History ShoutOut / Supernatural

* There are numerous shout-outs to ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' in several episodes involving time travel. From "In The Beginning", a season four episode: Dean asks Castiel if angels have [=DeLoreans=], and Dean and John both turn when someone calls "Hey, Winchester!". There were also some more subtle references, such as Azazel posing as a doctor named Brown.
** "The Song Remains the Same", from season five, was originally supposed to be called "Back to the Future II." It seems to have been changed because they had issues acquiring the rights to use the title. This didn't stop Dean from saying Castiel was like a [=DeLorean=] without any plutonium.
** Finally, in "Frontierland", from season six ([[OnceASeason noticing a pattern?]]), is loaded with ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' references, as you'd expect in an episode where Sam and Dean travel back in time to the Wild West. Their aliases are "[[WalkerTexasRanger Walker]]" and "[[Creator/ClintEastwood Eastwood]]". ''The episode ends with a WriteBackToTheFuture''.
** Also, in "Time After Time", Dean is accidentally hurled back into the past and has one of the happiest moments of his life getting to meet and work with one of his idols, [[spoiler:Eliot Ness of TheUntouchables]]. In order to get out of it and give Sam the information he needs to take down the episode's villain, [[spoiler:Chronos]], he gets blissfully happy when he realizes he can [[spoiler:"pull a Back To The Future II", WriteBackToTheFuture and plant a letter in a floorboard of the house he knows Sam is staying in, alerting him to its existence by scrawling Sam's name on the baseboard it's hidden in.]]

* Dean once tells Lucifer to "can that sympathy for the Devil crap", a reference to the Rolling Stones song.

* "Live Free or Twihard" has plenty of these to popular vampire fiction. The vampires meet at a bar called the [[NightWorld Black Rose]]

* JamesMarsters as a witch in ''"Shut Up, Dr. Phil"'' prepares to fire a spell with the [[Franchise/DragonBall kamehameha]] pose.

* In Season 7, JamesMarsters plays a near-immortal who went through European history and now lives in the Americas in a SlapSlapKiss relationship with a woman who is his equal (although, played by Charisma Carpenter) who he is in complete and total love with. Meanwhile, in the same episode, Charisma Carpenter plays a bitchy woman who is willing to go to extreme methods to get what she wants, including revenge, and is quite focused on how she looks to the public. [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Sound familiar?]]

* "The Real Ghosthunters" had the two brothers attending a Supernatural Convention, and meeting some of the crazy fanbase. The episode title is, of course, a ShoutOut to ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters''.
** ...the episode title ''is'' "The Real Ghostbusters". Which is still a ShoutOut.

* In at least one episode, The Boys investigate supernatural goings on in the town of Rock Ridge, which was the setting of Mel Brooks western spoof ''Film/BlazingSaddles''.

* Only a few episodes later the brothers even get to meet one yaoi fangirl of theirs, Becky. Even the title of the episode is a ShoutOut, to a tie-in book for a [[Series/SesameStreet certain beloved childrens' program.]]

* Sam comes across a monster named [[DoctorWho Amy Pond.]]

** Also, in "Time After Time", Dean is accidentally hurled back into the past and has one of the happiest moments of his life getting to meet and work with one of his idols, [[spoiler:Eliot Ness of TheUntouchables]]. In order to get out of it and give Sam the information he needs to take down the episode's villain, [[spoiler:Chronos]].
Mars"]], he gets blissfully happy when he realizes he can [[spoiler:"pull a Back To The Future II" and plant a letter in a floorboard of the house he knows Sam is staying in, alerting him to its existence by scrawling Sam's name on the baseboard it's hidden in.]]

** Also, in "Time After Time", Dean is accidentally hurled back into the past and has one of the happiest moments of his life getting to meet and work with one of his idols, [[spoiler:Eliot Ness of]] [spoiler:The Untouchables]]. In order to get out of it and give Sam the information he needs to take down the episode's villain, [[spoiler:Chronos]], also known as [[HeyItsThatGuy Logan Echolls]] of [[series/VeronicaMars]].

* "The French Mistake" is a Film/BlazingSaddles reference. The title itself is a multi-level reference, initally suggesting the MelBrooks joke of his WildWest universe utterly decimating the FourthWall. The second level of the title gag is specific to the fight spilling onto the real movie studio's lot, interrupting the filming of several other movies. One being a Busby Berkely-type 1930's musical filming a song called "The French Mistake", which is not even a slightly-veiled ode to guy-on-guy sex. Many fans of the show are of a younger demographic that has not seen BlazingSaddles, and therefore didn't get all the levels and the reference to the long-running MistakenForGay gag hidden the episode's title.

