Live-Action TV / Lampshade Hanging

Lampshades hung in live-action TV.

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30 Rock does this constantly, to the point where Lampshade Hanging seems to be the main reason the show exists.
- The episode "Jack-Tor" has a scene where Liz starts to decry using Product Placement, but is promptly interrupted by the other characters talking about how much they love Snapple (one of the sponsors of 30 Rock at the time).
- When Tracy is desperately trying to shed his A-list celebrity status, Jack gives him the advice to go back on the show, telling him "no one takes you seriously anymore if you do television!"
- "Can we have our money now?"
  - Ten o'clock in the morning, Lemon.

In the opening episode Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a swordfish is found atop a bottle near a bootlegger in 1931. This reminds LMD Coulson of a speakeasy near a future SHIELD safehouse and that 'Swordfish' is the password. Enroute to the speakeasy it is mentioned that Horsefeathers, from which 'The Password Is Always "Swordfish"' sprung wouldn't be released until the following year.

In season five of J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 on TNT, the show introduced two background characters, Mack and Bo, essentially station handymen. In an early scene, one of the characters is operating a device that looks like a metal detector, and they lampshade how characters in the background of sci-fi series are often using odd gadgets that have no known purpose.
Bo: Hey Mack, can I ask you a question?
Mack: Shoot.
Bo: What the hell are these things for?
Mack: What do you mean?
Bo: I mean what do they do?
Mack: Well what do you mean, what do they do? You run them along the floor, like this.
Bo: Ok, so what does it do? It's not any cleaner.
Mack: (sighs) I dunno. Maybe it looks for cracks, or does something to the metal, makes it stronger? I dunno.
Bo: So you don't know what it does either.
Mack: No.
- In the sequel series Crusade, Turner execs insisted on changing the characters' uniforms after having already filmed several episodes. JMS wanted to jump right into the story without a pilot episode or any exposition. The execs also disagreed with this and made him film a pilot after the uniform change. So an episode had to be written to accommodate the uniform change but interestingly the lampshade was self-deprecating. JMS wrote the character dialog to decry the uniforms as resembling "bellhops" and their out-of-touch superiors on Earth ordering them to be worn "for morale reasons." An episode was written, but never filmed where as soon as their ship was outside video link range with Earth, the uniforms were to be gleefully trashed by the characters on screen. JMS willfully decided to cancel the series because of executive meddling, so this may not actually be a lampshade, as it does not reflect the author's intent.
Best Love (2011 Korean Drama). The main characters are celebrities: nice girl with bad publicity Ae Jung and jerkass with good publicity Jin. The series features a cameo by Lee Seung Gi, who is in Real Life known for his amenable personality, as another jerkass with good publicity who is really chummy with Jin.
In The Big Bang Theory, when the character Kripke is first introduced with his strange lisp (reminiscent of Elmer Fudd), the main character Rajesh points out "What part of America is that accent from?", but his question is summarily ignored.
- Also, when Sheldon walks in on Amy practicing the harp he refuses to hear a song, saying that he dislikes their overuse in classic television sitcoms.
Blue Heelers does this twice. In "Piece of Cake", when worrying about an inspection team, Tom Croydon says he wants Mount Thomas to look like the crime capital of Australia. Which, as it turns out, a Carl Williams or Alphonse Gangitano shows up every couple of weeks. In another episode, when police sergeant Ian Goss goes missing as a French filmmaker is filming a documentary, Tom says a police officer going missing is "not a subject for television". Oh yes?
Boston Legal. All the time, on everything, as a consequence of Denny (and other characters, but mostly Denny) being ridiculously Genre Savvy and having No Fourth Wall. In the last-but-one episode, when they finally decide that Alan and Denny will get married, Denny describes it as "Like jumping a shark."
Boy Meets World also engaged in quite a bit of this, particular with respect to the character played by William Daniels. Mr. Feeny served as the teacher of almost every class the protagonists took, from elementary school through college, being somehow qualified to teach elementary school, English, history, literature, writing, psychology, mathematics and quantum mechanics. Several times over the series, the Matthews brothers commented that Mr. Feeny had been their teacher an inordinate number of times. Mr. Feeny himself wryly comments that, in addition to being the principal and teaching five different subjects, he is also in charge of the Lost and Found, and other characters comment that Cory somehow brought his own professor with him to college. In the final episode of the fifth season (the last episode before college), a character from the first couple of seasons, Minkus, was briefly reintroduced. Cory asked him why they hadn't seen him for so long if they were in the same school, and he explained he'd been "in the other part of the school" for the past couple of years — pointing to the studio audience. Cory grimaced and said, "Well, we don't go there..."
- Said character also makes reference to an offscreen character who also mysteriously disappeared seasons earlier.
- In a season three episode, Morgan, who hadn't been on the show for about a season, returns as a different actress who was notably older than than the actress who initially played Morgan. Morgan's absence is lampshaded when Cory is telling Eric and their mother, "You know, why can't you guys learn from Morgan? She is a great sister. I mean, she stays in her room, you don't hear from her, you don't see her, and best of all, she stays out of my personal life." Morgan then comes downstairs and Cory says to her, "Morgan, long time no see." Morgan responds with, "Yeah, that was the longest time out I've ever had."
- In one episode Cory is attempting to be in two places at once. Shawn helps out by showing him an episode of the Flintstones in which Fred had the same problem, and so this conversation occurs:
  Shawn: Fred never spent more than 75 seconds at either location.
  Cory: Yeah, but, you see Shawn, that was a cartoon. Time was compressed. We're real, we're in real time.
  Shawn: Trust me, it's the same thing.
  Cory: No, no it's not. You see, a television show can cover many days in only one half an hour program.
  Shawn: [knowing smirk] Trust me, it's the same thing.
In Breaking Bad episode 302 Walter throws a pizza on the roof. The pizza remains whole during the scene. In fact, the pizza is uncut. The funny thing is that this same pizza—a party pizza from Venezia's (yes, it exists)—makes an appearance in Season 4, when Jesse Pinkman orders pizzas during a meth-fueled party at his house. The pies come uncut, and there's even discussion about it:
Jesse: Yo, what's up with the pie, man, it ain't cut.
Badger: Yeah, right, that's the gimmick.
Jesse: What gimmick?
Badger: This place, they don't cut the pizza, and they pass the savings on to you.
Jesse: Savings? How much can it be to cut a damn pizza?
Skinny Pete: Maybe it's, like, democratic, bro, you know? Cut your own Christmas tree, cut your own pizza.
Badger: Yeah, it's democratic.
Jesse: What am I supposed to do with this?
Skinny Pete: Don't sweat it. You got some, like, scissors? I will cut this bitch up good.
Badger: You gotta figure, you make, like, 10 million pizzas a year, each pizza takes, like, 10 seconds to cut? In man hours, that's like, I don't know ... a lot?
- Skyler White was pregnant for most of the first two seasons (which took place over a period of just a few months). In a second season episode, Walter White's doctor lampshades this by asking if she was ever going to give birth. In addition, a fifth season episode has Walter mention that it's been about one year since his cancer diagnosis (which happened in the first episode). His sister-in-law Marie comments how it seemed longer than that.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
- The line "Dawn's in trouble. It must be Tuesday," from the episode "Once More with Feeling". (At the time, Buffy was broadcast in the US on Tuesday nights.)
- In the very next episode, "Tabula Rasa", the entire cast loses their memories. Buffy and Spike have the following exchange:
  ~~Spike~~ Randy: How come I don't wanna bite you? And why am I fighting other vampires? I must be a noble vampire. A good guy. On a mission of redemption. I help the hopeless. I'm a vampire with a soul.
  ~~Buffy~~ Joan: A vampire with a soul? Oh my god, how lame is that?
- The saga of Buffy/Angel gets a quick poke early on, in "Out of Sight, Out of Mind":
  Giles: A vampire in love with a slayer! It's really rather poetic... in a maudlin sort of way.
- In "Graduation, Pt. 1":
  [Giles pulls random book on demons off normal bookshelf in the library]
  Xander: Gee. it's just as well nobody ever tried to check these books out...
- In the season 5 premiere, "Buffy vs. Dracula", the team finds Dracula's incongruous lair:
  Riley: "I've lived in Sunnydale a couple of years now, and you know what I've never noticed? ... A big, honking castle."
- At the end of "Buffy vs. Dracula", Buffy mixes this with Genre Savvy when she waits around to stake Dracula after killing him the first time:
  Buffy: You think I don't watch your movies? You always come back.
  [he starts once again to reassemble from dust]
  Buffy: ...I'm standing right here!
  [dust stops]
- During Dawn's training in the season seven premiere, Dawn encounters a new vampire.
  Dawn: Well, he's new- he doesn't know his strength. Maybe he doesn't know all those martial arts skills that they inevitably pick up.
- Also in the season seven premiere, Dawn makes an improbable cellphone call from the Sunnydale High basement.
  Dawn: Isn't this reception amazing? I'm in the freakin' basement!
- When Spike is being taunted by the First Evil at the end of the season seven premiere who is taking the forms of the show's previous Big Bads, it notably takes the form of the Big Bad of season one, The Master, when it tells him, right back to the beginning.
- Wesley's 'pull of divided loyalties' speech in "That Old Gang of Mine".
- After Oz and Veruca turn into werewolves and attack Professor Walsh on the Sunnydale University campus, she reports the incident, saying," The first one was— Well, for a moment, I thought it was a gorilla!" This is an obvious reference to the distracting badness of Oz's "wolf" costume.
- Principal Snyder in "Becoming, Part 2": "In case you haven't noticed, the police of Sunnydale are deeply stupid."
George Burns on The Burns and Allen Show in the 1950s practically created this trope. In one episode after a cast change of a key character was made, the original character was about to be hit on the head with a vase by his wife. Burns wanders in and yells "Freeze!" He then Breaks the Fourth Wall as he did several times an episode and explained that the actor playing that role was leaving to do something else. Burns then introduced the actor who was to replace him while that actor took his mark. Once everyone was in place, Burns yelled "Action!" and the new actor was hit on the head with the vase.

