"Weird Al" Effect: Difference between revisions

When a parody remains popular after the original works being parodied are no longer well known to the audience.

 

 

Often, people who are only "familiar" with a work through the parody are surprised when the subject of the parody turns out to be [[Better Than It Sounds]].

 

Related to the concept of a [[Forgotten Trope]], except it is not tropes but works or personalities that have been forgotten. Could be an extreme expression of [[Rule of Funny]] (The music may not have had much staying power, but at least the parody is funny). See also [[Adaptation Displacement]], [[Popcultural Osmosis]], [[Older Than They Think]], [[Coconut Effect]], [[Covered Up]] and [[Revival by Commercialization]].

{{examples}}

== Trope Namer ==

* For those wondering how people could make such a mistake with [["Weird Al" Yankovic]], he ''does'' also have a lot of original humorous songs. Most of us older folks know him better for his parodies, but he's spanned a few generations since his Dr. Demento days and is [http://www.weirdal.com/ still going strong]. Moreover, knowing '''that''' a song is a parody and knowing the song it parodies are two different things.

** Coolio was quite peeved about "Amish Paradise", for which Yankovic had obtained permission through official channels but not through Coolio himself. He felt that Weird Al's version [[Genre Savvy|trivialized]] the [[Foreshadowing|seriousness of the song.]]

*** Dare To Be Stupid - [[Devo]] (Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh even said it was "the perfect Devo song")

*** Ringtone - [[Queen]]

* Referenced in [[The Flash Tub]] [http://www.somethingawful.com/d/flash-tub/gamescott-reviews-cartoon.php Gamescott Review] (which is a parody of both 90's internet videos and internet game reviews) in the end credits, crediting Papa Roach's "Last Resort" to "Weird Al", since Weird Al did cover it in one of his medleys.

 

== Advertising ==

* The Energizer Bunny, [[Mascot]] for the Energizer brand of batteries for over 20 years, was originally a parody of an ad campaign by rival Duracell, in which a small and cute bunny with a small drum powered by their battery would last longer than one powered by their chief rival - which, back then, was Everlast (Energizer's ad was that its bunny, like its battery, was too large and impressive for Duracell's ad). In part due to its effectiveness as a campaign and in part due to Duracell not keeping up with the trademarks, the original bunny is all but forgotten in North America (although still active in other continents).

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

** Between ''Nadesico'' and ''[[Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]'' there are buckets of fans who "know" ''[[Uchuu Senkan Yamato]]/Star Blazers'' without ever having seen it.

** Similarly, ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' started as a deconstruction and parody of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. Guess which one got immortalized across the pond in [[Robotech]]?

* ''[[Gunbuster]]'' was actually a parody of ''[[Aim for the Ace!|Aim for The Ace]]'' a ''tennis'' manga and anime series; as well as [[Super Robot]] anime programs like ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' and ''[[Getter Robo]]''.

* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' originally started as a parody of ''[[Journey to the West]]'', which, while still popular in Asia, is more or less unknown in many countries ''Dragon Ball'' was released in except those that had ''[[Monkey]]'' on their TVs.

* The speech "Sometimes I'm a..." is closely associated with ''[[Cutey Honey]]'', so much so that the original source (Tarao Bannai) that Cutey Honey was parodying with that speech has been long forgotten

* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' appears to be headed this way, with more people watching the show having not seen any of the shojo it parodies. The surface humor and well-developed characters serve to attract people who don't get the joke.

 

* The pirates in ''[[Asterix]]'' comics are close parodies (allowing for the difference in art style) of Captain Barbe-Rouge (Redbeard) and his crew in the comic of the same name. Originally published in the same magazine as ''Asterix'', ''Barbe-Rouge'' is almost unknown outside France. You have a shot at recognizing them if you've seen one of the 90s cartoon shows, but the parody characters have such a distinct look that it's not obvious.

** Furthermore the pirates, on yet another occasion when their ship is smashed by Asterix and Co, end up in a sequence with them parodying the now somewhat obscure painting "The Raft of the Medusa". Said painting is actually pretty famous in France, and a mainstay of school textbooks on French painting. The parody has untranslatable French puns involving the idiomatic meaning of "médusé" (stupefied). The [[Woolseyism|English translation]] has them say "We've been framed, by [[Stealth Pun|Jericho]]!" <ref>The painting is by Théodore Géricault, whose last name is pronounced close to "Jericho" in French.</ref>

** ''[[Asterix]]'' generally is packed solid with references to French politics, society, and other such in-jokes, which are funny (in their own right) to everyone else, and absolutely ''hilarious'' to the French. Well, at least to the French who are old enough to recognize said politicians. These jokes tend not to age very well. For example, the antagonist from ''Obelix and Co.'' is supposed to be a parody of Jacques Chirac. Yes, as in ''former President of France'' Jacques Chirac, though the parody was back then focused on his largely-forgotten-outside-France stint as Prime Minister.

* On the topic of comics...how many people today think of the Dalton brothers as the historical Bob, Grat and Emmet, and how many think of the Dalton Brothers as ''[[Lucky Luke]]'s'' Joe, Jack, William and Averell? In Europe and the French speaking world, at least, it's not even a contest.

** There are others who may associate the Daltons as Dinky, Pinky, Stinky, etc. from ''Huckleberry Hound''.

** In Mexico, there's a wrestler known as Solomon Grundy, and we don't know about any rhyme, comic, or cartoon.

** The rhyme itself IS mentioned in the popular Batman series ''[[The Long Halloween]]''. It's also briefly referenced in ''[[Justice League]]''.

** The rhyme is also referenced in the Batman story "One Night in Slaughter Swamp", published in Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 39 (1995).

** The Crash Test Dummies also used his name for their Superman song, only because it rhymed with money. ...sorta.

** He recently had a mini where each of the issue titles was a part of the rhyme.

* Many comic book fans didn't even realize that [[DC Comics]] had other characters besides Wesley Dodds and Morpheus who went by "[[The Sandman]]" until they saw Hector Hall make an ass of himself in volume 2 of [[Neil Gaiman]]'s celebrated series.

** In Thunderbolt's case, he isn't owned by DC anymore.

** And Peacemaker only very superficially resembled the Comedian, making any connection ridiculous on its face. (If they ever met, they would ''not'' get along.)

