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[[File:Stallone 1562.png|link=Last Action Hero|frame|[[The Nostalgia Critic|Yeah, you know, I'll be back, Hasta La Vista Baby... Eeeeeeeh.]]]]
{{quote|"''Within the reality of one specific fiction, how do other fictions exist?''"
|'''Chuck Klosterman'''}}
A '''Celebrity Paradox''' describes the complications that arise from creating a fictional universe in which that fictional universe does not exist, and the actors playing roles within it do not exist either.
So, in ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] doesn't exist and is not the governor of California. There's no Gubernator. Or, in the world of ''[[The Dark Knight Saga|Batman Begins]]'', the [[Batman]] comics never existed, and neither did [[Christian Bale]].
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To what extent this is done is a subject for discussions amongst fans. Do the actors themselves not exist? Do other works the actors have appeared in exist? If they do, who starred in them? It's probably best not [[Bellisario's Maxim|to overthink]] these, but some impulsive connections are bound to occur. If taken far enough, such speculation can overlap with the [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]]. (In fact the [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]] may be the best way out of the paradox: the Tenth Doctor doesn't ''actually'' look like David Tennant any more than Erin Brockovich really looks like Julia Roberts.)
If the actors or their works do not exist, this implies an [[In Spite of a Nail]] [[Alternate Universe]]. In
Many a show or movie trying to be hyper-realistic does its best to distill this concept to an extent by refusing to cast a [[Celebrity Star]] because he or she is not obscure enough and would be too recognizable, as it strains [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]]. Of course, if the star ''becomes'' famous because of said work, the same issues could still pop up.
Note that, in [[Animated Series]] and [[Anime]], the
Certain [[Setting Update]]s can face a similar problem: they have to be set in a world where no one will recognize the name of [[Sherlock Holmes]], [[Superman]], or [[Macbeth]], but are otherwise culturally identical, or the tropes that they've since made popular, but is otherwise just like the real world. Again, it's best to just not think about it.
The answer usually gone with is the simplest one—things went the same way, but in place of the actor or show that could not exist, it was a ''very similar'' actor or show. This actually appears in ''[[Last Action Hero]]'', as the image above shows. Jeri Ryan probably moved to Hollywood because she got cast in ''[[Battlestar Galactica
Playing with this is a form of [[Post Modernism]]. [[Actor Allusion]] can be a form of playing with this. Contrast [[Your Costume Needs Work]] and compare [[Recursive Canon]], see also [[Different World, Different Movies]].
Of course, in real life, there are plenty of people who closely resemble celebrities and go about their business without being mistaken for them. [[Truman Show Plot|Maybe we're all in a movie]]!
{{examples|Example paradoxes:}}
== Advertising ==
* The Nespresso ad campaign stars [[George Clooney]] [[As Himself]] and [[John Malkovich]] as God. The former never comments on the resemblance.
== Anime and Manga ==
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* A case in ''[[Detective Conan]]'' once revolved around the eponymous character and his friends meeting singer [[Minami Takayama]]. Minami happens to do the voice of Conan Edogawa, and their similar voices were pointed out by other characters. That story also appeared in the original manga.
** Not so weird, considering mangaka Gosho Aoyama was dating, and then was briefly married to, Minami.
** The series has had crossovers with [[Lupin III]]. Movie 11 establishes that Sato-san is a fan of Lupin III and is therefore upset when a criminal wears a Lupin III mask. Given that she is a police officer and would not be a fan of a real thief, this would only make sense if Lupin III is a fictional character.
* An episode of ''[[Akahori Gedou Hour Lovege]]'' has two of the Hokke sisters meeting their own voice actresses and then proceeding to argue about which one of them is better.
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*** On Earth-1, they did reveal that there's "true crime" comics based on the adventures of Earth-1's Superman, Batman, etc. (based on newspaper accounts, etc.), alongside the fictional-to-them comics about the Earth-2 Flash, Green Lantern, etc.'s adventures.
** However, at least in the [[Marvel Universe]], there is [[Canon]] evidence from comics such as ''[[She Hulk]]'' and ''The [[Fantastic Four]]'' that the exploits of the (in-universe) real live heroes are actually recorded in comics and sold to the general public. These comics (in the ''She-Hulk'' comics) are then used as evidence by lawyers defending and prosecuting super heroes and super villains. And, at least once, to save the world when all the characters had forgotten some hugely important fact or [[MacGuffin]] which they found out about by reading the comics. One wonders, though, if the comics published in-universe are the same as the [[Real Life]] ones, and the references to comics are infinitely recursive. But then one's head starts hurting.
