Mythology Gag/Live-Action TV

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  • The pilot of Caprica comes to close only a few minutes after the first cylon ends its combat test by saying "by your command". This is both a reference to the Noughties Drama Series it's a Prequel t,o as well as to the original Action Adventure that the former was a Continuity Reboot of.
  • The Whoniverse shows make countless references to each other and to the Doctor Who Expanded Universe and particularly to the novels set in it.
    • The Doctor Who episode "Bad Wolf" namechecks Lucifer, from the New Adventures novel Lucifer Rising by Andy Lane and Jim Mortimore. And in "Doomsday" he mentions Arcadia, from the New Adventures novel Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans.
      • New Earth, from the episode of the same name, doesn't appear to be any of the "New Earths" previously featured in different novels and comic strips (none of which are compatible with each other, either), but the claim that it's actually the fifteenth New Earth may be a reference to them.
    • In Remembrance of the Daleks, the Dalek Emperor disguise used by Davros is based on the Emperor that appeared in the Dalek Chronicles comic, rather than the Dalek Emperor that had appeared earlier in the series.
    • The new series episode "Dalek" was based on elements of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio drama "Jubilee", and was originally intended to include a pizza box labelled "Jubilee Pizza". This name eventually appeared in a few episodes of Torchwood.
    • The two-part story "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel" contained an obscure reference to "Paula Moore", the pseudonymous creator of the story Attack of the Cybermen.
    • The term "rel" as a Dalek unit of time was first used in the very out-of-Canon Peter Cushing movies. It then appeared on and off in various Expanded Universe media before finally becoming "official" in the episode "Doomsday".
    • Two of the show's original creators were Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert. At one point, the Doctor (well, a memory-modified version of him) says his parents' names were Sydney and Verity.
    • If you listen carefully, one of the vendors in "The Long Game" is selling "kronkburgers", from the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip "The Iron Legion".
    • In an issue of Doctor Who Magazine released in The Nineties, it is said that Susan's Gallifreyan name is Arkytior, which means "rose." The first companions of both the classic and new series were named Rose.
  • The Torchwood episode "Reset" had the Doctor's former companion, Martha Jones, adopt the pseudonym Samantha ("Sam") Jones, which referenced the character of the same name from the BBC Books Eighth Doctor Adventures. How many got that one?
  • Power Rangers Dino Thunder: Tommy digs through a box of old possessions, turning up a number of props from Super Sentai.
  • The 2000s Battlestar Galactica has several mythology references to its predecessor;
    • The Cylon designs from the original series are portrayed as outdated Cylon technology from the First Cylon War. Razor even shows original series Cylons in action, complete with monotone synthesized voices and the Catch Phrase "By your command."
      • Taken to the extreme, in the series finale episode, the old and new centurions engage in hand-to-hand combat on the Cylon Colony.
      • At the end of the miniseries, as a group of the humanoid models conclude a debate, one gives an order and another responds "by your command."
    • The original series theme song is repurposed as the Colonial national anthem.
    • Several ships in the civilian fleet, most notably the mining vessels and botanical cruisers, are in fact ships carried over from the original series. The botanical cruiser in the remake of Galactica is not a carryover from the original show which of course used footage from the film Silent Running. However the Colonial Movers (with a great slogan 'We Move Anywhere') are.
    • The design of the Battlestar Pegasus is reminiscent of the original Battlestar Galactica.
    • Early in the mini-series, an original series Viper is seen in a museum. Since the original Viper used lasers, something not present in the new series, this is most likely a Mythology Gag.
    • And of course the Peter Pan-derived slogan "All this has happened before, All this will happen again" sounds very much like a nod to the remake nature of the series.
    • In a recent[when?] episode, the opening narration music, from which the Cylon Leitmotif in the original series is derived, appears as the Second Movement of Numian's 3rd Sonata. In the same episode, the Unusual Euphemism "felgercarb" is the name of a brand of toothpaste. Felgercarb, incidentally, meant "shit/bullshit" in the original series...
      • Don't forget, it's Tauron toothpaste. Taurus means "bull"...
    • And then there's Tom Zarek, persistent thorn in the sides of Adama and Roslin, who is played by Richard Hatch, the original Apollo.
  • In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Soultaker", Joel returns to the SOL, and Mike gets jealous of him after learning Joel manages a hot fish shop. Servo tells him, "Don't compare yourself, Mike, it ain't healthy!" This was a reference to the internet 'Joel vs. Mike' Flame War, from shortly after Mike took over as host after Joel left.
