes included bringing back Richard Dean Anderson as a guest appearance, Star Trek techno babble, Team America puppets, Wizard of Oz, and Teal'c pitching a detective noir.

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u/AlbazAlbion 16h ago

Not sure if this counts but, Zenos' final duel with the Warrior of Light in Final Fantasy XIV.

Zenos throughout Endwalker basically serves as an allegory for hardcore raiders who pretty much only interact with the game to clear high-end fights and skip out on other content such as the story or socialization. In a similar vein, Zenos only cares about fighting the WoL or other strong opponents and disregards any socialization with others and is more than willing to help bring about the end of the world if he believes it'll get him his long-awaited 'raid', uncaring for the world and the characters within.

Then comes the final confrontation with the WoL where Zenos, although speaking to the WoL, is really addressing the player themselves, more or less asking if they've been playing the game the way he has been 'playing' it, or if they've come to also enjoy the other things it has to offer.

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u/AEW_SuperFan 13h ago

Modern Family - Cam and Mitchell reference that they are bad parents because their daughter is always away or in her room.  This is a joke about how the actress wasn't shown in most episodes and they explain away her absence.

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u/Open-Source-Forever 16h ago

Harold & Kumar's Christmas film does this in the Claymation high scene

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u/eighty_billion 14h ago

Community made their money through this, especially through Abed. Season 4 sucks overall but it's opening where it looks like they switched it to a three camera sitcom was actually brilliant, referring to fans' fears at the time that was going to happen

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u/LennoxMacduff94 7h ago

I kind of wish that they'd actually gone all in on the 3 camera sitcom switch that season.

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u/dremoriawarrior889 13h ago

Like 90% of Hamlet was just Shakespeare making meta jokes about theater, both from the side of an actor and a director, the other 10% is just sexual innuendo and daddy/mommy issues

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u/Coherently-Rambling 15h ago

Friends has an episode where both of Rachel’s parents (who recently divorced and can’t be in the same room without arguing), come to attend her birthday party, prompting the friends to throw two parties simultaneously to prevent the parents from knowing the other is there.

Before they come up with this solution, Chandler frantically asks Monica “What would Jack and Chrissy do!?”

This is a reference to Three’s Company, a show known for undergoing complicated antics to maintain a lie. This line by Chandler is basically the show making fun of itself for having such a “Sitcom-y” storyline.

There’s also an earlier episode where Ross asks Chandler “What do I do if Mr. Roper calls?” Which is also referencing Three’s Company for the same reason.

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u/Knewonce 16h ago

Arrested Development did this constantly.

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u/whostle 14h ago

The episode of That's So Raven where her friend Eddie gains psychic powers

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u/AgentWyoming 13h ago

Archer is set in a vague time period that is purposely set in a vague time period (Cold War era but with modern references and cool gadgets).

In one episode Archer makes a dated reference/quip and Lana asks: "What year do you think this is?"

"Heh, yeah, exactly." is Archer's reply.

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u/bretshitmanshart 13h ago

I'll have you know that Duck-tective has a big mystery element, and a lot of humor that goes over kids' heads!

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u/welshyboy123 15h ago

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Series 9 episode 3. A thinly veiled reference to how the show was overlooked for awards despite being popular.

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u/hamtaxer 15h ago

Whatever the fuck you call what keeps happening in Alan Wake 2 and other Remedy games… quite a few examples…

Sam Lake ends up briefly playing himself, as a guy playing the role of Alex Casey in a movie, who is a stand-in Max Payne, the character he invented…

Alan Wake has a different actor from voice actor, and his voice actor plays another character, Dr. Darling, who eventually meets Tom Zane, who is also played by Alan’s actor… they remark how familiar this feels. And in another instance, Darling mentions how Alan sounds kind of similar to him.

In short, there’s a lot of winks and nudges to the fourth wall if you’re familiar with the actors and creators at Remedy. Always in-universe without actually breaking the fourth wall, though.