*** Similarly, after his [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] revival, [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]] ended up drawing his own comic book in-universe. Which is even more mind-bending; the superhero was drawing a comic book about his own adventures? Hard to know what's really true. Note that at the time, Cap's true identity as Steve Rogers was not publicly known, so the publisher had no idea he had Captain America drawing Captain America.
*** Marvel actually ''released'' a set of in-universe comics during a [[Fifth Week Event]] in 2000. These were titled "Marvel{{color|red|s}} Comics" and how similar they were to the "real" superheroes varied—the Fantastic Four licensed their comic officially and appeared in their real identities, but since nobody knows who Daredevil or Spider-Man are, the in-universe comic fabricated origins for them.
*** The infinitely recursive references problem would only apply if heroes continued licensing their adventures to comic companies all the way up to the modern era, which they don't seem to do.
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* An issue of [[G.I. Joe]]: Special Missions has a child receiving a toy of the [[Transformers]] Jetfire. Strangely, Transformers and GI Joe shared the same continuity, and Jetfire even appeared in the GI Joe vs The Transformers miniseries.
== Fan
* In ''[[Shinji and Warhammer40K]]'', one of the author's notes points out that it's odd there are still [[Emotionless Girl]] anime in a world without ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' to popularize the trope.
* A popular ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' [[High School AU]] called "Ordinary Story" has Zelda as a boarder in Link's adopted family's house in Florida. The story eventually proceeds {{spoiler|to ditch its AU status when Zelda finds the Ocarina of Time, she and Link start to unwillingly inherit the Triforce, and a man named Ganondorf shows up to take over Zelda's father's company}}. However, there are a few scenes in the story that make reference to Link and his friends playing the [[GameCube]], a console he himself appears on in this universe.
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* A hidden bonus in one of the panels of the [[Fan Web Comic|fan comic]] ''[[Halo: A Fistful of Arrows]]'' reveals [[Bungie]] is still around in the 26th century. One wonders what their "killer app" from the Xbox was in this universe.
* In ''[http://norsekink.livejournal.com/3415.html?thread=8659543#t8659543 Kinkmeme made them do it]'', Loki and Darcy find out that they're both writing in a kinkmeme about [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]] created by their in-universe fans. And it's awesome.
* In [[The Teraverse]] tale ''I Do My Own Stunts'', Connie Moreau (one of the youth hockey players in ''[[The Mighty Ducks]]'') discusses how the story was fictionalized for the movie, and having later become a Hollywood actress, how she's now rivals with the actress (Marguerite Moreau) who played her in the movies.
== Film ==
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** DeVito's characters in the movie and ''Taxi'' were visually and dramatically distinct enough that he arguably could have still appeared as himself/Louie. The mustache alone is all the license you need.
* All the remakes of ''[[Miracle on 34th Street|Miracle On Thirty Fourth Street]]'' (there are no less than four of them, five if you count the Broadway musical) are presumably set in a world where the 1947 classic doesn't exist.
* The first scene of ''[[Tango and Cash]]'' has Tango reply to a uniformed officer's claim that Tango "thinks he's Rambo" with "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140312122515/http://www.agonybooth.com/agonizer/Tango___Cash_1989.aspx Rambo is a pussy.]" Guess who plays Tango.
* ''[[Adaptation]]'', starring [[Meryl Streep]] and [[Nicolas Cage]], is a cross of this and [[Post Modernism]]: Cage plays screenwriter [[Charlie Kaufman]] (the film's actual playwright), who is struggling to adapt Susan Orlean's book ''The Orchid Thief'' to film (a real book and author; Orlean is played by Streep). Kaufman even visits the set of the previous film he wrote, ''[[Being John Malkovich]]''.
** And then you realize that the screenplay being written by the film's Charlie Kaufman {{spoiler|is ''the screenplay for the actual film you are watching.''}}
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* ''[[The Beastmaster|Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time]]'' shows what happens when you [[Averted Trope|avert]] this trope. The eponymous Beastmaster, Dar, winds up in 1990's America, and as the car he's in is driving down a street, he sees a movie theater showing that they're playing ''Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time.'' Dar looks as confused as the audience is. It's ''bizarre.''
