History Main / AmericanGothicCouple

* After a resemblance was noted between ''Series/LateNight with Conan O'Brien'''s host Conan O'Brien and Finland's President Tarja Halonen, occasional gags would pop-up comparing the two; one recurring one would be the two replacing the couple in ''American Gothic'' occasionally aired before cutting to a commercial, or as they return.
* Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie pose as the couple during the title and opening credits of ''Series/TheSimpleLife''.
* ''Series/GreenAcres'' also had the lead couple pose as the couple in the painting during their opening credits.
* In the episode of ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' "The Masterpiece", Rob and Laura Petrie bought a painting from an auction. They discovered another painting beneath the visible painting. The uncovered painting was revealed to be a different version of "American Gothic" in which the couple was smiling compared with the original version seen in the book in their living room. The reason was, the painted-over painting was a forgery rather than an actual Grant Wood.
* ''Series/RoveLive'' replaces the couple with Melissa Doyle and David Koch.
* It is used in a Showcase on a May 2007 episode of ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' with a live-action model replacing the daughter and trying to excite the father with prizes that are in the showcase.
* In ''Series/{{Oz}}'', ''A Town Without Pity'', likenesses of the two prominent figures of the painting are featured in a narrative of how prisons in the US are mostly located in rural area of the country.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Gridlock", the couple in the Motorway at the start of the episode are based on the farming couple in the American Gothic, both having identical hairstyles, glasses and fashions.
* A million dollar question was answered correctly related to the painting on the American version of the popular game show ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''. Nancy Christy, a high school teacher, correctly answered this question and won the million dollars, as she remembered that the man in the painting was based on Grant Wood's dentist.

* In an episode of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', Drew and Ryan did this pose during a game of Props when their prop was a vaguely pitchfork-looking thing.
* In ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', Ares copies the pose with Gabrielle (Old Ares had a farm).
* In ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'' episode "Mulch Ado About Nothing", Cody's re-creation of the Mulch Festival for Bailey includes a couple of passengers posing as the couple from the painting. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Cody:
-->'''Cody:''' More American, and less Gothic.
* Series/{{Dexter}} and his [[PosthumousCharacter older brother]] pose in front of a poster with the house in it. Dexter is holding a freshly bloodied pitchfork.
* A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch with host Creator/AnneHathaway shows the couple's "outtakes" of the famous pose.
* In the ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' Halloween episode "Chuck Versus the Sandworm," Two of the Buy More employees dress up as the farmer and his daughter. It's Jeff and Lester.

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* "American Gothic" is one of the paintings parodied in the "Tigger's Family" song sequence of ''WesternAnimaton/TheTiggerMovie''.

''American Gothic''. No, not [[Series/AmericanGothic the show]], the 1930 Grant Wood painting with the dour, Alan Greenspan-esque man with a pitchfork and his equally dour daughter (who's often mistakenly assumed to be his wife). It is actually a portrait of Grant Wood's sister and his dentist. Incidentally, the house in the painting still stands today.

It's very well-known, and along with Leonardo's [[MonaLisaSmile Mona Lisa]] and Edvard Munch's TheScream, it's one of the most parodied, imitated and referenced paintings in media, both real and fictional.

* Brilliantly spoofed at the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvZQSw3F6FE this]] (banned, {{NSFW}}) IKEA commercial. (Also contains copious amounts of the AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents trope...)

* In the early 1960s, the iconic couple sang "They won't wilt when you pour on milk" as part of a commercial for General Mills Country Corn Flakes.

* In ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', "Riff-Raff" (Creator/RichardOBrien) and "Magenta" (Patricia Quinn) pose as the couple in front of the arched church doors during the song "Dammit Janet", after the wedding of Brad and Janet's friends Betty Monroe and Ralph Hapschatt. At the end, when they reveal their alien identities, the pitchfork has turned into a trident-shaped raygun. The painting can also be briefly seen on a wall in the castle.

* In ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', "Riff-Raff" (Richard O'Brien) and "Magenta" (Patricia Quinn) pose as the couple in front of the arched church doors during the song "Dammit Janet", after the wedding of Brad and Janet's friends Betty Monroe and Ralph Hapschatt. At the end, when they reveal their alien identities, the pitchfork has turned into a trident-shaped raygun. The painting can also be briefly seen on a wall in the castle.

** In the sequel "ShockTreatment", it can be seen hanging on a wall in the prop room as a reference to the first movie.

The beginning of ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'' episode "Farm" has Mr. Grumpy and Miss Scary in the position of the painting.

* Brilliantly spoofed at the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvZQSw3F6FE this]] (banned, {{NSFW}}) IKEA commercial.

It's very well known, and along with Leonardo's [[MonaLisaSmile Mona Lisa]] and Edvard Munch's TheScream, it's one of the most parodied, imitated and referenced paintings in media, both real and fictional.

* ''VideoGmae/{{Terraria}}'' has a painting in it called the ''Terrarian Gothic'', featuring the Mechanic and Goblin Tinker.

* PaulNewman and his daughter Nell reproduced the pose for the packaging of Newman's Own Organics.

* ComicBook/SheHulk and [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Man-Wolf]] become the couple on the cover of issue #11 of her third solo series.

* The cover-art for the [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons TSR]] alien-invasion themed board-game ''They've Invaded Pleasantville'' is a riff on this, with the woman sporting a pair of antenna and [[MindControlEyes blank white eyes]].

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic_House The house still stands today]]. The State Historical Society of Iowa and the National Register of Historic Places rent it out to tenants, on the condition they maintain it as close to its original form as possible. Naturally, the first thing most tenants do is [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/American_Gothic_house_picture_taken.jpeg pose like the painting]].

* Briefly invoked in Sara Evan's video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xvhutWc67k "Born to Fly"]], when the lyrics talk about the singer's parents.

* A gigantic compendium of parody images can be found [[http://www.squidoo.com/american-gothic online]].

* They show up toward the end of the eagle's flight (about 1:14) in Vincent Collins's ''[[http://www.archive.org/details/200 200]]''.

* During the "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV7ZcVFSWWU&t=3m15s Iowa Stubborn]]" number of ''Film/TheMusicMan'' part of the shipping crate (a "frame") for the new pool table is moved past a farm couple, temporarily creating this sort of tableau. They're wearing similar clothes to the people in the painting and the man is holding a pitchfork just in case you thought it was a coincidence.

Incidentally, the "Gothic" refers to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_Gothic architectural style of the window behind the couple]].

''American Gothic''. No, not [[Series/AmericanGothic the show]], the 1930 Grant Wood painting with the dour, Alan Greenspan-esque man with a pitchfork and his equally dour daughter (but is often mistakenly assumed to be his wife). It is actually a portrait of Grant Wood's sister and his dentist. Incidentally, the house in the painting still stands today.