History ContinuityNod / LiveActionTV

* In ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' (and ''Series/{{Knots Landing}}''), a major part of Gary's backstory is that he is an alcoholic. In the ''Dallas'' {{Series Finale}} "Conundrum", the alternate reality version of Gary from the world in which J.R. was never born says that he doesn't drink and never has. This makes perfect sense since it was J.R. who was largely responsible for driving him to the bottle.

** One episode late in the series has Mike Cutter referencing a plea offer McCoy had made in his first season on the show.

** Jack [=McCoy=] is [[NeverLiveItDown repeatedly reminded]] that he hid a witness in "Under The Influence", usually when he's trying to reign in a subordinate.

** In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', Tom Paris makes frequent reference to the ''Dixo Hill'' series, Picard's [[ShowWithinAShow favorite holonovel]] on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.

* Surprisingly for a show that wasn't famed for its continuity, ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' had a few, particularly in the eighth season.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'' is excellent about recalling past plotlines and setting up twists ahead of time (the [[spoiler:midair plane crash]] at the end of S2 is set up over ''the entire season'' with the opening shots of items floating in a pool in episodes that season titled "Seven-Thirty-Seven", "Down", "Over", and "ABQ" - i.e. "[Boeing] 737 down over Albuquerque"), but one of the best moments comes in season 4, episode 2, when Jesse orders pizzas for his BingeMontage party and complains that they're not sliced, leading [[EruditeStoner Badger]] to explain that that is the store's "gimmick" and that they save time and money by not cutting the pizzas. This explains why, ''an entire season ago'', when an angry Walter awesomely [[CrowningMomentOfFunny threw an enormous pizza onto Skyler's roof]], it was all in one piece and not in slices.

** In ''Mr. Monk and the Lady Next Door'' Monk becomes despaired when he realizes that everyone who quickly becomes a close friend of his is just doing it to get something, [[GenreSavvy recalling how frequently]] they [[FalseFriend turn out to the be villain of the episode]]. Needless to say, this time [[spoiler: he's wrong.]]

** In ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Worf hears that Keiko is having a baby and runs ''far'' away from the scene (as in, goes to visit his adoptive parents on Earth). This is because the last time Keiko was pregnant on ''The Next Generation'', Worf helped with the delivery, and it didn't go too well.

* In ''{{Tinsel}}'' season 5, Phillip catching Amaka's hand mid-slap and telling her that he's been [[ButtMonkey slapped so many times]], he's learnt to anticipate them. Also doubles as a ShoutOut to fans.

* In the episode "Old Man Ders" of ''Series/{{Workaholics}}'', Ders gets wasted during the Birthday Booze-a-thon and throws up in the pool. Adam points out he puked up an entire Bagel Bite. Two episodes later, the guys are in a sewer and see a Bagel Bite. Adam says "they're hard to digest apparently."
* In ''Series/AuctionKings'', as one auction provides enough material for several episodes, items from earlier episodes can sometimes be seen in the background.

** Episode The Friendship Algorithm, Howard Wollowitz says he's thinking about growing a mustache and that George Clooney has one now. In The Electric Can Opener Fluctuation from the following season, he grows a giant beard while at the North Pole, then keeps the mustache, calling it "the Clooney."
** The flashback episode "The Staircase Implementation" had a few nods to previously-referenced plotpoints, such as Joyce Kim, Leonard's short-term girlfriend, and the former resident of Penny's apartment, a transvestite.

