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** Modern Doctor Who tends to have Genius Bonuses specifically for people who are long-time fans of the show. Episodes frequently contain tiny, easy-to-miss references to previous episodes, sometimes even to the old series.
*** "Deep Breath," Peter Capaldi's first full episode as the Twelfth Doctor, is full of these.
**** In one scene, the Doctor rambles about his new face, insisting that he's seen it somewhere before and asking "why did I chose this face? Who frowned me this face?" Though this could easily be dismissed as typical post-regeneration rambling/confusion (8 had amnesia, 10 fell into a coma, and 11 looted Amelia's fridge), it's actually a reference to Caecilius, the Roman marble merchant whom David Tennant's 10th Doctor saved from Mt. Vesuvius. Caecilius was portrayed by Capaldi. [[spoiler:It was later explained that the Doctor chose Caecilius's face to remind him who he is: even if it "violates the rules of time," he is the Doctor and he saves people.]]
**** The whole episode is sort of a loose sequel to [[spoiler: "The Girl in the Fireplace."]] The writers drop hints throughout that the antagonists are similar ([[spoiler: rogue repair droids cannibalizing humans for parts]]), and finally reveal that [[spoiler: the antagonists are from the sister ship to the SS Madame de Pompadour]], but if you haven't seen the "prequel" episode, all the hints and the final reveal will totally fly under your radar, just as they fly under the Doctor's. He never gets it.
*** "Deep Breath," Peter Capaldi's first full episode as the Twelfth Doctor, is full of these.
**** In one scene, the Doctor rambles about his new face, insisting that he's seen it somewhere before and asking "why did I chose this face? Who frowned me this face?" Though this could easily be dismissed as typical post-regeneration rambling/confusion (8 had amnesia, 10 fell into a coma, and 11 looted Amelia's fridge), it's actually a reference to Caecilius, the Roman marble merchant whom David Tennant's 10th Doctor saved from Mt. Vesuvius. Caecilius was portrayed by Capaldi. [[spoiler:It was later explained that the Doctor chose Caecilius's face to remind him who he is: even if it "violates the rules of time," he is the Doctor and he saves people.]]
**** The whole episode is sort of a loose sequel to [[spoiler: "The Girl in the Fireplace."]] The writers drop hints throughout that the antagonists are similar ([[spoiler: rogue repair droids cannibalizing humans for parts]]), and finally reveal that [[spoiler: the antagonists are from the sister ship to the SS Madame de Pompadour]], but if you haven't seen the "prequel" episode, all the hints and the final reveal will totally fly under your radar, just as they fly under the Doctor's. He never gets it.
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** Other references can be chalked up to over-obscuring the comedy, forcing the viewer to laugh not because they get the joke but that it's so random there's no way it ''can't'' be funny. A backstage motto of the writers was "The right people will get it." The right people could occasionally just be the writers though. One of the robots quipping "There goes Mike's keyboard!" was absolutely meaningless to everyone who was unaware that Mike's ex-girlfriend had taken his keyboard with her when she moved out the previous week.
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** Other references can be chalked up to over-obscuring the comedy, forcing the viewer to laugh not because they get the joke but that it's so random there's no way it ''can't'' be funny. A backstage motto of the writers was "The right people will get it." The right people could occasionally just be the writers though. One of the robots quipping "There goes Mike's keyboard!" was absolutely meaningless to everyone who was unaware that Mike's an ex-girlfriend of Mike's had taken his keyboard with her when she moved out the previous week.out.
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** In the Season 6 premiere, Anya corrects Xander when he worries that Buffy will come back as a zombie and eat their brains. Anyone savvy on their mythology knows that zombies eating brains is NewerThanTheyThink and only popularised by ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead'' (made in ''1986''). Even before that, the zombie as we know it today is influenced more by ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968''. What Anya corrects Xander on is that the original Afro-Caribbean legends had zombies being resurrected and controlled by a specific person.
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* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
** "What Happened To Frederick" features an EnthrallingSiren guarding the water of Lake Nostos. If you analyse the themes of the episode, the use of a Siren is rather apt. 'Siren Song' is an expression to describe something that seems attractive but will ultimately lead to ruin - in this case the Siren's seduction of Charming will lead to him being drowned if he gives in. In the Storybrooke portions, the proverbial Siren Song is him lying to Kathryn about why they're breaking up rather than confessing his affair with Mary Margaret. The {{Irony}} is underlined by Charming resisting the Siren Song in the Enchanted Forest, but giving into it in Storybrooke.
** Hades is shown to be a SharpDressedMan and his Underworld lair is full of treasure. Hades's Roman equivalent Pluto was also the god of wealth. And having dominion over the Underworld, he literally had all the precious metals and stones that could be found underground.
** "What Happened To Frederick" features an EnthrallingSiren guarding the water of Lake Nostos. If you analyse the themes of the episode, the use of a Siren is rather apt. 'Siren Song' is an expression to describe something that seems attractive but will ultimately lead to ruin - in this case the Siren's seduction of Charming will lead to him being drowned if he gives in. In the Storybrooke portions, the proverbial Siren Song is him lying to Kathryn about why they're breaking up rather than confessing his affair with Mary Margaret. The {{Irony}} is underlined by Charming resisting the Siren Song in the Enchanted Forest, but giving into it in Storybrooke.
** Hades is shown to be a SharpDressedMan and his Underworld lair is full of treasure. Hades's Roman equivalent Pluto was also the god of wealth. And having dominion over the Underworld, he literally had all the precious metals and stones that could be found underground.
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* TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir has an episode where Will is trying to impress a college girl who Uncle Phil has invited to dinner. During dinner she mentions that her favorite play of Shakespeare's is HenryV. Will quips that he finds that interesting, since sequels usually aren't very good. Not only is HenryV really a sequel, it's also a prequel, and the last written play of an eight-play sequence.
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*** Leo goes on a long rant comparing Pro-Wrestling to politics (which happens a few times) and concludes with: "But at the end of the day you don't vote for them." To which Josh replies: "[[JesseVentura Except for in Minnesota.]]"
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*** Leo goes on a long rant comparing Pro-Wrestling to politics (which happens a few times) and concludes with: "But at the end of the day you don't vote for them." To which Josh replies: "[[JesseVentura "[[Wrestling/JesseVentura Except for in Minnesota.]]"
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* In a Season 3 episode of ''Series/HappyDays'', Richie and Ralph are watching a [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL game]] between the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals. When the Bears quarterback makes a bad pass, Richie called for the backup to come in. Ralph dismissed this, as the Bears backup quarterback was "washed up. He's old. He's 30. He's got no future." Richie's response was "George Blanda has two or three good years left." The actual joke was that the episode was set in 1956. At the time of its broadcast (1975), Blanda was [[BadassGrandpa still an active NFL player]] (He'd play the last of his record 26 seasons the following year)
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* ''Series/SesameStreet'' is this. For example, during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orrSp1IQV3A a promo with Entertainment Weekly]], Grover and Cookie Monster manage to work in a reference to [[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stage-door_Johnny stage door Johnnies]] of all things- a term which would probably be a [[ParentalBonus GRANDparental bonus]] for modern kids. (They also manage to rhyme [[SophisticatedAsHell dystopia and cookie-copia]].)
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* ''Series/SesameStreet'' is this. For example, during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orrSp1IQV3A a promo with Entertainment Weekly]], Grover and Cookie Monster manage to work in a reference to [[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stage-door_Johnny stage door Johnnies]] of all things- a things--a term which would probably be a [[ParentalBonus GRANDparental bonus]] for modern kids. (They also manage to rhyme [[SophisticatedAsHell dystopia and cookie-copia]].)
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* ''Series/StargateSG1'' features a cat called Schrodinger. That is, until [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien said alien mentioned that yes, they know about that superstition and disproved it a while back]]. Cue Carter becoming very surprised at how such a basic theorem of physics can be false (note that Schrödinger's original point was how ridiculous the Copenhagen interpretation could be). The most amusing part is that it took only ''three episodes'' for humans to reach a high enough level of understanding about the universe to be able prove that "superstition" false on their own. This is because the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is only one possible way of understanding the weirdness that happens on the quantum level of reality. One of the other possible ways? The many-worlds interpretation. Visit a parallel universe, and you prove the Copenhagen interpretation (and the concept of Schrödinger's cat) incorrect. And a parallel universe is visited exactly three episodes later.
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* ''Series/StargateSG1'' features a cat called Schrodinger. That is, until [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien said alien mentioned that yes, they know about that superstition and disproved it a while back]]. Cue Carter becoming very surprised at how such a basic theorem of physics can be false (note that Schrödinger's original point was how ridiculous the Copenhagen interpretation could be). The most amusing part is that it took only ''three episodes'' for humans to reach a high enough level of understanding about the universe to be able to prove that "superstition" false on their own. This is because the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is only one possible way of understanding the weirdness that happens on the quantum level of reality. One of the other possible ways? The many-worlds interpretation. Visit a parallel universe, and you prove the Copenhagen interpretation (and the concept of Schrödinger's cat) incorrect. And a parallel universe is visited exactly three episodes later.