* A rather funny nod is made at the beginning of ''[[About a Boy]]'', when its young protagonist Marcus wishes in voiceover that he was “as rich as Haley Joel Osment from ''[[The Sixth Sense]]''” so that he could afford a private tutor and avoid having to go to school where he’s being bullied. Marcus’ mother Fiona in ''About A Boy'' is played by Toni Collette…who also played Haley Joel’s mother three years earlier in ''The Sixth Sense''.
* In the British behind-the-scenes documentary Behind the Magic, which aired before the release of ''[[
* The character of [[Black and Nerdy|Ronald Wilkes]] in ''[[Cedar Rapids]]'' notes his fanship of "[[Insistent Terminology|the HBO program]], ''[[The Wire]]''." Wilkes' actor, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., played State Senator [[Sleazy Politician|Clay Davis]] on that show.
* An interesting version arises when you note that ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'' and ''[[Sixteen Candles]]'' take place in [[The Verse|the same universe]]—indeed, the same ''school''—and both prominently star [[Molly Ringwald]] as two completely different characters. One wonders how two girls who look exactly the same could run in completely different social circles and never be mistaken for each other.
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== Literature ==
* Averted and played with extensively in the ''[[Thursday Next]]'' series—almost inevitable, since the series is about the BookWorld and the title character can travel in and out of works of literature. In the most recent{{when}} installment, Thurs is forced to work with two alternate versions of herself from "fictionalized" ''book'' versions of her adventures.
** The ''[[Thursday Next]]'' books take this much, much farther than any sane person could go. There are many "meta" levels—for example, there's the real world, the "real world" of the ''[[Thursday Next]]'' novel, fiction that exists in the ''[[Thursday Next]]'' world (which is largely unchanged from ours), how the fictional characters act ''outside'' their novels, etc...
** It gets even ''more'' confusing because the ''[[Thursday Next]]'' novels as shown in the fifth ''[[Thursday Next]]'' book are actually nothing like the real-world novels; the rights were sold and the plot and characterization was thrown out the window. {{spoiler|At the very end of the fifth book, apparently one of the fictionalized Thursdays begins "rewriting" the fictional ''[[Thursday Next]]'' books and it looks like they'll end up identical to the real-world versions. Confused yet?}}
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* Arguably, this can occur in literature when characters are based around real people. For example, in [[Anthony Trollope]]'s ''Palliser'' series, there are characters clearly based on real people like Gladstone and Disraeli, but on at least one occasion, the real people were referenced. Another example, is the problem of how to deal with Arthur Conan Doyle in a universe where [[Sherlock Holmes]] is a real person. A common idea is making him a [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|literary agent]], but if that was true, he likely wouldn't be as wealthy and famous in that universe as in reality.
** Another idea is to have one of his other lesser known characters have become incredibly popular.
* The ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' [[Defictionalization|spin-off books]] ''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]'' and ''[[Quidditch Through the Ages]]'' each begins with an introduction purportedly written by Albus Dumbledore in which he describes how proceeds from the book will go to a fund set up in Harry Potter's name by Comic Relief UK and [[J. K.
▲** ''[http://www.tthfanfic.org/story.php?no=394 The Eighth Weasley]''—a [[Harry Potter]] crossover [[Fanfic]] set after Voldemort's defeat—explicitly states that the Harry Potter books exist alongside the Wizarding World (to the consternation of the latter), and subtly hints that "JK Rowling" is merely a pen name behind which is hiding Hermione.
▲** In [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3728284/1/In_the_Words_of_Ginevra_Molly_Potter this fanfic], JK Rowling is a witch who wrote Harry's biography and then marketed it to Muggles as fiction. She actually turns up at Slughorn's Christmas party.
▲** And in two [[Dangerverse]] [[Alternate Universe|AUs]], it's Sirius writing an alternate ''future'' which had the books slowly released to the muggles starting on the day the Wizards got ''Deathly Hallows''.
▲** A fanfic played with this by having Cho Chang audition for the role of Cho Chang in the ''Harry Potter'' movies. [[Your Costume Needs Work|She was rejected -- she didn't understand the character's motivations.]]
** It's actually implied in ''[[The Tales of Beedle the Bard]]'' that Rowling is essentially a historian who wrote seven volumes on the life of the famous wizarding hero, Harry Potter.