** The Batman cookie jar from "The Bat Jar Conjecture" can be seen on the kitchen counter in later episodes.
** Likewise, the sword [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Longclaw]] that Leonard and Sheldon purchase in "The Russian Rocket Reaction" can be seen on their wall beside the door in following episodes.
* ''Series/ICarly'': Despite the show's episodic plots relying on StatusQuoIsGod, combined by Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} airing them OutOfOrder, there are still a lot of elements within the show's universe that nod to episodes from early in the show's timeline: Spencer's sculptures often stick around on set, including the hammer that almost killed Carly staying lodged in the wall, the iCarly iWeb trophy in the studio, and Freddie's giant pie spycam from Season 1.
** "iThink They Kissed" is a very good example. The interrogation scene between Carly and Freddie recalls plots from a lot of previous episodes: "iKiss", "iPromise Not To Tell", where Carly overpowered Freddie, "iSaw Him First" which referred to when Freddie's voice got lower, and "iTwins", with Freddie still not believing that [[CassandraTruth Melanie]] really exists.
** "iBeat the Heat" guest stars the residents of Bushwell who had appeared in earlier episodes, among whom are Chuck, Griffin, Mr. Klemish, Dr. Dresdin and Lewbert, who even had hilarious dialogues with Mrs. Benson involving their failed relationship.
** In "iPsycho", Spencer tells Gibby that he got kicked out of sleep-away camp, but doesn't say why. In the earlier episode "iTwins", he consoles Freddie about the "Clown Day" incident by telling about how the other campers tricked him into thinking it was "Naked Day."

* ''Series/{{Caprica}}'' occasionally does this, oddly enough most often through musical notes, such as using the Adama family theme during Tamara's funeral. There's also, of course, the "by your command" line from [[spoiler:Zoe-R]] at the end of the pilot, which is itself also a MythologyGag for the old show.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** One of Xander's roles on the show (possibly an aspect of his role as the "heart" of the team) was pointing out the similarities of their current situation to plots from the past.
** In Buffy's Season 2 finale, Willow is going to attempt to restore Angelus's soul. Xander comes to Buffy knowing this, but he chooses to lie, telling Buffy that Willow said to "Kick his ass." Nothing is made of this until ''five years later'', on a Season 7 episode, Buffy refers to the "Kick his ass" message in front of Willow and Xander. Willow indignantly denies the allegation, Xander glosses over the awkward moment, the subject is changed and nothing is said of it again.
** In the second series episode "Phases", Oz remarks, while looking in the school's trophy cabinet, that the eyes of one of the statues seem to follow you wherever you go. This is a direct reference to series 1 episode 3 where the spirit of a witch was - unbeknownst to the characters - trapped inside said statue.
** In the Season 6 episode "Hell's Bells," when Willow talks to Xander, both decked out in a dress and tux, respectively, she remarks it's a good thing she realized she was gay because of their actions in formal wear, referencing Season 3's "Homecoming" and the resulting arc.
** The actress who played the object of Spike's affection when he was still a human came back to play a vengeance demon ... whom Spike recognized. Though they never confirm it, it's possible the human he knew became a monster, as he himself had.
** The Season 8 comic-book continuation (outlined and written in part by Creator/JossWhedon) goes as far as to reference events that happened in the final season of ''Angel''. One of them {{retcon}}ned the fact that Buffy was dating a vampire called the Immortal. [[spoiler: It was not her, it's one of her two decoys. Her being with the Immortal is Andrew's idea of a joke targeting Angel and Spike, a joke she is totally oblivious to.]] The other is less justified, as it involves Buffy making reference to something she never appeared to know on the series, though she could have learned it by Andrew in the meantime: [[spoiler: Cordelia is dead]].
** In the Season Seven episode "Him", Willow mentions the danger of love spells. Xander has a brief flashback to a season two episode in which all the girls in Sunnydale (save Cordelia) fell in love with him due to a love spell.
** Whether it was intentional remains to be seen, but Xander wears a particularly "nice shirt" in season one that Oz wears in season three. There's a SlashFic series that explains the backstory for the transfer.
** When he asks out Ampata in the Season 2 episode "Inca Mummy Girl", Xander takes care to make sure she's not a praying mantis.
** In Season 3, there is "Lily" and her boyfriend attempting to buy lunch at a diner by dumping a bunch of change onto the table. David Arquette and Luke Perry did the exact same thing in the ''Buffy'' feature film.
** Xander being called a "demon magnet" in Season 4.

