History Main / RearWindowHomage

* The video for the Music/RollingStones' song, "Neighbours" is this, including an apparent murder taking place in one of the windows.

* Done in a Film/SyFyChannelOriginalMovie of all places, namely ''Abominable'' where a wheelchair bound man watches and tries to warn a group of women under attack next door… though here the attacker happens to be Sasquatch.

* Literature/PointHorror novel ''Literature/TheWindow'': A young woman accompanies her friends on a ski trip and ends up spraining her ankle. Stranded in her room and bored, she begins spying on the other cabins with a pair of binoculars. Sure enough, she witnesses a murder and the killer him/herself, though she can't tell who it is — it quickly doubles as a LockedRoomMystery when she realizes it has to be one of the friends she's traveling with — and ends up playing a nail-biting cat-and-mouse game trying to figure out exactly who it is without tipping them off.
* ''Literature/TheWomanInTheWindow'' by A.J. Finn is pretty much ''Rear Window'' meets ''The Girl on the Train.'' The story is about an agoraphobic alcoholic woman who thinks she sees a murder across the street.

* ''[[Series/SquareOneTV Mathnet]]'', already a spoof of ''{{Franchise/Dragnet}}'', has an episode called "The View From the Rear Terrace" in which Kate Monday injures her knee and becomes convinced her neighbor is building a bomb. Her partner George is busy with a case involving an anti-bank prankster, but still finds time to disprove her allegations, leading to an unintentional case of CryingWolf when the neighbor finally ''does'' build a bomb. In the end it turns out the two of them were WorkingTheSameCase.

* Was also done in ''Series/{{Alf}}'', of course with Mr. Ochmonek as being the neighbor whom ALF suspects to have murdered his wife.
* The ''Series/TwoPointFourChildren'' episode "Curiosity Killed the Cat" had Bill in bed with flu, watching Rhoda through a telescope and becoming convinced she'd killed her boyfriend. (She hadn't.) It even included a brief shot of a Hitchcock lookalike walking past Rhoda's door.
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'s'' season 6 episode "Point of View" finds Det. Mac Taylor cooped up at home with his leg propped up due to being injured while pursuing a suspect. He passes the time watching his neighbors in the apartment building across the way and notices suspicious activity, which turns out to be connected to a murder case his team is working on back at the lab.
* A version of this trope occurs in ''Series/MikeAndMolly'', where Molly and her mother spy on their neighbor after believing that he had killed his wife who they had not seen in some time.[[spoiler: He didn't. She had been dead of natural causes for over a year. Molly and her mother just never noticed.]]
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever" has this where Monk, Natalie and Stottlemeyer are in a witness protection cabin after Monk witnessed a gang murder. On their first night, Monk hears screaming and sees the lights flickering in the cabin across the lake, which belongs to a local fisherman and his wife. Monk is convinced that the wife killed her husband, and the three of them are seen spending the next day spying on her with binoculars as she carries bag after bag of ice into the house. Monk is also made suspicious because she's listening to country music, even though her husband wouldn't let her play it in the house. To test his theory, Stottlemeyer calls up the cabin and claims to be asking for the victim, the wife claims he's on the lake fishing...while his boat is clearly still docked, which more or less seals the deal.
* ''Series/NotGoingOut'': In "Front Window", Lee has had a knee operation and is confined to the house, so he spies on his neighbors. HilarityEnsues when he believes that one of the neighbors has killed a local cat who has gone missing.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In one episode, Brian (who moved out of the Griffin household in a previous episode) looks out his window and thinks he sees Principal Shepherd disposing of his wife's body; things follow along the traditional RearWindowHomage path from there.

* ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'': In the episode "Definite Possible Murder," Brendon is laid up with a leg injury. He spies on his new neighbor, Raymond Burley, a man who might possibly be involved in some questionably suspicious behavior.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDayMyButtWentPsycho'': The episode "Cheer Window" is this, with Elanor as L. B. Jeffries, cheerleader Chelsea as Lars Thorwald, and Zack and Deuce as Lisa Carol Fremont and Stella, respectively. [[spoiler: However, instead of Chelsea being wrongfully accused by Elanor of murdering someone, she's wrongfully accused of helping the Great White Butt take over Mabletown. [[VillainsOutShopping He just wants to learn cheerleading.]]]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom'' gives us "Poe-Ranoia", where Poe the Raven sprains his leg and is placed in a wheelchair. However, his incessant demands force the characters to place him in Skull Boy's room with only a window to the house next door, a telescope, and a simple communication system. From there, Poe sees a new neighbor moving in and believes that he has numerous instruments of torture and murder. [[spoiler:It turns out that the new neighbor's devices are actually amusement park rides!]]