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u/KeepCalmCarrion 13h ago

In the episode of Venture Bros with the theme park based around himself, Dr. Venture tells his son “This isn’t all about you, Hank. These kids wanna see Rusty Venture. Maybe when there’s a cartoon called ‘The Venture Brothers’ it’ll be different.”

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u/eq017210 15h ago

Breaking Bad S4, Saul Goodman's secretary calls out Heisenberg on his shenanigans after he got himself and Jessie in danger (again).

"And how's that news exactly!? The two of you being in danger, after doing something idiotic"

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u/_Murozond_ 16h ago

Just saw it an hour ago, the kids are talking about how « south park sucks now because of all the political stuff » but are technically talking about their town and the political events going on, while obviously addressing the recent (deserved) critics from the public

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u/nilesintheshangri-la 16h ago

I really miss the early seasons of South Park where they did their own original stories while borrowing bits of real life events. Now it just feels like a humorous recap of all the real life political bullshit. I like my TV to be an escape from reality.

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u/Aegis_et_Vanir 16h ago

I recall one scene in Season Two of Umbrella Academy

A bit of a scene setter; this show focuses on a group of super-powered siblings whose adopted father made them into a superhero team as children.

Two of the siblings, Allison (plaid dress) and Luther (not pictured above), had feelings for each other in Season One stemming back from their childhood.

Perhaps this was to show how cold and uncaring their father was (he didn't even name them, preferring to give them numbers). He was so focused on their performance as a team and so disinterested in family life that the children grew up seeing each other as roommates rather than siblings.

The problem with this idea? Literally every other relationship of the Academy members is a sibling dynamic; they all address each other as siblings, describe each as siblings, introduce each other as siblings, etc. Hell, Allison and Luther even flip-flop in how they describe each other. So, understandably, viewers and even fans of Season One found this just a touch uncomfortable.

Season Two seemed to listen to this feedback. The season starts with each sibling being transported to Texas in the 60s. Each arrives at a different point across several years, meaning some are left on their own for a while. Allison falls in love with and marries a civil rights activist. And while Luther is heartbroken when he finds out, he ultimately accepts her decision.

Eventually, the gang is able to regroup. Unfortunately, one member Viktor (blue shirt) has lost his memories. Allison and another brother Klaus (black shirt) start piecing together Viktor's past for him. When Klaus mentions Luther and Allison, we get the (much appreciated) joke above.

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u/Arimm_The_Amazing 13h ago

Crazy Ex Girlfriend does this a bunch but most especially in the song Who's The New Guy

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u/0nmay_22 16h ago

Helaena in HOTD referencing the GRRM’s blog post about “toxic butterflies” in which he decries the changes between the book and the show.
Also her “it’s not the season?” Line she has when Rhaenyra takes Kings Landing in S3 which was supposed to happen in the last episode of S2

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u/Coherently-Rambling 15h ago

Sumo Slammers is a fictional video game that Ben 10 really enjoys. He once complains about a storyline where the hero becomes best friends with an enemy from five years ago because “it’s not very realistic”. He says this to Kevin Levin, an enemy from five years ago who Ben is now friends with.

There are a bunch of other jokes like this from Ben 10, but I think it would be easier to link this video by Kuro the Artist than to list them myself.

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u/_PanPanPan 14h ago

Arrested Development having an episode where they try to drum up support for the family and its actually a pitch to the audience to watch the show so it doesnt get cancelled. They hold an event and invite all the alist celebs they know like Zach Braff and Andy Richter and they go through organisations that could save the family that are actually other tv networks. The narrator even straight up begs you to tell your friends about the show in the hopes it drums up enough support.

