Geek Reference Pool: Difference between revisions

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** A prediliction towards [[Tom Baker|wearing a six-foot-long multicoloured scarf]] or [[Peter Davison|a piece of celery on one's lapel]] are excellent indicators of classic ''Who'' fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

=== Mathematics ===

=== Mathematics and Science ===

* All geeks can do calculus in their heads, have the periodic table memorized, have ''pi'' [[Mouthful of Pi|memorized to four hundred places]], and know what [[E=MC Hammer|those weird symbols you see on the blackboard whenever a science or math class appears on television]] mean. You only need a high school education or [[Genre Savvy|a background in troping]] to know what any of them mean: on most shows, [[Did Not Do the Research|absolutely nothing]].

=== [[MMORPG]] ===

* The only MMO Geeks ever play is ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Older shows will occasionally do something loosely parodying ''[[EverQuest]]'' or a more general parody, but...well, as expected, any video or computer game parody will be [[Pac-Man Fever|to a real video game what]] ''~~[[Pac-Man Fever|~~A Trip to the Moon]]'' ~~[[Pac-Man Fever|~~is to the Apollo program]]. They might as well just call them ''[[Seltzer and Friedberg|Video Game]]''. Judging by subscriber stats, this one is borderline [[Truth in Television]].

* The only MMO Geeks ever play is ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Older shows will occasionally do something loosely parodying ''[[EverQuest]]'' or a more general parody, but...well, as expected, any video or computer game parody will be [[Pac-Man Fever|to a real video game what ''A Trip to the Moon'' is to the Apollo program]]. They might as well just call them ''[[Seltzer and Friedberg|Video Game]]''. Judging by subscriber stats, this one is borderline [[Truth in Television]].

=== [[Music]] ===

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* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' has become ''the'' shorthand for social failings and maladjusted virginity. Sure, it's one step better than [[You Can Panic Now|the Satanic Panic days]], but really. And apparently the hobby consists ''only'' of ''Dungeons and Dragons'', and games like ''Warhammer'' and ''Vampire: the Masquerade'' do not exist (unless [[The New Rock and Roll|you're doing a true crime show on a "vampire killer"]]).

** Since the writers will have [[Did Not Do the Research|no idea]] how the game is actually played, depictions will vary wildly if characters actually play on screen instead of just refering to the game, but there are a few constants: expect players to wear costumes and use elaborate props (at the very least the Dungeon Master, if there is one, will wear [[Robe and Wizard Hat|a cape or pointy "wizard" hat]]), speak in [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]], and engage in ritualistic behavior like chanting "all hail the Dungeon Master!" at the start of each session (if a non-geek regular character has been dragged to the game—which one probably has, or we wouldn't be seeing the scene—the geeks will be confused or outraged that they don't know or want to take part in this behavior).

** ~~Its~~ also common to depict the death of a player's character as having an unusual level of finality to it. There is no resurrection ([[Death Is Cheap|very common in D&D]] or even rolling up a new character. Similar to the way when your character dies in [[Super Mario Bros.]] the cartridge permanently self destructs and you kill yourself out of grief. This is getting better with the widespread popularity of ~~MMO's~~ and Console ~~RPG's~~ helping more writers and audience members realize how ridiculous this is.

** It's also common to depict the death of a player's character as having an unusual level of finality to it. There is no resurrection ([[Death Is Cheap|very common in D&D]]) or even rolling up a new character. Similar to the way when your character dies in ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', the cartridge permanently self-destructs and you kill yourself out of grief. This is getting better with the widespread popularity of MMOs and Console RPGs helping more writers and audience members realize how ridiculous this is.

** What the hell is GURPS?

** What the hell is ''[[GURPS]]''?

=== [[Video Games]] ===

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* [[Kevin Smith]] is a geek, and his movies show it.

* What's the one major difference between those girls in ''[[Death Proof]]'' who get killed and those who get the killer? While the former seem not to be interested in anything apart from sex and gossips, the later are movie geeks (knowledge of the semi-obscure pictures that are mentioned in each part of the movie, seems to be some kind of ''kudos''). Otherwise they make quite similar impression, so that the difference doesn't surface until [[Zoe Bell]] shows up. By the [[Quentin Tarantino|Geek God]].