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* In the ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' episode "[[ChristmasEpisode Secret Santa]]", Claudia offhandedly asks how many piano tuners there could be in the Philadelphia area. This is a reference to the archetypical example of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem Fermi problem]], a form of estimation based on multiplying estimates to obtain a close approximation of an otherwise incomputible answer. The classic Fermi problem is 'How many piano tuners are there in Chicago?'.
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* In the ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' episode "[[ChristmasEpisode Secret Santa]]", Claudia offhandedly asks how many piano tuners there could be in the Philadelphia area. This is a reference to the archetypical example of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem Fermi problem]], a form of estimation based on multiplying estimates to obtain a close approximation of an otherwise incomputible answer.other estimates. The classic Fermi problem is 'How many piano tuners are there in Chicago?'.[[note]]Sample approach: How many people in Chicago? How many people per household? What percentage of households have a piano? How often does a piano get tuned? How long does it take to tune a piano, including travel time? How many hours per year does a piano tuner work?[[/note]]
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* On ''Series/TheWire'', Brother Mouzone is a CulturedBadass who tasks his assistant with collecting his issues of ''Harper's'' while researching hits. The Bonus is that the actor and character are a dead ringer for the original composite sketch of the man who allegedly murdered NotoriousBIG.
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* On ''Series/TheWire'', Brother Mouzone is a CulturedBadass who tasks his assistant with collecting his issues of ''Harper's'' while researching hits. The Bonus is that the actor and character are a dead ringer for the original composite sketch of the man who allegedly murdered NotoriousBIG.Music/TheNotoriousBIG.
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* An episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Sam and Dean meet an author who has been inexplicably writing sci-fi novels about characters named "Sam and Dean" whose monster-fighting adventures are [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs exact retellings of their own story.]] When confronted, the author has a moment of realization when he admits that his still-unfinished new novel is kind of inspired by KurtVonnegut. Dean asks "''SlaughterhouseFive'' Vonnegut or ''CatsCradle'' Vonnegut?" and he replies "[[AuthorAvatar Kilgore Trout]] Vonnegut." The references are not elaborated upon, it's just assumed that the viewers understand what that means. Doubles as a HiddenDepths moment for [[BookDumb Dean]], since that kind of question would generally be in [[TheSmartGuy Sam's]] arena.
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* An episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Sam and Dean meet an author who has been inexplicably writing sci-fi novels about characters named "Sam and Dean" whose monster-fighting adventures are [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs exact retellings of their own story.]] When confronted, the author has a moment of realization when he admits that his still-unfinished new novel is kind of inspired by KurtVonnegut. Dean asks "''SlaughterhouseFive'' "''Literature/SlaughterhouseFive'' Vonnegut or ''CatsCradle'' ''Literature/CatsCradle'' Vonnegut?" and he replies "[[AuthorAvatar Kilgore Trout]] Vonnegut." The references are not elaborated upon, it's just assumed that the viewers understand what that means. Doubles as a HiddenDepths moment for [[BookDumb Dean]], since that kind of question would generally be in [[TheSmartGuy Sam's]] arena.
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** The fifth season episode ''Slave of Duty'' [[DoubleMeaningTitle refers not only to the action of the episode]] but is also an alternate title for ''PiratesOfPenzance'', which is referenced a few times in that episode and a couple of first season episodes. The high school production of the play was when Hotch met Haley ([[spoiler:who got murdered in the previous episode]]).
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** The fifth season episode ''Slave of Duty'' [[DoubleMeaningTitle refers not only to the action of the episode]] but is also an alternate title for ''PiratesOfPenzance'', ''Theatre/PiratesOfPenzance'', which is referenced a few times in that episode and a couple of first season episodes. The high school production of the play was when Hotch met Haley ([[spoiler:who got murdered in the previous episode]]).
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** There is an episode which parodied ''{{Amadeus}}''.
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** There is an episode which parodied ''{{Amadeus}}''.''Film/{{Amadeus}}''.
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* Sometimes on ''Series/{{JAG}}'', the meaning of military acronyms are at times never explained to the viewers, and upon even rarer occasion are references made to federal case law without explaining in detail what that case means to the viewers.
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* Sometimes on ''Series/{{JAG}}'', the meaning of ''Series/{{JAG}}'' sometimes uses military acronyms are at times never explained to the viewers, without explaining what they mean, and upon even rarer occasion are references made occasionally refers to federal case law without explaining in detail what that case means to the viewers.''they'' mean.
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** While to the vast majority of the show's audience the Greek letters Willow writes on Tara's Back in "Restless" will be undecipherable, the inscription is an invocation to Aphrodite, which is responded to by the goddess's promise to make whoever the poet desires love her back in return "if she does not love, soon she shall love - even unwilling". The particular verse has special meaning for the pair - Sappho and Aphrodite as representative of their being lesbian and witches respectively, but also on another level because Willow in the future will indeed use magic to sustain her love with Tara
** The human/demon cyborg hybrid created by the Initiative named Adam, one could be forgiven for thinking the name is refrence to the first man in the bible given that the human/demon cyborg hybrid was meant to be the first of it's kind, until you start to research another story with a creature created from bits and peices of dead people by a mad scientist playing god and realise that said creature was also named Adam (or at least refers to himself as Adam when speaking to Victor Frankenstein as an allusion to the Adam of the bible)
** The human/demon cyborg hybrid created by the Initiative named Adam, one could be forgiven for thinking the name is refrence to the first man in the bible given that the human/demon cyborg hybrid was meant to be the first of it's kind, until you start to research another story with a creature created from bits and peices of dead people by a mad scientist playing god and realise that said creature was also named Adam (or at least refers to himself as Adam when speaking to Victor Frankenstein as an allusion to the Adam of the bible)
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** While to the vast majority of the show's audience the Greek letters Willow writes on Tara's Back back in "Restless" will be undecipherable, the inscription is an invocation to Aphrodite, which is responded to by the goddess's promise to make whoever the poet desires love her back in return "if she does not love, soon she shall love - even unwilling". The particular verse has special meaning for the pair - Sappho and Aphrodite as representative of their being lesbian and witches respectively, but also on another level because Willow in the future will indeed use magic to sustain her love with Tara
Tara.
** The human/demon cyborg hybrid created by the Initiative namedAdam, one Adam. One could be forgiven for thinking the name is refrence a reference to the first man in the bible Bible, given that the human/demon cyborg hybrid was meant to be the first of it's its kind, until you start to research another story with a creature created from bits and peices pieces of dead people by a mad scientist playing god God and realise that said creature was also named Adam (or at least refers to himself as Adam when speaking to Victor Frankenstein as an allusion to the Adam of the bible) Bible).
** The human/demon cyborg hybrid created by the Initiative named
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** Sheldon comparing himself to UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman becomes a complete joke if you read up on the man. Feynman was endlessly sociable; life of many parties, he loved the company of women and was somewhat of a TheCasanova. He was married three times and had several children. He was an artist and musician. Most importantly, he had great respect for all branches of science. He insisted that divisions between sciences are only for convenience and no one is better or more important than any other. Now compare all that to Sheldon. There's also Feynman's Lectures series of books on maths and physics which are equally valuable for [=PhDs=] as they are for a layman. Compared to Sheldon, who cannot clearly convey any concept even to fellow physicists.
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** Sheldon comparing himself to UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman becomes a complete joke if you read up on the man. Feynman was endlessly sociable; life of many parties, he loved the company of women and was somewhat of a TheCasanova.[[TheCasanova Casanova]]. He was married three times and had several children. He was an artist and musician. Most importantly, he had great respect for all branches of science. He insisted that divisions between sciences are only for convenience and no one is better or more important than any other. Now compare all that to Sheldon. There's also Feynman's Lectures series of books on maths and physics which are equally valuable for [=PhDs=] as they are for a layman. Compared to Sheldon, who cannot clearly convey any concept even to fellow physicists.
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** A much more subtle one for those who know their advanced chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, or Latin comes up in Time's Arrow, Pt. 1 (Season 5, Episode 26). Upon finding what appears to be his own head stuck in a cave from the 18th century, the android Data is asked if it could be his EvilTwin Lore. Data replies Lor has a type "L" TechnoBabble, while Data has a type "R." Logically, the head is Data's, and Data's fate is for his head to be in that cave somehow. Left is ''sinister'' in both stereochemistry and Latin, so we have here a subtle callout to the very old school trope, ASinisterClue.
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** A much more subtle one for those who know their advanced chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, or Latin comes up in Time's Arrow, Pt. 1 (Season 5, Episode 26). Upon finding what appears to be his own head stuck in a cave from the 18th century, the android Data is asked if it could be his EvilTwin Lore. Data replies Lor that Lore has a type "L" TechnoBabble, while Data has a type "R." Logically, the head is Data's, and Data's fate is for his head to be in that cave somehow. Left is ''sinister'' in both stereochemistry and Latin, so we have here a subtle callout to the very old school trope, ASinisterClue.
