TV casting inside jokes

[gkelly]

Now that I've been watching Korean dramas for the last three years, I starting to recognize some inside jokes in referencing prior work by lead actors in the show or in casting supporting or cameo roles that reference that actor's prior work. (Or, at first, I got the jokes only after reading a recap/blog post that explained them.)

I'm sure there are plenty of examples that I totally missed because I was just not familiar with the previous work.

Is this particularly common in Korean shows? Can we find plenty of examples in anglophone TV shows as well?



Here are a handful of American examples I could think of off the top of my head.

Ted Danson in The Good Place referencing Cheers

Ted Danson Tending Bar Again | The Good Place

The Good Place is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur. It premiered on NBC on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January ...

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William Daniels in St. Elsewhere referencing 1776
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6de9jCZlhbI$1m20s (also the singing at the end of the clip)

Also John Rubinstein on Dear White People singing a bit of Corner of the Sky from Pippin



For the latter type, there was 1990s movie Wednesday Addams Christina Ricci in a different role in the recent Wednesday series.

Then there was the whole Becky issue on Roseanne, and the show's self-consciousness about it:

Why Did Two Actors Play the Same Role on 'Roseanne'?

The double life of Becky Conner.

collider.com

Other examples?

 

[manhn]

Watch Family Switch on Netflix!

But Newhart is probably the best ever tv cross reference ever.

 

[gkelly]

But Newhart is probably the best ever tv cross reference evever

Thanks for the reminder. That was good!

 

[Wyliefan]

William Daniels in St. Elsewhere referencing 1776
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6de9jCZlhbI$1m20s (also the singing at the end of the clip)

Not only that, but on "Boy Meets World," his character taught at John Adams High School.

 

[Yehudi]

Hughie in the Boys comic looks like Simon Pegg. However,he aged out of the role so he plays Hughie’s dad on the show.

The random Donna DeVarona mentions in Growing Pains reference the fact that IRL, she’s Joanna Kerns’ sister.

 

[genevieve]

Best ever

- YouTube

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ETA:

Florence Henderson & Robert Reed on The Love Boat

Florence Henderson & Robert Reed guest star in the same Love Boat episode but different story lines. As their characters cross paths they exchange glances as...

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I remember watching this episode when it first aired. The Brady Bunch was an after school staple so I got it right away

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

Nathan Fillion dressed up as a Space Cowboy (Firefly reference) in Castle for a Halloween episode

 

[Rogue]

It was a common occurrence in Married With Children for Ted Ginley to make some reference to Happy Days or Love Boat. He was a replacement for departing actors in all 3 series.

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

Psych from USA Network was one long continuous reference to other movies and shows. That was the basis of 99.9% of their episodes.

One of my favorites was a reference to The Mentalist that was running at the same time on another network.

Psych versus The Mentalist supercut

All of the USA Psych mentions of The Mentalist on CBS

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[smurfy]

In 'Killing Eve' - Fiona Shaw who plays Sandra Oh's character boss (in MI6) and was a spy with quite a history and was Harry Potter's Aunt - in one scene - someone says something about an invisibility cloak. I chuckled at that one.

 

[screech]

In the latest season of Only Murders in the Building Steve Martin and Martin Short reference Father of the Bride.
In Weird: The Al Yankovic Movie, there's kind of a nod to Harry Potter (while playing on Dr. Demento's name).