    • In the final episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, the SOL crash-lands on Earth, and some time later, Crow and Servo are living with Mike at his apartment. The three of them settle down to watch the movie The Crawling Eye on TV, and Crow remarks, "This movie looks kind of familiar, doesn't it?" The Crawling Eye was the movie featured in the first episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 after its stint on KTMA-TV in Minnesota.
  • A very elegant Mythology Gag was done in the BBC's Macbeth episode of their ShakespeaReTold [sic] series. Macbeth (a head chef at a famous restaurant in this version) gives a passionate speech about food, to which one of his underlings remarks, 'That's a bit Gordon Ramsay'. In the hushed silence that follows, another chef tells the poor underling, "We don't mention that name in this kitchen. It's bad luck. Just call him The Scottish Chef." (This, of course, is a reference to the thespian legend that using the title Macbeth in reference to any actual production is bad luck, and so it is referred to as "The Scottish Play" instead.)
  • The 2007 Flash Gordon series has a couple:
    • The title character's real first name is "Steven", an homage to Steven Holland, who played Flash in the 1954 TV series.
    • The Dactyls, a tribe of bird-worshipping nomads who wear prosthetic claws and glide on air currents with special capes, are jokingly referred to as "Hawkmen" by a skeptical Joe Wiley.
    • Ming, now a preening European-style fascist rather than the Yellow Peril despot of the comics, mentions how the people of the Cantons say he's "Merciless". Of course, he proves them right when he strangles a puppeteer with his own marionettes so Aura wouldn't associate with him.
    • The very same episode, which revolves around a Mongo holiday dedicated to ancestor worship, sees Ming eschew his western-style military uniform for an elaborate robe similar to the one he wears in most adaptations.
    • When Terek tries to persuade Flash to help him overthrow his father, he tells Flash he just might "save every one of us" -- a lyric from the theme song to the 1980 film.
  • Just about every episode of the 1990 series The Flash contains at least one Mythology Gag referencing one of the several incarnations of the comic book hero. Some include:
    • Mentions of several Silver Age Flash villains (Professor Zoom, Gorilla Grodd; neither actually appeared in the series, however).
    • A "Garrick Avenue" address (Jay Garrick was the alter ego of the Golden Age Flash).
    • While the series is ostensibly based on the adventures of the Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen), in one episode a villain creates a statue of the Flash which wears a winged helmet and winged boots, which were hallmarks of the uniform of the Golden Age Flash.
    • A mention of "Police captain Julius Schwartz" (Julius Schwartz was a legendary DC Comics editor and a co-creator of the Silver Age Flash).
    • A reference to "the Hotel Infantino" (Carmine Infantino was another co-creator of the Silver Age Flash).
    • The appearance of a TV reporter named "Linda Park" (in the comics, Linda Park is the girlfriend -- later wife -- of Wally West, the modern Flash, and was originally a TV reporter).
    • A mention of "the intersection of Gardner and Fox" (Gardner Fox was the creator of the Silver Age Flash).
    • In The Pilot, Barry Allen's older brother was named Jay, another reference to Jay Garrick.
  • The 2008 Syfy Miniseries Tin Man rather beautifully blurred the line between Deconstruction and Mythology Gag in its reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, particularly the classic 1939 film version. To name just a few examples:
    • Numerous line echoes, including "And Toto, too" and "Lions, tigers and bears, oh my".
    • DG's waitress uniform is all but identical to Judy Garland's costume.
    • Sheriff Elmer Gulch, who wants to arrest DG, references Margaret Hamilton as Elmyra Gulch, who wanted Dorothy arrested and Toto put to sleep.
    • DG's house number is 39, the year in which The Wizard of Oz was released.
    • When running across the meadow to the entrance to the Realm of the Abandoned, Glitch stumbles in a manner similar to Ray Bolger's rubber-legged Scarecrow.
    • Glitch, the Scarecrow analogue, claiming to have been a great dancer is likely an allusion to the fact that Ray Bolger (the 1939 Scarecrow) was a trained dancer.
    • A dangerous region of the O.Z. in which our heroes find themselves is the "Fields of the Papé", an obvious allusion to the field of poppies.
    • Briefly tricked into believing her adventures were All Just a Dream, DG claims to have had a dream "in technicolor", referencing the film's transition to color in Oz.
    • Likewise, when DG goes to "The Gray Gale," and meets an apparition of the original Dorothy Gale, the scene is monochromatic. Just to remind us that the film and the book are two distinct things, Dorothy's slippers are plainly silver.