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*** Leo goes on a long rant comparing Pro-Wrestling to politics (Which happens a few times) and concludes with: "But at the end of the day you don't vote for them." To which Josh replies: "[[JesseVentura Except for in Minnesota.]]"
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*** Leo goes on a long rant comparing Pro-Wrestling to politics (Which (which happens a few times) and concludes with: "But at the end of the day you don't vote for them." To which Josh replies: "[[JesseVentura Except for in Minnesota.]]"
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** In another episode, Bartlet learns that his daughter Ellie, who seemed to be manipulating him by appearing to express confidence in him, [[spoiler: was simply, honestly, expressing confidence in him.]] He just says, "My God, ''Theatre/KingLear'' is a good play" (in that play, the daughter Lear thinks is the least loyal is the most).
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** In another episode, Bartlet learns that his daughter Ellie, who seemed to be manipulating him by appearing to express confidence in him, [[spoiler: was simply, honestly, [[SincerityMode honestly]], expressing confidence in him.]] He just says, "My God, ''Theatre/KingLear'' is a good play" (in that play, the daughter Lear thinks is the least loyal is the most).
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* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' included many of these (hell, the group met in [[Oxbridge Cambridge University]] for goodness sakes!), mostly references to literature, history, philosophy, animals, science and art. They would also throw in obscure references to British cricket players, villages, TV stars, politicians,... Hell, the ''Cheese Shop'' sketch is just a bunch of cheese brands summarized together. In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRkhJc2d_w words]] of Matt Stone, "They'll do that joke that they know only 20% of the audience is gonna get, so you know that 80% is not gonna be with you, but you know that 20% is [[OneOfUs gonna follow you to the grave.]]"
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* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' included many of these (hell, the group met in [[Oxbridge [[{{Oxbridge}} Cambridge University]] for goodness sakes!), mostly references to literature, history, philosophy, animals, science and art. They would also throw in obscure references to British cricket players, villages, TV stars, politicians,... Hell, the ''Cheese Shop'' sketch is just a bunch of cheese brands summarized together. In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRkhJc2d_w words]] of Matt Stone, "They'll do that joke that they know only 20% of the audience is gonna get, so you know that 80% is not gonna be with you, but you know that 20% is [[OneOfUs gonna follow you to the grave.]]"
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* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' included many of these (hell, the group met in CambridgeUniversity for goodness sakes!), mostly references to literature, history, philosophy, animals, science and art. They would also throw in obscure references to British cricket players, villages, TV stars, politicians,... Hell, the ''Cheese Shop'' sketch is just a bunch of cheese brands summarized together. In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRkhJc2d_w words]] of Matt Stone, "They'll do that joke that they know only 20% of the audience is gonna get, so you know that 80% is not gonna be with you, but you know that 20% is [[OneOfUs gonna follow you to the grave.]]"
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* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' included many of these (hell, the group met in CambridgeUniversity [[Oxbridge Cambridge University]] for goodness sakes!), mostly references to literature, history, philosophy, animals, science and art. They would also throw in obscure references to British cricket players, villages, TV stars, politicians,... Hell, the ''Cheese Shop'' sketch is just a bunch of cheese brands summarized together. In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRkhJc2d_w words]] of Matt Stone, "They'll do that joke that they know only 20% of the audience is gonna get, so you know that 80% is not gonna be with you, but you know that 20% is [[OneOfUs gonna follow you to the grave.]]"
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* In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', the Overlords (leaders of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Inves]]) have their own language, much like past ''Kamen Rider'' antagonists. However, the Overlord language was included in the show's closed captioning script, which lead to one especially clever fan to discovering that it's actually a fairly simple substitution cipher for Japanese, allowing it to be translated and offering early insight into some major plot points. Fansub group Æsir devised their own version of the cipher so English-speaking fans could work it out for themselves.
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* In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', the Overlords (leaders of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Inves]]) have their own language, much like past ''Kamen Rider'' antagonists. However, the Overlord language was included in the show's closed captioning script, which lead to one especially clever fan to discovering that it's actually a fairly simple substitution cipher for Japanese, allowing it to be translated and offering early insight into some major plot points. Fansub group Æsir [=Æ=]sir devised their own version of the cipher so English-speaking fans could work it out for themselves.
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** In a deleted scene for “The Incentive,” Dwight decides to relax his ambitions and take some time to “stop and smell the flowers.” When he actually gets around to smelling flowers, he’s outraged by how overrated it actually is and wonders why anyone waste their time doing it. The flowers he smelled were Campsis, which are odorless.
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'''Cecil:''' *clears throat meaningfully* \\
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'''Cecil:''' *clears ''(clears throat meaningfully* \\meaningfully)''\\
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** Sheldon comparing himself to UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman becomes a complete joke if you read up on the man. Feynman was endlessly sociable; life of many parties, he loved the company of women and was somewhat of a TheCasanova. He was married three times and had several children. He was an artist and musician. Most importantly, he had great respect for all branches of science. He insisted that divisions between sciences are only for convenience and no one is better or more important than any other. Now compare all that to Sheldon. There's also Feynman's Lectures series of books on maths and physics which are equally valuable for PhD's as they are for a layman. Compared to Sheldon, who cannot clearly convey any concept even to fellow physicists.
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** Sheldon comparing himself to UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman becomes a complete joke if you read up on the man. Feynman was endlessly sociable; life of many parties, he loved the company of women and was somewhat of a TheCasanova. He was married three times and had several children. He was an artist and musician. Most importantly, he had great respect for all branches of science. He insisted that divisions between sciences are only for convenience and no one is better or more important than any other. Now compare all that to Sheldon. There's also Feynman's Lectures series of books on maths and physics which are equally valuable for PhD's [=PhDs=] as they are for a layman. Compared to Sheldon, who cannot clearly convey any concept even to fellow physicists.
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* In ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS The Office]]'' (US) episode "Trivia," Robert California, while discussing the various unpleasantries of living in Florida, remarks, "Alligators are ''dinosaurs'', Dwight. You know that, right?" Dwight makes a pained face and replies, "[[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Mmm... it's complicated]]."
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* In ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS The Office]]'' (US) episode Office]]''
** In "Trivia," Robert California, while discussing the various unpleasantries of living in Florida, remarks, "Alligators are ''dinosaurs'', Dwight. You know that, right?" Dwight makes a pained face and replies, "[[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Mmm... it's complicated]].""
** When Jan announces that she's pregnant, Mike immediately asks in a panicked voice whether she's touched any of his Propecia. Hair growth medication such as Propecia and Rogain can cause birth defects.
** In "Trivia," Robert California, while discussing the various unpleasantries of living in Florida, remarks, "Alligators are ''dinosaurs'', Dwight. You know that, right?" Dwight makes a pained face and replies, "[[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Mmm... it's complicated]].
** When Jan announces that she's pregnant, Mike immediately asks in a panicked voice whether she's touched any of his Propecia. Hair growth medication such as Propecia and Rogain can cause birth defects.
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* It's not ''excessively'' intelligent, but one brilliant visual joke in the "Manny's First Day" episode of ''BlackBooks'' depends on the viewer recognizing a physical similarity to Beethoven.
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* It's not ''excessively'' intelligent, but one brilliant visual joke in the "Manny's First Day" episode of ''BlackBooks'' ''Series/BlackBooks'' depends on the viewer recognizing a physical similarity to Beethoven.
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* BetterOffTed loves working this into background gags. For example, Rose, Ted's daughter and moral compass, attends [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Debs Eugene Debs]] Elementary.
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* BetterOffTed Series/BetterOffTed loves working this into background gags. For example, Rose, Ted's daughter and moral compass, attends [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Debs Eugene Debs]] Elementary.
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** Wondered why the D.C. House uses Active codes from Greco-Roman mythology? Thank [[SummerGlau Bennett Halverson]]. The cabinet in her office contains a small statue of Romulus and Remus, suckled by a wolf.
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** Wondered why the D.C. House uses Active codes from Greco-Roman mythology? Thank [[SummerGlau [[Creator/SummerGlau Bennett Halverson]]. The cabinet in her office contains a small statue of Romulus and Remus, suckled by a wolf.
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*** Though [[WritersCannotDoMath the denominator is written as 2ab, when it should be 2a.]]
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* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' is as much a master of this trope as Ada Lovelace was a master of mathematics:
** According to the producers, {{sitcom}}s generally run on "the 70% joke", where 70% of the TV-watching audience will get the joke and laugh, while ''Frasier'' often had "the 20% joke". It didn't seem to hurt them, though. Then it's parodied when Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce guest-starred on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
---> '''Cecil:''' But I suppose I should thank you. After all, it led me to my true calling.\\
'''Bob:''' Cecil, no civilization in history has ever considered "chief hydrological engineer" a calling.\\
'''Cecil:''' *clears throat meaningfully* \\
'''Bob:''' Yes, yes, the Cappadocians. Fine.