** Also, in "Time After Time", Dean is accidentally hurled back into the past and has one of the happiest moments of his life getting to meet and work with one of his idols, [[spoiler:Eliot Ness of "The Untouchables".]] In order to get out of it and give Sam the information he needs to take down the episode's villain, [[spoilers:Chronos,]] also known as [[HeyItsThatGuy Logan Echolls of "Veronica Mars"]], he gets blissfully happy when he realizes he can [[spoiler:"pull a Back To The Future II" and plant a letter in a floorboard of the house he knows Sam is staying in, alerting him to its existence by scrawling Sam's name on the baseboard it's hidden in.]]

* "The French Mistake" is a Film/BlazingSaddles reference - specifically, for a scene where Mel Brooks tears the fourth wall down, and the big fight spills off of Blazing Saddles' set, onto the studio lot, and into another movie that's filming.

* Sam's nightmare in Season 1's "Wendigo" is identical to Sue Snell's nightmare at the end of ''Film/Carrie'', with Sam leaving flowers at Jess grave and Jess' hand reaching out to grab him.

* In the Season 7 episode "Party On, Garth", Dean and Sam are hunting a shojo (with the assistance of a younger hunter by the name of Garth). In one scene, Garth orders one of the shojo's targets to [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay "come with me if you want to live!"]] (And on a related note, the title of the episode is itself a shout out to ''Film/WaynesWorld''.)

* "Slash Fiction" features a scene where Sam and Dean doppelgangers have a QuentinTarantino-esque chat and shoot up a diner a la ''Film/PulpFiction''. Bobby even calls them "Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny".

** Finally, in "Frontierland", from season six ([[OnceASeason noticing a pattern?]]), is loaded with ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' references, as you'd expect in an episode where Sam and Dean travel back in time to the Wild West. Their aliases are "[[WalkerTexasRanger Walker]]" and "[[ClintEastwood Eastwood]]". ''The episode ends with a WriteBackToTheFuture''.

* In "Hollywood Babylon," Sam does not want to tour the set of ''GilmoreGirls''. Jared Padalecki played a regular character on that show.
* In Season 1's "Shadow," Meg mentions that she went to California and met 'Chad Michael Something' (meaning Chad Michael Murray). Sam has no clue who she's talking about. Chad Michael Murray was another one of Jared Padalecki's co-stars in the aforementioned ''Film/HouseOfWax2005''. They also starred together in ''GilmoreGirls''.
* A Season 5 episode is titled "My Bloody Valentine," which is also the name of a movie starring...JensenAckles.\\

** Also in "The Girl Next Door" when Dean [[spoiler: goes to the convenience store in search of clues as to where Sam went]] the cashier is wearing a Batman: ''UnderTheRedHood'' t-shirt of which Jensen did a voice for.
* Possibly unintentional, and although Misha Collins wasn't in it, there is a Season 5 episode called "Sam, Interrupted". Misha Collins played a small role in the movie ''GirlInterrupted''.
** Also in "Sam, Interrupted", and also possibly unintentional, there is a female orderly [[spoiler: who is really a serial-killing [[MonsterOfTheWeek Wraith]]]] named Karla. Misha Collins starred in a movie [[spoiler: about a serial-killer]] called ''Karla''.

* Season 6 has ''The French Mistake'' where Sam and Dean are transported into an alternate dimension where [[MindScrew they are Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki filming Supernatural.]] Yes that's right, you heard me. Once again proving that the writing staff are one third CloudCuckooLander, one third certifiably insane, and one third CrazyAwesome.
* In "Frontierland", Bobby Singer makes a reference to ''{{Series/Deadwood}}''. In the next episode, "The Man Who Would Be King", there is a demon counterpart to Bobby named, you guessed it, Ellsworth.
** Fits the trope because Bobby Singer is played by Jim Beaver, the same actor who played Whitney Ellsworth on ''{{Series/Deadwood}}''.

* JamesMarsters and Creator/CharismaCarpenter in the same episode; "Shut Up, Dr. Phil" nothing [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer about]] [[{{Series/Angel}} vampires]] in it [[spoiler: though they are immortal]].

* Matt Frewer in Season 5 portrayed the Horseman of the Apocalypse Pestilence, who was developing the Croatoan virus to cause an apocalyptic pandemic under the orders of Lucifer. Frewer had previously appeared in the TV Miniseries adaptation of TheStand, which was set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, with Frewer portraying the "Trashcan Man" who was also a servant of a satanic figure and was also employed to help develop weapons.

* In "Something Wicked," Sam intones with complete seriousness that the MonsterOfTheWeek has struck before - in [[TheSimpsons Ogdenville, Brockway and North Haverbrook]]. Sadly, dozens of dead children did not put ''any'' of them on the map.
* In "Death Takes a Holiday", Sam and Dean tell a ghost (a boy, about 12 years old) that he's dead. The ghost quips "Thanks, [[TheSixthSense Haley Joel.]] I know I'm dead."