In this homage, the setup is clearly derived from Creator/AlfredHitchcock's film ''Film/RearWindow'' to varying degrees. Expect an injured or otherwise hobbled protagonist stuck in their own room conducting a criminal investigation from a fixed vantage point. The injured protagonist — like Creator/JimmyStewart's Jeff Jeffries - is probably male, while the eager assistant — like Creator/GraceKelly's Lisa Fremont - is far less physically imposing, inexperienced with confrontation, and probably female.

* Done in a Film/SyFyChannelOriginalMovie of all places, namely ''Abominable'' where a wheelchair bound man watches and tries to warn a group of women under attack next door... though here the attacker happens to be Sasquatch.

In this homage, the setup is clearly derived from Creator/AlfredHitchcock's film ''Film/RearWindow'' to varying degrees. Expect an injured or otherwise hobbled protagonist stuck in their own room conducting a criminal investigation from a fixed vantage point. The injured protagonist - like Creator/JimmyStewart's Jeff Jeffries - is probably male, while the eager assistant - like Creator/GraceKelly's Lisa Fremont - is far less physically imposing, inexperienced with confrontation, and probably female.

Tropes shared by the Rear Window Homage and ''Film/RearWindow'' itself include WindowWatcher, TheStakeout, ExploringTheEvilLair, and, of course, RearWindowWitness and RearWindowInvestigation. At some point the protagonist will probably find themselves spouting CassandraTruth or promising the authorities ItWasHereISwear If the investigator ''isn't'' an AmateurSleuth, it's a case of BusmansHoliday. Can be used to provide the plot for a BottleEpisode. Occasionally a show will go [[ParodyEpisode out of its way]] to do an AffectionateParody.

* Literature/PointHorror novel ''Literature/TheWindow'': A young woman accompanies her friends on a ski trip and ends up spraining her ankle. Stranded in her room and bored, she begins spying on the other cabins with a pair of binoculars. Sure enough, she witnesses a murder and the killer him/herself, though she can't tell who it is--it quickly doubles as a LockedRoomMystery when she realizes it has to be one of the friends she's traveling with--and ends up playing a nail-biting cat-and-mouse game trying to figure out exactly who it is without tipping them off.
* ''The Woman in the Window'' by A.J. Finn is pretty much ''Rear Window'' meets ''The Girl on the Train.'' The story is about an agoraphobic alcoholic woman who thinks she sees a murder across the street.

* ''VideoGame/ZombiesRun'' In the spin-off audio play "Zombies, Run! The Way of All Flesh," Chris Mcshell plays the injured (blinded) investigator and Jody Marsh plays the eager assistant.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': "Alvin Brickrock Presents" is all about Fred and Barney spying on their new neighbor, [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Alvin Brickrock]], whose wife they believe has been stuffed in a trunk. [[spoiler: She's not in the trunk -- after explaining to the Flintstones how everything they considered evidence for a murder was just a comedy of coincidental errors, Brickrock [[BreakingTheFourthWall turns to the audience]] and heavily implies that he fed his wife to his man-eating bird.]]

** In the episode, "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS3E13GrandmasDead Grandma's Dead]]," Duncan Duff, Elmyra's younger brother, is sick and has to stay home from school. To pass the time, he watches a parody of "Rear Window" on his TV, which gives him the idea to snoop on his neighbors. Thanks to some shenanigans with Elmyra's hamster, Duncan comes to believe that his grandmother has been offed by Mr. Bump. [[spoiler: Grandma isn't even dead in the first place.]]

A commonly recurring {{Homage}}

A commonly recurring WholePlotReference.

In a Film/RearWindow {{Homage}}, the setup is clearly derived from Creator/AlfredHitchcock's film ''Film/RearWindow'' to varying degrees. Expect an injured or otherwise hobbled protagonist stuck in their own room conducting a criminal investigation from a fixed vantage point. The injured protagonist - like Creator/JimmyStewart's Jeff Jeffries - is probably male, while the eager assistant - like Creator/GraceKelly's Lisa Fremont - is far less physically imposing, inexperienced with confrontation, and probably female.

* The LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek is notorious for wholesale borrowing of plot elements from Hitchcock, so naturally Creator/{{Lifetime}} has done its own WholePlotReference to ''Rear Window'', called ''Stalked By My Neighbor'', about a teen girl who moves with her mother to the suburbs after suffering a home invasion assault in the city, and the girl keeps tabs on her new neighbors from her bedroom window with a digital camera. Eventually a neighbor is murdered and she suspects another neighbor of being the culprit. Bonus points for the ''victim'' being named Lisa.

* The LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek is notorious for wholesale borrowing of plot elements from Hitchcock, so naturally Creator/{{Lifetime}} has done its own WholePlotReference to ''Rear Window'', called ''Stalked By My Neighbor'', about a teen girl who moves with her mother to the suburbs after suffering a home invasion assault in the city, and the girl keeps tabs on her new neighbors from her bedroom window with a digital camera but witnesses what appears to be a violent crime. Bonus points for the ''victim'' being named Lisa.