      • Using the ruby slippers from the 1939 movie would require paying for a license.
    • And speaking of Dorothy Gale, she's described as "the first slipper", which, in-story, refers to her being the first to "slip" from our world to the Outer Zone, and metafictionally alludes to the Silver (or Ruby) Slippers.
      • Also the fact that the Queen (and by extension, DG and Az) are descendants of Dorothy Gale. In the book universe, Dorothy ended up moving to Oz full-time, and was appointed Princess of Oz and Ozma's heir.
    • The Mystic Man's brief appearance as a giant head floating in the air, heralded by gouts of flame, echoes the Wizard's pre-"curtain" appearance.
    • The Queen calling out for DG in Azkedelia's viewing tank echoes the image of Aunt Em in the Wicked Witch's crystal ball, and uses some of the same dialogue.
    • Raw and DG being captured by the Witch while Cain and Glitch are left for dead is a nod to the book. In the original book, Nick and Scarecrow were tossed in a ravine to rot and rust.
    • The strategem Cain and Glitch use to enter Azkedelia's tower to rescue DG and Raw is the same as that used by the Tin Woodsman, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion to get into the Witch's castle.
    • Also, a quick way to make this a really fun movie is to play a Drinking Game where you drink every time someone tells Cain to "Have a heart".
    • This editor wonders why the most obvious was not named. When the sisters finally defeat the witch she melts. DG even comments, as if to make it more clear, "She, melted."
    • There appears to be a reference to Book Oz. The doll DG is playing with appears to look like Princess Ozma.
    • An extremely subtle one: In Baum's books, the only two members of the original party to have first and last names are Dorothy Gale and Nick Chopper (the Tin Woodsman). Much later, Ruth Thompson gave a name to the Scarecrow. The only two to have a first and last name in the remake? DG (Dorothy Gale II) and Wyatt Cain. Later, Glitch's true name (Ambrose) was revealed in flashback.
  • In Merlin Camelot's court genealogist is Geoffrey of Monmouth. In reality, Monmouth wrote History of British Kings, one of the earliest Arthurian sources.
    • Similarly, at the very end of the musical Camelot (and the book The Once and Future King on which is it based), Arthur knights a young page named "Tom" and then charges him to escape the final battle and live to tell the tell the story of Arthur's reign; "Tom" is clearly supposed to be Sir Thomas Malory, who wrote the definitive volume of Arthurian myth, Le Morte Darthur.
    • The dragon living under the castle in Merlin is most likely a nod to the story of Vortigern's castle, which couldn't be built because there were two dragons fighting in a cave beneath it.
    • In early episodes Guinevere sarcastically mutters: "Who would want to marry Arthur?" and - when invited by Merlin to play a game of Who Would You Rather: Arthur or Lancelot - she just laughs and tells him that she'll never have to choose.
  • In one episode of House, Dr. House says "I can't believe it. I finally have a case of lupus", which is a nod to the fact that they very often expect lupus, but it so far hasn't been the case.
      • So much so, we see in one episode that House keeps a stash of his vicodin pills in a hollowed out medical text on Lupus, since "It's never Lupus."
      • In the first episode of season 4, before House hires his new team, he recruits a janitor to help him solve a case. After throwing out a series of mechanical or janitorial problems that House translates into medical issues, the janitor simply says "It could be lupus," though ultimately because one of his relatives had lupus.
    • During an episode where the hospital takes away free cable to the rooms, Cameron remarks that House will have to be satisfied with broadcast TV, to which House replies, "Well, I'll be fine on Tuesdays." At the time, Tuesday night was the air time for new House episodes.
      • Not the only time they referenced Tuesdays -- when Chase was courting Cameron, he said simply that "once a week, every Tuesday", he was going to remind her that he was in love with her.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer used a similar gag. "Dawn's in trouble... must be Tuesday." Tuesday was the day Buffy was broadcast.
  • Another, similar gag was used in Stargate SG-1. After Carter describes a Goa'uld communication device, O'Neill jokingly asks "does it get Showtime?" At the time, SG-1 aired on Showtime.
    • Speaking of O'Neill, he would like to remind you that his name has two "L"s. There's a Col. Jack O'Neil (one "L") who really has no sense of humor! This is a reference to the change in the spelling of his name and in his personality between the original movie and the series.
