History Trivia / RaisingHope

* PlayingAgainstType: Garret Dillahunt, who is better known for playing sociopaths and other unsavory characters, as the loving yet dumb and harmless Burt Chance.

** "Credit Where Credit Is Due" features [[Film/BackToTheFuture a DeLorean and Christopher Lloyd.]]

* PlayingAgainstType: Garret Dillahunt, who is better known for playing sociopaths and other unsavory characters, as the loving yet dumb and harmless Burt Chance.
* SpiritualSuccessor: If the constant references to ''MyNameIsEarl'' [[ProductionPosse and reappearing cast members]] didn't explain it, the show has a very similar "white trash trying to do the best they can" tone to it.

* RoleAssociation: [[TheSarahConnorChronicles Cromartie]] cleans pools now?
** Or for Series/BurnNotice fans, psychopath Simon Escher apparently cleans pools. Still quirky and keen on mischief and self-interest though.
*** If you watched {{Life}}, you were probably wondering how a Russian mobster had such a convincing American accent before realizing he probably just faked a Russian one.
** Fans of Garcia's last show, ''MyNameIsEarl'', will recognize Earl's gay friend Kenny and stolen goods fencer Jasper as the supermarket manager and a cop on TV, respectively.
*** And, to no ones surprise, Jason Lee [[MyNameIsEarl (Earl himself)]] finally appeared... as washed up "rock star" Smokey Floyd.
*** Add another former Earl actor cameo, with Eddie Steeples (Darnell AKA Crabman) as the gas reader in the funny hat.
**** And the pizza man that had to repossess Burt's sausage.
*** Apparently Joy and Randy are now married.
**** And she's cheating on him with Darnell.
** No mention of Maw Maw being the grandmother in another [[MalcolmInTheMiddle dysfunctional family]]?
** [[That70sShow Steven Hyde]] was Lucy's first victim. (Hilariously enough, the actors are [[RealLifeRelative married in real life.]])
** Burt's parents are [[Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan Colonel Steve Austin]] and [[ThePartridgeFamily Shirley Partridge]].
*** And they gave birth to J. Jonah Jameson.

*** Smokey Floyd returns in "Making The Band" with a list of people he's wronged that he is making amends to, complete with [[MyNameIsEarl]] theme music, he is joined by the actors who played Randy, Darnell, Joy and Catalina as well as TV's Tim Stack.

** in Yo Zappa Do, Brian Doyle-Murray appears as [[Series/YesDear a president of a movie studio]]. Of course considering who appear next, it could have been the actual Mr. Savitsky. In the same episode, Virginia points out that child actors never last. They appear in a [[Film/TheGoonies Steven Spielberg movie]] and then end up "as the mom on a wacky sitcom."|

** In the ItsAWonderfulPlot episode, Maw Maw plays the angel. Cloris Leachman once played this role in ''It Happened One Christmas'', a gender-flipped version of ItsAWonderfulLife

* FridayNightDeathSlot: The fourth season has been moved to Fridays at nine. Which was later confirmed to be the shows final season.

* FridayNightDeathSlot: The fourth season has been moved to Fridays at nine.

** in Yo Zappa Do, Brian Doyle-Murray appears as [[Series/YesDear a president of a movie studio]]. Of course considering who appear next, it could have been the actual Mr. Savitsky.

*** And they gave birth to J. Jonah Jameson.

** in Yo Zappa Do, Brian Doyle-Murray appears as [[Series/YesDear a president of a movie studio]]. Of course considering who appear next, it could of been the actual Mr. Savitsky.