Richard Castle is effectively a self-hanging lampshade. As a murder mystery novelist whose role on a homicide investigation team is out-of-the-box thinking, any theory he suggests is by definition the sort of idea that only the over-active imagination of a crime fiction writer would come up with.
- In "Get a Clue", he points this out to Beckett, thus lampshading his own lampshading.
- The episode "Heroes and Villains" features a cop whose adventures are being chronicled by her boyfriend, a comic book writer. Castle points out to Beckett that "They're you and me!", thus lampshading the whole premise of the show.
Charmed (1998):
- It's a Running Gag for the grandfather clock in the manor to get destroyed in a fight with a demon. In one episode, Piper freezes a demon being thrown towards it saying "we can't afford to keep fixing that thing". In another episode where it gets broken again she says "dammit, we just got that thing fixed".
- One episode completely stole its plot from Ladyhawke, with Piper lampshading it, "I swear to God, I've seen this in a movie somewhere."
Chuck
- In "Chuck vs. the Fake Name", a villain says "I hate those will-they-won't-they things," which perfectly describes the relationship between Chuck and Sarah.
- Morgan lampshades Shaw's Disney Villain Death when Chuck tells him that Shaw fell into a river after being shot.
- Ever since season two the show has been constantly on the verge of cancellation, so the writers began ending the seasons with episodes that would make satisfying endings, containing such events as Chuck and Sarah becoming a couple, Chuck proposing to Sarah, and Ellie giving birth. By the time the end of season 4 rolled around, everyone knew what to expect, and so the writers gave us a season finale in which Chuck and Sarah get married, Vivian is happily reunited with her father and the two gift the newlyweds Volkoff Industries, and the crew start up their own private spy business. All well and good... and then in a move no one saw coming, Morgan becomes an Intersect. The title of this episode? "Chuck vs. the Cliffhanger".
In an episode of The Colbert Report, Stephen gets high off of licking stamps, and starts lampshading various elements of his set. Hilarity ensues.
Stephen: Ohh, that fire looks fake. It IS fake!
In the Community pilot, one of the characters quotes The Breakfast Club and is called on it by another character — while in a "study group" that is rather reminiscent of the movie's detention group. The second episode's cold open also lampshades that it's a TV show...
- Abed, the character the previous paragraph is referring to, is basically this website in walking, talking form. In one episode, he says that acting like life is TV is basically his thing, but "they leaned heavily on that last week, so I'll lay low for now", which he does. In another episode, it seems like a narration by Abed is about to start, when the camera reveal shows him simply talking aloud, and the other character tells him to stop, to which he replies "I know, it's a crutch." Then in ANOTHER episode, it seems like they completely forgot about their narration rule, except it turns out the entire narration for the episode was him recounting the events of the episode to the dean of the community college. Oh yeah, the episode was basically Goodfellas meets chicken fingers. He starts his narration with "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be in a Mafia movie." He even serially refers to Season 2's bottle episode "Cooperative Calligraphy" as a bottle episode.
- The motto of the Community writers is to never let a trope go unlampshaded.
- This actually became something of a problem as the show went on. One of the biggest criticisms was that by the end of the series, the show couldn’t make one joke without it having four different lampshades on it. This, of course, was also referenced in the show.
Corner Gas: When talking about a mocking radio program called "Dog River Dave", Brent is surprised someone would ever want to watch/listen to a show about him. Another character remarks "You could have some cool star cameos!", and then suddenly, coming in through the door: "Hi! I'm Olympic Gold Medal Winner Cindy Klassen!"
Criminal Minds: In "The Fisher King" (Part 1), when the team sets up a sundial in a crime scene with a spotlight set to find a hidden spot on a wall, Elle says "What is this? An Indiana Jones movie?"
The CSI episode of 2008-05-08, "Two and a Half Deaths," was one long series of lampshades being hung. Which is no surprise, considering that the writers of Two and a Half Men were doing the episode. The Two and a Half Men episode that week was also full of lampshade hangings, a result of the CSI guys doing that episode.
CSI: NY:
- Creepy Mortician Sid Hammerback is forever finding weird things in or on corpses. In "Nine Thirteen," the team is called to the scene of yet another suspicious death at Building 913; 37 people have died in various ways there since the original owner committed suicide by jumping decades before. The victim is wearing a steampunk-type mask and has a lipstick kiss on one cheek. Then Don realizes something:
  Flack: Hey, Sid, how come they only ever call you out for the really strange ones?
  Sid: They...didn't call me. But, uh, this was one I was not going to miss.
- In another episode, some of the team lampshade the Quip to Black puns that are so prevalent in the franchise. Sheldon has placed some evidence in the super glue chamber:
  Jo: I think your cake is done.
  Sheldon: Then let's hope it'll be the icing on the case.
  Danny and Lindsay moan, make faces, say "Ew" and such.
  Jo: [off camera, as Sheldon grins] I dunno, I kinda liked that one.
- And another involving puns, in "White Gold," where what was first believed to be a brick of coke turns out to be some mozzarella:
  Danny: If you'da told me this morning that we'd be investigating a cheese case, you know what I'da said?
  Sheldon: Please don't.
  Danny: No whey!
  Sheldon: [groans] I thought I said "don't."

In Dad's Army, one episode focused on Private Frazer and his acquisition of a large quantity of gold. One character gives his opinion that Frazer is unstable and unpredictable, to which Sergeant Wilson replies that he's actually quite predictable — "Whatever we do, he predicts that it will end in horrible tragedy."
In Diagnosis: Murder, when Dr. Mark Sloan manages to inconvenience a group of domestic terrorists who had kidnapped him, a FBI agent assigned to the case comments, "Some people you shouldn't kidnap! I swear, if Dr. Sloan is your enemy, just shoot him in the head! Otherwise he will find a way to make you suffer!"
Doctor Who:
- Recurring character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart complains in 1975's "Robot", after seven years of his generally ineffectual military force UNIT trying and failing to subdue off-world invaders with Five Rounds Rapid, "You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't Immune to Bullets!" He finally got his wish before the year was out, in "Terror of the Zygons". A pity they didn't lampshade it then, too.
- The Fourth Doctor gave us this little beauty in regards to suspiciously similar-looking locations: "Oh look! ROCKS!"
- The Sixth Doctor's companion Peri said "All these corridors look the same to me" in nearly every story she appeared in, lampshading the show's public reputation as a campy runaround in corridors.
  - Victoria says the same thing about the Underground tunnels in "The Web of Fear".
- "Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey."
- As early as 1968's "Fury from the Deep", when the Doctor, Victoria, and Jamie land on Earth in England yet again, Victoria points out that they're always landing on Earth — while Jamie points out it's always in England. (This is also the story where the monster is actually defeated by amplified recordings of the female companion screaming.)
  - Lampshading the always-Earth thing happens again during 2005's first season of the revived series, which had not yet had any stories set beyond Earth and its immediate satellites — at the beginning of "The Empty Child", the Doctor says to Rose, "Know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" Rose responds, "Five days. Or is that just when we're out of milk?"
- In "Pyramids of Mars", the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith hide from evil mummies in a priest hole (a hidden chamber). The Doctor rightly points out this is an anachronism, as the house is Victorian while priest holes are a relic of Elizabethan architecture. As he's doing this while attempting to hide, he is quickly shushed by his companion. Then again, Victorian architecture does often borrow from past eras, so it's not entirely far-fetched. (This actually gets mentioned in the story.)
- Pretty much the entirety of "The Hand of Fear". They saw fit to lampshade ridiculous wardrobes, the number of times Sarah Jane has been hypnotized, AND the BBC's overuse of quarries.
- "World War Three": The Slitheen go into the Prime Minister's office to await a phone call from the United Nations that will give them access to the UK's nuclear arsenal. They are delighted to see that the phone on which the call will arrive is actually red!
- In "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances", Rose asks the Doctor how he gets along using only "the Doctor" as a name.
- "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel":
  - The Doctor and his companions find themselves in an alternate universe. Mickey immediately catches on to this, noting how it always happens in comic books.
  - Mickey and Jake are looking for the transmitter controls, and Mickey asks what it looks like. Jake responds sarcastically that it'll have a sign with "Transmitter Controls" with big red letters on it. After a cut away and a couple of scenes, it cuts back to them, standing next to a metal box with "Transmitter Controls" written on it in big red letters.
  - Rose wants to know where Mickey picked up his Universal Driver's License that he's able to pilot an airship. "PlayStation!"
- "The Sound of Drums": Martha wants to know what kind of person calls himself "The Master", and the Doctor later tells him over the phone that the name is a "psychiatrist's field day".
- In the third new series Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned", Wilfred Mott lampshades the tendency of alien invasions to happen in London on Christmas, saying that everyone left because they know London during Christmas is not safe.
- In "The Sontaran Stratagem", one character asks how the Sontarans can tell each other apart. This is of course lampshading the use of the same costume over and over again for what is supposed to be different beings, due to budget limits. The Sontaran replies, "We say the same of humans." Of course, all the Sontarans looking the same is justified by the fact they're all clones.^note
- Many times in the new series, various companions comment on the inordinate amount of running that goes on whilst adventuring with the Doctor, most notably in "The Doctor's Daughter".
- In "The Unicorn and the Wasp", the Agatha Christie episode, Donna notices immediately, saying "There's a murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie. That's like meeting Charles Dickens, and he's surrounded by ghosts, at Christmas!", which had happened in "The Unquiet Dead". The Doctor, hilariously, looks guilty and goes "Well..."
- The UNIT captain in "Planet of the Dead": "I don't believe it! Guns that work!"
- "The Hungry Earth": The Doctor and Nasreen go deep underground, where it should be extremely hot, but it isn't. Nasreen asks why, and the Doctor admits that he doesn't know, then they both shrug it off.
- "The Impossible Astronaut": Doctor number Eleven, on the purpose, use, and abuse of companions:
  "I'm being extremely clever up here, and there's no one to stand around looking impressed. What's the point in having you all?"
- Rory's Kenny-ness is lampshaded on several occasions:
  - The Silence call him "The man who dies and dies again."
  - Rory himself lampshaded it in both "The Almost People" and "Night Terrors".
  "We're dead. Again."
  - In "The Angels Take Manhattan", Rory is about to commit suicide to kill the Weeping Angels. When Amy asks "And you think you'll just come back to life?" Rory replies, "When don't I?"
- In "Let's Kill Hitler", Rory and Amy steal a motorbike from a Nazi guard. Amy asks "Can you ride this?", to which Rory replies, "I expect so. It's that kind of day."
- In "The Night of the Doctor", a voice in the background begins his sentence "I'm a Doctor..." The camera then cuts to him to reveal Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor, who hadn't appeared on TV for 17 years and whose appearance was completely unexpected. The Eighth Doctor subsequently finishes his sentence "...but probably not the one you were expecting."
- "The Day of the Doctor": When the Tenth Doctor leaves at the end, after returning especially for this 50th anniversary, multi-Doctor episode, his parting words are "I don't want to go" — the same as the famous final words of his original tenure before his regeneration, though spoken with a different meaning. In-character, Ten doesn't know that they will be his "last words" twice. The Eleventh Doctor, who does know, says to companion Clara, "He always says that."
- In "Time Heist", the Doctor's comment on Clara's height and her showing off her shoes highlight the truly impressive heels 5'2" Jenna Coleman had to wear to stay in frame with the 6' tall Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi.
In an episode of Due South, while trapped in a bank vault, Frasier uses a tuning fork to gauge the wall thickness. Ray asks, "Where did you get a tuning fork in a bank vault?" Frasier responds with, "That's not important right now, Ray," and proceeds to explain the importance of the difference between their time to survive and the time to cut in from the outside.