  • In addition to the Reference Overdosed nature of the show, Psych is also a fan of this trope, with things like Shawn professing his love to Curt Smith (which is actually James Roday's love) and an early episode titled "Any Given Friday Night at 10pm/9pm Central."
  • In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, one episode revolved around a terminator attempting to assassinate the governor of California. In real life, of course, that job is filled by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the original star of the franchise.
    • Another episode reveals that one of the terminators had taken the identity of an actor, and showed clips of him in a low- budget fantasy movie. His costume is clearly that of Conan The Barbarian, one of Arnie's other roles.
  • In the second season episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. titled "The Bat Cave Affair", Napoleon Solo is escorting the episode's innocent to Europe as they investigate some developments in the plot. A scene on the airliner cuts in just as the inflight movie is ending, revealing a The End card which shows that the inflight movie was One Spy Too Many--which is in fact one of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. compilation movies (basically, One Spy Too Many was composed of the two parts of the second season opening episode, "Alexander the Greater Affair (Parts I and II)" plus added footage).

Clemency McGill: That was a right fine movie. Do you like spy movies, Mr. Solo? Napoleon?
Napoleon Solo: I'll tell you, they're alright if you like light entertainment. I just think they're... pretty far-fetched.

    • And in the third season episode "The Hula Doll Affair", Napoleon Solo receives a message to go to 555 Felton Avenue (which turns out to be the location of THRUSH's New York headquarters). Norman Felton was one of the creators of the series, and credited as executive producer that season.
  • In one episode of the 1966 TV adaptation of The Green Hornet, a couple of hoodlums pass the time watching an episode of the 1960s Batman TV series on a television in their hideout. William Dozier produced both series.
    • But... in an episode of Batman, the Green Hornet and Kato teamed up with the Caped Crusader! How does that work?
      • Then in another episode of Batman, Bruce and Dick turn on the TV specifically to catch the Green Hornet TV show.
      • Take your pick: Bellisario's Maxim or MST3K Mantra.
  • In a bizarre reverse-nod, in one episode of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Tank mentions (in an episode written by J. Michael Straczynski) that he is originally from Babylon 5 -- years before that show aired. (JMS also mentioned B5 in his novel Othersyde, where it is a character's favorite TV show -- again, before the show actually aired.)
  • In an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Buck and a team of older has-been vets including one played by Buster Crabbe (who portrayed Buck Rogers in the early serials) are taking on the enemy space fighters. Buck barks out orders, to which the character played by Crabbe says "I was doing this before you were born." Gil Gerard, the actor playing Buck in the series answers with a chuckle "I don't know about that." To which Crabbe responds "I do."
  • The Supernatural episode "Hollywood Babylon" takes place on a film set, and contains several references to the shows own production, including the execs skepticism about salt as a way to battle ghosts, the precision of the lore, and the quality of the catering on set (the cast of the film comment how much it's improved). The producer is even named as McG.
    • On a further note, guess which day of the week the real-life Castiel is supposed to represent.
    • In a recent episode, Dean came up with this line after an unpleasant incident: "Must be Thursday."
    • The sixth season episode "The French Mistake" is nothing but this.
  • Much like Tin Man, references to the original in the 2009 remake of The Prisoner could make for an incapacitating drinking game. In the first episode alone:
    • 93 wears the same outfit Number 6 wore in the original series.
    • His house is appointed with furniture of the same Zeerust-futuristic style used in the original series.
    • The scene transition to the inside of 93's house takes us to an extreme close-up of a lava lamp, which reproduces the original series's visual effect for Rover's launch sequence.
    • A rough sketch of a landmark 93 half-remembered from his life outside the Village is of Big Ben. One of the best-known episodes of the original series was "The Chimes of Big Ben", in which the landmark played a key part in the climax
    • 93 himself bears a striking resemblance to the older version of Number 6 from the graphic novel follow-up "Shattered Village"
    • During his first meeting with 2, 6 pounds on in the desk between them in a way that seems very unnatural for the actor involved. He's recreating an iconic image from the opening sequence of the original series.
  • But surely the all-time king of the Mythology Gag is Smallville. Just to name a few:
    • Clark almost always wears red and blue, the main colors of the Superman costume.
      • Which may end up not being a gag. Clark has been seen rescuing people at super-speed, and because he always wears those colors they see a red-and-blue blur. In one episode Green Arrow dresses in a costume of those colors to hide his identity. In other words, the series implies his Superman costume will be red and blue because he wears those colors in his civilian life.
      • At this point, it's safe to say they must be his favorite colors. Fortunately, he's stopped wearing blue and red when he's Clark Kenting.