** Cappadocia was one of the only civilizations in Western history small enough to exist ''entirely'' within an arid region as it was too elevated for rivers to run through it.
---> '''Cecil:''' I have the '82 Chateau Latour and a rather indifferent Rausan-Segle.\\
'''Bob:''' I've been in prison, Cecil. I'll be happy just as long it doesn't taste like orange drink fermented under a radiator.\\
'''Cecil:''' That would be the Latour, then.
** Chateau Rausan-Segle was not a successful winery until it was taken over by winemakers from Chateau Latour.
* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' included many of these (hell, the group met in CambridgeUniversity for goodness sakes!), mostly references to literature, history, philosophy, animals, science and art. They would also throw in obscure references to British cricket players, villages, TV stars, politicians,... Hell, the ''Cheese Shop'' sketch is just a bunch of cheese brands summarized together. In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRkhJc2d_w words]] of Matt Stone, "They'll do that joke that they know only 20% of the audience is gonna get, so you know that 80% is not gonna be with you, but you know that 20% is [[OneOfUs gonna follow you to the grave.]]"
* ''Series/TheWestWing'':
** In one episode, Toby tells the president, "Your favorite movie was on last night." They then spend a few minutes (mis)quoting and discussing it, and Toby eventually applies AnAesop from the movie to their current situation. But neither of them ever actually says the name of the movie. (It's ''The Lion in Winter''.)
** In another episode, Bartlet learns that his daughter Ellie, who seemed to be manipulating him by appearing to express confidence in him, [[spoiler: was simply, honestly, expressing confidence in him.]] He just says, "My God, ''Theatre/KingLear'' is a good play" (in that play, the daughter Lear thinks is the least loyal is the most).
** ''Series/TheWestWing'' is simply crammed with this. The sheer number of subtle puns and jokes that would take a rather high level of knowledge about American history and politics to understand makes watching any given episode five times funnier for a political wonk than for a regular viewer. And the genius bonuses aren't limited to history and politics - there's a lot of literary, religious, scientific, sports-related, and pop-culture references slipped into the dialogue as well.
*** Leo goes on a long rant comparing Pro-Wrestling to politics (Which happens a few times) and concludes with: "But at the end of the day you don't vote for them." To which Josh replies: "[[JesseVentura Except for in Minnesota.]]"
* In a much less genius of a bonus, over the course of several episodes ''Series/NewsRadio'' had a running gag concerning every time a character goes to a movie theater, the same terrible movie is playing, though its name is never mentioned. Astute viewers will pick up that the crappy movie is John Travolta's ''Film/{{Michael}}''.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' contains constant references to philosophy, religion, literature, and science. Is the casual viewer really expected to understand the significance of someone named John Locke, or their using the alias [[spoiler: Jeremy Bentham]]? Plus, the plot became increasingly complicated as the show has gone on, with innumerable callbacks to previous episodes, making it extremely hard for new viewers to understand what is going on.
** When Hurley wonders what could be inside the hatch. Locke responds that he believes hope is inside, referencing Pandora's Box.
** Another episode had John Locke asking Desmond David Hume how he knew something. Answer: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism Experience.]]"
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** A chalkboard in the background of "An Unearthly Child" episode 1 has the quadratic formula written on it.
** "The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Eve" is based around this trope. Since it's the companion's DayInTheLimelight and the Doctor is missing for most of the story, the story foregoes the usual HollywoodHistory settings to focus on a historical event that was and is fairly obscure to British audiences (the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day). Viewers are presumably supposed to identify with Steven's [[PinballProtagonist lack of any idea what's going on]] and the retelling of the historical events is given much more attention than usual. If you're familiar with the history, you end up identifying with the Doctor instead and the whole sympathy of the plot changes.
** The story ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire Dragonfire]]'' had a sequence in which the Doctor distracts a guard by discussing semiotics with him. The real joke... the dialogue came verbatim from a semiotics text examining ''Doctor Who''. ''And'', the Doctor's line is semiotics-jargon for something like "The less relevant an in-joke is to the story, the greater its cultural significance". Particularly impressive for a story which came out way back in 1987, before such post-modern humor appeared everywhere.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** The episode "[=QPid=]" is a ''lot'' funnier to anyone who's seen ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'', as it's basically a WholePlotReference, down to several shots and some of the background music cues. It also makes Vash's complete inversion of the Marian character all the more hilarious.
** ''[=NextGen=]'' is rife with references to Japanese anime (the Nausicaans, the ''USS Yamato'', etc.).
** A much more subtle one for those who know their advanced chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, or Latin comes up in Time's Arrow, Pt. 1 (Season 5, Episode 26). Upon finding what appears to be his own head stuck in a cave from the 18th century, the android Data is asked if it could be his EvilTwin Lore. Data replies Lor has a type "L" TechnoBabble, while Data has a type "R." Logically, the head is Data's, and Data's fate is for his head to be in that cave somehow. Left is ''sinister'' in both stereochemistry and Latin, so we have here a subtle callout to the very old school trope, ASinisterClue.
* A lot of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}''. For instance, when Edmund tells the newly-solvent Prince Regent to "take out the plans for the beach house at Brighton" he's referring to the Royal Pavilion, which was indeed paid for and occupied by the Regent. In the same episode, Blackadder, explaining why purchasing a "tuppenny ha'penny" tract of land will cost a thousand pounds, lists a string of spurious expenses, including "window tax". While it seems to fit in with the other expenses, like "swamp insurance", the window tax was a real thing in Georgian Britain; an attempt at progressive taxation on the basis that rich people had bigger houses, and therefore more windows. (Which is why in some parts of Britain you can still see historic houses with bricked-up windows.)
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
** Annotations circle the Internet. You have to have a wide knowledge of a lot of things to get many of the jokes on the show, a lot like ''The Simpsons''.
** Other references can be chalked up to over-obscuring the comedy, forcing the viewer to laugh not because they get the joke but that it's so random there's no way it ''can't'' be funny. A backstage motto of the writers was "The right people will get it." The right people could occasionally just be the writers though. One of the robots quipping "There goes Mike's keyboard!" was absolutely meaningless to everyone who was unaware that Mike's ex-girlfriend had taken his keyboard with her when she moved out the previous week.
** The episode featuring ''The Rebel Set'' nicely worked in an obscure reference that was still funny if you didn't know the source: As the camera pans past a man in a suit with slicked back hair playing a vibraphone, Crow quips "...And looking very relaxed, UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler on vibes". This is a direct quote from The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band's "The Intro And The Outro", but if you've never even heard of that group, it's just funny because of the actor's vague resemblance to Hitler.
* ''Series/{{Svengoolie}}''. You have to have extensive knowledge in terms of where his AudienceParticipation audio clips come from.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** The station's head of security is named Michael Garibaldi. The most famous real-life Garibaldi is probably Giuseppe Garibaldi, a major figure in the struggle for Italian unification and independence. Giuseppe's followers were dubbed {{Redshirt}}s.
** Ironically, Sheridan is probably the real Garibaldi expy: CrazyAwesome general specialized in coming BackFromTheBrink and who wins battles even when his side has ''already'' lost the war? Check, Check and re-Check. Plus the events described in Severed Dreams resemble a lot the events of the siege of Montevideo.
* The ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Betrayal" is based on Creator/HaroldPinter's ''Betrayal'' and is far funnier if you've seen the play first. In one episode Elaine's boyfriend takes Jerry's parents to the art museum and his father spends the rest of the episode obsessing about how Claude Monet must have been nearsighted to paint waterlilies like that. This parallels the Jewish scholar Max Nordau's theory of ''Entartete Kunst'' (Degenerate Art), the belief that the oddities of 20th Century modern art reflected various disorders on the part of the artists, such as impressionism being symptomatic of a diseased visual cortex. This idea was famously (and somewhat ironically, considering Nordau's background) co-opted by the Nazis as justification for their censorship of the art world.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''.
** How about with [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Cylon toast]]? To the general public, funny because Sheldon is making toast with scifi characters on it. To nerds, funnier because [[DontExplainTheJoke Cylons are often called toasters]].
** Also, the equations on the whiteboard are always real and recognisable to physicists. They have a physics professor helping them out.
** In fact, the equations on the boards change throughout each season in a logical manner as the characters work on and solve the problems depicted.
** Sheldon comparing himself to UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman becomes a complete joke if you read up on the man. Feynman was endlessly sociable; life of many parties, he loved the company of women and was somewhat of a TheCasanova. He was married three times and had several children. He was an artist and musician. Most importantly, he had great respect for all branches of science. He insisted that divisions between sciences are only for convenience and no one is better or more important than any other. Now compare all that to Sheldon. There's also Feynman's Lectures series of books on maths and physics which are equally valuable for PhD's as they are for a layman. Compared to Sheldon, who cannot clearly convey any concept even to fellow physicists.