** Another Watchmen one: Moore and Gibbons' use of the 9-panel grid has prompted a lot of people, [[Did Not Do the Research|including comic book historians]], to believe that Steve Ditko (the creator of the original Charlton characters) worked almost exclusively in the 9-panel grid format. This is not to say that Ditko didn't use it frequently, but it was hardly his "go to" layout.

** In America anyway... Bonfire Night is still a well celebrated national holiday in the UK, and kids are taught about the history behind it in school.

*** Indeed, in the "set tour" featurette on the 3rd series of ''[[The IT Crowd]]'', it's actually ''referred'' to as the ''V For Vendetta'' mask, rather than a Guy Fawkes mask, by Graham Linehan himself!

** For that matter, the English word "guy" is itself a reference to Guy Fawkes that has evolved over the centuries be used as reference for anyone, not just an effigy of the original Guy.

* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' was originally an underground comic strip parody of [[Daredevil]]; the most obvious aspects being the Turtles' master, Splinter (as opposed to Daredevil's "Stick") and their enemies, the Foot Clan (Daredevil's were the Hand). I don't even need to say which one is better known.

** Matt Murdock was hit in the eyes with chemicals in his origin story, while rescuing a blind man from an oncoming truck. In the Ninja Turtles version, the chemical canister bounced off his head, ''specifically'' "near his eyes", and a nearby boy's pet turtles took the hit instead. In some versions the second boy resembles Matt Murdock more, but originally it was a boy named Chester.

* Even with proper annotation you'll be hard pressed to identify most of the references to Victorian literature in ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'', with bonus points if you're even aware of the original work.

* Far more people know Arkham as the asylum populated by ''[[Batman]]'' villains than know it as one of [[Lovecraft Country|Lovecraft's fictional haunted towns in New England]].

** The prototype of the [[Bat Signal]] in ''[[The Bat]]'' was not used to strike fear into the hearts of criminals, but was a notorious criminal's [[Calling Card]] striking fear into the hearts of people staying in an [[Old Dark House]].

* Seeing as ''[[Viz]]'' started as a parody of British children's comics and now the genre it parodies is all but dead with the exception of [[The Beano]] and [[The Dandy (comics)|The Dandy]] and Viz even outsells those two now.

 

* ''[[My Immortal]]'' achieved much of its infamy for taking ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfic clichés to absurd levels. However, ''My Immortal'' long ago transcended the ''Harry Potter'' fandom and will thus likely by many people's first encounter with ''Potter'' fanfiction. Some even [[Watch It for the Meme|Read It For The Meme]] while being unfamiliar with the actual ''Potter'' series. If you're a ''Potter'' fan, you may find it amusing to see [[Draco in Leather Pants]] taken to the point where Draco is an ultra-sensitive wussy. If not, he's just some guy acting stupid. It's also likely many readers, especially outside the United States, will be unfamiliar with the goth/prep sterotypes which the story runs on. For example, Hot Topic is a U.S. retail chain with a [[The Man Is Sticking It to the Man]] reputation, making Tara's view of it as some edgy, non-mainstream place hilarious. But only if you get the reference.

 

** Or "Sergeant! I want my six days' leave!"

* The classic 1940s-era shorts by ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' were often parodies of contemporary films; the Stooges are still not as far off the current pop-culture radar as many of the movies they made fun of.

* The movie ''[[Airplane!]]'' (1980) [[Incredibly Lame Pun|lifts]], often word for word, the story of a 1950s disaster movie called ''[http://www.rogermwilcox.name/zero_hour.html Zero Hour!]'' (As a matter of fact, the Zucker brothers bought the rights to ''Zero Hour!'' so they could use its plot so closely without being sued.) Yet many people compliment ''Airplane!'' for having its own plot instead of doing a scene-by-scene parody. I challenge you to find anyone who knows what ''Zero Hour!'' even ''is'' and didn't find out because it was the basis of ''Airplane!''

** At the time, ''Airplane!'' would have certainly been viewed as a parody of the '70s [[Disaster Movie|disaster film]] craze, specially the ''Airport'' series, which jump-started it. Which itself is pretty forgotten nowadays.

** ''Zero Hour!'' was itself based on a CBC television movie, ''Flight into Danger'', written by [[Arthur Hailey]], of ''Airport'' fame.

*** In fact, ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' may be the foremost reason the 15-21 demographic knows who Hedy Lamarr is currently.

** The page quote for [[Retired Gunfighter]] is taken from a ''[[Twilight Zone]]'' episode. Said quote will be immediately familiar to any fan of Brooks' movie, as the Waco Kid's quote about his past is a very closely drawn parody of the (forgotten) original.

** An even more well-known example from ''Blazing Saddles'': "We don't need no steenkin' badges!" More people know the ''Blazing Saddles'' version of this quote than know the original from ''[[The Treasure of the Sierra Madre]]''.

** Dr. Everett Scott from ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' is also a parody of this archetype, and being wheelchair-bound is a definite homage to Kubrick.

** Strangelove was also a parody of Werner von Braun, the ex-Nazi scientist who worked for NASA. Now that the various atomic bomb scientists are less known, people may associate him with John von Neumann or Edward Teller, neither of whom was an ex-Nazi or sympathetic to the Nazis.

* [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] averts this trope, as the film adaptations started in 1962, are still running and thus more known than the endless parodies (the most memorable being ''[[Get Smart]]'' in the 60's and ''[[Austin Powers]]'' in the 90's).

** It hasn't been the victim of this trope, maybe, but it has been the ''source'' of at least one example: most people think the name "[[Goldfinger]]" is a preposterous [[Meaningful Name]] concoction that Ian Fleming came up with independently, but he actually was inspired by the name of the noted Hungarian architect Ernő Goldfinger. (When the real-life Goldfinger considered legal action, Fleming threatened to rename his novel's antagonist "Goldprick".) Which only makes [[Austin Powers|Goldmember]] even funnier... It's also been the source of a similar example to this trope: ''Get Smart'' is often assumed to be a James Bond parody because the Bond series is so popular, even though it was a parody of other spy dramas of the 1950s and 1960s. Although it parodied some James Bond movies too. Bronzefinger, anyone?

** ''[[The Man With The Golden Arm]]'' was a acclaimed 1955 film about heroin addiction. Fleming tweaked the title for ''[[The Man with the Golden Gun]]''.