On Entourage, Turtle and Jamie-Lynn Sigler are dating. The other characters on the show constantly make reference to how unlikely such a relationship would be. It is made even funnier by the fact that the actors are dating in real life.
The Australian political satire The Ex PM derives a lot of its humor from lampshade hanging, being about an Eerily familiar Australian Ex Prime Minister and his ghostwriter. In the second episode, The Ex PM discusses how much he dislikes the ABC and how he should have got rid of them while he had the chance, but no matter how many times they were attacked, they keep "coming back like crazed zombies." The show was produced by the ABC and was aired not long after the government had cut their funding. At the end of the same episode, there is a scene in which a remote control airplane flies into a chimney with re-enactments of many famous images from 9/11. Afterwards, while the PM is fixing the chimney, he mentions "ground zero", and his ghostwriter says "I don't know about 9/11 jokes. Could hurt American sales."

In the final episode of Firefly, "Objects in Space", when discussing the possibility of River having psychic abilities Wash comments:
Wash: Psychic, though? That's like something out of science fiction.
Zoe: We live on a spaceship, dear.
Wash: ... So?
Forever:
- Affair Letters: In "The Art of Murder" Gloria Carlisle attempts to burn these, but a large fragment with the signature of her artist lover at the bottom survived for Henry to find. Lampshaded by Jo.
- Adam runs taxi driver Raj Patel through with a katana in "Skinny Dipper" as part of his plan to frame Henry. The blade goes through the entire driver's seat and then through Raj's chest, emerging through his sternum, all in a single smooth blow. Henry lampshades how much strength and skill this would require, but Adam does have over two thousand years of experience.
- Always Murder: Lampshaded in "6 A.M.", where Detective Hanson says the odds that Henry will declare a death as a murder is a sucker bet, because Henry always says that it's murder.
- Fair Cop: Lampshaded in "Fountain of Youth" when Henry spells out how beautiful Martinez is by using scientific statistics (i.e., the ideality of the proportions of her facial features). She replies that in her line of work, her looks are more of a liability than an asset.
- He Had a Name: Hanson dismisses the victim in "The Pugilist Break" as "ADJ" (Another Dead Junkie), but Henry insists that the man had a name, that he mattered to someone. When they learn the man's name, Henry lampshades it.
- Sherlock Scan: Henry usually does it more than Once per Episode, and several characters compare him to Sherlock Holmes, his assigned therapist remarking that he'd "heard about [Henry's] Sherlockian talents." Abe, in particular, lampshades it frequently.
Frasier: "Out With Dad" where Frasier drags Martin to an opera. Martin complains about the unlikely farcical plot elements (escalating lies, staged entrances and exits), a critique which neatly encapsulates all that follows in the second act.
In the season opener of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air after Baby Nicky is born, Jazz walks in the house and sees Nicky at age 5. He gives Will an incredulous look, and Will responds by shrugging his shoulders.
- The show is full of them, for instance Uncle Phil once informs Will of how wealthy they are. Will replies "If we so rich, how come we can't afford no ceiling?" as the camera pans up to the overhead studio lighting rig. Also, the season after the role of Vivian changes actress, Jazz walks in and asks "So who's playing the mom this year?"
Friends : And without breaking the fourth wall, too!
- Romantic False Lead: When Ross confesses to Chandler's mother (who is a romance novelist) about being jealous of Rachel's boyfriend Paolo, she soothes him by saying "the guy is a secondary character; a complication that you eventually kill off"
- In season six, when Monica and Chandler decide to live together, Monica gives him a key to her apartment. Chandler responds, "This door hasn't been locked in five years, but why not."
- In the first season, right when Ross is about spill his feelings to Rachel, her former fiancé Barry bursts into the apartment to say he's still in love with Rachel, causing Ross to complain aloud, "OK, we have GOT to start locking that door!"
- Limited Social Circle: In one episode, all six characters are sitting in Monica's apartment, when there's a knock on the door. Everyone looks utterly confused; no one says anything, but you can tell they're thinking, "if we're all already here, who the heck is it?" Phoebe is even shown pointing at each of the characters, counting them, just to make sure.
  - In season five, Monica, Joey, Chandler and Phoebe discuss a party for Rachel.
    Monica: We could have a dinner party and just invite her close friends.
    Joey: Ross! We're having a surprise party for Rachel!
    Ross: [from the bathroom] Okay!
    Joey: Done.
  - Ross got mugged by a homeless person who is a friend of Phoebe's. She says "I'm sorry if I have friends outside the six of us".
- It's a Small World, After All: Throughout the series, the gang bumps into Janice (Maggie Wheeler) often. In her final appearance, near the end of the series, Janice makes a cameo in the neighboring house of the one Monica and Chandler are buying. Chandler lampshades the unlikelihood of bumping into her every now and then.
  Janice: What a small world!
  Chandler: And yet, I never run into Beyoncé.
- One-Hour Work Week: One Cold Open features the characters bitching about how their employers hate them. Joey: "Maybe it's because you're in a coffee shop at 11:30 on a Wednesday morning?"
- Another Cold Open in the premiere of season 3 sees the cast walk into the coffee house and see that another group of six friends (writers of season 3) has taken their spot on the couch. Chandler notes, "Huh," and they turn around and walk out.
- Later in the series, you can occasionally see a "Reserved" sign on the table in front of the couch as an explanation of how they manage to always get "their" spot.
  - The very last joke of the series:
    Rachel: Do you guys have to go to the new house right away, or do you have some time?
    Monica: We've got some time.
    Rachel: Okay. Should we get some coffee?
    Chandler: Sure. (Beat) Where?
- The characters often pointed out minor continuity quirks:
  - In season four, Chandler offers to get Rachel a date.
  Rachel: Hang on, now. I've been single before, how come you didn't offer to get me a date then?
  Chandler: Well, I have a girlfriend now, so I'm happy. I no longer need to deprive others from being happy.
  - In season six, Rachel needs to move out and find a new place to stay. She asks Phoebe if she can stay with her, but Phoebe says she already has a roommate. The others immediately point out that they have never heard of said roommate; Phoebe HandWaves this by saying they never listened when she was talking about her.
- Chekhov's Gun: "TOW The Poking Device". Joey makes a poking device out of chopsticks he'd been saving for no reason.
- When Rachel's mom came to visit and tried to relive her youth, Rachel asked why her mom couldn't have just copied her hair style. This was a jab at the popularity of Rachel's hair style at the time.
- In the second season episode, "The One With Five Steaks and an Eggplant", Chandler gets laid via a convoluted sitcom shenanigan. He had to give the girl Ross's number because he couldn't give her his number because she thought his number was Bob's number. After Chandler explains this, Ross asks, "And what should I do if Mr. Roper calls?"