* In one ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' book (''The Waste Lands'') Eddie Dean compares a haunted house the characters escaped to the one in Kubrick's ''[[The Shining]]''.
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== Live Action TV ==
* One episode of ''[[The A-Team]]'' introduced [[Hulk Hogan]] playing himself as an old friend of B.A. Baracus. No mention was made as to Hogan's [[Mr. T|tag-team partner]] from [[Wrestlemania]] 1.
** Another episode that took place at Universal Studios shows Face doing a double take as a [[Battlestar Galactica
* ''[[The Catherine Tate Show]]'' did a sketch for [[Comic Relief]] which featured [[David Tennant]] as Lauren Cooper's teacher. She frequently jokes throughout the sketch about how much he resembles [[Doctor Who|the Doctor]] ("Your house...is it [[Bigger on the Inside]]?" "D'you fancy [[Billie Piper]], sir?"). At the end, he zaps her with the Tissue Compression Eliminator, turning her into a Rose Tyler action figure.
** And adding onto the confusion, Catherine had already played Donna Noble, the Doctor's companion in the 2006 Christmas special, who came back fulltime for the 2008 series. Apparently Lauren Cooper missed ''The Runaway Bride'' and {{spoiler|was killed off}} before she could watch series 4 and notice the woman who looks just like her traveling through space with a Time Lord who looks just like her English teacher.
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** The [[Stargate Verse]] has yet another circular dependency: with ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Dr. Lee is a fan of the game (and curiously claimed to have a level 75 character, which was impossible at the time the episode supposedly took place)... while the Champions' Hall in ''WoW'' contains NPCs named after ''SG-1'' characters.
** In another interesting case, Carter tells O'Neill that they can't call the first X-303-class spaceship "Enterprise" in homage to ''[[Star Trek]]''. Given that NASA has ''already named a spaceship after the fictional Enterprise'', were this not a television show—whose creators would certainly be sued by Paramount for their insolence—there would be absolutely no reason not to name the ship Enterprise. Realistically speaking, it would in fact be a virtual ''certainty''.
*** Although, if we're really overthinking this, they would be unlikely to do so until the current ''USS Enterprise'' was retired, freeing up the name for military use. This might in fact be the reason why the name was unavailable, rather than the pop culture reference.
** Speaking of ''Star Trek'', the penultimate episode of ''[[Stargate Atlantis|Atlantis]]'' has Richard Woolsey mention that [[Star Trek]]: The Experience in Las Vegas had closed. One wonders if ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' got made in the Stargate verse, and if so, whether anyone's ever told Richard Woolsey that he looks just like the Doctor, who appeared in said ride.
* In the remake of ''[[Fantasy Island]]'', Dean Cain plays a lawyer suspected of murder. The travel agent is called to the witness box and describes the lawyer as resembling 'the guy that played [[Lois and Clark|Superman on TV]]'.
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*** Batman was also a very popular character inspired by the above listed characters made by DC before they even owned Superman so it could be that Batman is the inspiration for most modern super heroes and Bruce Wayne has never appeared in ''Smallville''.
**** Actually, prior to [[Batman (TV series)|the Adam West show in the 1960's]], Bruce Wayne did not stand as especially well-known.
** An odd corollary to the fact that [[DC Comics]] don't exist in the ''Smallville'' universe is the fact that, apparently, [[Marvel Comics]] don't exist either.
*** Odder still, in the Marvel continuity both Marvel Comics ''and'' DC Comics exist. You have to wonder what superheroes they manage to write about without Tony Stark suing the pants off of them.
*** The old 50's B-movies may have still managed to exist in-universe, along with older Golden Age titles; these would provide a basis for the super-powered mutant meme.
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*** In that same episode, Mary sees someone [[Cosplay]] as one of the [[Coneheads]] at a [[Science Fiction|SciFi]] [[Fan Convention|convention]] and gets big smile on her face.
* In the real world, the first (test) Space Shuttle was named "Enterprise" in honor of ''[[Star Trek]]''. That Enterprise does appear among the models of earlier ships to bear the name that [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Picard]] keeps in his ready room, and appears in the montage during the opening credits to ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', though the reason for its name is presumably different (presumably, the same reason as Kirk's ''Enterprise'': "Enterprise" is a name with a long naval history).