** [[Austin Powers]], however, gets credit for quite a bit that it lifted from ''[[Casino Royale 1967]]'' (unless ''[[Casino Royale 1967]]'' lifted them from ''[[Our Man Flint]]'', from which [[Austin Powers]] also borrowed heavily). For comparison, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upMtEJSj9NA you can now legally watch the original on YouTube]. Yes, ''that's'' why Austin has an obsession with Burt Bacharach.

* Try showing some German expressionist movies to someone who isn't already familiar with the genre, and see how long it takes for them to mention [[Tim Burton]].

* One wonders how many modern fans know that "Ann-Margrock" in the ''[[The Flintstones]]'' was named after the actress Ann-Margaret.

*** The most baffling would have to be “Jimmy Darrock.” Honestly, who remembers who James Darren is anymore? (Besides those who know him as [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Vic Fontaine]], that is...)

* While not a parody, Robert DeNiro's famous "[[You Talkin' to Me?]]?" line from ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' was a reference to the 1953 Western ''[[Shane]]'', where the titular character is called out.

'''Chris Calloway''': I don't see nobody else standin' there. }}

* The ''LOVE/HATE'' [[Knuckle Tattoos|tattoos]] dangerous people have on their knuckles originated in ''[[The Night of the Hunter]]'', has been used in ''[[Raising Arizona]]'' to name but one, and gets spoofed a lot. ''[[SMBC]]'' once had a biker accidentally getting the tattoo "LOVE/HATS" but didn't mind because he actually really loved hats.

* ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'' contains another iconic example in Jules' quoting of a (rather heavily modified) passage from Ezekiel. This is in fact a fairly overt reference to Sonny Chiba's character in ''The Bodyguard''.

* Most people would recognise scenes from films such as ''[[The Great Escape]]'' or ''[[The Dam Busters]]'' than would recognise the films themselves. For example the "bouncing bombs" or the "throwing a ball against the wall in a prison cell" are widely recognised by people who have never seen either of those.

** Double that for the theme tunes. Most people will recognise the ''Great Escape'' theme or the ''[[Dam Busters]]'' match, but have no idea what film the music is from.

* How many people have seen or even heard of the Dalton Trumbo war film, ''Johnny Got His Gun'', and how many people only know it as the backdrop to [[Metallica]]'s music video for "One"? (Metallica bought the rights to the film for the video, but were decent enough to release it to video as well.)

* Younger ''[[Star Trek]]'' fans may be surprised to learn that the "this is the gulag Rura Penthe" speech in ''[[Star Trek VI]]'' was lifted nearly word-for-word from ''[[The Bridge on the River Kwai]]''.

** Most people also fail to realize that the name "Rura Penthe" was actually taken from a prison camp mentioned in Disney's 1954 film [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]] which sadly is not very well known nowadys even by those who claim to be hardcore Disney fans. It's a shame because it's probably one of Disney's greatest films.

** Likewise, half of Khan's lines from ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan]]'' are quotes from ''[[Moby Dick]]''. You'll be more likely to hear someone quote "I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia, and round the Antares Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up!" than "I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up!"

*** More people nowadays are likely to have seen ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'' than have read ''Moby Dick'', which it also quotes. At least they went out of their way to specifically name the book.

* The introduction fanfare from [[Also Sprach Zarathustra]] by Richard Strauss is known to a general public as "the fanfares from" or even "the theme song of" the ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]''. What is more, it was labelled "Fanfare for 2001: A Space Odyssey" on a ballroom dance compilation CD, probably because it was labelled so on the album "Hollywood's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2." where it was lifted from for the ballroom CD.

** There's also an entire subset of the population who refers to it as [[Professional Wrestling|"oh hey, isn't that]] [[Ric Flair]]'s [[Professional Wrestling|entrance music?"]].

* From the [[IMDb]] entry for ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'':

** Actually, when Elizabeth Taylor first walks into the house, and her character spontaneously says "What a dump," her delivery is just like Bette Davis's. It's only after she asks her husband where the line is from, and repeats it several times that she exaggerates it. She escalates both her nagging and her delivery, and in fact, isn't really attempting to accurately imitate Bette Davis in the first place.

*** Taylor and Richard Burton have a long and meaningless discussion where they try to remember the name of the movie. They remember every other detail, including plot minutiae, the stars, Bette Davis and Joseph Cotten, quotes from the movie, but not the title. They even remember that it was a Warner Bros. picture. ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'' is also a Warner Bros. film.

* How many people remember "I Can't Turn You Loose" or the ''[[Peter Gunn]]'' Theme as anything other than the wacky chase music and walking around music (respectively) from ''[[The Blues Brothers]]''?

** Moreover, people tend to recognize the latter from the classic arcade game ''[[Spy Hunter]]'' then from the show itself.

*** Sopranos fans recognize it as a song mixed with "Every Breath You Take".

"That's not true! I like nice men--men you can depend on to always be gentlemanly." }}

* Probably more people nowadays recognize "Heeeeeere's Johnny!" as something [[Jack Nicholson]] said in ''[[The Shining]]'' than as Ed McMahon's introduction of Johnny Carson on ''[[The Tonight Show]]''.

* ''[[The Goonies]]'': People are more likely to assume "Hey you guys!" is from this film rather than ''[[The Electric Company]]''.

* Say "It's showtime!" to anyone born before 1960 and that person is likely to think of Roy Scheider in ''[[All That Jazz]]''. But say the same line to anyone born after 1960 and ''that'' person will probably think of [[Michael Keaton]] in ''[[Beetlejuice]]''.

* [[I Can See My House From Here]] most likely didn't originate from [[Hot Shots]]. But, good luck finding someone who knows where it '''did''' come from...

 

== [[Literature]] ==

*** In a similar vein, several words (for instance, "chortle") were completely invented by Carrol and yet very few even know that they were once considered nonsense.

** Check out the wonderful book "Annotated Alice" where famed (and recently late) mathemagician Martin Gardner takes the time to annotate virtually ''every'' cultural reference made. Suffice to say there are at least as many words in the annotations as there are in the original stories.

** ''Through the Looking-Glass'' has a nice example. ''The Walrus and the Carpenter'', the poem sung by the twins, is a parody of ''The Dream of Eugene Aram'', which is about an elementary school teacher who is convicted of murder.

