History GenreSavvy / LiveACtionTV

* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' had {{Creator/David Mitchell}}'s unnamed SS-officer, who sees how thoroughly standard-issue "evil" Nazi symbology looks and, knowing from films he's seen [[EvilWillFail what awaits to those who are bad guys]], he questions his co-worker:
--> Hans, have you seen our hats? They have skulls on them... Hans... are we the baddies?

--->'''Bill:''' The problem with you is you think nobody's ever seen a movie before! I ''know'' what a mind-wipe looks like!

--> Hans, have you seen out hats? They have skulls on them... Hans... are we the baddies?

* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' had {{Creator/David Mitchell}}'s unnamed SS-officer, who came to the realization that:
--> Hans, have you seen out hats? They have skulls on them... Hans... are we the baddies?

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code"]], Martha Jones uses a linguistic assist from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' to help save the day.

** Martha Jones adapts to the sci-fi elements faster than Rose or Donna, likely because of familiarity with the new series' previous high-profile alien incursions. In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code"]], she even uses a linguistic assist from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' to help save the day.

** Martha Jones adapts to the sci-fi elements faster than Rose or Donna, likely because of familiarity with the new series' previous high-profile alien incursions. In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode "The Shakespeare Code"]], she invokes ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' while trying to figure out what effects the villains' plan could have on her (although in that instance, she is WrongTimeTravelSavvy).

* Parodied in ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'' with Nobuo Akagi: For how aware he is of all the rules of the Tv show he's in and Franchise/SuperSentai in general, you would think he would have figured out he was in a Tv show [[spoiler: It's because of this he does eventually figure it out.]]

** The episode "Missing" gives us this gem:

* In the famous ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," Claude Akins' character recognizes the neighborhood is in a Crucible-esque story. He tells his friends and neighbors that if they keep going the way they're going, they'll end up accusing each other of being aliens in a paranoid fit. The Twilight Zone being The Twilight Zone, no one listens.

%%* In ''Series/DirkGently'', Dirk realizes that every single thing that happens in an episode ends up being relevant to the final deduction, so even after the murderer seems to have been caught, he goes back to his StringTheory wall and continues working. He's right.

* In ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers''[='=] very first episode, Mayor Daniels is not happy at all that ChildGenius Nate Silva has turned the Morphing Grid into a renewable energy source, stating that creatures from all over the place have been drawn to the power, name-dropping [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita Repulsa]], [[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Sledge]] and [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Galvanax]] as examples. Sure enough, [[BigBad Evox]] is able to sneak into Grid Battleforce HQ and use some of that power to turn two Ranger candidates into his minions.

* In ''Series/DirkGently'', Dirk realises that every single thing that happens in an episode ends up being relevant to the final deduction, so even after the murderer seems to have been caught, he goes back to his StringTheory wall and continues working. He's right.

** By the time "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]" occurs, pretty much everyone in London has become savvy about how bad things [[TwistedChristmas always seem to happen during the Christmas season]]; hence, the city is practically abandoned when the Doctor heads there.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': Abed is teased at having MediumAwareness of being in a sitcom, but this is explained in-story as him being autisic and needing to relate all social interactions to something he's familiar with. However, because he actually ''is'' in a sitcom, almost all of his predictions and insights gleaned from television turn out to be true.

** By the time "[[Recap/DoctorWhoCSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]" occurs, pretty much everyone in London has become savvy about how bad things [[TwistedChristmas always seem to happen during the Christmas season]]; hence, the city is practically abandoned when the Doctor heads there.

** In season 5, after [[spoiler: (most of) the Oceanic Six end up back on the Island in 1977]], Hurley hilariously attempts genre-savviness concerning [[spoiler: time travel]]. However, it seems that the entirety of his knowledge on the subject comes from [[spoiler:''Film/BackToTheFuture'']], and he has, let's say, a lot of trouble grasping the show's more realistic implications, [[CrowningMomentOfFunny much to Miles' exasperation]].