** Again in Season 9 when Angel, Willow, and Faith go to visit Connor:
--> '''Angel:''' ''(to Faith)'' "It wasn't that long ago I had to pull you off your father before you choked him to death. So keep your parenting advice to yourself." ''Ouch''.
** When Buffy meets Illyria in Season 9, she reveals some of the stuff she knows about her from Angel and Spike. She also sees D'Hoffryn again and guesses that he either wants to turn her into a vengeance demon or burn her to death.

* ''Series/{{Angel}},'' as a SpinOff of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer,'' occasionally included {{Continuity Nod}}s to its parent show. One good example was an episode where Angel tracked a girl with Telekinesis who accidentally [=TKed=] a steel rebar into his chest. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Being a vampire, that didn't kill him,]] but the pain distracted him enough that he didn't get any information on the girl, not even her name, before she ran off, making helping her difficult. When Cordelia chastises him for it he says "Do you know how hard it is to think straight when you've got a steel rebar embedded in your torso?". She thinks for a second then says "Actually, I do. Benefits of a Sunnydale education". This is a continuity nod, referencing an accident the character had two and a half years ago on a different show, and also a DevelopmentGag: Charisma Carpenter, the actress playing Cordelia, really ''does'' know the feeling, she was impaled herself in real-life and the scene was written into ''Buffy'' to explain the scar.
** ''Series/{{Angel}}'' also has several episodes featuring a woman named "Anne" who works with the homeless. The character actually originated in a season two episode of ''Buffy'' as a wannabe vampire named Chanterelle. She shows up again in a third season episode (in which Buffy runs away to Los Angeles and gets a job as a waitress, calling herself by her middle name, "Anne") and is now going by the name Lily. By the end of that episode, "Lily" has adopted the fake name--and job, and apartment--that Buffy has been using, and Buffy returns to Sunnydale. Angel and company are, of course, unaware that Anne is using a fake name taken from Buffy during her brief stint as a runaway.
** There was also the comment Illyria made about a world with nothing but shrimp, referencing similar comments by Anya on Buffy when discussing alternate realities.
*** Anya's examples about alternate realities included a world with nothing but shrimp and world without shrimp. When she mentions the world without shrimp about a season later, Tara expresses interest, given that she's allergic to shrimp.
** Gunn is told by two different characters, in two different seasons, that there's no such thing as Leprechauns.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** There is hardly any hair on King Renly Baratheon's bare chest in "What Is Dead May Never Die," so despite his discomfort of having it shaved, he has plainly allowed his lover Ser Loras Tyrell to continue this practice on him since "The Wolf and the Lion."

* The HBO series ''Series/TheWire'' may be one of the most consistent examples of this trope, going out of its way to reference events and characters from multiple seasons past. Notable examples include: Drug dealer Bodie Broadus referencing a conversation from the beginning of the series when talking to a detective in the fourth season; a former chauffeur named Day-Day being brought in to testify against a senator in the fifth season (after his last appearance was in the first season); [[spoiler:Omar Little's death in season five is caused by Kenard]], a small boy who was seen trying to emulate his target two seasons prior to the episode; the main criminal organization of the second season (The Greeks) show up again in the final season to do business with drug baron Marlo Stanfield...the list goes on.
** An addict first appears in Season 3 as a clean-cut college student buying drugs in Hamsterdam. In Season 4, she is seen talking to Old Face Andre, now obviously a streetwalker. And finally in Season 5, she appears in order to give a speech at a Narcotics Anonymous Meeting.
** And that's not even mentioning the string of characters from seasons past that made brief appearances in the fifth season even if they didn't have major bearing on the season's plot themselves, including but not limited to Shardene, (aside from a single scene in season two she hadn't been seen since the end of the first season) Nick Sobotka, (who hadn't been seen since the end of the second season) Clarence Royce, (who had disappeared after losing an election in the middle of the fourth season) Randy Wagstaff, (hadn't been seen in season 5 until that point) and Wee-Bey Brice. (Who, aside from some extra screen time in season 4, had been DemotedToExtra at the end of season one when he was sent to jail.)
* The ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' franchise does this, most notably in its current incarnation, ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration''. The pilot episode, and many of the scenes involving adults that come later on in the series, are continuity nods. Joey Jeremiah owns a car dealership (he was obsessed with vehicles in ''Degrassi High''), and other characters make cameo appearances (some of which are still affected by events that happened in previous series, like Lucy).