** The Mad Hatter was already a trope before Carroll came along. Hatters used mercury to cure felt, and would sometimes lose cognitive function from inhaling the fumes, so mad hatters was a trope somewhat analogous to the modern trope of insane postal workers. The book is the only surviving use of the trope, so modern readers assume it's an original character concept.

** The beast in Carrol's poem "Jabberwocky" is more commonly known by that name since most works that reference it use that instead of the creature's ''actual'' name: Jabberwock.

** Cervantes was the victim of a trope misunderstanding when an anonymous writer calling himself "Avellaneda" published a false sequel to ''Don Quixote''. The sequel completely missed the cleverness of Cervantes' references that mocked tropes of the chivalric genre (the noble knight's [[Bag of Holding|Unlimited Knapsack]], the magic [[Healing Potion]]), instead choosing to write a slapstick and completely unfunny book that no one ever reads now. The book is signed as "Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda, born in Tordesillas", but that's a fake name, and the prologue is riffed with insults to Cervantes and unashamed flattering to his main rival, Lope de Vega. Apparently at the time the book came out the writing style was famous enough to identify the author without need of giving his real name, and given the volume of [[Take That]] in Cervantes' canon sequel it's more than likely that Cervantes knew perfectly who he was. However, precisely for this reason nobody bothered to ever write down Avellaneda's real identity. Now, 400 years later, Cervantes and Don Quixote are as famous as ever, while we only know the other as "that guy that insulted Cervantes in a [[Fanfic]]".

* [[Agatha Christie]]'s collection of stories starring [[Tommy and Tuppence]], ''Partners in Crime'', uses a device in which each story is a [[Homage]] to a different crime-writer. While many of them are still famous today, a few are now hopelessly obscure. (Anyone familiar with the blind detective Thornley Colton? Anyone?)

* Stella Gibbons's comic novel ''[[Cold Comfort Farm]]'' has outlived the rustic romances it parodied.

* ''[[Gulliver's Travels|Gullivers Travels]]'' was a parody of the then-popular genre of journeys to distant lands. It's now a standalone classic. It contains innumerable digs at people and ideas of Swift's time, which go right past modern readers. This has led many people to think of [[Jonathan Swift]] as nothing more than a writer of a whimsical children's tale, when in reality he was a vicious and biting satirist who regularly savaged society in his writings. One of his other better-known works is "[[A Modest Proposal]]", where he satirically suggests that the best way to handle all the starving children in Ireland was to simply eat them, reasoning that since the British had already exploited Ireland in every other way, the only thing to do now is go [[I'm a Humanitarian|humanitarian]].

** Certain sections of Several Voyages to Remote Nations of the World by Lemuel Gulliver are also parodying other works. His Laputa and Balnibari are much more directly mocking Francis Bacon's [[New Atlantis]]. And, strangely, the ideas of each of the 4 places he goes may have been taken from an old Japanese story, or collection of stories, that talked about tiny people, giants, and horses. Whether this is truth or an extraordinary coincidence unclear, but considering how Japan is the only place Gulliver goes to that Swift treats with any kind of reality (in addition to being the only real place Gulliver goes, and the only place where he doesn't learn the language) there may be something to it.

* Despite the modern vampire dating back to Lord Ruthven of John William Polidori's 1819 short story "[[The Vampyre]]", [[Dracula]] is still the archtypical vampire. Even then, it's the Dracula in adaptations people think of, rather than the original book charcter.

** Only if they don't [[Twilight|sparkle]].

* A number of 18th century poets such as [[Colley Cibber]] are mainly known even to academics for being mocked and parodied by [[Alexander Pope]] in ''The Dunciad'' and other works.

* ''1066 and All That'', a 1930 parody of the patriotic Whiggish school history books of the early 20th century has long outlasted the works it is parodying.

** While on the topic of ''[[Harry Potter]]'': A lot of the creatures, spells, and other magical phenomena in the book have their roots in [[Older Than You Think|much, much older]] literature. Basilisks, for example, are at least [[Older Than Print]]. However, with the exception of elements used frequently in modern works (werewolves, for example), most ''Harry Potter'' fans aren't fully aware of how little of Harry's world originated with J.K. Rowling. (The exception is that if you're even vaguely aware of alchemy, then you'd know at least that Rowling did not invent the Philosopher's Stone.)

*** And Nicolas Flamel was a real person, who supposedly ''did'' invent the Philosopher's Stone.

* Few people remember that the character of C.S. Forester's [[Horatio Hornblower]] was an homage to and [[Affectionate Parody]] of, at the time, well-known British naval officers; particularly Lord Horatio Nelson. Many of Hornblower's adventures, as well as his career progression, closely parallel Lord Nelson's. These days, all but Nelson are largely forgotten by those who aren't historians or military strategists; and Nelson himself is little-known outside of Great Britain.

* Believe it or not, [[Aldous Huxley]]'s ''[[Brave New World (novel)|Brave New World]]'', the [[Trope Maker]] for [[Dystopia]], was written because the writer found so much [[Fridge Horror]] in one of H. G. Wells's later novels (written long after Wells had [[Jumped the Shark]]) that Huxley considered that novel to depict more of a dystopia than a utopia. Today, ''[[Brave New World (novel)|Brave New World]]'' is considered a classic, and practically no one knows or cares about Wells's book, ''Men Like Gods''.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4hZmKj-CiM The opening credits] of ''[[Police Squad!]]''! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaOsNhSGYoE are almost a shot by shot parody] of both the images and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAhXez5Ib2k music] of the little known '60s series ''[[M Squad]]''.

** ''[[Police Squad!]]'' also heavily parodies the look of ''[[The Streets Of San Francisco]]'', a show which was very popular at the time but lacks the stick-in-the-memory qualities of such contemporaries as ''[[Kojak]]'', ''[[Starsky and Hutch (TV series)|Starsky and Hutch]]'', or ''[[Ironside]]''. And the iconic shot of the bubble light atop the police cruiser was lifted wholesale from the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdZNQkF0sE4 closing credits] of the first season of ''[[Hawaii Five-O]]''.

** Even [[The Sarah Jane Adventures|Sarah Jane]] makes the mistake in one episode, where she travels back to 1950's England.

*** Even that reference is quickly fading, as an increasing number of people think it is a ''telephone booth''.

** There's a police box right out the Earl's Court tube station in London, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/uk_enl_1199712723/html/1.stm big and blue as anything.]