Game of Thrones: As the Torture Technician said to the victim: "If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention."
- In Season 3, Davos sets Gendry free from capture by sending him away on a rowboat. After four seasons, and the fanbase consistently joking about Gendry still rowing to this day, Gendry returns and reunites with Davos in Season 7, who jokingly says, "Thought you might still be rowing."
After the actor that plays one of the main characters is replaced in Game On, the next episode closes with everyone watching TV and someone saying "You know what I hate? When they replace the actor on a show, and just pretend it never happened!"
- The show they were watching was Roseanne and the characters on Game On were specifically referring to Roseanne's daughter Becky having been recast. This is notable because when Sarah Chalke replaced Lecy Goranson as Becky on Roseanne, Roseanne had the exact same gag.
General Hospital: Sam McCall lampshades the fact that Sonny Corinthos has fathered more children with more women on the show than anyone else (When you count them, including those who are were miscarried or stillborn, there are seven, including Sam's stillborn daughter)
Sam: I don't understand why Sonny can't keep it in his pants for like five seconds. He spends five minute around somebody and he impregnates everyone. I don't get it.
- Diane also lampshades it when she tells him to stop acting like a hormonal teenager.
Glee is absolutely full of this. A few examples:
- When Jesse tries to convince Rachel to come out of the bathroom when she's having second thoughts about losing her virginity to him he says "Well, come out here so we can talk about it! Or sing about it."
- The Power of Madonna episode hung a few lampshades, the above being one example, and Mercedes complaining to Mr. Schue about how she's always brought into songs at the last second to wail on the last note being another.
- In Theatricality, Rachel invites her mother to sing with her. She calls out "BRAD!" and the pianist whom we've seen in every episode, hitherto unnamed, emerges from nowhere. Rachel explains, "He’s always just...around."
- In Britney/Brittany, Brittany and Santana get their first duet, through a drug-induced dream sequence. When Brittany declares that she sang and danced better than Britney Spears, Santana vouches for her, but then questions how they had a collective dream in the first place.
- In "Rumours" Santana tells Brittany she wants to sing her a song in private. Brittany looks at the accompanist and says "What about him?" to which Santana replies "He's just furniture" - exactly how Glee has always treated their instrumentalists.
- In episode late in the series, Sue tells Will "You haven't had a good idea since Madonna week." which could be interpreted as a dig at the lazy writing the show steadily became known for.
- Emma also predicts every plan Will had for Nationals, which is coincidentally how every mid-season or end season performance takes place; from Finn and Rachel leading to Mercedes singing the last notes and even getting Brittany and Mike to dance. Will remarks "Did you find my notes!?"

In an episode of The Golden Girls, Blanche makes a comment about how she appreciates help from others. "I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers." Someone else lampshades that she stole that line from the character also named Blanche in the play A Street Car Named Desire.

In one Hannah Montana episode, Jackson complains about people being too gullible not to notice Clark Kent is Superman (their only difference is Clark wearing glasses). Miley (who's putting on the wig — which makes her Hannah alter-ego unrecognizable for the rest of the world) agrees.
- Robbie Ray's fake mustache is itself a lampshade of Paper Thin disguises as it's not really intended to hide his identity as it's pretty much the same with or without it.
- In another episode, Jackson is surfing for something to watch on TV. He stops on a channel that is clearly meant to be Disney and the theme music for Hannah Montana starts up. He groans and says, "Is this ever not on?" Disney Channel has a habit of airing Hannah Montana episodes ad nauseam.
During the infamous "You Fool" episode of Hollywood Squares, the host refers to the show as "The Gilbert Gottfried Hour" and similar titles as the contestants repeatedly fail to take Gilbert's square.
In House a lampshade was hung on the Walk and Talk technique, when House tells a documentary crew "Walks look good on camera. They give the illusion of the story moving forward."
- In another episode, he walks out his office with Wilson, talks to him, and they end up... right back at his office. When Wilson points it out, House says "I like to walk." Note that this is a man missing a piece of his leg who regularly pops painkillers.
- In yet another episode, the same thing happens, save with Wilson in the lead; when House asks him why he did that, Wilson replies on the order of, "Because it hurts you."
- House also did the "It must be Tuesday" variation in season 3 with Chase's weekly reminders to Cameron that he's in love with her.
- Several episodes have lampshaded the fact that the team routinely throws out a differential diagnosis of lupus, but only once (and not until season four) was it ever the correct diagnosis. In the Season 4 opener, House recruits the janitor to replace his missing team, who suggests a number of mechanical failures in his cleaning equipment which House interprets medically, then simply blurts out "It could be lupus." Also, during the House/Tritter arc, we learn that House has cut out the middle of a lupus reference book to stash his Vicodin because "It's never lupus."
- In the season-three opener, House barges into Cuddy's office demanding permission to run yet another rather ill-advised diagnostic procedure, to which Cuddy replies, "Twenty-four times a year you come into my office, saying you need to... remove a man's pancreas because his... brain is on fire!" Naturally, the patient o' the week turns out to have a malfunctioning hypothalamus which is incapable of correctly regulating body temperature, or as House tells Cuddy, "Yes, his brain's on fire."
  - Cuddy's mention of twenty-four days a year is a reference to the number of episodes in a typical season.
- In one episode, Cuddy has shut off cable to all the patient's rooms, and tells House he'll have to make do with network TV. House replies "I'll be fine on Tuesdays." At the time, he show aired on Tuesday nights.
- House's Eureka Moments have also been lampshaded in a number of episodes. For example, in one episode Wilson and House are talking, Wilson says something that gives House the idea that solves the case. House gets "that look" on his face and Wilson says "You're about to run out of here aren't you?" House does just that, except without the running part.
  - In another episode, Wilson asks House if he's "about to just leave without saying anything". House replies with a quick "no", and then (having technically said something), he leaves.
- Also, shortly after Wilson's girlfriend Amber dies, House seeks out Wilson to have a conversation with him — specifically so that the conversation will spark a Eureka Moment.
- In "No Reason" House lampshades the way that TV shows will jump-cut to a different location, yet still have everyone continuing their conversation as though nothing happened in between locations. Of course, since the episode is All Just a Dream, this actually provides House with another piece of evidence that not all is what it seems.
- The finale has an exhausted-with-life House admit that "nobody cares about the medicine" when there's juicy emotional issues instead.
- In Season 8's "Parents", House tells Adams that it's one thing to be screwed up, it's another to glamorize others being screwed up, lampshading the Misaimed Fandom who think he's awesome and miss the point that he's a miserably angry drug addict in pain who eventually realizes he can do better and fakes his death/quits his ego-serving job to be with Wilson in his final months.
House of Anubis — a few times:
- After finding out the class field trip was to an Egyptian museum, Jerome remarked, "Why is it always Egypt?"
- In one episode, Jerome and Joy refused to believe Patricia and Alfie in the fact that their "extra credit" project was actually a ceremony, set up by the teachers, to wake Robert Frobisher-Smythe. Seeing as Jerome and Joy were in the mysteries of the past two seasons, they had no reason not to believe them. Eventually, Alfie responded with, "Ceremonies, bad teachers, great evil, does none of this ring a bell?"

iCarly lampshades in 2 main ways, firstly when a character clings hard onto the Idiot Ball to progress the plot, and when they use or subvert common sitcom tropes.
- In the episode 'iEnrage Gibby' - Carly is playing the ukulele and confirms she's always played it when asked by Freddie. On this, Freddie hangs his lampshade and retorts with "Wow, that's never been established".
In nearly every episode of The Secrets of Isis, somebody points out to Andrea (Isis's mundane identity) that she misses Isis every time.
In The IT Crowd episode "Are We Not Men", the last thing we hear from Roy is a lampshading of some Fridge Logic about their escape when he asks "...who closed the door?".
- "The Red Door" ended by all but explicitly pointing out the Reset Button had been pressed on the entire episode, with Richmond never to be seen again. And then Richmond becomes a recurring character well into the second season.
- In "Men Without Women", Douglas Reynholm falls victim to his own rohypnol and becomes incredibly horny—just as Roy and Moss are locked in his office. The episode ends, but becomes a plot point in a later episode ("Tramps Like Us") focusing on the resulting sexual harassment suit—the Previously on… narrator points out that rohypnol should just make you sleepy.
- "Bad Boys" has a subplot about Roy trying to go an entire day without saying "have you tried turning it off and on again", remarking that it's "like my Catchphrase or something."

In the final episode of the HBO series John Adams (Peacefield), all of the liberties that the writers took with history are lampshaded in a scene where Adams is taken to see John Trumbull's painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. After complaining about the historical inaccuracies in the painting:
Adams: Do not let our posterity be deluded with fictions under the guise of poetical or graphical license.
From the Jonathan Creek episode "Gorgon's Wood" (and not the only time they've hung a lampshade on the "Eureka!" Moment):
Carla: Aren't you going to make some oddball comment, with no obvious relevance to anything?
Jonathan: Certainly not. ...But you might want to consider Englebert Humperdinck, and the pop group Jethro Tull.

The title hero in Kamen Rider Hibiki receives his first major power-up form near the midpoint of the series. The in-universe reasoning behind needing the power-up is that monsters get stronger during the summer months, and Hibiki wants to be able to save time by blowing them up in one hit. Replace "Hibiki" with "the Toei executive producers" however, and you stumble into the huge mess that was Hibiki's production behind-the-scenes that screwed the show over.
- Word of God from the original staff on the matter, Hibiki was not meant to be a mass-merchandising cash-cow For Bandai and Toei like others Series of its kind infrequently are where it's mostly-focused on telling interesting stories that'll engage people with only a minority of attention paid to making toysales so the production could maintain funding...like most film and television actually is. Hibiki in particular was trying to work to rebuild the audience for the franchise that had been lost in prior years from bad storytelling caused by the mismanagement of the property by Toei, in particular Producer Shinichiro Shirakura, so they could make the NEXT series have a lot of tie-in merch after the viewers came back. But Toei got impatient, thus compromises were made until the entire staff got booted when Shirakura offered Toei's higher ups what they wanted with no strings if they handed the show back to him. Before he took over and booted the prior staff though, Hibiki had many examples of throwing shade at the executives in this manner.

The Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Icarus" is clearly inspired by the almost-disastrous Broadway production Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. The fact that the fictional musical Icarus and Spider-Man are so similar behind the scenes was lampshaded when Goren specifically mentioned Julie Taymor, Spider-Man's ousted director.
- The L&O Franchise in general tends to lampshade what was "Ripped from the Headlines" by citing the real people or events as it relates to their case of the week.
Last Man Standing (2011) hangs lampshades on two cast changes (Kristin in season 1 and Mandy in season 7) and a network change (ABC to Fox in season 7).
Vanessa: Oh, Mike, they don't just take a show off one network and put it on a different network.
In the final episode of the first season of Leverage, Sophie offhandedly mentions that chance seems to bend itself to fit Nate's plans. Parker follows this by by claiming it's his superpower.
Lost:
- Often in the show, characters like John Locke and Hurley hang lampshades as proof that there is a higher plan at work in their lives, to explain away some incredible coincidences. However, more rationalist characters like Jack Shepherd, Sayid Jarrah, and Kate Austen reject the lampshades as pareidolia and coincidence, weaving this trope into the show's central themes of the clash of worldviews and destiny versus free will. In the end, it turns out everything was planned by a Godlike figure with precognition, meaning the lampshading was justified.
- At times, characters commented on certain plot points to respond to fan comments:
  - Sayid's statement in "The Moth" that no-one should have survived the plane crash.
  - Arzt points out that nobody cares about the background characters and that there's a "main group" (aka the leads).
  - Hurley comments on Arzt's confusing surname and pronunciation.
  - In "Dave", Hurley's Imaginary Friend nags him that the island is a hallucination, listing all the unlikely and impossible things that have happened to Hurley since he left a mental institution. Director Jack Bender refers to this dialogue in the DVD commentary as "hanging a lantern on it."
  - Leave it to Deadpan Snarker Sawyer to be the one to finally point out what everyone in real life has noticed — Richard Alpert's guyliner (the actor has long eyelashes).
- In the penultimate episode, when Jack becomes Jacob's successor, the Man in Black makes a funny comment about how he expected the selection not to be so predictable. He gets his subversion later on, when Jack dies within a day of getting the job, shortly after passing the torch to Hurley.
- In the epilogue "The New Man in Charge", Ben visits the Audience Surrogate guys at the DHARMA packing plant, telling them he's there to "tie up a few loose ends," which is exactly what he's there to do for the viewers as well.
In the Lucifer episode "Candy Morningstar", the title character lampshades the show's premise in song:
Lucifer: Crime-solving Devil/It makes sense/Don’t overthink it

In the last season of Mad About You, Jamie points out the fact that Paul appears to have no friends (outside the regular cast) by referencing Selby, Paul's best friend from season 1 who was later replaced by the similar Cousin Ira:
Jamie: Whatever happened to that guy Selby we used to know?
- In the Season 6 episode "Coming Home", a reference is made to the fact that the actor that originally played Hal (Paxton Whitehead) was replaced in season 2 with Whitehead returning and the following explanation given:
  Maggie: My first husband Hal. Both my husbands have been called Hal. My second husband Hal and I have separated and my first husband Hal and I have rekindled. Alright?
In a Saw parody from MADtv, the ending points out a common Fridge Logic-inducing trend in trailer parodies.
In the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Malcolm Dates a Family", Malcolm engages in a bit of Lampshade Hanging when he realizes he's scheduled simultaneous dates: "This is like that episode of... well, everything."
- He even considered how Urkel handled the problem.
In the third episode of season 2 of The Mandalorian, Mando, Cara, Greef and Mythrol—their landspeeder driver—enter an Imperial base to destroy it. As they enter through the garage, Mythrol points at an armored speeder under a tarp and says: "Look, it's a mint Trexler Marauder!" Nice job hanging that lampshade on Chekhov's Gun, Mythrol. (Yes, they later use it to escape with. And it does have mounted guns on it, which come in handy.)
In an episode of Martin where he delivers a baby: the baby shoots out and Martin catches him football-style. Tommy then asks: "Wait a minute, where's the umbilical cord?" Martin's response: "D*mn it, Tommy. We don't need an umbilical cord... this is TV!!"
In the second series finale, Merlin (2008) makes a remark about the countless amount he's had to save Arthur's life.
- The character Merlin tends to do this a lot, with his exasperation with the dragon's epic prophecy style of speaking.
The Middle Man and Side Kick Dubbie hang lampshades every chance they get. And their connection to the Organization Too Secret Too Know is hidden behind a wall of actual lampshades.
In a third season episode of The Mighty Boosh, "Party", Howard Moon claims to be only ten years older than Vince Noir; then both characters perform an Aside Glance, subtly acknowledging that according to previous canon, Howard and Vince are the same age.
- They also seem to be lampshading the fact that the actors are a good ten years older than their characters.

Monty Python's Flying Circus
- In the "Spanish Inquisition" sketch there's this:
  Cardinal Ximinez: Ha! ha! ha! ha!
  Caption: DIABOLICAL LAUGHTER
  Cardinal Ximinez: (with ridiculous hand gestures) We'll soon change your mind about that!
  Caption: DIABOLICAL ACTING
- Look no further than the Argument Clinic Sketch, which ends on several recursive lampshades.
In an episode from one of Mork & Mindy's later seasons, an exasperated Mindy exclaimed, "Oh, Mork, what Earth concept have you misunderstood this week?"
Murder, She Wrote episode "Deadpan" closes with Jessica Fletcher in an empty theater, confronting a theater critic ( Dean Stockwell) whom she had proven had murdered a rival critic. As the police emerge to arrest him, the critic — a frustrated playwright — wearily comments, "The detective in the wings, Mrs. Fletcher? I suppose I should have expected a climax so... clichéd."
Random policeman: Gee, there's been a murder and Jessica Fletcher's here, what are the odds?
- After his first year as sheriff of Cabot Cove, Mort Metzger (a retired New York cop) asked Jessica, "What is this place, the murder capital of Maine?"
- In another episode Jessica Fletcher is called to testify in a trial, and the opposing lawyer impeaches her credibility by citing how often people have died around her and that her nephew has frequently been suspected of being a killer.
Mystery Science Theater 3000's opening theme song:
If you're wondering how they eat and breathe and other science facts
just repeat to yourself, "it's just a show, I should really just relax!"
- Okay, everybody... Chant it together... the MST3K Mantra! TWANG!
- One of the greatest examples of lampshading came in the tenth season "Soultaker", during which Joel (who had been Put on a Bus mid season-five) visited the Satellite of Love in order to do some repairs. Mike becomes jealous of Joel, whom he considers to be a better man, to which Tom Servo replies: "Don't compare yourself, man, it ain't healthy." When Mike replaced Joel in season five, it started a massive Flame War over which of them was the better host.
- There was a minor one in "Terror from the Year 5000", when the characters decide to go see a movie and Mike says: "So what, we're going to watch people watch a movie? What's up with that?"
- In "Werewolf" Mike accidentally scratches himself on crow and slowly turns into a "WereCrow" he asks Crow what changes he should expect to happen. Crow states several things, one of which "After a couple years your voice will start to change" lampshading getting a new voice actor mid-series.
- In the series revival episode Cry Wilderness Jonah and the bots are seen exiting into the hallway out of the theater. We then cut to Kinga's grandma Pearl, Bobo, and Brain Guy (the primary villains of the Mike era) stopping by, expositing some advice about the experiment/blatantly trying to avoid spending time with Kinga, and then heading on their way for the episode. Kinga then bemoans the fact seaming the current season with the previous ten's continuity is a lot of work, and it would have been easier to just to reboot it. When we cut back to Jonah and the bots returning to the theater, Tom wonders just how long they spent in the hallway.
- In another revival series episode, Jonah wonders aloud if the Mads are cutting their host segments short. The bots argue against this, only to immediately cut to Kinga and Pearl for the entirety of the host segment again.
- And of course, most of the show is nothing but this as it features the characters riffing on movies that embody every trope ever thought of.
In MythBusters episode "Duct Tape Canyon", initial filming is conducted on the Colorado River, then switches without warning to the American River. The hosts comment on the scenery change. Adam: "Wow, it's almost like a whole different river."

In an episode of The Nanny, C.C, played by the then very pregnant Lauren Lane brings up an episode of Seinfeld where writers obviously hid Julia Louis-Dreyfus' pregnancy behind large props, while Lane moves a giant purse and a potted plant that "needed watering". Later in the episode, she used a giant sign that read "BABY".
The NCIS fifth season finale uses a lampshade hanging very similar to the Buffy example; when Director Vance complains that Gibbs has run off after a clue that nobody knows anything about and nobody can explain it to him, Tony replies, "Sounds like a Wednesday."
- Additionally, Gibbs has a known habit of building boats in his basements but no method is ever shown for removing the boat on completion. This is lampshaded in a recent episode where Abby treats it as a mystery on par with the murder they're trying to solve.
- In "Jetlag", in the seventh season, at the end of the episode the closing line is that the photo being discussed would look better in black and white. Every segment of the show ends with a fade to a black-and-white of a significant image.
- Early one, McGee, Kate, and Tony have a clever exchange about what life would be like if they were in an action movie. Kate would be wearing something sexier, McGee would be dead before the credits (or survive as the Plucky Comic Relief!) . . . you get the picture.
- "Swan Song" is mostly told from Gibbs' perspective. Franks is listening, and there's lots of lampshades on Once an Episode episode features. Paraphrased: Isn't this the point you usually tell the team something about a dead marine? Gibbs then goes on to boil the field agent's briefing style down to their stereotypes ("I'm going to do some tech stuff with Abby!" "I'm going to use 'old school' techniques!" "I'm going to 'accidentally' eavesdrop on Tony's love interest! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge!")
- One episode has one character practicing defusing a bomb. They cut the wire, the clock stops just in the nick of time... and starts up again. Then, Gibbs bursts in and says:
  Gibbs: NEVER assume the bomb's clock is accurate! Bad guys watch TV too.
NewsRadio:
- In the episode "Stocks", Jimmy James gives Beth a stock ticker and then says, "It's just like television, except without all those people doing stupid things to a fake laugh track." ^note
- In the episode "Kids", Jimmy James is given a 555 phone number by a potential date, only to read the number after she's gone and proclaim, "Wait a minute, 555...that's one of those fake TV numbers!"
- In "Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show", Matthew ends up having to perform a ventriloquist act at a talent show in order to win back his job. He quickly gives up, and then notes "Which, when I think about it now, really doesn't even make sense at all."