* ''Series/ThirtyRock''
** There is an episode which parodied ''{{Amadeus}}''.
** They also centered a storyline around a birthday party thrown for a Hapsburg. If you knew who the Habsburgs were, there's a chance you could know where things were going at the start of the episode when the name Hapsburg is first mentioned, but either way, the Habsburg in question is so ridiculously inbred to cause everyone to laugh on sight.
** At one point, [[MarriedToTheJob Liz]] went out to a club and was questioned on it. She responded "I'm [[NietzscheWannabe saying yes! to life.]]"
** Cerie showed up to a Halloween party dressed [[FanService in a bikini]]. When asked what her costume was, she replied "I'm an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_I4rrvSHoc Italian senator!]]"
* An episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Sam and Dean meet an author who has been inexplicably writing sci-fi novels about characters named "Sam and Dean" whose monster-fighting adventures are [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs exact retellings of their own story.]] When confronted, the author has a moment of realization when he admits that his still-unfinished new novel is kind of inspired by KurtVonnegut. Dean asks "''SlaughterhouseFive'' Vonnegut or ''CatsCradle'' Vonnegut?" and he replies "[[AuthorAvatar Kilgore Trout]] Vonnegut." The references are not elaborated upon, it's just assumed that the viewers understand what that means. Doubles as a HiddenDepths moment for [[BookDumb Dean]], since that kind of question would generally be in [[TheSmartGuy Sam's]] arena.
* In ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS The Office]]'' (US) episode "Trivia," Robert California, while discussing the various unpleasantries of living in Florida, remarks, "Alligators are ''dinosaurs'', Dwight. You know that, right?" Dwight makes a pained face and replies, "[[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Mmm... it's complicated]]."
* ''Series/TheITCrowd'' is so chock full of real technology in-jokes and references that people who work in IT would go ''{{Squee}}'' in recognition at almost every scene.
** The decor of their basement office was a clutter of old computers, classic videogame posters and other nerdy reference, with the occasional [=ThinkGeek=] t-shirt.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': In an episode introducing two show choirs, one of them was from a ghetto school that had a member named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia Aphasia]], while the other was from a deaf school. Heh.
* It's not ''excessively'' intelligent, but one brilliant visual joke in the "Manny's First Day" episode of ''BlackBooks'' depends on the viewer recognizing a physical similarity to Beethoven.
* When he learns that a possible "recruit" was a dance teacher when Mitchell knew her, ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'''s [[AffablyEvil William]] [[BigBad Herrick]] offers a wonderfully subtle ShoutOut to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman Emma Goldman]]:
-->"Come the revolution, we'll all need to know how to dance."
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': While sneaking into the Initiative during the fourth season, the Scooby Gang are surrounded by enemy soldiers. Buffy quickly grabs their leader as a hostage with a crossbow to his head:
-->'''Buffy''': "Stay back, or I'll pull a William Burroughs on your leader here."
-->'''Xander''': "You'll bore him to death with free prose?"
-->'''Buffy''': "Was I the only one awake in English class that day?"
** The exchange is funny even if you know nothing about Creator/WilliamSBurroughs, a famous author from the 50's who's probably best known for writing the book ''Literature/NakedLunch''. However, Buffy's original threat only makes sense if you know that William Burroughs drunkenly shot his own wife to death.
** In "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered" there's an example that's either this or CriticalResearchFailure on the writers' part. Amy casts her love spell by invoking "Diana, goddess of love and the hunt". Anyone who's savvy on their Roman mythology knows the spell is going to backfire because Diana was '''NOT''' the goddess of love, Venus was. It's probably why the spell had the opposite effect and enchanted every woman except the intended target (Cordelia).
** While to the vast majority of the show's audience the Greek letters Willow writes on Tara's Back in "Restless" will be undecipherable, the inscription is an invocation to Aphrodite, which is responded to by the goddess's promise to make whoever the poet desires love her back in return "if she does not love, soon she shall love - even unwilling". The particular verse has special meaning for the pair - Sappho and Aphrodite as representative of their being lesbian and witches respectively, but also on another level because Willow in the future will indeed use magic to sustain her love with Tara
** The human/demon cyborg hybrid created by the Initiative named Adam, one could be forgiven for thinking the name is refrence to the first man in the bible given that the human/demon cyborg hybrid was meant to be the first of it's kind, until you start to research another story with a creature created from bits and peices of dead people by a mad scientist playing god and realise that said creature was also named Adam (or at least refers to himself as Adam when speaking to Victor Frankenstein as an allusion to the Adam of the bible)
* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''. Oh, so many... The biggest (and most obvious) is the name of the Dollhouse's parent corporation: Rossum, which comes from Karel Capek's play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}''. The basic premise of the play is very similar to that of the Dollhouse- a company that produces humanoid slaves.
** "The Target" features a psychopathic ([[spoiler:and possibly cannibalistic]]) hunter calling himself "Richard Connell". Richard Connell wrote a short story called ''Series/TheMostDangerousGame'', in which the [[spoiler:protagonist is hunted by a psychopath, as sport, and winds up killing him]] in a plot deliberately echoed by the episode.
** Wondered why the D.C. House uses Active codes from Greco-Roman mythology? Thank [[SummerGlau Bennett Halverson]]. The cabinet in her office contains a small statue of Romulus and Remus, suckled by a wolf.
* In the ''Series/TheStoryteller'' episode "The Soldier And Death", the soldier plays cards against a troupe of devils in an abandoned castle. The game they play isn't specified, but based on the fact they're using three cards in a hand it appears to be [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_card_brag three-card brag]] (a predecessor of modern-day poker) that would fit in with the medieval setting of the show.
* ''Series/SesameStreet'' is this. For example, during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orrSp1IQV3A a promo with Entertainment Weekly]], Grover and Cookie Monster manage to work in a reference to [[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stage-door_Johnny stage door Johnnies]] of all things- a term which would probably be a [[ParentalBonus GRANDparental bonus]] for modern kids. (They also manage to rhyme [[SophisticatedAsHell dystopia and cookie-copia]].)
* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' has one that most in the target audience will probably get: During an emotional scene between Damon and Elena, there's some piano music playing in the background. This could simply be because there's a funeral going on, or it could be background music. Someone who knows the song, however, may remember the lyrics.
-->''You tore me to pieces...You tore me to pieces...''
** And in a sort of combination of this trope and FunnyBackgroundEvent, the Salvatores' house is full of famous paintings that a viewer with both keen eyesight and a knowledge of art will spot. This includes a Manet that shows up in almost every living room scene.
** Similarly the paintings in Klaus's bedroom are reproductions of actual paintings that have been stolen from various museums throughout the years.
* In ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', Quinn's cat was always named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger%27s_cat Schroedinger]]. Interestingly, in different {{Alternate Universe}}s the cat was visibly different.
** But always alive, so...y'know...that answers that.
* A number of signoffs for ''Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy'', while relevant to the episode's topic, are much more advanced in that field than the target demographic has likely studied.
-->"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strike-slip_tectonics strike-slip-shear modulae to compute]]. See ya!
* During one episode of ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' Dick comments that Easter Island was a practical joke that got out of hand. Many listeners will simply associate this joke with the massive stone heads and laugh, but a person who has read about the ecological and societal collapse resulting from overuse of natural resources due to moai construction will understand the "got out of hand" differently.
* Hilariously done by the Series/{{Mythbusters}} ''editors'' in a combination with CensoredForComedy. Adam tests out a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vy6DZaJCok curse-proof tool]] in the "No Pain, No Gain" episode. [[spoiler:If you know [[EveryoneKnowsMorse Morse Code]], the beeps spell out HELLO.]]
* ''Series/CriminalMinds''
** The two-parter "The Fisher King" has the team trying to find a kidnapped girl. We're shown her locked in a basement bedroom, coughing hard and apparently ill, having been taken some time ago by a kidnapper who acts as though he cares for her. At this point viewers who've read John Fowles' ''The Collector'' may have spotted that this plot is somewhat familiar; and then the clues the kidnapper sent to the FBI turn out to be centred around... John Fowles' ''The Collector''. It's never mentioned in the episode what the novel's about.[[note]]It should be noted that ''The Collector'' has been a favorite book of several serial killers in real life, despite [[CompletelyMissingThePoint the moral of the story being don't be a serial killer]].[[/note]]
** The fifth season episode ''Slave of Duty'' [[DoubleMeaningTitle refers not only to the action of the episode]] but is also an alternate title for ''PiratesOfPenzance'', which is referenced a few times in that episode and a couple of first season episodes. The high school production of the play was when Hotch met Haley ([[spoiler:who got murdered in the previous episode]]).
** The [=UnSub=] in "I Love You, Tommy Brown" defends her relationship with [[spoiler:a teenage boy who was a student of hers]] by arguing that Henry VIII's first wife was twenty years older than him[[note]]Not quite; Catherine of Aragon was only six years older than Henry VIII[[/note]], and that RomeoAndJuliet were teenagers as well. Now that might sound all very intelligent and cultured, but think about how both those relationships turned out...