** Deconstructed in a horror story he tells in one episode, wherein the characters consciously avoid all the typical examples of GenreBlindness common to slasher movies... with the end result being a rather boring tale wherein they simply stand back-to-back in a defensible part of the room armed with knives not dropping their guard for a moment, and nothing remotely interesting happens. Turns out GenreSavvy doesn't necessarily make for a good story.

** In "And Then There Was Shawn," while the kids are in detention, and things begin looking terrifying, we learn that Shawn is very Genre Savvy when it comes to [[{{Horror}} Horror movies]], quickly pointing out the [[AloneWithThePsycho dangers of splitting up]] and the fact that [[DeathBySex virgins never die]].

--->'''Ryan:''' You know, if this was a horror movie, we'd be the first to die.
--->'''Esposito:''' Please, we're trained police with rifles.
--->'''Ryan:''' Cocky black guy. You definitely die first.
*** Although when Castle tries the same on Beckett...
--->'''Castle:''' You know, if this was a horror movie...
--->'''Beckett:''' Shut up, Castle.

** In "The Pilot", the Doctor tries to trick Bill into standing still so he can wipe her memory. She doesn't buy it for a second.
-->'''Bill:''' The problem with you is you think nobody's ever seen a movie before! I ''know'' what a mind-wipe looks like!

-->'''Kara''' (''recognizing that the plot expects her and Barry to do a song and dance number''): Do you happen to have anything original?
-->'''Musical!Winn''': As a matter of fact, I've been working on something all day.
-->'''Barry''': Wow. Things really are easier in musicals.

-->'''Ziva''': "Tony, your dying words would be 'I've seen this film.'"

-->'''Bomb instructor''': "Way to go, [=MacGyver=]! If that bomb were real, we'd be washing you off the streets of Baghdad right now! ''Never'' assume that a bomb timer is accurate! Bad guys watch movies, too."

-->'''Simon''': I've seen every horror movie ever made and the funny best friend who gets left behind...Dead man.
-->'''Jace''': You're not that funny.

-->'''Simon''': That never works! Haven't you seen an action movie?

* ''Franchise/StargateVerse'' has as its basic premise modern day humans traveling via wormhole to other planets; and those humans have seen all the movies you'd expect them to.
** ''Series/StargateSG1'': Jack O'Neill says when dealing with an asteroid heading towards Earth "I've seen [[Film/{{Armageddon}} this movie]]...It hits Paris." It turns out to be headed for a North Atlantic splashdown, which is [[Film/DeepImpact another movie]].

* ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'':

* In the famous ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," Claude Akins' character recognizes the neighborhood is in a Crucible-esque story. He tells his friends and neighbors that if they keep going the way they're going, they'll end up accusing each other of being aliens in a paranoid fit. The Twilight Zone being The Twilight Zone, no one listens.

%%* In an episode of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', young Martin Stein unexpectedly notices a parallel between the situation at hand and ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' (he saw it, but didn't like it).

-->'''Bomb instructor''': "Way to go, [=MacGyver=]! If that bomb were real, we'd be washing you off the streets of Baghdad right now! ''Never'' assume that a bomb timer is accurate! Bad guys watch movies, too." This is not {{Truth in Television}} as real bombs may have a timer, but generally don't have handy countdown displays for the benefit of the police - why would they?

-->'''Bomb instructor''': "Way to go, [=MacGyver=]! If that bomb were real, we'd be washing you off the streets of Baghdad right now! ''Never'' assume that a bomb timer is accurate! Bad guys watch movies, too."

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': Abed is Genre Savvy beyond all reason (he knows he's in a sitcom) and something of a deconstruction of the concept. He has an exhaustive knowledge of media and its tropes, but as he acknowledges a couple of times in the series, that doesn't necessarily lead to him being able to create great drama. At one point he revises a horror story to get rid of all the cliches, but in doing so robs of it any drama or tension. He can find all the plotholes and he can recognize all the parts to a story, but that's different from being a truly good writer.