*** This isn't an original police box though, it was built in 1997.

*** Note that the series itself frequently points this out.

*** On a similar note, there's a police box on Buchanan Street in Glasgow (though whether it's a surviving one or a replica I don't know) which is universally known as "the TARDIS".

** Possibly the only ''legally binding'' case of the Weird Al Effect: The BBC trademarked the look of the TARDIS in 1996. The Metropolitan Police challenged it, and lost, with the judge saying that it was far more recognizable as a symbol of ''Doctor Who'' than as a symbol of the police. (The fact that the police had never attempted to trademark it themselves over the course of 40 years also counted against them.)

* The [[wikipedia:Batusi|Batusi]] from ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' is far better remembered than [[wikipedia:The Watusi|the Watusi]] it was originally punned off of. The Batusi is now better known as "that dance John Travolta does on ''[[Pulp Fiction]]''." Or from ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': "How come Batman doesn't dance anymore?"

** That didn't stop parents from taking their kids to see the later [[Tim Burton]] movies, expecting the same style as the Adam West series. [[Darker and Edgier|Boy were they in]] [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|for a surprise]]...

* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' is, possibly, a [[Sequel Series]] to spy series ''[[Danger Man]]'', or at least a [[Spiritual Successor]]. The cartoon ''[[Danger Mouse]]'' parodies or gives a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Danger Man]]''. Both are much better remembered.

* Once upon a time, there was a UK game show called ''If I Ruled The World''. It inspired another game show called ''[[Parlamentet]]''. ''If I Ruled The World'' stopped after two seasons -- ''Parlamentet'', however, is still going strong. In Scandinavia, admittedly, but twenty-two seasons deserve a mention.

* Many [[Game Shows]] become an example of a variation of this trope when a revived version of the show becomes more popular than the original version. Some examples:

*** Additionally, when producer Mark Goodson updated ''The Price Is Right'' for the revival, he intended to incorporate elements of the most popular game show on TV at the time--''[[Let's Make a Deal]]''. The ''Deal'' connection was largely forgotten... although with a new version of that show now airing (on the same network as ''Price'' and as a companion piece, no less), the connection may become clearer once again.

** ''[[Press Your Luck]]'', one of the most popular game shows of the 1980s, was actually based on a short-lived game show called ''[[Second Chance]]'' that aired in 1977.

** Before the still-running version with Alex Trebek started up in 1984, ''[[Jeopardy!]]'' was hosted by Art Fleming for 10 seasons (1964-1974), followed by a short-lived reboot in 1978. (Yes, children of the '80s, ''that's'' who that guy is in the [[Trope Namer]]'s "I Lost On Jeopardy" video...)

** Similarly, more people recognize Mike Myers' "Simon" sketches than "Simon in the Land of Drawings", the British series that it spoofed.

*** Not if they are old enough to have watched [[Captain Kangaroo]] as kids.

* ''[[Horatio Hornblower]]'' had an obvious influence on ''[[Star Trek]]'' frequently acknowledged by people who worked on the series. Now ''Trek'' is arguably better known. [[Star Trek: The Original Series|The original series]] was also influenced by the TV Westerns of its day, but now more people have heard of ''Star Trek'' than ''[[Gunsmoke]]''. [[Gene Roddenberry]] specially referenced the highly successful show ''[[Wagon Train]]'' in his original pitch and as a result the eight-season show is probably best known for being mentioned in Roddenberry's famous pitch "[[Wagon Train to the Stars]]".

* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' popularized many old and obscure Sci-Fi movies simply because the old and obscure movies were the cheapest to get the rights to.

** ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' itself is a parody of hosted monster movie shows that were popular back when the networks needed something to show on the weekends.

*** Inaccurate, as it actually started AS a monster movie show used to fill time on a dingy little UHF station. The only reason Joel Hodgson was allowed to pursue his vision for the show is that nobody cared if it flopped.

* Referenced in the game show ''Beat the Geeks''. The host of the show once jokingly referred to [[Michael Jackson]] as "the guy who did all those [[Weird Al]] parodies".

** Sadly, the Effect did not help music geek Andy Zax. He was unable to describe the cover of Weird Al's album "Off The Deep End", despite it being a parody of [[Nirvana]]'s "Nevermind", the topic of the previous question.

** And both the music and the essay allude to one of the secret initiation rituals of Freemasonry...

** For younger [[Professional Wrestling|NWA/WCW/WWE]] fans this may be a Triple Weird Al Effect as [[Ric Flair]] uses ''[[Also Sprach Zarathustra]]'' as his [[Theme Music Power-Up|entrance theme]].

* English-speakers are probably more familiar with the beginning of [[The Beatles]] "All You Need is Love" than the beginning of France's National Anthem.

** [[Eagleland Osmosis|Probably doesn't apply to all English-speakers]]. Those on the European side of the Pond are more likely to recognise La Marseillaise when they hear it.

*** ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'' actually helps counteract the Weird Al Effect in this instance, as a few scenes later, Judge Doom says the name of the song in a very memorable scene.

** Similarly, ''Merrily We Roll Along'', from ''Billboard Frolics'' of 1935, is only known today as the ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' tune and an incorrect alternative set of lyrics set to the tune of ''Mary had a Little Lamb''.

*** Similar to the Roger Rabbit example above, [[Animaniacs]] had Slappy Squirrel use he proper name for the song, teaching at least some viewers its real name.

* Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" is much better known than the song it was originally parodying: "Love Jones" by The Brighter Side of Darkness.

* The song "Flappie", by Dutch comedian Youp van 't Hek, was originally (in 1981) intended as a parody of Christmas songs, both contemporary and the older carols, and mostly of the fake 'Christmas spirit' people felt they needed to put up. Now most people don't realize that and play this song simply for the humorous lyrics (it tells the story of how a boy finds out his father killed his rabbit (called 'Flappie') to serve at the Christmas dinner). It's even a staple of the Christmas songs played on radio and in malls.

** "The Anacreontic Song" was also supposed to be performed as a lively minuet. Such a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" today would be received as irreverent and un-American.

*** "The Star-Spangled Banner ''was'' performed as a lively minuet until John Philips Sousa rearranged it circa 1900 to make it sound more majestic, and added, amongst other things, the two holds and the counterpoint. Most current arrangements are based on the Sousa version. The original, more spritely version can be heard in the Ken Burns documentary ''The Civil War''.