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' features a cat called Schrodinger. That is, until [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien said alien mentioned that yes, they know about that superstition and disproved it a while back]]. Cue Carter becoming very surprised at how such a basic theorem of physics can be false (note that Schrödinger's original point was how ridiculous the Copenhagen interpretation could be). The most amusing part is that it took only ''three episodes'' for humans to reach a high enough level of understanding about the universe to be able prove that "superstition" false on their own. This is because the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is only one possible way of understanding the weirdness that happens on the quantum level of reality. One of the other possible ways? The many-worlds interpretation. Visit a parallel universe, and you prove the Copenhagen interpretation (and the concept of Schrödinger's cat) incorrect. And a parallel universe is visited exactly three episodes later.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' introduces a character named Janus in an episode featuring time travel into the distant past and stasis. In myth Janus was The God Of Memory And Sleep; seems more than a little suitble to me.
** Knowledge of myth, history, physics, and millitary strategy, while rarely unexplained, can occassionally make moments in Stargate more fun.
* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' might be extremely perverted, but it also has some very obscure jokes. One is the Higgs Boson apparently can't be measured without causing a planet to implode into a stranglet. Another involves a big crunch and the corresponding theory for the effect on time it has.
* ''Series/MaxHeadroom'', a show ripe with social commentary, features a trailer for the wacky show "Lumpy's Proletariat". Aimed at the lower classes, no less.
* On ''Series/TheWire'', Brother Mouzone is a CulturedBadass who tasks his assistant with collecting his issues of ''Harper's'' while researching hits. The Bonus is that the actor and character are a dead ringer for the original composite sketch of the man who allegedly murdered NotoriousBIG.
* Sometimes on ''Series/{{JAG}}'', the meaning of military acronyms are at times never explained to the viewers, and upon even rarer occasion are references made to federal case law without explaining in detail what that case means to the viewers.
* BetterOffTed loves working this into background gags. For example, Rose, Ted's daughter and moral compass, attends [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Debs Eugene Debs]] Elementary.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', an evil German man says, "I wish there were a word to describe the pleasure I feel in seeing misfortune!" In fact, the German word "''schadenfreude''" has this exact definition. It's sometimes used as a loanword in English. Made even funnier if you know how German works: Even if there hadn't been such a word, he could have simply made up a compound word with that meaning on the spot.
* The final episode of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' has a tense game of cat-and-mouse between the crew of ''Serenity'' and the incredibly creepy bounty hunter Jubal Early. It's a testament to the strength of the writing that the episode is compelling to those without a degree in philosophy; as the dialogue contains so many references to existentialist thought, it's borderline-impenetrable to the average viewer.
* In the ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' episode "[[ChristmasEpisode Secret Santa]]", Claudia offhandedly asks how many piano tuners there could be in the Philadelphia area. This is a reference to the archetypical example of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem Fermi problem]], a form of estimation based on multiplying estimates to obtain a close approximation of an otherwise incomputible answer. The classic Fermi problem is 'How many piano tuners are there in Chicago?'.
* In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', the Overlords (leaders of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Inves]]) have their own language, much like past ''Kamen Rider'' antagonists. However, the Overlord language was included in the show's closed captioning script, which lead to one especially clever fan to discovering that it's actually a fairly simple substitution cipher for Japanese, allowing it to be translated and offering early insight into some major plot points. Fansub group Æsir devised their own version of the cipher so English-speaking fans could work it out for themselves.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' may be a multi-tiered play on words. "Dexter" is the Latin word for "right" but also took on the implication of "normal" or "good" in European nations many years ago, when there was wide-spread superstition that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handedness#Social_stigma_and_repression_of_left-handedness left-handed people were witches]]. "Dexter" is the opposite of "sinister" which is the Latin word for "left". ''WordOfGod'' from the book series' author [[http://sharetv.com/shows/dexter/trivia confirmed]] that the name "Dexter" was picked because it was the opposite of "sinister".
* You don't ''have'' to have an advanced degree in computer science, mathematics, or engineering to watch ''Series/{{Person of Interest}}'', but it helps. Given that one of the stars is an [[EccentricMillionaire eccentric billionaire]] computer genius who created an [[BenevolentAI artificial intelligence]] to predict and fight crime, it's to be expected.
----
** According to the producers, {{sitcom}}s generally run on "the 70% joke", where 70% of the TV-watching audience will get the joke and laugh, while ''Frasier'' often had "the 20% joke". It didn't seem to hurt them, though. Then it's parodied when Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce guest-starred on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
---> '''Cecil:''' But I suppose I should thank you. After all, it led me to my true calling.\\
'''Bob:''' Cecil, no civilization in history has ever considered "chief hydrological engineer" a calling.\\
'''Cecil:''' *clears throat meaningfully* \\
'''Bob:''' Yes, yes, the Cappadocians. Fine.
** Cappadocia was one of the only civilizations in Western history small enough to exist ''entirely'' within an arid region as it was too elevated for rivers to run through it.
---> '''Cecil:''' I have the '82 Chateau Latour and a rather indifferent Rausan-Segle.\\
'''Bob:''' I've been in prison, Cecil. I'll be happy just as long it doesn't taste like orange drink fermented under a radiator.\\
'''Cecil:''' That would be the Latour, then.
** Chateau Rausan-Segle was not a successful winery until it was taken over by winemakers from Chateau Latour.
* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' included many of these (hell, the group met in CambridgeUniversity for goodness sakes!), mostly references to literature, history, philosophy, animals, science and art. They would also throw in obscure references to British cricket players, villages, TV stars, politicians,... Hell, the ''Cheese Shop'' sketch is just a bunch of cheese brands summarized together. In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNRkhJc2d_w words]] of Matt Stone, "They'll do that joke that they know only 20% of the audience is gonna get, so you know that 80% is not gonna be with you, but you know that 20% is [[OneOfUs gonna follow you to the grave.]]"
* ''Series/TheWestWing'':
** In one episode, Toby tells the president, "Your favorite movie was on last night." They then spend a few minutes (mis)quoting and discussing it, and Toby eventually applies AnAesop from the movie to their current situation. But neither of them ever actually says the name of the movie. (It's ''The Lion in Winter''.)
** In another episode, Bartlet learns that his daughter Ellie, who seemed to be manipulating him by appearing to express confidence in him, [[spoiler: was simply, honestly, expressing confidence in him.]] He just says, "My God, ''Theatre/KingLear'' is a good play" (in that play, the daughter Lear thinks is the least loyal is the most).
** ''Series/TheWestWing'' is simply crammed with this. The sheer number of subtle puns and jokes that would take a rather high level of knowledge about American history and politics to understand makes watching any given episode five times funnier for a political wonk than for a regular viewer. And the genius bonuses aren't limited to history and politics - there's a lot of literary, religious, scientific, sports-related, and pop-culture references slipped into the dialogue as well.
*** Leo goes on a long rant comparing Pro-Wrestling to politics (Which happens a few times) and concludes with: "But at the end of the day you don't vote for them." To which Josh replies: "[[JesseVentura Except for in Minnesota.]]"
* In a much less genius of a bonus, over the course of several episodes ''Series/NewsRadio'' had a running gag concerning every time a character goes to a movie theater, the same terrible movie is playing, though its name is never mentioned. Astute viewers will pick up that the crappy movie is John Travolta's ''Film/{{Michael}}''.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' contains constant references to philosophy, religion, literature, and science. Is the casual viewer really expected to understand the significance of someone named John Locke, or their using the alias [[spoiler: Jeremy Bentham]]? Plus, the plot became increasingly complicated as the show has gone on, with innumerable callbacks to previous episodes, making it extremely hard for new viewers to understand what is going on.
** When Hurley wonders what could be inside the hatch. Locke responds that he believes hope is inside, referencing Pandora's Box.
** Another episode had John Locke asking Desmond David Hume how he knew something. Answer: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism Experience.]]"
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** A chalkboard in the background of "An Unearthly Child" episode 1 has the quadratic formula written on it.
** "The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Eve" is based around this trope. Since it's the companion's DayInTheLimelight and the Doctor is missing for most of the story, the story foregoes the usual HollywoodHistory settings to focus on a historical event that was and is fairly obscure to British audiences (the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day). Viewers are presumably supposed to identify with Steven's [[PinballProtagonist lack of any idea what's going on]] and the retelling of the historical events is given much more attention than usual. If you're familiar with the history, you end up identifying with the Doctor instead and the whole sympathy of the plot changes.
** The story ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire Dragonfire]]'' had a sequence in which the Doctor distracts a guard by discussing semiotics with him. The real joke... the dialogue came verbatim from a semiotics text examining ''Doctor Who''. ''And'', the Doctor's line is semiotics-jargon for something like "The less relevant an in-joke is to the story, the greater its cultural significance". Particularly impressive for a story which came out way back in 1987, before such post-modern humor appeared everywhere.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** The episode "[=QPid=]" is a ''lot'' funnier to anyone who's seen ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'', as it's basically a WholePlotReference, down to several shots and some of the background music cues. It also makes Vash's complete inversion of the Marian character all the more hilarious.