* In "The Song Remains the Same", rogue angel Anna travels back to the 1970s to kill John and Mary Winchester. In one scene she kills John's boss and impersonates his voice on the phone to get John alone, much like another movie about an [[TheTerminator assassin sent back through time]].

** Three, actually. The second time the convience store worker is shown, he is wearing a 'UnderTheRedHood' T-shirt. JensenAckles plays Jason Todd in that movie.

* In "Folsom Prison Blues", when posing for mug shots, one of Dean's poses is [[{{Zoolander}} Blue Steel]].

* In the first season, the brothers were researching some murders that happened in [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook and, by gum, it put them on the map!]]
* In the Season 4 episode "Wishful Thinking," a little boy named Todd wishes on a cursed coin for super-strength, allowing him to beat up the bullies who pick on him. The bullies hide in an SUV and the little boy tips the SUV over, then throws back his head and bellows, [[KneelBeforeZod "KNEEL BEFORE TODD!"]]
* In at least one episode, The Boys investigate supernatural goings on in the town of Rock Ridge, which was the setting of Mel Brooks western spoof Film/BlazingSaddles.

* There is a whole episode in season 5, "Changing Channels" that is a giant Shout Out to the various TV shows, like GreysAnatomy or CSI:Miami. In short: [[spoiler:they are TrappedInTVLand by the Trickster and they're forced to live inside the various shows.]]
** From when they're stuck in [[GreysAnatomy Dr. Sexy, M.D.]]

** "Johnny Drake" is the copy of GreysAnatomy character Denny Duquette, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the actor who also played John Winchester (Sam and Dean's father).

* There are many shout-outs to ''GoodOmens'' - the demon Crowley, who's snarky and appreciates the fine things in life and has the original Mona Lisa. The entire episode with the Antichrist Jesse reads like a super-condensed GO summary, with the most striking similarity being the way the Antichrist's belief influences reality. And of course, Season 8 Sam naming the dog "Dog".

* In ''Goodbye Stranger'', Sam and Dean repeatedly tell [[FamilyGuy Meg to shut up]].

* In the Season 7 episode "Party On, Garth", Dean and Sam are hunting a shojo (with the assistance of a younger hunter by the name of Garth). In one scene, Garth orders one of the shojo's targets to [[{{Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay}} "come with me if you want to live!"]] (And on a related note, the title of the episode is itself a shout out to ''Film/WaynesWorld''.)

* In "Crossroad Blues" when the demon is describing hell to Dean she makes a reference to the movie Event Horizon "Hell is just a word, the reality is so much worse"

* In "Frontierland", Bobby Singer makes a reference to ''{{Deadwood}}''. In the next episode, "The Man Who Would Be King", there is a demon counterpart to Bobby named, you guessed it, Ellsworth.
** Fits the trope because Bobby Singer is played by Jim Beaver, the same actor who played Whitney Ellsworth on ''{{Deadwood}}''.

* In "Death Takes a Holiday", Sam and Dean tell a ghost (a boy, about 12 years old) that he's dead. The ghost quips "Thanks, [[Film/TheSixthSense Haley Joel]]. I know I'm dead."

* In the episode "Unforgiven," Sam has a conversation with Brenna Dobbs where [[spoiler: Sam is trying to explain to her that doesn't remember meeting her.]] She responds with "What is this, '{{Days of Our Lives}}?'" Jensen Ackles was on this show for two years as the character Eric Brady.

* They also did a few mixed in with {{fanservice}} for the slashers/"Wincesters" in ''Bugs''. The boys were mistaken as a couple, Dean calls Sam "honey" and pats him on the arse. It would all be rather wonderful if it wasn't for the quality of the episode.
** Wait, a shoutout in Bugs? But that's only episode 8 of the first season. How can they be shouting out to the Wincesters so soon? Later episodes with the mistaking for a couple, more arguable.
*** The first Wincest fic apparently appeared within hours of the first episode being aired, according to the Supernatural Wiki...
** "The Monster at the End of this Book" had Sam and Dean discover Wincest Fanfiction:
---> '''Dean''': There's Sam girls and Dean girls. And what's a slash fan?
---> '''Sam''': As in... Sam slash Dean. Together.
---> '''Dean''': Like... "together" together?
---> '''Sam''': Yeah.
---> '''Dean''': ...They do know we're brothers, right?
---> '''Sam''': It doesn't seem to matter.
---> '''Dean''': Ah, come on. That's... that's just sick.

Attempting to list every episode with a name that is a ShoutOut would be a very long and/or silly endeavor.