** And which has subsequently found many new versions as summer camp songs such as "I wear my pink pajamas in the summer when it's hot..."

** "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school..." AKA "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah/Teacher hit me with a ruler..."; every UGA fan has this stuck in their heads.

* Allan Sherman's breakout hit ''Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!'' is more well-known than its source, Amilcare Ponchielli's ''Dance of the Hours''.

** And nowadays the K9 Advantix commercial that uses a lyrically changed version of the song is probably more well-known to younger audiences.

** Another tune that "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" is set to is "London Bridge."

** Huh. In elementary school, around Halloween time we would sing several Halloween-themed song parodies, including one called "There is a Haunted House in Town." We all thought it was a really weird choice for a parody of "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg95RPRMTyQ Japan hasn't forgotten, apparently.]

* Does anybody remember the original lyrics to that damn [[Barney and Friends]] "I Love You" closing song, after all the parodies involving murder, bestiality, and pedophilia?

*** Holy crap.

** While it probably won't eclipse the Muppets, the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEWgs6YQR9A ROFLMAO Song] by [[Oxhorn Short Shorts|Oxhorn]] is fairly well known. In fact, click on it and check under Crowning Music.

* In the UK at least, novelty group The Wurzels' song about their brand new combine harvester is better-known than the original, "Brand New Key" by Melanie.

** If they see ''[[Boogie Nights]]'', they'll never forget the original.

** "[[Bugs Bunny|I'm looking over a three-leaf clover]], [[Incredibly Lame Pun|that I overlooked be-threeeeee...]]"

** Not as much to residents to Philadelphia, who would recognize it as "the song that the Mummers use all the time."

** And in turn, many were co-opted as union songs, the best-known of which are "The Preacher and the Slave" ("The Sweet By and By") and "Which Side Are You On?" ("Lay the Lily Low").

** Thank you, Martin Luther; all those months spent, ahem, ''researching'' folk songs in German taverns have left behind some great pieces of music.

* Could be the case for "Work That Sucker To Death" by Xavier, with "Boss Theme (Japanese)", a song being much better known in the Sonic community that samples the chorus.

* The 1961 Harry Belafonte song "Monkey" is more well-known for being covered and parodied on an episode of ''[[Animaniacs]]''.

* The classic Shaker hymn ''Simple Gifts'' has been appropriated twice: Once for another hymn (''Lord of the Dance''), but most people would recognize it as the first movement of Aaron Copland's ballet/suite ''Appalachian Spring''. The tune is attributed: that section is titled ''Variations on a Shaker Melody''.

** [[Weezer]]'s "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7e-HDRykUg The Greatest Man That Ever Lived]", subtitled "Variations on a Shaker Hymn"—you guessed it.

* Rap gets subjected to this All. The. Time. Play the opening of Rick James's "Super Freak" for anyone born after 1980, and I can practically guarantee you that they'll start chanting, "Can't touch this!"

** Same with "Under Pressure." It's managed to avoid this in a way though, as most people will wonder until the guitar part if it's "Under Pressure" or "Ice Ice Baby."

* This is happening to "Johnny B. Goode" in Poland. While a lot of people know the song from ''[[Back to The Future]]'', the parody made by a famous Polish cabaret "Ani Mru Mru" is becoming more known.

* For some time after the movie ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'' came out, the "O Fortuna" movement from Carl Orff's ''[[Carmina Burana]]'' was widely known as "that music from Excalibur".

** For those in the [[The Eighties|'80s]] who were unfamiliar with ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'', it was "the music from ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]''".

** Now it's "that music in all those movie trailers."

** It's also almost unknown to all but the most hardcore orchestral music buffs, that Carl Orff's ''[[Carmina Burana]]'' is actually an adaptation of a [[Older Than They Think|much older collection]] of Latin and German songs and poems by the same name (many of them quite bawdy for their time).

** "Estuans interius ira vehementi". Odds are you're not thinking of one of the poems, or even the Orff rendition, as much as you're thinking of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''. The same goes for the rest of the non-Sephiroth lyrics of that song. (In fact, "sors, immanis et inanis" comes from "O Fortuna" itself.)

* Most people will recognise ''Entry of the Gladiators'' as the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey circus music.

* Even though he had a long solo career, wrote ''entire albums'' for Frank Sinatra and The 4 Seasons, and became a prolific ad jingle writer, Jake Holmes is mainly remembered now because [[Led Zeppelin]] (ahem) [[Plagiarism|"borrowed"]] his song "Dazed and Confused".

* Fans of [[The Dead Milkmen]] might think the joke of "Watching Scotty Die" is just the fact that it's [[Lyrical Dissonance|a peaceful-sounding]], country-esque ballad about a young boy dying from exposure to poisonous chemicals... In fact it's a parody of the significantly [[Tastes Like Diabetes|sappier]] "Watching Scotty Grow", a Bobby Goldsboro hit released more than 15 years earlier.

* Few Russians know the 1906 song ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EafHZcxi2Q On the Hills of Manchuria]''. However, play the melody, and everyone will be able to remember a few (mostly obscene) out of a virtually endless number of stanzas starting with ''"It's quite in the forest"''.

** "I'm sure you recognize this lovely melody as 'Stranger in Paradise.' But did you know that the original theme is from the Polovetsian Dance No. 2 by Borodin?. So many of the tunes of our well-known popular songs were actually written by the great masters--like these familiar themes... "

* People may be forgiven if they mistake these two scores but just to make things clear: This [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKtYqh7VDEo music] was derived from this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i139Ew6mMFM score.] Not the other way around. ([[Record of Lodoss War|the anime series]] from which it came from was shown in 1990 whereas the [[Leviathan (film)|film]] came out in 1989. You do the math.)

* The catchphrase "Will the real [person's name] please stand up?" is now more likely to be associated with [[Eminem]]'s "The Real Slim Shady" than the 1960s/70s game show ''[[To Tell the Truth]]''.

 

== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==

 

== [[Radio]] ==

 

 

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Metal Gear]]'''s Solid Snake (and to a lesser extent, his predecessor Big Boss) has become a more popular character than [[Escape from New York|Snake Plissken]], the character he was originally a pastiche of.

* Hardly anyone knows the name "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzqnIzyaveo&feature=related Korobeiniki]", but almost everyone will recognize it as [[Tetris]] Theme A.

