History TakeThat / LiveActionTV

** "Life is like a box of chocolates: a cheap, thoughtless perfunctory gift no one ever asked for. Unreturnable because all you get back is another box of chocolates. You're stuck with this undefinable whipped mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there's nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while there's a peanut butter cup or an English toffee but they're gone to fast and the taste is fleeting. So you end up with nothing but broken bits filled with hardened jelly and teeth shattering nuts. And if you're desperate enough to eat those then all you've got left is an empty box, filled with useless brown paper wrappers."

* {{SCTV}}'s Bob and Doug [=McKenzie=] were created as a Take That to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In Canada, the show ran two minutes longer than in the U.S. (due to fewer commercials.) The [[ExecutiveMeddling CBC required]] SCTV to fill these two "extra" minutes with "distinctively Canadian content." The writers and performers mocked this idea: "What do you want us to do? Throw up a map of Canada and sit there wearing tuques and parkas?" They ended up doing exactly that to prove their point of how ridiculous the CBC mandate was... and ended up creating [[SpringtimeForHitler the most popular characters in the show's history]].

** Also a barrage of take thats in "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" in the top ten losers of the year.

* ''{{iCarly}}'' did a take that to the fans(or more specifically, the ones who are constantly nagging about Seddie or Creddie pairings) during the episode ''iStart A Fan War'', by showing them as crazy losers who don't care about the show itself, only about the {{Shipping}}.
* ''VeronicaMars'' was forced by studio execs, early in its run, to include Paris Hilton as a guest star. Later in the same season, they're cracking Paris Hilton jokes. A great take that at both Hilton and the network.

** The first season of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had the episode "Mighty Morphin Mutants," a take that against rival show ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''. They later made up when the Saban-produced ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'' had a crossover early on in ''PowerRangersInSpace''.

* In the ''RedDwarf'' episode "Beyond a Joke", Kryten drives a tank into a virtual reality adaptation of ''PrideAndPrejudice''. According to the accompanying article in the RadioTimes, the sentiment was: "Can't the BBC do anything later than the eighteenth century?" Judging by [[SeasonalRot how well that season was received]]... probably not.

-->'''Jeff''': ''(sobbing)'' I hate Glee. I just don't understand the appeal.

** Dan Harmon went above and beyond with season 3, devoting an entire episode to parodying ''Glee''. Though it is surprisingly more subtle than one would expect with emphasis on smaller details ( The ascending level of chairs, the never mentioned Piano player, Mr Rad's sweater vest's, the clipped dialogue delivery, the constant mash-ups and remixes and an apparently endless supply of costumes and props that come out of nowhere), there are some more blatant moments ( Jeff shouting "Not liking Glee club doesn't make us bullies and implying that is reverse bullying", characters constantly talking about regionals, the extreme seriousness with which They take the club). Given how much He has professed his dislike of ''Glee'' in the past, it felt more like an affectionate parody that both fans and detractors of ''Glee'' could enjoy (Darren Criss posted that He very much enjoyed it).

* On a 1980 episode of ''Real People'', one of NBC's few primetime hits in that era, one of the hosts, John Barbour, joked "If you base a TV show on another TV show, it's called a spinoff. Unless you work for ABC, in which case it's called a ripoff." "Oh, that's incredible!" responded Sarah Purcell, referring to that network's [[DuelingShows Dueling Show]].

** Shawn and Gus (and sometimes minor characters) also take frequent pot shots at Chad Michael Murray for unknown reasons. The writers definitely have something against him—in "Yang 3 in 2D," Mary goes on a ''rant'' about it in his video diaries:
--->"What is the deal with ''OneTreeHill''? I don’t understand. It’s like a…it’s like a [[PoorMansSubstitute poorly executed]] ''DawsonsCreek.'' Why are they doing that? Don’t even get me started on Chad Michael Murray. {{beat}} Too late. I’m going to start in. He had dead eyes."

** Shawn and Gus also take frequent pot shots at Chad Michael Murray for unknown reasons.

* Many people see the ''{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Malleus Maleficarum" as a TakeThat against ''{{Charmed}},'' what with The Book of Shadows and a group of witches who looked and acted suspiciously like the ''{{Charmed}}'' girls and all.