* In the 2008 season opening of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Tony has been assigned to the (fictional) aircraft carrier ''Seahawk''. The ''Seahawk'' was a recurring location on ''Series/{{JAG}}'', including being the location of the PilotMovie. ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' is, of course, a SpinOff of ''Series/{{JAG}}''.
** The show frequently does this. '''''Many''''' episodes or storylines have referred to past events. In particular, Season 12's "Check", where the BigBad taunted Gibbs by replicating the murders of Jenny Shepherd (occurred in Season 5), Mike Franks (occurred in Season 8), and capped it off by luring Gibbs and ex-wife Diane to a rooftop. Cue Gibbs' dawning horror as he looked at the surroundings and realized Diane was about to be sniped down just like Caitlin Todd a decade earlier (Season 2).
** In the first season, it's explained that Tony snagged a nice apartment for cheap because it was the site of a triple homicide. '''''14 years later''''', this was the basis for the plot of a recent episode when the apartment's new occupant, [=McGee=], is nearly killed by two intruders seeking loot left behind the original murderer (they were all involved in a smuggling operation).

** After being transformed into a teenager In the episode "Fragile Balance" Col. Jack O'Neill does not convince the others of his identity even after revealing classified information only he could know. Daniel Jackson reluctantly admits stranger things have happened, at which point he is asked to name one. He names several before being interrupted, "well there was that one time we became really old, the time we became cavemen, the time we all swapped bodies..."
** Other notable nods include: macaroons (in the last two seasons and the films), Vala's first appearance, the time Daniel replied to a question about whether or not he was a Soviet spy in ''Russian'' (to be fair, the question was [[BluffTheImpostor asked in Russian too]]), the numerous alternate timeline and alternate reality episodes, and "undomesticated equines".
*** The last one is actually referenced repeatedly in-series as being a "callback" to what may have been Teal'c's first joke. It goes so far that it's even mentioned in ''[[Series/StargateAtlantis Atlantis]]'' when Sam crosses over.
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' was practically built around this concept. Considering its status as a prequel, most episodes revolved around the minute facts surrounding the future events like the forming of the Federation. Some range to really excellent uses like the first practical use of the force field and Brent Spiner as a distant MadScientist relative of Data's creator, to some groaners like a discussion on the probability of Vulcan/Human hybrids.
** One of the more clever continuity nods includes the Mirror Universe. Instead of simply having crews switch places, the USS Defiant, which was shown to disappear from the "right" universe in the original series episode "The Tholian Web", shows up in the mirror universe and is commandeered by Mirror Archer.
* Turned up on several other Franchise/StarTrek series' as well. For example, Tom Paris on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' referencing the Dixon Hill series, Picard's favorite holonovel from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.
* In ''The Next Generation'', Worf helps Keiko deliver Molly. When he hears that Keiko is having another baby in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]]'', he takes care to be far away when it happens. Very far. "Visiting his adopted parents on Earth"-far.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' makes extensive use of this as CharacterDevelopment -- Garcia's fear of being outside her office, Hotch looking at his phone out of habit, and Garcia and Morgan's relationship being prime examples. The casual viewer would completely miss all this without it affecting the story too much.
** Truly impressive: Season Eight references Morgan's hobby of restoring old homes, which was mentioned ''once'' in Season One.
*** And in Season Eleven, this plays a significant role in [[spoiler: the episode when Morgan's son is born and he retires from the team.]]
* The ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Andrea Doria" features George telling a condo board his entire life story to arouse their sympathy so they'll give him an apartment. Naturally, it consists entirely of references to previous episodes.
** In the episode "The Puffy Shirt," when George becomes a hand model, he says "I won a contest" to prove that he is [[UnusualEuphemism Master of his Domain]], a reference to "The Contest."
*** Also in reference to "the Contest", in the episode "The Handicap Spot," George can be seen reading a Glamour magazine in the background at his parents' house. In "The Contest," he was caught by his mother doing ''that'' with her Glamour.
*** In the finale, when their plane starts falling and they think they're going to die, George admits that he cheated in the contest.
** Also works with lines of dialog. In "The Puffy Shirt" Jerry famously says "But I don't wanna be a pirate!" . In a later episode Kramer searches for a new 'look' and tries out an eyepatch. When Jerry points out that it makes him look like a pirate, Kramer replies "Oh, I wanna be a pirate!"