* Dan Hibiki from ''[[Street Fighter Alpha]]'' (and following ''[[Street Fighter]]'' games) was a parody of two SNK ''[[Art of Fighting]]'' characters: Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia (most likely because they are [[Follow the Leader|rip-offs from Ryu and Ken]]). ''Street Fighter'' is much better-known in North America than the ''King of Fighters'' games and has moved much further into the mainstream due to several separate factors, so it's not uncommon for an American fan of the series to not know that Dan is a parody of anyone specific, or to assume that he's just a parody of Ryu and Ken.

** A lot of the original Street Fighter designers jumped ship to SNK, and helped create Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. Suffice it to say, Capcom was not happy, and the two companies shared a deep rivalry throughout the 90s.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* [http://www.lukesurl.com/archives/3141 This] strip of ''Luke Surl Comics'' says it all.

 

* Classic cartoons such as ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' are chock full of this. [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|Caricatures of celebrities]], fragments of dialog from then-contemporary movies, [[Catch Phrase|catchphrases]] from old-time radio shows, parodies of once-popular songs; all sailed right over your head if you were a kid watching on Saturday morning<ref>Or weekday morning or afternoon</ref> decades later.

** [[Bugs Bunny]] steals entire blocks of shtick from Red Skelton, Groucho Marx and old-time comedian Joe Besser.

*** Even more ironically, [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]] has referred to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) as "Senator Foghorn Leghorn".

** From [[The Other Wiki]]:

*** Daffy is also responsible for ''permanently changing the pronunciation of an English word.'' The word "despicable" is actually supposed to be pronounced [http://books.google.com/books?id=7iocw3kK9BIC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=despicable+pronunciation+Daffy&source=bl&ots=3SUHKU-6Cj&sig=PFHsSpuNC0ss1vx4J44kSlvRIZU&hl=en&ei=jckuTeTpGMaAlAfP2uzmCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage with the accent on the first syllable]: "DES-picable". Mispronouncing it was part of Daffy's [[Malaproper]] schtick. However, since the cartoons reached so many kids who were too young to have the ''real'' pronunciation in their vocabularies yet, Daffy's "You're de-SPICK-able" was the pronunciation they all learned. And it holds true still today: [[Despicable Me|That Steve Carrell movie]] isn't called ''DES-picable Me''.

**** On the other hand, few people nowadays say "FORM-idable" or "LAM-entable" either, and that can hardly be blamed on Daffy.

** While Steinbeck's ''[[Of Mice and Men]]'' is not exactly obscure, it probably says something that the trope [[And Call Him George]] is named after a cartoon parody of it. The trope's association with [[Dumb Muscle]] cartoon characters is so much a part of comedy now that most students reading ''[[Of Mice and Men]]'' in modern times are absolutely unable to take it seriously, despite it being quite a tragic story.

** Background characters often got one-liners or mannerisms that were taken from the ''[[Fibber McGee and Molly]]'' radio show, including "That ain't the way I heered it!", "Oh, is that you, Myrt? How's every little thing?", "I bet-cha", and "Tain't funny, McGee!". One of the show's regular cast members, Arthur Q. Bryan, supplied the voice for Elmer Fudd, making him one of the three male voice actors, along with Mel Blanc and Stan Freberg, to regularly appear in the classic ''Looney Tunes'' shorts.

** The [[Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner|Road Runner]] was originally intended as a parody of all the chase scenes that were frequent in many cartoons from [[The Golden Age of Animation]]. Now it's almost the famous example of "chase cartoon".

*** To be fair, [[Tom and Jerry|at least one]] of the cartoons that they parodied is still very well known.

** ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' themselves started out as a parody/response to Disney's ''[[Silly Symphonies]]''. Nowadays, ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' are considered perhaps the most famous cartoon shorts of time.

* This is simultaneously Parodied and [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Animaniacs]]'' when the Warners meet Rasputin. They toss him into a dentist's chair and announce that they need to give him some "Anastasia." A girl in a tiara and a poofy dress then hit Rasputin on the head with a hammer. Dot [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|turns to the camera]] and deadpans, "Obscure joke. Talk to your parents." This episode predates ''[[Anastasia|the Don Bluth movie]]'' by several years, so the joke may have lost its obscurity on some kids after the movie came out.

** The black and white Mickey cartoon ''The Klondike Kid'' is a mash-up of ''The Shooting of Dan McGrew'' and ''[[Charlie Chaplin|The Gold Rush]]''.

** [[Charlie Chaplin|Guess who Mickey imitates]] in the black and white cartoon ''Mickey Plays Papa''?

** In the cartoon ''The Hockey Champ'' Donald is seen at the beginning parodying then-famous skater/actress Sonya Henie.

*** Similarly, in "Simpsons Bible Stories", Moses' story has Wiggum playing an Egyptian foreman clearly inspired on Robinson's role as Dathan in ''[[The Ten Commandments]]'', down to the line "Where's your Messiah NOW?"

** In the DVD commentary track for the fourth season of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', the writers doing the commentary specifically point out that the scene at the end of "Selma's Choice" where Selma is shown cradling her new pet iguana to the tune of "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" is a reference to ''[[Murphy Brown]]'' singing to her newborn son, because they were afraid viewers wouldn't "get it".

** [[The Simpsons]] also frequently parodies "classic" horror concepts in its Halloween episodes. Most younger viewers, especially outside the United States, who never saw ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' or ''[[The Outer Limits]]'' don't realize many plots were borrowed from these TV series. Even more obscure is one segment that parodies a segment from the less known ''[[Amazing Stories (TV series)|Amazing Stories]]'' fantasy/science-fiction anthology titled "Hell Toupee". Unlike its cousins, ''Amazing Stories'' didn't usually go into horror, and the original tale was fairly light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek... making it even less likely it'd be recognized more than the parody.

*** Similarly, in a few years all the references to ''[[Frasier]]'' that tend to go hand-in-hand with Bob episodes will be meaningless.

*** Another musical relation in ''The Simpsons'' shows Homer singing modified lyrics to [[Covered Up|Frank Sinatra's]] "It Was A Very Good Year" (when he was remembering the time he bought his first six-pack at a liquor store with an obviously fake ID -- [[Fridge Logic|It's best not to think about how he got away with it]]). Anyone thinking of the song nowadays is likely to think of Homer's rendition.