** ''[=NextGen=]'' is rife with references to Japanese anime (the Nausicaans, the ''USS Yamato'', etc.).
** A much more subtle one for those who know their advanced chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, or Latin comes up in Time's Arrow, Pt. 1 (Season 5, Episode 26). Upon finding what appears to be his own head stuck in a cave from the 18th century, the android Data is asked if it could be his EvilTwin Lore. Data replies Lor has a type "L" TechnoBabble, while Data has a type "R." Logically, the head is Data's, and Data's fate is for his head to be in that cave somehow. Left is ''sinister'' in both stereochemistry and Latin, so we have here a subtle callout to the very old school trope, ASinisterClue.
* A lot of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}''. For instance, when Edmund tells the newly-solvent Prince Regent to "take out the plans for the beach house at Brighton" he's referring to the Royal Pavilion, which was indeed paid for and occupied by the Regent. In the same episode, Blackadder, explaining why purchasing a "tuppenny ha'penny" tract of land will cost a thousand pounds, lists a string of spurious expenses, including "window tax". While it seems to fit in with the other expenses, like "swamp insurance", the window tax was a real thing in Georgian Britain; an attempt at progressive taxation on the basis that rich people had bigger houses, and therefore more windows. (Which is why in some parts of Britain you can still see historic houses with bricked-up windows.)
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
** Annotations circle the Internet. You have to have a wide knowledge of a lot of things to get many of the jokes on the show, a lot like ''The Simpsons''.
** Other references can be chalked up to over-obscuring the comedy, forcing the viewer to laugh not because they get the joke but that it's so random there's no way it ''can't'' be funny. A backstage motto of the writers was "The right people will get it." The right people could occasionally just be the writers though. One of the robots quipping "There goes Mike's keyboard!" was absolutely meaningless to everyone who was unaware that Mike's ex-girlfriend had taken his keyboard with her when she moved out the previous week.
** The episode featuring ''The Rebel Set'' nicely worked in an obscure reference that was still funny if you didn't know the source: As the camera pans past a man in a suit with slicked back hair playing a vibraphone, Crow quips "...And looking very relaxed, UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler on vibes". This is a direct quote from The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band's "The Intro And The Outro", but if you've never even heard of that group, it's just funny because of the actor's vague resemblance to Hitler.
* ''Series/{{Svengoolie}}''. You have to have extensive knowledge in terms of where his AudienceParticipation audio clips come from.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** The station's head of security is named Michael Garibaldi. The most famous real-life Garibaldi is probably Giuseppe Garibaldi, a major figure in the struggle for Italian unification and independence. Giuseppe's followers were dubbed {{Redshirt}}s.
** Ironically, Sheridan is probably the real Garibaldi expy: CrazyAwesome general specialized in coming BackFromTheBrink and who wins battles even when his side has ''already'' lost the war? Check, Check and re-Check. Plus the events described in Severed Dreams resemble a lot the events of the siege of Montevideo.
* The ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Betrayal" is based on Creator/HaroldPinter's ''Betrayal'' and is far funnier if you've seen the play first. In one episode Elaine's boyfriend takes Jerry's parents to the art museum and his father spends the rest of the episode obsessing about how Claude Monet must have been nearsighted to paint waterlilies like that. This parallels the Jewish scholar Max Nordau's theory of ''Entartete Kunst'' (Degenerate Art), the belief that the oddities of 20th Century modern art reflected various disorders on the part of the artists, such as impressionism being symptomatic of a diseased visual cortex. This idea was famously (and somewhat ironically, considering Nordau's background) co-opted by the Nazis as justification for their censorship of the art world.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''.
** How about with [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 Cylon toast]]? To the general public, funny because Sheldon is making toast with scifi characters on it. To nerds, funnier because [[DontExplainTheJoke Cylons are often called toasters]].
** Also, the equations on the whiteboard are always real and recognisable to physicists. They have a physics professor helping them out.
** In fact, the equations on the boards change throughout each season in a logical manner as the characters work on and solve the problems depicted.
** Sheldon comparing himself to UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman becomes a complete joke if you read up on the man. Feynman was endlessly sociable; life of many parties, he loved the company of women and was somewhat of a TheCasanova. He was married three times and had several children. He was an artist and musician. Most importantly, he had great respect for all branches of science. He insisted that divisions between sciences are only for convenience and no one is better or more important than any other. Now compare all that to Sheldon. There's also Feynman's Lectures series of books on maths and physics which are equally valuable for PhD's as they are for a layman. Compared to Sheldon, who cannot clearly convey any concept even to fellow physicists.
* ''Series/ThirtyRock''
** There is an episode which parodied ''{{Amadeus}}''.
** They also centered a storyline around a birthday party thrown for a Hapsburg. If you knew who the Habsburgs were, there's a chance you could know where things were going at the start of the episode when the name Hapsburg is first mentioned, but either way, the Habsburg in question is so ridiculously inbred to cause everyone to laugh on sight.
** At one point, [[MarriedToTheJob Liz]] went out to a club and was questioned on it. She responded "I'm [[NietzscheWannabe saying yes! to life.]]"
** Cerie showed up to a Halloween party dressed [[FanService in a bikini]]. When asked what her costume was, she replied "I'm an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_I4rrvSHoc Italian senator!]]"
* An episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Sam and Dean meet an author who has been inexplicably writing sci-fi novels about characters named "Sam and Dean" whose monster-fighting adventures are [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs exact retellings of their own story.]] When confronted, the author has a moment of realization when he admits that his still-unfinished new novel is kind of inspired by KurtVonnegut. Dean asks "''SlaughterhouseFive'' Vonnegut or ''CatsCradle'' Vonnegut?" and he replies "[[AuthorAvatar Kilgore Trout]] Vonnegut." The references are not elaborated upon, it's just assumed that the viewers understand what that means. Doubles as a HiddenDepths moment for [[BookDumb Dean]], since that kind of question would generally be in [[TheSmartGuy Sam's]] arena.
* In ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS The Office]]'' (US) episode "Trivia," Robert California, while discussing the various unpleasantries of living in Florida, remarks, "Alligators are ''dinosaurs'', Dwight. You know that, right?" Dwight makes a pained face and replies, "[[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Mmm... it's complicated]]."
* ''Series/TheITCrowd'' is so chock full of real technology in-jokes and references that people who work in IT would go ''{{Squee}}'' in recognition at almost every scene.
** The decor of their basement office was a clutter of old computers, classic videogame posters and other nerdy reference, with the occasional [=ThinkGeek=] t-shirt.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': In an episode introducing two show choirs, one of them was from a ghetto school that had a member named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphasia Aphasia]], while the other was from a deaf school. Heh.
* It's not ''excessively'' intelligent, but one brilliant visual joke in the "Manny's First Day" episode of ''BlackBooks'' depends on the viewer recognizing a physical similarity to Beethoven.
* When he learns that a possible "recruit" was a dance teacher when Mitchell knew her, ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'''s [[AffablyEvil William]] [[BigBad Herrick]] offers a wonderfully subtle ShoutOut to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman Emma Goldman]]:
-->"Come the revolution, we'll all need to know how to dance."
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': While sneaking into the Initiative during the fourth season, the Scooby Gang are surrounded by enemy soldiers. Buffy quickly grabs their leader as a hostage with a crossbow to his head:
-->'''Buffy''': "Stay back, or I'll pull a William Burroughs on your leader here."
-->'''Xander''': "You'll bore him to death with free prose?"
-->'''Buffy''': "Was I the only one awake in English class that day?"
** The exchange is funny even if you know nothing about Creator/WilliamSBurroughs, a famous author from the 50's who's probably best known for writing the book ''Literature/NakedLunch''. However, Buffy's original threat only makes sense if you know that William Burroughs drunkenly shot his own wife to death.
** In "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered" there's an example that's either this or CriticalResearchFailure on the writers' part. Amy casts her love spell by invoking "Diana, goddess of love and the hunt". Anyone who's savvy on their Roman mythology knows the spell is going to backfire because Diana was '''NOT''' the goddess of love, Venus was. It's probably why the spell had the opposite effect and enchanted every woman except the intended target (Cordelia).
** While to the vast majority of the show's audience the Greek letters Willow writes on Tara's Back in "Restless" will be undecipherable, the inscription is an invocation to Aphrodite, which is responded to by the goddess's promise to make whoever the poet desires love her back in return "if she does not love, soon she shall love - even unwilling". The particular verse has special meaning for the pair - Sappho and Aphrodite as representative of their being lesbian and witches respectively, but also on another level because Willow in the future will indeed use magic to sustain her love with Tara
** The human/demon cyborg hybrid created by the Initiative named Adam, one could be forgiven for thinking the name is refrence to the first man in the bible given that the human/demon cyborg hybrid was meant to be the first of it's kind, until you start to research another story with a creature created from bits and peices of dead people by a mad scientist playing god and realise that said creature was also named Adam (or at least refers to himself as Adam when speaking to Victor Frankenstein as an allusion to the Adam of the bible)
* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''. Oh, so many... The biggest (and most obvious) is the name of the Dollhouse's parent corporation: Rossum, which comes from Karel Capek's play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}''. The basic premise of the play is very similar to that of the Dollhouse- a company that produces humanoid slaves.