The O.C. occasionally referenced the rapid plot developments in between episodes, such as when Summer's therapist comments on how much she's improved, "and just in one week!"
- Kaitlin once disapproves of how serious her mom has gotten with a new love interest, reminding her "You've only been dating for a week."

In the 6th season of One Tree Hill, when Lucas agrees to get his book turned into a movie, he goes around asking his friends and family who they want to play them. Most name famous celebrities, to which Lucas often points out that the film is based on teenagers/high school students lampshading the fact that all the cast members themselves were all twenty-somethings playing teenagers.

Power Rangers:
- The third episode of Power Rangers RPM has a character, Dillon, who is being recruited by the team. When their mentor, Dr. K, introduces the suits as the Ranger Prototype Series Covert Infantry Bio-Suits, he quips, "Right, because nothing says 'covert' like bright red, yellow, and blue spandex." Dr. K gets very angry when somebody calls it spandex.
  - RPM made a habit of this. The fifth episode alone has Big Bad Venjix's generals commenting on the ridiculousness of a spray-nozzle robot, asking "do you want to super-size the bot before or after the Rangers beat it?" (Venjix blasts the general for this one) and wondering aloud why they never do a Zerg Rush while the city's defenses are down (Venjix: blasts the general, then orders a Zerg Rush).
  - One episode of RPM begins with the Rangers questioning Dr. K about why their zords have eyes, why things blow up when they morph and why they need to shout their morphing call. This is made even better when the Blue Ranger uses the post-morph explosion against the enemy.
- Power Rangers Ninja Storm, a lighthearted season after a long rush of Darker and Edgier, also liked its lampshades. After Cam has been captured by the computer double he created to help him balance his duties as a Ranger and at Mission Control:
  Shane: Not another clone story! Didn't we already do this?
- The trend of the Rangers always wearing some piece of clothing that matches their Ranger color when not morphed is lampshaded in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder. At the end of the episode when veteran Ranger (and mentor to that year's team) Tommy receives the new Black Ranger powers:
  Tommy: I really need to go shopping. I have a serious shortage of black clothes in my closet.
- In a couple episodes of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, when one or two Rangers needed help from the others, they used the excuse that they were scuba-diving and thus could not hear their communicators' summoning them (yes, this excuse was used more than once). In an episode of the third season, this was lampshaded when Kimberly was trapped inside a taxi cab monster. When Zordon tells Alpha to contact the other Rangers, Alpha quips "I hope they're not off scuba-diving!"
  - Also in the third season, Finster comes running up to Zedd and Rita, declaring he's done something wonderful, to which Zedd responds "What is it this time, Finster? A monster that blows itself up?"
  - Again in the third season, Bulk and Skull are patrolling through the park when they come across Rito, Squatt and Baboo, seconds before they teleport away in their usual multicolored flashes. The two begin screaming in their usual fashion, then say the following:
    Bulk: ... Uh, why are we screaming?
    Skull: Because Evil Space Aliens are using their magical powers right in front of us.
    Bulk: Oh.
    (they continue screaming)
  - In a feat of astonishing foresight, the urban planners who designed Angel Grove's zoning laws set aside an entire district full of Abandoned Warehouses, which the characters would periodically refer to as a lampshade for how often fights took place in and around empty warehouses.
Episodes of Psych typically begin with flashbacks to Shawn's life as a kid. Corbin Bernsen plays Shawn's father and is made to look younger when he appears in the flashbacks. In one episode Shawn says to his father, "I don't know, Dad. Slap a wig on you, you're a spitting image of yourself when I was a kid." Also, several different actors have played Young Shawn in the flashbacks over five seasons, a situation that was lampshaded in "The Polarizing Express", when Young Shawn says "Well we change. Sometimes from week to week, huh?"
- There's lampshades in every episode; a especially notable example would be a recursive lampshade hanging: After Lassiter says something about not needing Shawn's help on a case, Shawn states that that just makes it "more dramatic" when he has to ask for his help later on. His girlfriend then lampshades that lampshade by asking "More dramatic for who?"
  Shawn: [sheepishly looks around, points to random extra] To that guy, I guess.
- The new season also has Gus (and their childhood friend Dennis) noticing Shawn's "Shawn-vision" (Whenever Shawn 'SEES' a clue that no one else notices).
  Gus: Shawn, how do you explain the three strange markings on Toby's arm?
  Shawn: You saw those?
  Gus: Of course I did. And I didn't have to do this: [makes squinty Shawn-vision face]
  Shawn: Are you MOCKING my "it's a clue" face?
  Gus: Yup.
  Shawn: Do it again. (Gus does it again) I don't look like that.
  Gus: Yes you do.
  Shawn: You're a bastard.
- Also, in "Viagra Falls", they work with a pair of retired detectives that have similar if not identical quirks to them (such as their 'side conversations' where they take a step away and talk privately pretty much right next to someone and expect not to be heard, and their rambles...) Pretty much lampshaded every point in the series in one episode.
- One of Shawn's frequent catchphrases begins with "Gus, don't be a..." followed by what is typically a ridiculous word or phrase. In one episode, he says, "Gus, don't be the only Black lead on a major cable network."

In the Red Dwarf episode "Quarantine", Lister, Cat, and Kryten are running from a deranged hologram who is shooting at them with "hex vision". Lister runs past the camera, surrounded by wild shots and explosions, and shouts, "Why don't we ever meet anyone nice?" Cat runs past behind him and says, "Why don't we ever meet anyone who can shoot straight?"
- In classic Red Dwarf episodes from the late 1980s and early 1990s the gang are all seen using cassette and VHS tapes (sometimes normal, sometimes triangular) in the far future. In the show's 2009 comeback story Back to Earth they end up in an Earth store selling DVDs, where Kryten lampshades how Technology Marched On during the show's long hiatus — explaining to the others that DVDs eventually die out because no-one ever remembers to put them back in their cases, and are re-replaced by VHS because videotapes are "just too big to lose".
Roseanne exhibits an awful lot of lampshade hanging when it comes to the actor switch of Becky. In "The Clip Show: All About Rosey (Part 1)" an adult DJ has clearly gone insane and is seen muttering something. The psychiatrist finally asks him to speak up and he says, "They say she's the same, but she's not the same." This is followed by back-to-back clips of Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke as Becky. Also, in the first episode where Sarah Chalke appears as Becky, Roseanne mentions at the end of the episode that Becky "seems really different." Due to Lecy Goranson's indecision in whether or not she wanted to stay as Becky in season 8 of the show, one week's episode would include Lecy and the next's Sarah. Finally, in the episode "Disney World War II" Sarah Chalke appeared onscreen and the entire cast freeze-framed. A narrator lamp-shaded the whole Lecy-Sarah switch-off by saying, "Sarah Chalke will play Becky in this episode and for the rest of the series." To which the audience clapped. Amen, audience.
- Not to mention that shortly after the narrator finishes speaking, Roseanne tells Becky that they are going to Disney, she rejoices and Roseanne then says "Aren't you glad to be in this episode?"
- In the first episode of Roseanne in which Johnny Galecki appeared as David, he introduced himself as "Kevin", but later they changed the character's name back to its original, "David". Later on, Roseanne comments that Darlene has so much control over David that his name wasn't even originally David — Darlene changed it.
- There's also an episode where the whole family is watching a rerun of Bewitched, and Sarah Chalke comments that she likes the second Darrin better.
- That was Chalke's first episode as Becky, doing something pretty similar to the Game On episode mentioned above.
- Then there's this exchange when Lecy Goranson returns for a brief stint:
  Roseanne: Where the hell have you been?
  Becky: Just getting this.
  Roseanne: Took you long enough. Seems like you've been gone for 3 years.
- And let's not forget the final Halloween episode, after Lecy returned to the role of Becky, featured Sarah Chalke as the mother of two young trick-or-treaters:
  Roseanne: [after closing the door] Gee, I wish we had a daughter that sweet.
  Dan: Just wasn't in the cards, honey.