** He's also drawn to look like an older version of Blacula, complete with early 70's sideburns and mustache.

** Its parody of the [[H.P. Lovecraft]] mythos, "The Crank Call of Cthulhu", must go over the heads of most young viewers as well.

* The Cuddle Buddies from ''[[Kim Possible]]'' are on the surface send-ups of Beanie Babies. But if you dig further, you'll note their unmistakable resemblance to ''[[The Wuzzles]]'', a slightly obscure 1980's kids' show also produced by Disney. ''[[The Wuzzles]]'' was also [[Merchandise-Driven]]; when that show was current, store shelves did have boxes with stuffed Wuzzles on/in them. Disney remembers that aspect...

* The "Log" song from ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' is a parody of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdjNH34a2l4 classic Slinky commercials].

* The classic schtick of two characters trying to out-polite each other "After you. No I insist after you." has been done innumerable times in ''Goofy Gophers'' and ''[[Heckle and Jeckle]]'' cartoons. Both of these are parodies of a much older comic strip routine involving two guys named Alphonse and Gaston. The only way a non-historian would have heard those names would be at a baseball game. (An "Alphonse and Gaston" is when two guys chase a fly ball and simultaneously pull up so it drops between them.) And then you need an announcer who loves the classics.

*** Interestingly, both Lynde and Ghostley each had a recurring role on the TV series ''[[Bewitched]]''.

** For that matter, Seth McFarlane's penchant for referencing 1980s TV and movies, along with 1950s lounge music, has made his shows into a Weird Al Effect machine for people too young to remember those decades (AKA the vast majority of his audience). ''Family Guy'' is a much bigger offender than ''American Dad'', though.

** ''Family Guy'''s penchant for obscureness runs the gamut -- especially when it comes to parodies. For example, a number of people might recognize a song they play straight -- such as "Shapoopi" from ''The Music Man'' -- but how many people actually know that the "Fellas at the Freakin' FCC" song from the episode "PTV" (where Peter starts his own TV channel when the FCC begins cracking down on [[Informed Obscenity]] following a "trouser malfunction" during an awards show broadcast) is sung to the tune of a song from an obscure Broadway musical called ''Take Me Along''?

** Go to [[YouTube]] and search for any scene or clip from a pop culture phenomenon that ''[[Family Guy]]'' has parodied or mentioned. Most of the comments will consist of, "I thought ''Family Guy'' created this!"

*** With the possible exception of ''[[Star Wars]]''. For now.

* In ''Rockadoodle'', Pinky is to Colonel Tom Parker what Chantecleer is to Elvis Presley. Young kids who grew up in the 90's probably knew who Elvis was, but the Colonel, not so much.

* The "Don't you believe it!" line in a couple of ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' cartoons is clearly a reference to a well-known catchphrase at the time, but now no one seems to remember.

** Possibly referencing one of the openings to the NBC Radio show [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=491245 "The Passing Parade"]

* Snagglepuss is, so far, an aversion. While his voice is based on Bert Lahr's [[The Wizard of Oz (film)|cowardly lion]], the original is still well enough known as to avoid the Weird Al effect.

* Bugs Bunny is likely responsible for the term "Nimrod" as an insult. He says it to Elmer Fudd sarcastically, as Nimrod was [[wikipedia:Nimrod|a great hunter in the Bible]]. (Apparently, moviegoers in the 1940s [[Viewers Are Geniuses|had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Old Testament]].) It is likely that anyone using the term today will be using it to say that the target of the word is foolish or stupid.

** "Art of the Dress" is based on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-836TtoF_5I "Putting it Together."]

** Though less obvious than the previous two examples, it's been stated that [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHf-YnY9k7k "Find a Pet"] was inspired by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10AMqdJUcFY "Fabulous Places"] from the 1967 [[Doctor Dolittle]] film

** The "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF03LwE87Og Flim Flam Song]" is a subversion. Many of the [[Periphery Demographic]] noted that it was a send up to [[The Simpson]]'s "Monorail Song"- when in fact it was a reference to what the Monorail Song ''itself'' was parodying, "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdI TheMusicMan]".

* Thanks to its very quick one scene usage as an in-joke in ''[[The Lion King]]'', [[Viewers are Morons|people are insistent that "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was written by Elton John and Tim Rice for the movie, even when you explain to them it wasn't]]. It's not helped that the song is used briefly in the Broadway musical and on the ''Rhythm of the Pridelands'' CD.

* [[Megas XLR]] [[Turned Up to Eleven|exists almost entirely on this trope]]. Giant robot anime, movies, cartoons, tv shows, literature, pop culture, obscure throw-away characters from other series, actors, conspiracy theories, theoretical physics, urban legends, real life... Everything is a source for [[Tropes Are Not Bad|what is likely the most awesome cartoon ever made]].

 

== Other ==

* Any cartoon, video game, film, etc. made prior to [[The Nineties]] that wasn't Disney-popular that was parodied in and after [[The Nineties]] will get this effect in Eastern Europe due to that region locked away from Western pop-culture for 50 years (where only the very best of the West passed the border).

* The name "Barcalounger" (the brand of reclining chair) is a play on a the name of a type of sailing ship, the Barca-longa. No one but naval historians and readers of the ''[[Master and Commander]]'' series (which are not such distinct populations) would know that now.

*** The link with the alcohol is not lost on the writers, mind. In one episode she gets shrunk for a plot-related reason and nicknamed [[Stealth Pun|Apple-teeny.]]

* The counting rhyme "eeny meeny miny moe / catch a tiger by the toe / if he hollers let him go / eeny meeny miny moe" that we all said as children is in fact only the latest in a long line of variations on an actually rather ominous rhyme. The original is a poem about what to do if you think you've seen the devil, but the lyrics have been so altered that no one would know this without looking it up.

* The McIntosh apple [[Older Than They Think|dates back to 1811]]. No, not an [[Apple Macintosh]], a McIntosh apple. [[Department of Redundancy Department|Apple named the computer after a type of apple.]] They could have named it [[What Could Have Been|Golden Delicious, or Granny Smith]].

* Chucky, from [[Child's Play (film)|Childs Play]] was based on a real toy called "My Buddy", which was only slightly less creepy.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Audience Reactions]]

[[Category:Parody Tropes]]