** In ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', the second Warp-5 ship was named the Columbia by the
** In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hra0I-w3XBY this] Comic Relief special, the cast of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' notices a similarity between [[Whoopi Goldberg]] and Guinan.
* In a ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' sketch from the 2008 U.S. election with [[Tina Fey]] playing [[Sarah Palin]], [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] mocks her "Tina Fey glasses."
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** Similarly, Jack says, "Me digs Taye Diggs," in one episode. When Grace later [[Citizenship Marriage|married]] Will's boyfriend James, Jack never noted the resemblance.
** On the other hand, when he meets Cher, he initially assumes she's a drag queen dressed as Cher.
** Also there's the paradox presented by Bernadette Peters. One episode opens with Jack holding up a lock of her hair that he had recently acquired for a "Broadway Diva Wig" ([[Hilarity Ensues|leading to a confrontation with Patti LuPone]]), but then in a later episode she plays Karen's sister Gin.
* ''[[Monk]]'': In the season one finale, Tim Daly makes an appearance as himself. Sharona mentions that he was in the show ''[[Wings (TV series)|Wings]]''. So who plays Antonio in ''Monk'' land? If it's [[Tony Shalhoub]], Monk must be pretty sick of people telling him how much he looks like Antonio.
** This same logic could be assumed. If [[Silence of the Lambs]] exists in ''Monk'' land, I wonder how often people tell Captain Stottlemeyer that he sounds and looks like Buffalo Bill.
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* ''[[Flight of the Conchords]]'' is set in a world where ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' movies were made and filmed in New Zealand, but nobody mentions the fact that Brett McKenzie looks alarmingly like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF57D0_VV_k one of the elves].
** Although Bret wasn't in the film for very long, and given the nature of the Conchords characters, it's entirely possible that no-one thinks it worthy of comment.
* In ''[[CSI: NY]]'', nobody comments on Detective Mac Taylor's remarkable resemblance to Gary Sinise, but he ''does'' share last names with Sinise's most famous recent{{when}} role, [[Forrest Gump|Dan Taylor]].
** An inverted example is John McEnroe playing himself and Jimmy Nelson, who is a McEnroe look-alike.
* Apparently, the American version of ''[[Life On Mars]]'' is {{spoiler|an astronaut going to Mars, thinking of the song "Life on Mars," picturing himself in an American version of ''[[Life On Mars]]''}}. [[Or Was It a Dream?]]? (Yeah.)
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* An inversion exists in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. In the continuity of the show, a series of ''novels'' exists starring the Winchester brothers (the author is a confused {{spoiler|prophet}}). [[Fandom Nod|And yes, there is internet slashfic.]]
** Sam and Dean are taking a movie studio tour at the beginning of season 2's "Hollywood Babylon." When the tour guide mentions that the next stop is the set for ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'', Sam looks uncomfortable and hops off the tram. No one on the tour seems to notice that the guy who just jumped off looks ''exactly'' like Rory Gilmore's first- and second-season boyfriend, Dean Forester (who was also played by Jared Padalecki).
*** In the season 5 episode "Fallen Idols" a shape-shifting god takes the form of Paris Hilton. As Dean rants at the shifter about how shallow idolising Hilton is—to which Hilton's character seems to agree—he says he has never seen the then-recent remake of the horror film ''[[House of Wax]]''. At this news Sam looks startled, and a bit disappointed, as both Jared Padalecki (who plays Sam) and Paris Hilton were in ''House of Wax''.
** An even more odd inversion occurs in season six, in an episode where the Winchesters are cast into a parallel universe where the actors who play them do exist, but Supernatural is a TV show and the Winchesters are fictional characters. [[Hilarity Ensues]], at least until {{spoiler|a [[Light Is Not Good|douchebag]] [[Our Angels Are Different|angel]] follows them and proceeds to start killing the cast and crew.}}
*** To further add to the confusion, during the initial airing of this episode, Misha Collins tweeted the exact same things that he tweets in the episode, at the exact same time.
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*** On the other hand, anyone watching TV in ''[[Eastenders]]'' always seems to be watching a comedy, a documentary, a movie... anything ''but'' a soap opera.
**** Except in one instance where long-standing character Dot Cotton announced that she never misses rival soap opera [[Coronation Street]]. This was a friendly nod to the fact that Coronation Street was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.
* The [[Pilot]] for ''[[FlashForward]]'' shows a billboard for Oceanic
** The show also had a reference to Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, yet it has a fictional president in the same episode. So the 2008 election was exactly the same but with some random white guy winning instead of Obama?