* An episode of ''{{Monk}}'' had him on the set of a ''{{CSI}}'' stand-in while investigating their lead actor. We later see a summation bit from the show using many of CSI's distinctive visual effects where the killer ''took out his own blood and froze it into a bullet, just so that it would melt without a trace later''.

* The ''{{Angel}}'' episode "Harm's Way" starts off with a video apparently made to introduce new Wolfram & Hart employees to the firm. It lists off three companies that are clients of Wolfram & Hart: [[BuckarooBanzai Yoyodyne]], [[{{Aliens}} Weyland-Yutani]]... and News Corp, parent corporation of FOX, the network that [[ScrewedByTheNetwork screwed]] ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' a year earlier.

* Speaking of which, an episode of ''LawAndOrder'' had Lennie disgusted at a lab tech, saying "Those crime scene guys are highly overrated. The problem is, they all think they're cops." A fairly clear dig at ''{{CSI}}'' and other {{Forensic Drama}}s.
** I'm not sure if that counts as a Take That. More than a few cops feel that way.

** The first season of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' had the episode "Mighty Morphin Mutants," a take that against rival show ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''. They later made up when the Saban-produced ''NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'' had a crossover early on in ''PowerRangersInSpace''.

* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''{{Angel}}'' both take shots at each other, and HilarityEnsues.
** Considering that Angel was a spinoff of Buffy, they starred the same people and were produced by the same producers, this is AffectionateParody.
** Arguably the best one was in ''Tabula Rasa'' when,upon losing Their memories,Spike believes that He is a Vampire with a Soul,a good Guy on a quest for atonement who "Helps The Helpless".Buffy replies "A Vampire with a soul? How lame is that?"
* Towards the end of its run, ''ArrestedDevelopment'' took so, so, SO many shots at everything from Fox to DesperateHousewives.

* ''[[{{ptitleolsdue4jfzga}} 30 Rock]]'' has given us the [[ShowWithinAShow Show Within The Show]] ''[=MILF=] Island'', which is basically a gigantic spoof of ''{{Survivor}}'' that takes LowestCommonDenominator to new lows. Coincidence that ''Survivor'' comes on at the same time as ''30 Rock'' and regularly slaughters it in the {{ratings}}?

** They did another one against ''{{House}}'', when Keith mentions seeing a disease on ''House'' and Cox goes on a rampage.

** As well, a TV Guide writer with the last name Jarvis predicted after watching the pilot movie that the show, planned from the beginning as a single story told over five seasons, wouldn't last a month, resulting in the occasional line such as "The Jarvis toilets are acting up again." The fourth season finale, the first episode written after JMS knew for sure that he would get to tell the whole story, takes a far more direct approach: it opens with a simple shot of text on a black background that says "Dedicated to all the people who predicted that the Babylon Project would fail in its mission. Faith manages."

** The final season 4 episode, "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" ends with a Take That to the people who were against the series. ''"Dedicated to all the people who predicted that the Babylon Project would fail in its mission. Faith manages."'' It's worthy to note that this episode was specifically produced after the series was signed on for a fifth season, to take the place of the GrandFinale "Sleeping In Light", which was moved to season 5. Essentially, the Take That is actually a bit broader in scope: to also include those who thought the series was going to be cancelled.

* A poster for the showings of ''{{Lost}}'' season 4 on Sky which say in big letters ANSWERS ARE COMING and underneath in much smaller letters [Unless you have Virgin Media or Freeview]! To clarify, {{Sky1}}, the channel that premiered seasons 3-6 of ''Lost'' in the UK, was pulled from Virgin Media between 2007 and 2008 after a dispute between Sky and Virgin.