Samantha Who? (a sitcom about amnesia), episode 5: "Amnesia doesn't exist! It's just a cheap and lazy storytelling device."
Schitt's Creek: When Ted returns from his solo honeymoon and becomes Alexis's new love interest, he keeps running into her. He says it feels like a Romantic Comedy.
Scrubs points out the constant Will They or Won't They? between Elliot and J.D.
- The show seems to be doing a lot of lampshade hanging in season 8, from things like J.D. and Turk's bromance to J.D's often useless (but entertaining) fantasies.
- Also, in episode 7x10:
  Dr. Cox: What in the hell are you talking about?
  J.D.: Oh, I'm just doing this thing where I use a slice of wisdom from someone else's life to solve a problem in my own life.
  Jordan: Seems coincidental.
  J.D.: And yet I do it almost every week.
- At one point in season seven ("My Own Worst Enemy"), Carla tells Elliot to pay attention, because she "doesn't want to tell her the same exact thing in two weeks". Two episodes later ("My Inconvenient Truth"), Carla tells Elliot the same lesson and brings up that she told her this before, while Elliot claims to have never been told.
- There's also the case of the jingle. In the first few seasons, when something sad or emotional happened, the jingle would play. Its overuse became very tacky, and once the directors realized it, they only used it ironically. In one episode, J.D. comments on it :
  J.D.: And then every time I learn a lesson this weird music starts playing in my head, it goes: dadada da dada da daaaaa, dadada da dada da daaaa...
  Elliot: You know what J.D., I think you need to grow up.
  [music starts playing, J.D starts singing along to it]
- Season 6 lampshaded JD's tendency to whine about his problems by having him duct-taped to the ceiling of the cafeteria (the Janitor's doing of course) for two hours. While up there he went on to hear other characters whine about their problems, listing things JD's been whining about for the past 6 seasons.
  "Doctor Cox won't notice me." "I'm in love with a friend but she's seeing someone." "I knocked up a girl I just met." "I wonder what hair products to use for my hair." "Help me." "Help me." Help me."
  JD: (Inner Monologue) "After listening to people whine about problems that were similar or the same to mine, I had had enough. Even I hated it. I even started wondering how my friends dealt with it for 6 years when I could barely handle 2 hours."
In an episode of The Sentinel, Blair is by utter coincidence caught in the middle of a scheme involving an elevator full of people being held for ransom. Jim and Simon comment that Blair never got in life-or-death struggles before he met Jim.
- The season three opener has Jim Brought Down to Normal. Blair points out that this isn't the first time it's happened.
The first season finale for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law uses a 4th wall break in which the main character marvels at how poorly written the climax is, asks the audience whether this is the kind of story they want, and then tracks down the writers and berates them, then tracks down the show's producer and asks for it to be changed.
- She then points out that the entire MCU is full of movies that tend to have the same ending.
- And that it contains an overabundance of daddy issues.
- And then, to ingratiate herself with the audience, asks why the MCU hasn't integrated the X-Men yet.
In the Cop Show spoof Sledge Hammer!, the chief asks "Where the hell is he getting all this ammo?!" about a hostage taker who has destroyed almost every vase in the room without reloading his revolver.
Stargate-verse:
- Stargate SG-1:
  - Referred to as "Hanging a lantern on it" in "200", as the characters discuss an unlikely escape in a film script. An example of a show lampshading the act of lampshading.
  - One of O'Neill's Character Catchphrases is to lampshade Captain Obvious moments with a deadpan "Ya think?"
  - Sergeant Harriman (Walter) lampshades his own Character Catchphrase in one episode where he's describing his job to a filmmaker.
    Sgt. Harriman: Basically, when the 'Gate is dialing, I say "Chevron One, engaged; Chevron Two, engaged" and so on, incrementally, until the seventh chevron, which is a little different because that's when the wormhole connects. When that happens, I like to change things up a little bit and just say "Chevron Seven, locked".
  - In the original movie, O'Neill's name only had one "L" in it. After the change was noticed, the TV O'Neill would occasionally make a point of the spelling of his name, as if he's been annoyed by having it misspelled before, also providing a Retcon by implying that the single-L version from the movie was just a mistake.
  - He also makes repeated references to a Colonel O'Neil (one L) at the SGC who has "No sense of humor at all", lampshading the personality retool he underwent at the same time.
  - The show also occasionally reminds us that the Goa'uld purposely behave like totally cliched villains. Partly to keep their slaves and warriors living in constant fear; partly because most of them lack the ingenuity and creativity to try anything new and different, which proves to be their Achilles' Heel. And it implies that all the villain clichés came from previous enslavement by said Goa'uld.
  - In season 6 episode "Disclosure", during a review of the Stargate operation, Senator Kinsey remarks: "Face it, General, under your command, the Stargate program has lurched from one crisis to the next. Never averting disaster by anything more than the skin of its teeth." Which is completely true, since that's what makes for thrilling TV.
  - "Wormhole X-Treme!" and "200", the 100th and 200th episodes, respectively, basically exist to lampshade everything. This includes: the Zats originally vaporizing on the third shot, Daniel being able to sit down when he was out of phase, the ridiculousness of occasionally having touching scenes surrounded by carnage, the introduction of Cam Mitchell, Vala's entire backstory, and even how the 'gate works. And more.
  - The heroes frequently comment on Daniel's tendency to die and return from the dead. They also sometimes point out that all of Sam's boyfriends wind up dead.
  - And what about this line in reference to Teal'c? "He is Jaffa!" "No, but he plays one on TV."
  - In season 3, episode 9, "Demons", upon emerging from the Stargate onto yet another heavily forested planet that looks suspiciously like British Columbia, O'Neill remarks "Trees, trees, and more trees. What a wonderfully green universe we live in."
  - In "Failsafe", O'Neill has to disarm a nuclear bomb. Upon being told to cut the red wire, he discovers that they're all yellow. He proceeds to cut them one by one, hoping that it's not the wire that will set off the bomb. When it comes down to the final two wires, he's about to cut one, but stops.
    O'Neill: I'd just like to take this moment to point out that this is a very poorly designed bomb, and we should say something to someone when we get back.
    Carter: Noted, sir.
  - An amusing scene from "Off the Grid" finds SG1 once again captured by bad guys and lampshades both the frequency of such situations and the flimsy handwaves that often get them into (and out of) said jams.
    Daniel: Oh, I have a question. Why would we make the gate magically disappear before we had a chance to escape through it?
    Worrell: Bad timing?
    Daniel: That's gotta be the single stupidest thing I've ever heard.
    Worrell: Do things always go according to plan in your world, Doctor Jackson?
    Daniel: No, not usually, no.
    Worrell: Then I would guess this is another one of those times.
    [The scene is made even better a few moments later when our heroes are beamed away just as the bad guys decide to start shooting.]
  - In "A Matter of Time", after throwing around a lot of information about black holes and how they are affecting the wormhole, Carter literally says, "according to everything I thought I knew about relativity, that is just not possible." Astrophysicist Dr. Becky Smethurst mentions this on her YouTube review of the episode.
  - In a crossover with Stargate Atlantis, Ronon points out that Teal'c says 'Indeed' a lot.
    Teal'c: Do I? I had not noticed.
  - Best part? Teal'c's very thoughtful expression.
- Stargate Atlantis:
  - Statistically, there is no way the Atlantis expedition should have so many impossibly good-looking men and women in one place. It's neatly lampshaded when a couple characters explain TV to the non-Terrans on their team.
    Sheppard: There are lots of programs on lots of channels, every day, all day.
    McKay: And most of them are fictional representations of ridiculously attractive people in absurd situations.
  - In "Doppelgänger", the Atlantis team are sent to what appears to be an uninhabited planet and question why they would be sent on such a foolish mission in the first place.
    Sheppard: I don't know. It's almost as if somebody in a warm, cozy room typing onto their computer sent us here for their own amusement.
  - While Stargate does not always return to the Status Quo at the end of each episode, any major assets gained are frequently lost within the next few episodes. McKay lampshades it in "Submersion" when discussing whether to salvage a Wraith cruiser:
    McKay: Hmm, I'd have to assess damage to primary systems, but it's not completely out of the question. Of course, you'd probably just go and blow it up or slam it into a hive ship or something, and all that work'd be for nothing.
  - The following conversation from the Season Five episode "The Prodigal", which highlights the vast number of times Colonel Sheppard has apparently gone on suicide missions, only to be rescued, have the plan change at the last minute:
    [Rodney sighs anxiously; John looks round at him]
    Sheppard: What?
    McKay: Well, it's just... um... what you're about to do is...
    Sheppard: Yeah. Well, it's not like it's the first time. How many suicide missions have I flown?
    McKay: I don't know. I lost count.
    Sheppard: Right, well, there you go.
    McKay: All right. Well, you know...
    [he stands up and offers John his hand]
    McKay: ... here's to many more.
Star Trek:
- "Heisenberg compensators" are used to explain how transporters work in spite of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Someone asked Star Trek scientific advisor Michael Okuda how the Heisenberg compensators worked. He replied, "They work very well, thank you."
- Star Trek: The Original Series:
  - In "Operation Annihilate", a Red Shirt stares at the mutant alien brain cells killer pancakes and cries "They don't even look real!" Took the words right out of our mouths.
  - "Bread and Circuses" contains some choice lampshades about television production and sportscasting. "You bring this network's ratings down, Flavius — and we'll do a special on you!"
- Star Trek: The Next Generation:
  - In "Samaritan Snare", Worf asks Riker why they are sending the chief engineer, Geordi, without guard, to fix a simple problem, to which Riker says there is nothing to worry about. Of course, as we know, Geordi gets captured and held for "ransom". In fact, it is the sending of such an important officer over in the first place that allows him to be captured.
  - In "A Fistful of Datas", Jean-Luc Picard, who is portrayed of course by Sir Patrick Stewart, a highly acclaimed and beloved actor, and well trained in both film and stage drama, declines an invitation by Beverly Crusher to be a part of an Enterprise play on the reason that he is "not much of an actor".
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
  - The episode "The Way of the Warrior" lampshades The Next Generation's Holodeck Malfunctions. Worf reminisces about their victory over the Borg at Wolf 359, saying "We were like warriors from the ancient sagas; there was nothing we could not do," to which O'Brien rejoins, "Except keep the holodecks working right!"
  - In "Trials and Tribble-ations", members of Deep Space Nine go back in time and encounter the events of the original series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles".
  - When they are in the space station bar, Worf is asked why he looks different than the Klingons of that era, lampshading the radical changes in Klingon appearance over the years. The writers said any answer — along the lines of genetic engineering or viral mutations or environmental catastrophes — would be trite and cheesy to the audience, who would know the changes were solely as a result of improved budgets across the shows, so they decided to lampshade the issue with humor. The characters themselves debate the scenarios the writing staff had discarded as trite, until Worf shuts the lid on the discussion by growling out that Klingons "don't talk about it with outsiders".
    Star Trek: Enterprise (which mostly had different writers) decided to modify one of the explanations the Deep Space Nine staff had discarded, to create the excuse that a Klingon pandemic/genetic engineering was cured with human DNA and caused a side-effect that smoothed out the forehead ridges.
  - At one point in the original episode, Kirk is half-buried in an avalanche of tribbles. The scene is concluded while he stands there with occasional tribbles still falling on him. It's obvious that these tribbles are actually being dropped on him by someone above. In the Deep Space Nine version we see that this is because Sisko and Jadzia are desperately searching for the fake tribble containing the bomb.
  - In "The Emperor's New Cloak", Rom tries to point out the inconsistencies of the Mirror Universe, such as how there doesn't seem to be any difference between their Chief O'Brien and his Mirrorverse counterpart, and gree worms aren't poisonous in either universe. Quark tells him to shut up.
- Star Trek: Voyager:
  - In "Deadlock", Harry tries to talk about how confusing it is that his real self just died and now his duplicate (created by a Negative Space Wedgie) has taken his place. Janeway cuts him off, telling him to accept that when you're in Starfleet, "weird is part of the job".
  - "Shattered" has Janeway from the first season time travel into the current season, with different segments of the ship taking place at different times during the series. Naturally, each segment just has to be a time during one of their many adventures in the Delta Quadrant. More to the point, the disasters are clearly observable; as Chakotay later points out, most of the positives that took place on Voyager were the kinds of things you couldn't observe in the "snapshot in time" view she was getting.
    Janeway: It sounds like it's going to be one disaster after another on this ship.
  - In the later seasons, the series actively pokes fun at several of its own mistakes and repeated lines, such as the trouble with finding deuterium or Chakotay's "my people used to call [traditional thing] a [words]":
    Paris: Why would anyone steal deuterium? You can find it anywhere.
    Chakotay: It's a thing my people used to call "a monkey wrench".
- Star Trek: Discovery:
  - In the episode "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad":
    Harry Mudd: There really are so many ways to blow up this ship. It's almost a design flaw.
  - In "Brother", shortly after Captain Pike beams over with two of his officers, Michael Burnham is a bit disappointed that Spock is not one of the officers with him. Pike says "Sometimes it's wise to keep our expectations low, Commander. That way we're never disappointed." This could be a bit of a hint at the audience, as Discovery has been divisive among the Star Trek fanbase.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip overused this trope at times. The worst example was in "The Harriet Dinner", which was a two-part episode that was nothing but clichés. Jordan and Danny, characters who'd been potential love interests, actually got locked on a roof together, and Danny said it seemed like something out of a bad sitcom. Sorkin's acknowledging it did not change the fact that it did, in fact, seem like a bad sitcom, and was by far the worst episodes of the series.
- Towards the end of the series, Jordan also lists all the things that tv dramas do to boost sagging ratings — a difficult birth where the mother's life is in danger, an unanswered marriage proposal, characters in danger of losing their lives/jobs/loved ones, etc., etc. — every single item on her list is currently occurring in the storyline, in a massive Take That! from Aaron Sorkin, since by this point the show was already cancelled. It works, though - even after the shameless manipulation of it is pointed out, you still care what happens...
Supernatural:
- In the Season 2 episode "Heart", Madison comments that the Impala is a pretty conspicuous car to have for a stakeout.
- The Season 2 episode "Hollywood Babylon" mocks several of the show's flaws/deliberate stylistic choices, including this exchange between an actress and two Hollywood producers:
  Tara: Salt. Doesn't that sound silly? I mean why would a ghost be afraid of salt?
  McG: Marty, what do you think?
  Marty: I'm not married to salt. Are we still sticking with condiments?
  McG: Mmm, it just sounds different, not better. What else would a ghost be scared of?
  Marty: Maybe shotguns.
  McG: That makes even less sense than salt.
- The Season 4 episode "The Monster at the End of this Book", in which a "prophet" is discovered to have been writing stories about the brothers' adventures, is dizzyingly self-referential. While most of the gags poke fun at the writers and fans, several major Lampshade Hangings occur:
  - Chuck the prophet specifically mentions "Bugs" and "Red Sky at Morning" — two real episodes that the show's fan community generally rates as the series' worst — apologizing to Sam and Dean for being "forced to live bad writing... if I would have known it was real, I would have done another pass."
  - An obsessed fan of Chuck's books says at one point "The best part is when they cry", alluding to how these apparently manly men burst into tears more often than a four-year-old watching Dumbo on loop.
- When Chuck tells Sam that he knows he has been drinking demon blood, he explains that he left it out of the books because no one would relate to him doing something so awful — a reaction to many fans complaining that Sam's behavior in the most recent season had made him too unsympathetic.
- In "Changing Channels", the Trickster (a.k.a. Gabriel) says that he wishes they were in a TV show, complete with easy answers and simple endings. Later, Dean says something to the same effect.
- In one episode, there's this:
  Dean: Awesome. Horsemen. Must be Thursday.
- When Supernatural was still airing on Thursdays, Crowley mentions that if they don't do something soon, the entire town will be overrun with zombies "by this time next Thursday". Castiel also happens to be an "angel of Thursday".
- In the sixth season episode "The French Mistake", Sam and Dean get sent into an alternate reality where they find themselves inserted into the lives of their actors in what is a close approximation of the real world. The rest of the episode from there is basically one continuous string of lampshades being hung over the real lives of the two lead actors and the series itself.
- When Sam and Dean come across a high school musical based on the books of their lives, the whole episode is basically a huge lampshading of the show's fandom and it's fan-popular couples. Biggest example being the nod to the Destiel fandom:
  [Dean sees female actors playing him and Castiel kissing]
  Dean: Is that in the show?
  Marie: No, Rebecca and Kristen are a couple in real life. Although we do explore the nature of Destiel in it too...
  Dean: I'm sorry, what?
  Marie: It's just subtext. But then again, you can't spell "subtext" without S-E-X...
  [Dean looks directly at the audience with an annoyed look]