** Burt's parents are [[SixMillionDollarMan Colonel Steve Austin]] and [[ThePartridgeFamily Shirley Partridge]].

*** And they gave birth to J. Jonah Jameson.
* ShoutOut: After the news report about Lucy being a boyfriend-killer, the news anchor begins to do a lighter side story about [[MyNameIsEarl "a small-time crook with a long list of wrongs he was making amends for]] has finally finished, and [[LeftHanging you'll never guess how it ended!"]]
** The opening credits are also a sendup of ''See Spot Run'' books.
** Shelly gets her dead tooth fixed after watching [[ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia Maureen Ponderosa]] getting made fun of for also having a dead tooth.
** In the Thanksgiving episode, the owner of the store answers his phone with [[Series/HowIMetYourMother "Go for Barney."]]
** Burt's news report on him clobbering Smokey Floyd is [[AutoTuneTheNews auto-tuned and turned into a viral hit.]]
** In ''Baby Moniter'', Virginia mentions ModernFamily.
** Burt and Virginia write their live on their own plan on a bag from "Chubby's Burgers" one of the many businesses owned by Richard Chubby (and later Little Chubby) from ''MyNameIsEarl''
** In the season finale, in a flashback, Jim watches one of Ernie Belcher's fetish videos (the one where Joy repeatedly kicks a guy in the groin) from the two-parter "Inside Probe" of ''MyNameIsEarl''.
** During "Prodigy" Burt and Virginia note the similarities to an episode of WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy, because Jimmy can only play the piano when he's drunk. Except for the final twist that [[spoiler: his music only sounds good to drunk people]].
** One of the movie posters in "It's A Hopeful Life" is ''MyNameIsEarl, TheMovie''
** The penultimate episode of season 2 features the return of "Inside Probe" from ''MyNameIsEarl'', but paradoxically, one of the commercial breaks has an advertisement for the ''MyNameIsEarl'' TV show.
** The retirement home that MawMaw is sent to temporarily is the Earl J Hickey Memorial Retirement Home, and it is on Camden Avenue.
** "Candy Wars" is pretty much an entire-episode shout out to mob movies, particularly TheGodfather and {{Scarface}}. Complete with the horse head in bed scene(Godfather) and the chainsaw shower scene (Scarface).

*** And, to no ones surprise, Jason Lee [[MyNameIsEarl (Earl himself)]] finally appeared as washed up "rock star" Smokey Floyd.

**** And the pizza man that had to reposes Burt's sausage

*** No mention of Maw Maw being the grandmother in another [[MalcolmInTheMiddle dysfunctional family]]?
*** [[That70sShow Steven Hyde]] was Lucy's first victim. (Hilariously enough, the actors are [[RealLifeRelative married in real life.]])

*** Smokey Floyd returns in "Making The Band" with a list of people he's wronged that he is making amends to, complete with [[MyNameIsEarl]] theme music, he is joined by the actors who played Joy and Catalina as well as TV's Tim Stack.

** "Candy Wars" is pretty much an entire-episode shout out to mob movies, particularly TheGodfather and {{Scarface}}.

** The retirement home that MawMaw is sent to temporarily is the Earl J Hickey Memorial Retirement Home, and it is on Camden Avenue.

** The penultimate episode of season 2 features the return of "Inside Probe" from ''MyNameIsEarl'', but paradoxically, one of the commercial breaks has an advertisement for the ''MyNameIsEarl'' TV show.

** Or for [[BurnNotice Burn Notice]] fans, psychopath Simon Escher apparently cleans pools. Still quirky and keen on mischief and self-interest though.

*** [[That70sShow Steven Hyde]] was Lucy's first victim. (Hilariously enough, the actors are [[{{RealLifeRelative}} married in real life.]])

** In the Thanksgiving episode, the owner of the store answers his phone with [[HowIMetYourMother "Go for Barney."]]

** During "Prodigy" Burt and Virginia note the similarities to an episode of FamilyGuy, because Jimmy can only play the piano when he's drunk. Except for the final twist that [[spoiler: his music only sounds good to drunk people]].
** One of the movie posters in "It's A Hopeful Life" is ''{{My Name Is Earl}}, TheMovie''

*** [[That70sShow Steven Hyde]] was Lucy's first victim.
**** Hilariously enough, the actors are [[{{RealLifeRelative}} married in real life.]]

** The season 2 finale features the return of "Inside Probe" from ''MyNameIsEarl''. At this point, the shows have to be in the same universe, or something.