** "Oceanic Airlines" is a longstanding [[Metasyntactic Variable]], dating back [[Older Than They Think|at least to the mid-1960s]]. One might as well wonder whether ''FlashForward'' is in the same universe as ''[[Flipper]]'' or ''[[Executive Decision]]''.
* Played with in ''[[Sonny With a Chance]]'' where Sonny ([[Demi Lovato]]) meets Selena Gomez, as Selena Gomez, who apparently no longer has a BFF named Demi Lovato, or if she does probably would have mentioned "Hey, my BFF looks so exactly like you it's uncanny." At the end, they tease the idea that Sonny would become Selena's new BFF. It was a very strange episode.
* ''[[Leverage]]'' is full to brimming with ''[[Star Trek]]'', up to and including guest stars: [[Star Trek: Voyager|Jeri Ryan]], [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Brent Spiner]], [[Wil Wheaton]], and [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Armin Shimerman]] have all shown up. Wheaton's character even has the in-universe nickname of The Kobayashi Maru! But hardcore fanboy and Trekkie [[The Smart Guy|Hardison]] [[Irony|notices nothing]].
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** In one episode, Tony remarks that he has "a better chance of hooking up with [[Jessica Alba]]" than some criminals have infiltrating someplace. One wonders if Tony is aware of an actor that looks just like him named Michael Weatherly, who was once engaged to Ms. Alba (and was her co-star on ''[[Dark Angel]]'').
** Tony's movie references cause all kinds of Celebrity Paradoxes after the fact. He directly referenced ''[[True Lies]]'' in the season 7 opener, yet [[Jamie Lee Curtis]] has a recurring role as Samantha Ryan starting in season 9.
** The pilot episode makes several references to an un-named Harrison Ford movie, with which it also shared sets and a large portion of the plot... because both took place on the same airplane.
* Several examples in the ''[[Law and Order]]'' franchise:
** Bobby Flay cameoed in an episode of ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'' as a TV chef who's enough like real Bobby Flay that if he wasn't playing himself he might as well have been. He had cheated on his wife—only since Flay is married to Stephanie March (Alex Cabot on SVU) in [[Real Life]], on the show he had no wife to cheat on.
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* Larry Miller appeared as himself on ''[[Law & Order|Law and Order]]'' in 2003. Detective Briscoe never mentioned Miller's resemblance to comedy club owner Michael Dobson, whom Briscoe arrested for murder twice.
* ''[[Chuck]]'' features a very prominent ''[[Tron]]'' poster in the main character's bedroom. It also features Bruce Boxleitner as "Woody" Woodcomb, father of one of the main cast. The poster is the real thing, with Boxleitner listed as the star, but nobody ever brings it up.
** Also, [[Battlestar Galactica
** In one episode, Sarah and Chuck are watching Spies Like Us and Chuck specifically mentions [[Dan Aykroyd]] and Chevy Chase, he failed to notice that Chevy Chase looks a lot like season two villain, Ted Roark.
** Chuck mentions ''[[Die Hard]]'' in a season four episode, though a season two episode had previously featured Reginald [[Vel Johnson]] as Sgt. Al Powell. Not a similar character. Sgt. Al Powell.
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** Now, if only Rush had called the killer "Asshole"...
** A bit of ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'' confusion. Some kids watch the movie in an early season two episode and a character mentions it by name in season three, yet Paul Gleason appeared as a character in another season three episode.
* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' has cameos by [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Wil Wheaton]], [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Brent Spiner]], [[Star Trek: The Original Series|George Takei]], [[Battlestar Galactica
** We're treated to an interesting take of this in the [[Summer Glau]] episode. Sheldon speculates that if Skynet were real, then the best strategy would be for them to copy and impersonate actors who have played Terminators on film.
** In one episode in season 1, the characters have a discussion about how [[Mayim Bialik]] and [[Danica McKellar]] are serious academics as well as actresses. It would've been weird enough if just one of them had shown up later in the series, but ''both'' actresses would end up playing fictional guest parts in season 3.
*** Bialik has since become a series regular, playing Sheldon's [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|friend who is a girl]].
*** Raj also mentions "the girl who played TV's
* ''[[Thirtysomething]]'', in its final season, featured a copy of John Updike's ''Rabbit at Rest'' as stage dressing. Guess what show the characters in ''Rabbit at Rest'' watch frequently.