In a Film/RearWindow {{Homage}}, the setup is clearly derived from Creator/AlfredHitchcock's film ''Film/RearWindow'' to varying degrees. Expect an injured or otherwise hobbled protagonist stuck in their own room conducting a criminal investigation from a fixed vantage point. The injured protagonist - patterned after Creator/JimmyStewart - is probably male, while the eager assistant - patterned after Creator/GraceKelly - is far less physically imposing, inexperienced with confrontation, and probably female.

* The LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek is notorious for wholesale borrowing of plot elements from Hitchcock, so naturally Creator/{{Lifetime}} has done its own WholePlotReference to ''Rear Window'', called ''Stalked By My Neighbor'', about a teen girl who moves with her mother to the suburbs after suffering a home invasion assault in the city, and the girl keeps tabs on her new neighbors from her bedroom window with a digital camera but witnesses what appears to be a violent crime.

* The LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek is notorious for wholesale borrowing of plot elements from Hitchcock, so naturally Creator/{{Lifetime}} has done its own WholePlotReference to ''Rear Window'', called ''Stalked By My Neighbor'', about a teen girl who moves with her mother to the suburbs after suffering a home invasion assault in the city, and the girl keeps tabs on her new neighbors from her bedroom window with a digital camera.

* When Reese from ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' gets shot in the leg, he doesn't get time off: he gets installed in a hotel and tasked with monitoring his neighbors. He's assisted by Finch, who, while decidedly less attractive than Grace Kelly, fills the inexperienced-and-nonthreatening role perfectly. The final confrontation even features a [[spoiler: crutch duel]].

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* A version of this trope occurs in ''Series/Mike&Molly'', where Molly and her mother spy on their neighbor after believing that he had killed his wife who they had not seen in some time.[[spoiler: He didn't. She had been dead of natural causes for over a year. Molly and her mother just never noticed.]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Literature/PointHorror novel ''Literature/TheWindow'': A young woman accompanies her friends on a ski trip and ends up spraining her ankle. Stranded in her room and bored, she begins spying on the other cabins with a pair of binoculars. Sure enough, she witnesses a murder and the killer him/herself, though she can't tell who it is--it quickly doubles as a LockedRoomMystery when she realizes it has to be one of the friends she's traveling with--and ends up playing a nail-biting cat-and-mouse game trying to figure out exactly who it is without tipping them off.
* ''The Woman in the Window'' by A.J. Finn is pretty much ''Rear Window'' meets ''The Girl on the Train.'' The story is about an agoraphobic alcoholic woman who thinks she sees a murder across the street.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/ZombiesRun'' In the spin-off audio play "Zombies, Run! The Way of All Flesh," Chris Mcshell plays the injured (blinded) investigator and Jody Marsh plays the eager assistant.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': "Alvin Brickrock Presents" is all about Fred and Barney spying on their new neighbor, [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Alvin Brickrock]], whose wife they believe has been stuffed in a trunk.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'s'' season 6 episode "Point of View" finds Det. Mac Taylor cooped up at home due to being injured while pursuing a suspect. He passes the time watching his neighbors in the apartment building across the way and notices suspicious activity, which turns out to be connected to a murder case his team is working on back at the lab.

Tropes shared by the Rear Window Homage and ''Film/RearWindow'' itself include WindowWatcher, TheStakeout, ExploringTheEvilLair, and, of course, RearWindowWitness and RearWindowInvestigation. At some point the protagonist will probably find themselves spouting CassandraTruth or promising the authorities ItWasHereISwear. If the investigator ''isn't'' an AmateurSleuth, it's a case of BusmansHoliday. Can be used to provide the plot for a BottleEpisode. Occasionally a show will go [[ParodyEpisode out of its way]] to do an AffectionateParody.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E1BartOfDarkness "Bart of Darkness,"]] Bart breaks his leg, holes up in his room, and, after spying on his neighbors with a telescope, becomes convinced that Ned Flanders has murdered his wife. One of the things Bart sees through his rear window is Jimmy Stewart with a broken leg, looking out of ''his'' rear window.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. In the episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E1BartOfDarkness "Bart of Darkness,"]] Bart breaks his leg, holes up in his room, and, after spying on his neighbors with a telescope, becomes convinced that Ned Flanders has murdered his wife. One of the things Bart sees through his rear window is Jimmy Stewart with a broken leg, looking out of ''his'' rear window.
* WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy: In one episode, Brian (who moved out of the Griffin household in a previous episode) looks out his window and thinks he sees Principal Shepherd disposing of his wife's body; things follow along the traditional RearWindowHomage path from there.

* In one episode of WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy, Brian (who moved out of the Griffin household in a previous episode) looks out his window and thinks he sees Principal Shepherd disposing of his wife's body; things follow along the traditional RearWindowHomage path from there.

* Done in a SyFyChannelOriginalMovie of all places, namely ''Abominable'' where a wheelchair bound man watches and tries to warn a group of women under attack next door... though here the attacker happens to be Sasquatch.