* In ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial~~|ET the Extraterrestrial~~]]'', Elliot's older brother and his friends have a remarkably realistic session of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. No funny clothing or strange language, just arguments about pizza and whether the [[Dungeon Master]] is allowed to bend the rules. They even have all the right sorts of dice. D&D hadn't yet caught the eye of [[New Media Are Evil|hysterical news pundits]] back in '82, so they had few negative stereotypes to work with.

* In ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'', Elliot's older brother and his friends have a remarkably realistic session of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. (At least, they call it that. Careful attention will reveal that while it's a fairly realistic portrayal of a tabletop RPG, it's not ''quite'' D&D.) No funny clothing or strange language, just arguments about pizza and whether the [[Dungeon Master]] is allowed to bend the rules. They even have all the right sorts of dice. ''D&D'' hadn't yet caught the eye of [[New Media Are Evil|hysterical news pundits]] back in '82, so they had few negative stereotypes to work with.

=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===

* ''[[Chuck]]'' is in the "by geeks" category. An odd example, though, in that the writers are older than the characters and it shows. At least half the geeky references are from the 80s, but considering that the title character was born in 1981, it strains credibility that he's personally a fan of all of it. Given that Chuck's dad was also geeky, and they were raised by him, it makes sense that Chuck would have access to, and an appreciation for, the older stuff.

* ''[[Spaced]]'' is likewise "by geeks". The "Homage-o-meter" on the DVDs will point out references you missed the first time around. Yes, you. [[Paranoia Fuel|Adrian]].

* [[House MD]]: Kutner is depicted as a geek, referencing ''[[Harry Potter]]'' and comic books, collecting action figures and stuff. He also used to be quite a popular person and also a bully at school. Far from stereotype. It doesn't count as "made by geeks", does it? Considering how many Internet/meme references House makes on a regular basis (especially in the most recent seasons), the show could be classified as at least "written by geeks" a lot of the time.

* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'': Kutner is depicted as a geek, referencing ''[[Harry Potter]]'' and comic books, collecting action figures and stuff. He also used to be quite a popular person and also a bully at school. Far from stereotype. It doesn't count as "made by geeks", does it? Considering how many Internet/meme references House makes on a regular basis (especially in the most recent{{when}} seasons), the show could be classified as at least "written by geeks" a lot of the time.

* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' has many easy jokes from within the reference pool, some of which are a little outdated, however the references are usually ''exactly correct''. It also includes a lot of science jokes and more obscure references. There have been moments in episodes referencing the then-ongoing ''[[Batman|Batman: Battle for the Cowl]]'' and ''[[The Flash|Flash: Rebirth]]'' storylines. Definitely in the "made by geeks" category.

* ''[[CSI]]'' had an episode about a murder at a Brand X ''[[Star Trek]]'' convention, which may seem bizarre at first; CBS and Paramount, which owns the Trek rights, are both Viacom subsidiaries (sort of. It's complicated). Turns out they needed to obscure the name for plot purposes. Also turns out [[Shown Their Work|they did their research]] into Trek [[In-Joke~~|In Jokes~~]] and culture, as well as cameoing ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' producer Ronald D. Moore and Ellen Tigh.

* ''[[CSI]]'' had an episode about a murder at a Brand X ''[[Star Trek]]'' convention, which may seem bizarre at first; CBS and Paramount, which owns the ''Trek'' rights, are both Viacom subsidiaries (sort of. It's complicated). Turns out they needed to obscure the name for plot purposes. Also turns out [[Shown Their Work|they did their research]] into ''Trek'' [[In-Joke]]s and culture, as well as cameoing ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' producer Ronald D. Moore and Ellen Tigh.