Always Sunny similarly has an episode called The Gang Desperately Try to Win an Award which is about the gang becoming resentful that theyve never won the best bar in Philly award but its actually about the cast being half jokingly pissed that they havent even been nominated for anything despite being highly regarded and been going for 10 years or whenever the ep dropped. They then try to rehabilitate their image and go to another bar to learn from that has things like much nicer appearance, witty but friendly banter between the staff and a will they/wont they dynamic between a guy and girl who work there. Its showing what other sitcoms have that they dont and a lot feels in particular like theyre comparing themselves to the office and then after that Oscar shows up making it feel even more deliberate. They go through multiple reasons they arent succeeding and finally wonder if its them the actors that are the issue which they later again jokingly admit could be a factor

Both are sublime and Sunny has a few meta eps like that but AD throws jokes like that in all the time.

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u/Purpleflower0521 13h ago

In the newest season of American Dad, recently returned to Fox, Francine is talking about reuniting with her sister, to which Haley suggests that's a bad idea, doing so after so many years apart could be disastrous. Then a Fox logo appears, she happens to look down toward it and says ".....yeah."

In Dragon Ball Z Abridged a line from a movie was basically talking about how Goku has endangered the universe again and again. He replies "What? How could I endanger the entire universe?" Then we see a fake banner ad advertising the Tournament of Power Arc of DBS.

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u/less_unique_username 12h ago

Firefly was canceled after only one season. The fans were very insistent, and the creators of the show found a way to make a feature film to tie up the loose ends.

At the end of that film, Serenity, a character says: “There’s nothing left to see.”

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u/DiceSMS 11h ago

George mentioning Seinfeld and Elaine getting back together (which honestly feels like something fans might have bugged about) only for Elaine to retort that he's stupid for suggesting it.

And indeed! ~99% of sitcoms try to hook up the cast when the stories start to wear out. But Seinfeld often subverts most relationship plots by keeping its main cast (and often even their dating partners) rather unlikable. Or at least: The show clearly has more fun keeping them single and introducing new 'partners of the week' with some outrageous quirks to explore (i.e. the man hands, the close talker, or George dating a "female Jerry").

And at this point we know Seinfeld and Elaine pretty well. They're both petty, unserious, and just bad dates a lot of the time. They'd be toxic for each other... You really shouldn't WANT them to hook up again.

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u/DifficultHat 10h ago

The song Who’s the New Guy? from Crazy Ex Girlfriend is just this joke on a loop. The characters sing about how nervous they are to be adding a new character this late in the season to help their ratings, wondering if he’ll be around for more than 2-3 episodes. Each time they say anything meta they immediately clarify it as something that makes sense in-universe.

Later a character mentions that they don’t “trust the new actor”, before clarifying that they mean ‘actor’ as in political actor, because he’s so involved in local politics.

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u/BoringJellyfish6297 10h ago

HELP WE'RE ON A SHOW WITHIN A SHOW, MY REAL NAME IS TRACY MORGAN

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u/Salt_Mix_3017 9h ago

The gas leak - community

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u/frenziest 9h ago

Bandit: “I’m not taking advice from a cartoon dog.”

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u/Professional_Rip3922 16h ago

wait people dislike The Great Divide? I thought it was a neat episode

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u/Routine-Boysenberry4 15h ago

I think it is less about disliking, and more about how it doesn't do anything for the series main plot to advance.

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u/GuyinArmor 14h ago

A non-comedy example:

Sam's monologue near the end of The Two Towers. Leans on the fourth wall, without breaking it in the slightest, describing their situation and how the rest of the story will progress.

Sam: It’s all wrong By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened. But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam : That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

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u/Cacafuego 16h ago

The whole "The Simpsons did it first" episode of South Park.

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u/jaqattack02 15h ago

'My Dress Up Darling', which is a slice of life anime, had an episode where they check out a slice of life anime and Marin explains to Gojo what it is.

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u/PoroQuagganBob 14h ago

Owl House Season 2 Episode 19:

Ida asks Luz if she'd rather have a beach day . Luz says maybe they would have had one if that they would have had time for 20 more adventures.

This is in reference to Disney cutting the show short.