** And this is to say nothing of the episode "My Life In Four Cameras", which can be summed up most easily as a TakeThat against the majority of the sitcom industry.
*** This may be an AffectionateParody too.
* This editor has seen a poster for the showings of ''{{Lost}}'' season 4 on Sky which say in big letters ANSWERS ARE COMING and underneath in much smaller letters [Unless you have Virgin Media or Freeview]!
** Just to clarify this, SkyOne, the channel that premieres ''Lost'' in the UK, used to be carried on Virgin Cable and its predecessors until a dispute caused it to pull out. And it's never been on Freeview, the free digital terrestrial service, because it's a pay channel. So to see ''Lost'' in Britain you need a Sky Digital subscription. Or wait for the [=DVDs=].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' delivered a Take That to their entire fanbase once; the character of Whizzkid in "The Greatest Show In The Galaxy", a whining, stereotypical nerd who didn't show any hesitation in telling the producers of the aforementioned show that their work was unwatchable rubbish directly to their faces. And then killed him. Horribly. Whether or not this little shot was justified, it seemed that contemporary outspoken criticism about the recent poor quality of the show had hit a nerve...
*** The spoof UniverseCompendium ''The Completely Useless Encyclopedia'' turns this one round, by listing many of the complaints fans had at the time under the guise of pointing out that they're true of the Psychic Circus in the story.
*** Fandom is divided on whether the episode "Love and Monsters" is an AffectionateParody and loving tribute to the things that make ''Series/DoctorWho'' fandom special, or just a huge TakeThat to its fans. The truth is it's kind of both; the 'good' fans are presented as being slightly geeky and socially awkward but fundamentally decent and good people who come together, make connections, are inspired creatively and even fall in love as a result of their fandom, whereas the 'bad' fans are humourless jobsworths who treat fandom as a joyless ritual, establishing pecking orders and sucking all the life and creativity out of the whole thing for the sake of their own ego-fulfillment. It might not be coincidental that it is sometimes suggested that the Absorbaloff is based on Ian Levine, a well-known fan who [[SmallNameBigEgo arguably represents more than a few of these negative traits]].

** The third season finale also clearly flipped the bird at the American government when the Doctor manages to turn back time a whole year to avoid a vast majority of the deaths that occurred...and stops ''just'' short of saving the US president as well; with the Doctor specifying that "everything is back to normal." This aspect is arguably justified in it being clearly established that the TimeyWimeyBall effect that allowed him to do this only kicked in ''after'' the President was killed -- however, said President's depiction as a [[StrawmanPolitical arrogant, buffoonish jackass]] who bore a certain resemblance to a certain then-current President definitely belongs here -- and vitriolic comparisons made in that vein on the US DVDCommentary fuel the fire even more.
*** They may have killed a U.S. president, but so far the new series has also killed three UK Prime Ministers, two of whom were evil aliens and another who was implied to actually be Tony Blair. [[spoiler:If you count former Prime Minister Harriet Jones the number goes up to four, but hers was more of a HeroicSacrifice. ]]
*** More maybe-anti-US sentiment: the alternate universe depicted in "Turn Left" had Miss Foster breed the Adipose in America instead of [[CrapsackWorld the UK]]. She quickly sends the US into critical status and it's not just because the Doctor is dead in that universe. [[spoiler:Oh, and UNIT loses contact with Air Force One during the invasion in "The Stolen Earth". Two Presidents down...]]
*** Also, the Series 1 two-parter "Aliens of London"/"World War Three" had aliens take over the British government and contrive a situation so they would be given access to nuclear launch codes under the pretense of stopping nonexistent "massive weapons of destruction."

** The episode "Tooth and Claw" hints that the Royal Family are werewolves. The Queen loved that episode, though.
*** If by hinted, you mean screamed out by the main main cast, then yes, it could be seen as a TakeThat . It's probably a bit of SelfParody .

** Finally, there is this classic moment in "The Parting of the Ways," where Russell T. Davies expresses his ambivalent and nuanced feelings regarding the TV movie's claim that the Doctor was part human:

** In the episode where Sledge goes undercover to find out who's murdering ElvisPresley impersonators (!), Dori tells him he's going after an impersonator from Dallas and before one from Miami. "Between {{Dallas}} and [[MiamiVice Miami]]? What a terrible place to be," he comments (all three shows aired on Fridays at 9pm that season).

** Later on, David and Straczynski would trade {{Take That}}s over a teddy bear. Said teddybear appeared in the same episode as "Ba-bear-lon 5." either.

** The series finale didn't even try to hide the fact that they were ripping from the 4chan/Anonymous headlines, with the main antagonist's online screename literally being "moot". However, the episode could either be interpreted as a Take That against 4channers, or against the people who hyped the supposed Anonymous threat.