* On ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', resident geek Hiro Nakamura usually stays within the Geek Reference Pool (which is a little odd, since he's Japanese and originally spoke no English, yet almost all his references are to American media). However, when he used his [[Time Stands Still|time-stopping]] ability to mess with Daphne, he taunts her by saying, "Muda muda muda", the catchphrase of Dio Brando, another time-stopping character from the very obscure (to Americans) manga series ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''.

* On ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', resident geek Hiro Nakamura usually stays within the Geek Reference Pool (which is a little odd, since he's Japanese and originally spoke no English, yet almost all his references are to ''American'' media). However, when he used his [[Time Stands Still|time-stopping]] ability to mess with Daphne, he taunts her by saying, "Muda muda muda", the catchphrase of Dio Brando, another time-stopping character from the very obscure (to Americans) manga series ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''.

** Hiro's actor translates the lines the writers give him into Japanese himself, sometimes [[Bilingual Bonus|inserting references which don't show up in the subtitles]].

** Hiro's [[Character Blog]] makes his geekery over ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' more obvious.

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** Hiro makes another reference outside of the 'pool' when describing his love interest to his past self:

{{quote|"She's the Mary Jane to your [[Spider-Man]]! The [[Chrono Trigger|Marle to your Crono!]]"}}

* ''[[Leverage]]'' goes takes the ''made by geeks'' [[Up to Eleven]]—including arguments about ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' raids and if CGI or puppet [[Star Wars|Yoda]] was better, [[Shout-Out~~|Shout Outs~~]] to ''[[Star Trek]]'' when [[Wil Wheaton]] appeared as a [[Special Guest]], and using [[Fanfic]] vocabulary:

* ''[[Leverage]]'' goes takes the ''made by geeks'' [[Up to Eleven]]—including arguments about ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' raids and if CGI or puppet [[Star Wars|Yoda]] was better, [[Shout-Out]]s to ''[[Star Trek]]'' when [[Wil Wheaton]] appeared as a [[Special Guest]], and using [[Fanfic]] vocabulary:

{{quote|'''Parker''': I really like Elliot slash Sophie. Could you do Nate slash me? No! Nate slash you!

'''Hardeson''': Please, please stop. }}

::(in fairness, she was talking about Hardeson's combining the photo-IDs used in their covers for different members of the team when he had to adapt one he set up for Elliot to work for Sophie).

:(In fairness, she was talking about Hardeson's combining the photo-IDs used in their covers for different members of the team when he had to adapt one he set up for Elliot to work for Sophie).

* [[Freaks and Geeks]]: Written by, well, freaks and geeks. Including, among other things, period-accurate Dungeons and Dragons played accurately. Interestingly enough it doesn't really stereotype any particular group with everyone from jocks to hippies to somewhat naively well-meaning guidance counselors all getting enough depth and understanding to explain them as more than just a poorly understood ~~straw~~ ~~man~~ for their particular subculture.

* ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'': Written by, well, freaks and geeks. Including, among other things, period-accurate ''Dungeons and Dragons'' played accurately. Interestingly enough it doesn't really stereotype any particular group with everyone from jocks to hippies to somewhat naively well-meaning guidance counselors all getting enough depth and understanding to explain them as more than just a poorly understood [[Straw Man]] for their particular subculture.

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

* ''[[Futurama]]'': In the "by geeks with doctorates" category.

* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', written by two tried-and-true geeks, to the point where almost everyone in the cast makes references far geekier than anything that would be considered geeky in another show. This is even mentioned in the commentaries during the episode O.R.B. From [[Aleister Crowley]], to [[Fantomas]], to [[Oscar Wilde]]. It's a love-letter to late-19th / early 20th century culture; or, as they say, "things that [[Doc Hammer|Doc]] likes."

* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', written by two tried-and-true geeks, to the point where almost everyone in the cast makes references far geekier than anything that would be considered geeky in another show. This is even mentioned in the commentaries during the episode O.R.B. From [[Aleister Crowley]], to [[Fantomas]], to [[Oscar Wilde]]. It's a love-letter to late-19th/early 20th century culture; or, as they say, "things that [[Doc Hammer|Doc]] likes."