In Teen Wolf, courtesy of Kate Argent, who does not approve of her stooge's lame jokes.
Kate: A dog joke? Really? You're gonna go there and that's the best you got?
- Of all the cars in the school's parking lot, Derek stumbles in front of Stiles' in "Magic Bullet". "You've gotta be kidding me, this guy is everywhere."
In the Torchwood episode "Everything Changes", Gwen points out the Fridge Logic in the invisible lift. Jack responds by, basically, telling her "It's just a show, she should really just relax."
Gwen: There's a hole in the floor. Don't people fall in?
Jack: That's so Welsh... I show you something amazing, and you find fault.
Practically the entire series finale of Two and a Half Men is just one giant series of lampshade hangings, as well as some massive fourth wall leaning and topped off with some literal breaking. After it is discovered that Charlie is still alive and the main characters believe he is out for revenge against Alan and Walden, the pair consult a police investigator (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) and relate to him the entire story of their 12-year-run escapades, where he as well as they admit that whatever they have been doing has gone on far too long and needs to just end already. After Jake briefly returns to tell them he turned the $250,000 Charlie willed him into $2.5 million just by continually betting on "come" while playing Craps, Alan and Walden call many of their past girlfriends to tell them goodbye, only to believe the investigator arrested Charlie, instead having mistaken Christian Slater for him due to their similar playboy antics. Finally, Charlie returns to their front door to confront them in person only to be immediately killed by a piano being suspended by a helicopter. Finally, the camera pans out to show the set and creator Chuck Lorre, who turns to the camera and says "Winning," only to be crushed by a falling piano himself.
In Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, the first Halloween episode had a lot of dramatic lightning. While it didn't take long for Berg to notice, he made comments about it.
Berg: Again with the well-timed lightning!

In the Under the Dome finale, Big Jim remarks the obvious as it is revealed Dawn is still alive:
Julia: No, it's not possible, she died in Chester's Mill.
Lily: That's what we thought.
Big Jim: Aaah, speak for yourself. I've seen enough bad movies to know: if you don't have a body, they ain't dead.

Veronica Mars had one in the episode "The Rapes of Graff": Veronica has to convince a wig store owner to give up the name of a girl who had bought a wig. She says "Now for my Emmy nomination speech." The music swells, Veronica tears up, and she gives a heartbreaking speech about the girl being her sister, then mentions cancer, runaways, and prostituting. Then the woman says that the girl was Hawaiian. The music cuts and Veronica just turns and walks away, without even bothering with an attempt to explain.
Victorious has repeated moments where lame plots are lampshading, and the terrible writing is exposed.
- There are also several instances where characters point out that the main cast are the only ones who speak/participate in class and perform in plays.

In the season 4 premiere of The Walking Dead, the newcomers to the prison are all as taken with Daryl Dixon as the fanbase is, showering him with attention and lining up to shake his hand.
In The West Wing, which was famous for its walk-and-talk sequences, in which characters hurry from office to office instead of sitting around, in order to make all the long necessary discussions more interesting, had one scene where Sam and Josh are talking and walking, then find out they have come in a circle and are walking nowhere.
Sam: Where are you going?
Josh: Where are you going?
Sam: I was following you.
Josh: I was following you.
[awkward pause]
Josh: All right, don't tell anyone this happened, okay?
- And in a later flashback episode (Debate Camp) showing their fifth day in the West Wing, they can't find their offices and they end up meeting on the move.
  Sam: You mind if I talk to you while we walk?
  Josh: Well, we may as well get used to having meetings in the corridors from now on.
  - Sam suggests "Maybe we should do all our meetings like this".
In an episode of White Collar, Mozzie does some investigation using a hair dryer. Mozzie is bald.
Neal: Why do you have a hair dryer?
Mozzie: Do you want the information or not?
In Wizards of Waverly Place, Alex and Mason are throwing water balloons from the roof to below residents, who are not amused.
Mason: We should run.
Alex: No, we should have a romantic montage.
- And when the Russos are investigated by the government for being wizards, a scientist starts asking questions, and the man says "You skipped all the questions you asked the other kid" and he says "Excuse me for keeping it fresh".
In wtFOCK (the Flemish remake of Norwegian Skam) Robbe jokes in one of the first clips that what's happening between Jana and Britt is a 'high school drama', with which the creators show they're aware they're using tropes common in this genre (to which wtFOCK might be counted).

In the season 6 The X-Files episode "Field Trip", Scully asks Mulder if he cannot for once come up with a scientific explanation for a mystery, to which Mulder replies that although she tells him again and again that he is "off [his] nut", he has almost always been right — alluding to the almost comical amount of skepticism Scully still displays in every episode, despite having witnessed numerous inexplicable events by now.

After an unlikely plot development in the Korean police drama/comedy You're All Surrounded, a police chief angrily says "Things like this could only happen in a TV drama!"

Lampshade Hanging / Live-Action TV

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