** "The Target" features a psychopathic ([[spoiler:and possibly cannibalistic]]) hunter calling himself "Richard Connell". Richard Connell wrote a short story called ''Series/TheMostDangerousGame'', in which the [[spoiler:protagonist is hunted by a psychopath, as sport, and winds up killing him]] in a plot deliberately echoed by the episode.
** Wondered why the D.C. House uses Active codes from Greco-Roman mythology? Thank [[SummerGlau Bennett Halverson]]. The cabinet in her office contains a small statue of Romulus and Remus, suckled by a wolf.
* In the ''Series/TheStoryteller'' episode "The Soldier And Death", the soldier plays cards against a troupe of devils in an abandoned castle. The game they play isn't specified, but based on the fact they're using three cards in a hand it appears to be [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_card_brag three-card brag]] (a predecessor of modern-day poker) that would fit in with the medieval setting of the show.
* ''Series/SesameStreet'' is this. For example, during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orrSp1IQV3A a promo with Entertainment Weekly]], Grover and Cookie Monster manage to work in a reference to [[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stage-door_Johnny stage door Johnnies]] of all things- a term which would probably be a [[ParentalBonus GRANDparental bonus]] for modern kids. (They also manage to rhyme [[SophisticatedAsHell dystopia and cookie-copia]].)
* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' has one that most in the target audience will probably get: During an emotional scene between Damon and Elena, there's some piano music playing in the background. This could simply be because there's a funeral going on, or it could be background music. Someone who knows the song, however, may remember the lyrics.
-->''You tore me to pieces...You tore me to pieces...''
** And in a sort of combination of this trope and FunnyBackgroundEvent, the Salvatores' house is full of famous paintings that a viewer with both keen eyesight and a knowledge of art will spot. This includes a Manet that shows up in almost every living room scene.
** Similarly the paintings in Klaus's bedroom are reproductions of actual paintings that have been stolen from various museums throughout the years.
* In ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', Quinn's cat was always named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger%27s_cat Schroedinger]]. Interestingly, in different {{Alternate Universe}}s the cat was visibly different.
** But always alive, so...y'know...that answers that.
* A number of signoffs for ''Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy'', while relevant to the episode's topic, are much more advanced in that field than the target demographic has likely studied.
-->"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strike-slip_tectonics strike-slip-shear modulae to compute]]. See ya!
* During one episode of ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' Dick comments that Easter Island was a practical joke that got out of hand. Many listeners will simply associate this joke with the massive stone heads and laugh, but a person who has read about the ecological and societal collapse resulting from overuse of natural resources due to moai construction will understand the "got out of hand" differently.
* Hilariously done by the Series/{{Mythbusters}} ''editors'' in a combination with CensoredForComedy. Adam tests out a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vy6DZaJCok curse-proof tool]] in the "No Pain, No Gain" episode. [[spoiler:If you know [[EveryoneKnowsMorse Morse Code]], the beeps spell out HELLO.]]
* ''Series/CriminalMinds''
** The two-parter "The Fisher King" has the team trying to find a kidnapped girl. We're shown her locked in a basement bedroom, coughing hard and apparently ill, having been taken some time ago by a kidnapper who acts as though he cares for her. At this point viewers who've read John Fowles' ''The Collector'' may have spotted that this plot is somewhat familiar; and then the clues the kidnapper sent to the FBI turn out to be centred around... John Fowles' ''The Collector''. It's never mentioned in the episode what the novel's about.[[note]]It should be noted that ''The Collector'' has been a favorite book of several serial killers in real life, despite [[CompletelyMissingThePoint the moral of the story being don't be a serial killer]].[[/note]]
** The fifth season episode ''Slave of Duty'' [[DoubleMeaningTitle refers not only to the action of the episode]] but is also an alternate title for ''PiratesOfPenzance'', which is referenced a few times in that episode and a couple of first season episodes. The high school production of the play was when Hotch met Haley ([[spoiler:who got murdered in the previous episode]]).
** The [=UnSub=] in "I Love You, Tommy Brown" defends her relationship with [[spoiler:a teenage boy who was a student of hers]] by arguing that Henry VIII's first wife was twenty years older than him[[note]]Not quite; Catherine of Aragon was only six years older than Henry VIII[[/note]], and that RomeoAndJuliet were teenagers as well. Now that might sound all very intelligent and cultured, but think about how both those relationships turned out...
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' features a cat called Schrodinger. That is, until [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien said alien mentioned that yes, they know about that superstition and disproved it a while back]]. Cue Carter becoming very surprised at how such a basic theorem of physics can be false (note that Schrödinger's original point was how ridiculous the Copenhagen interpretation could be). The most amusing part is that it took only ''three episodes'' for humans to reach a high enough level of understanding about the universe to be able prove that "superstition" false on their own. This is because the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is only one possible way of understanding the weirdness that happens on the quantum level of reality. One of the other possible ways? The many-worlds interpretation. Visit a parallel universe, and you prove the Copenhagen interpretation (and the concept of Schrödinger's cat) incorrect. And a parallel universe is visited exactly three episodes later.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' introduces a character named Janus in an episode featuring time travel into the distant past and stasis. In myth Janus was The God Of Memory And Sleep; seems more than a little suitble to me.
** Knowledge of myth, history, physics, and millitary strategy, while rarely unexplained, can occassionally make moments in Stargate more fun.
* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' might be extremely perverted, but it also has some very obscure jokes. One is the Higgs Boson apparently can't be measured without causing a planet to implode into a stranglet. Another involves a big crunch and the corresponding theory for the effect on time it has.
* ''Series/MaxHeadroom'', a show ripe with social commentary, features a trailer for the wacky show "Lumpy's Proletariat". Aimed at the lower classes, no less.
* On ''Series/TheWire'', Brother Mouzone is a CulturedBadass who tasks his assistant with collecting his issues of ''Harper's'' while researching hits. The Bonus is that the actor and character are a dead ringer for the original composite sketch of the man who allegedly murdered NotoriousBIG.
* Sometimes on ''Series/{{JAG}}'', the meaning of military acronyms are at times never explained to the viewers, and upon even rarer occasion are references made to federal case law without explaining in detail what that case means to the viewers.
* BetterOffTed loves working this into background gags. For example, Rose, Ted's daughter and moral compass, attends [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Debs Eugene Debs]] Elementary.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', an evil German man says, "I wish there were a word to describe the pleasure I feel in seeing misfortune!" In fact, the German word "''schadenfreude''" has this exact definition. It's sometimes used as a loanword in English. Made even funnier if you know how German works: Even if there hadn't been such a word, he could have simply made up a compound word with that meaning on the spot.
* The final episode of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' has a tense game of cat-and-mouse between the crew of ''Serenity'' and the incredibly creepy bounty hunter Jubal Early. It's a testament to the strength of the writing that the episode is compelling to those without a degree in philosophy; as the dialogue contains so many references to existentialist thought, it's borderline-impenetrable to the average viewer.
* In the ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' episode "[[ChristmasEpisode Secret Santa]]", Claudia offhandedly asks how many piano tuners there could be in the Philadelphia area. This is a reference to the archetypical example of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem Fermi problem]], a form of estimation based on multiplying estimates to obtain a close approximation of an otherwise incomputible answer. The classic Fermi problem is 'How many piano tuners are there in Chicago?'.
* In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', the Overlords (leaders of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Inves]]) have their own language, much like past ''Kamen Rider'' antagonists. However, the Overlord language was included in the show's closed captioning script, which lead to one especially clever fan to discovering that it's actually a fairly simple substitution cipher for Japanese, allowing it to be translated and offering early insight into some major plot points. Fansub group Æsir devised their own version of the cipher so English-speaking fans could work it out for themselves.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' may be a multi-tiered play on words. "Dexter" is the Latin word for "right" but also took on the implication of "normal" or "good" in European nations many years ago, when there was wide-spread superstition that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handedness#Social_stigma_and_repression_of_left-handedness left-handed people were witches]]. "Dexter" is the opposite of "sinister" which is the Latin word for "left". ''WordOfGod'' from the book series' author [[http://sharetv.com/shows/dexter/trivia confirmed]] that the name "Dexter" was picked because it was the opposite of "sinister".
* You don't ''have'' to have an advanced degree in computer science, mathematics, or engineering to watch ''Series/{{Person of Interest}}'', but it helps. Given that one of the stars is an [[EccentricMillionaire eccentric billionaire]] computer genius who created an [[BenevolentAI artificial intelligence]] to predict and fight crime, it's to be expected.
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