* Most of the cast members of ''[[Growing Pains (TV)|Growing Pains]]'' haven't had much of a career afterwards. Alan Thicke's career consists mostly of playing himself, and Kirk Cameron has gone on to Christian Fundie work. [[Leonardo DiCaprio]], however, has fared much better, which may be why he wasn't in the [[Reunion Show|reunion movie]]. In the movie, the characters make reference to the missing Leonardo.
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* In the second season finale of Raising Hope, the characters watch a fictional news show called Inside Probe, detailing the circumstances surrounding Jimmy meeting, impregnating, marrying, and turning in Hope's serial killer mother. During one of the commercial breaks, an ad for the real TV show My Name is Earl is shown. My Name is Earl and Raising Hope were both created by Greg Garcia, and several characters from Earl appear as recurring characters or guest stars on Raising Hope.
* A [[Deleted Scene]] from [[The Thick of It]] reveals Peter Mannion MP's wife's dowdy appearance has been mocked on [[Have I Got News for You]]. A number of actors from [[The Thick of It]] have appeared in episodes of [[Have I Got News for You]], including Rebecca Front (Nicola Murray MP) Chris Addison (Olly Reader) and Miles Jupp (John Duggan). Presumably those episodes in [[The Verse]] feature a different array of comedians cracking jokes about the politicians of [[The Thick of It]].
== Magazines ==
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== Professional Wrestling ==
* In an angle where [[Shawn Michaels]] retires from [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] to work in a cafeteria, he uses the pseudonym "Hickenbottom" to avoid attention. [[Triple H]] goes on to make fun of the name. Michaels's real name is Michael Shawn Hickenbottom.
* A [[TNA]] skit involved [[Kevin Nash]] figuring out new nicknames for Jay Lethal. He pitched names like "Vinnie Vegas" and "Oz" which were gimmicks Nash played in [[WCW]] at the start of his career. He openly acknowledged this while trying to figure out a gimmick for Sonjay Dutt. ("I wrestled two matches in that one year and earned six figures!")
* As certain wrestling skits over the past quarter-century have established, the characters of [[The Naked Gun|Frank Drebin]], [[RoboCop|Alex J. Murphy]], and [[Child's Play (film)|Charles Lee Ray]] all exist as their fictional selves....which gets freakin' weird once you remember that the wrestlers exist in our world as well as their fantasy one, not to mention that [[Bill Clinton]] and [[Barack Obama]] have appeared as well (as lookalike actors playing them, of course). Granted, Robocop and Chuckie were established in [[WCW]], and may or may not be canon to [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]], but considering that [[WCW]] was meant to be in the real world as well... ow, I think I just pulled my brain.
* Also, Tiger Woods is apparently an ''[[Literal-Minded|actual tiger]]''.
* [[Adam Sandler]] appeared in the audience at ''WrestleMania 21'' to see [[The Big Show]] wrestle. [[The Waterboy|I wonder if Sandler asked him for a job again afterward....]]
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*** Of course the [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/sandalsandspartans/0050.html 300], [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/avatars/0050.html Avatar] and [http://darthsanddroids.net/heists/0050.html Inception] ones, being based on recent movies, are more forced/less accurate than the previous ones (''Avatar's'' nonexistence led to ''[[Titanic]]'' not existing?).
** Although its [[Spiritual Successor|spiritual predecessor]] ''[[DM of the Rings]]'' never explicitly referenced this trope, [[Fridge Logic]] leads one to wonder how ''[[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]]'' became popular in a world without ''[[The Lord of the Rings]].''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060508212305/http://frakkingtoasters.com/index.cgi?date=20060106 This] ''Frakking Toasters'' strip has the cast of
* [http://dizzy.pestermom.com/?p=thcomic59 This page] of the fancomic ''[[Touhou Nekokayou]]'' describes a world without ''[[Touhou]]'' like ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' did. The author often silently adds more examples to the list ...
* David Willis makes occasional appearances in [[Shortpacked]] and has an ongoing rivalry with Ethan regarding the Transformers Wiki. He even rented out the store to propose to his girlfriend.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters and Casting]]
[[Category:Metafiction Demanded This Index]]
[[Category:Consistency]]
[[Category:Omnipresent Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Celebrity Paradox]]
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