    • Superman's iconic S-emblem appears to be the fusion of Smallville High's school crest, a Kryptonian symbol meaning "air" (a shield with an 8 inside it), and a crest on a suit of armor worn by Alexander the Great (pointed out by Lex near the start of the series).
    • The first line uttered by (teenage) Lana Lang is her reaction to reading "Beyond Good and Evil" -- she asks Clark whether he considers himself "man or superman".
    • In a nod to Superman: The Animated Series, Brainiac is now a Kryptonian supercomputer.
    • The Phantom Zone is now a land of barren wastes instead of ghostlike limbo, as a nod to the Supergirl movie. The scene in which Clark enters the Zone uses a spinning, flying square glasslike panel similar to the one in Superman and Superman II.
    • The Fortress of Solitude in Smallville is identical to the crystalline design from The Movie.
    • Before that, Clark's hideout in the barn loft was referred to as his Fortress of Solitude.
    • In one of their more obscure references: "The Torch" was the name of Jerry Siegel's high school newspaper. Siegel, of course, was one of Superman's two creators. (Ironically, Siegel's heirs are currently involved in a long-running lawsuit over the rights to Superboy that encompasses the intellectual properties -- and profits -- from Smallville.)
    • Bart Allen, in the episode "Run", has fake IDs in the names of "Barry Allen", "Jay Garrick", and "Wally West", all Flashes in the comics. Similarly in "Odyssey", Ollie Queen uses the name Roy Conner -- Roy Harper was Green Arrow's sidekick in the comics, and Conner Hawke was his son and successor. Bart also wears a red hoodie with the famous Flash emblem on it.
    • Tess "Mercy" Mercer is almost entirely a Canon Foreigner, but her name suggests both Mercy Graves from Superman: The Animated Series and Miss Tessmacher from the movie.
    • In the episode where Clark is reprogrammed as "Kal-El", he flies to intercept Lex's plane. The pilots notice him on the radar and one says, "What is that? A Bird? A Plane?"
    • The episode that Pete learns of Clark's superpowers, he comments, "It's not easy to be you." It's pretty safe to assume that this is a direct transfer of the line "And it's not easy to be me," from Five for Fighting's song "Superman."
    • The episode "Kandor" features two good ones. First, Chloe remarks that Clark's had feelings for Lois "since 1939" (the year Superman debuted in Action Comics). Second, people actually kneel before Zod.
      • In Season 9, people kneeling before Zod, or variants of the phrase, could be the basis for a Drinking Game.
    • A subtle one in "Salvation": Chloe is surprised to learn the League has "our own satellite" ... meaning a dedicated communications sat, not the satellite headquarters from the comics.
    • In "Harvest", when Lois and Clark are stranded in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire, Lois(who knows that Clark is Kryptonian by this point) quips, "This looks like a job for...Triple A."
    • The Wonder Twins appeared in "Idol", with cellphones that had a familiar image.
  • In an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent with an In Plain Sight cameo, a line asking if anything good ever happens on Sundays comes up. Both shows at the time came on Sunday nights.
    • An episode of the original Law and Order features a perp from a season one episode becoming a murder victim 15 years later. The current detectives even talk to Captain Cragen, who was Captain during that time and has since moved on to the Special Victims Unit.
  • In Star Trek: Voyager's premiere, Janeway mentions how they are going to "seek out new life and new civilisations." Sound familiar? Yeah, the show thought so too -- you can hear the original series' Instrumental Theme Tune piping away in the background immediately after she says it.
  • The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Far Beyond the Stars". Full stop. The entire thing is one long mythology gag for the entire Star Trek franchise, combined with constant Hey, It's That Guy! in universe (since so many of the Deep Space Nine regulars usually appear in very heavy makeup), except that it isn't a humorous episode -- all the humor is meta, while the plot is serious.
  • A second season episode of The A-Team had Face (Dirk Benedict) being surprised by a Cylon walking by him on a movie set. The scene was incorporated into the opening credits from season 3 on.
  • At one point in Nikita, Division actually does some good. Nikita suggests that maybe Michael could take it over and set it straight; Michael suggests Nikita could do it. At the end of the original La Femme Nikita, Nikita takes over Operation, of which Division is a counterpart.
  • In Lost in Oz, Alex finds the remains of Dorothy's house on the western border, and asks why. In the original Oz books, West and East were switched on the map.
  • The final intro of Zoom in 2005 resembles the 70s intro more than the other intros.
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