* In ''TheVampireDiaries'' Damon hid the moonstone (an enchanted stone which looked a bit like a fancy soap) in the soap dish, where it was promptly found by Katherine the next time she washed her hands, leading to some amusement at his terrible attempt at HiddenInPlainSight. A season later Caroline is searching for Elena's necklace in the same room, and the show provides a close shot of her digging through the soap dish. This time, all it contains is soap.

'''Tom''': You can't, we tried that.

* ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'': In the episode "Never Let You Down", Leah gives the team wristbands memorializing Lewis, whom she replaced. Years later, in "Fault Lines", Spike and Wordy can be seen to be still wearing them. Wordy's is seen again in "The Better Man". Both are seen without them in later episodes, but, appropriately, Spike's can be seen during the last scene of the series in "Keep the Peace (Part 2)".

* British comedy sitcom OnlyFoolsAndHorses ended in it's final episode with the trio; Del, Rodney and Albert, walking into the sunset while they bickered with each other. During this, Rodney recalls several ridiculous scenarios that he got into throughout the series thanks to Del. These include him having being entered into a under 15 drawing contest and having to pretend to be a kid for a week, them being hunted by crime bosses in America after an identity mix up and several other call backs to old episodes.

* Donna and Ringo's wedding in ''{{Neighbours}}'' is accompanied by Sam Clark's cover of Angry Andereson's "Suddenly". Ringo tells him that Paul put him on to it, having heard it at his brother's wedding years ago. This was, in fact, the song played over Scott and Charlene's wedding in 1987.

** In the episode 'The Field Where I Died', Scully tells Mulder that she wouldn't change a day of their time together - "Except for that Flukeman thing. I could have lived without that just fine." The Flukeman was a well known monster of the week from season two.
** In 'Pusher', the Flukeman appears on a magazine cover in the teaser.
** In 'Dreamland' events occur (which are later [[ResetButton forgotten by everyone]]) in which Mulder's apartment is completely refurnished, acting as a comedic stinger at the end of the show. Several episodes later in 'Monday' his waterbed becomes a plot point, and he's unable to tell anyone why he has a waterbed. "I...I think it was a gift."
** In 'Patience', one of the first episodes of season 8, where Scully works with new agent John Doggett, they go into a dark attic. Doggett produces a flashlight...

** In 'Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose', a PhonyPsychic or NotSoPhonyPsychic called Stupendous Yappi is introduced. His photo is occasionally seen in the newspapers later on, e.g. in 'Pusher' or 'Small Potatoes'.
** At the end of 'Fallen Angel', Mulder picks up Max Fennig's baseball cap. It hangs on a coat-stand in Mulder's office in 'E.B.E'.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': There is hardly any hair on King Renly Baratheon's bare chest in "What Is Dead May Never Die," so despite his discomfort of having it shaved, he has plainly allowed his lover Ser Loras Tyrell to continue this practice on him since "The Wolf and the Lion."

* An interesting case of a ''literal'' ContinuityNod on ''IronChef America'': in the opening, the Chairman nods in respect to a yellow bell pepper-the symbol of his uncle and predecessor, Chairman Kaga.

* ''ThirdWatch'''s finale had a photo in the background reporting on events a few years previously, when Ty Davis Jr. helped save lives during a blackout.