A
Shout Out is something subtle (a name, line of dialogue, or prop) in a show that refers to fans or family members of the cast or crew, or to another source of inspiration. By nature, these can be obscure for casual fans.
You can even talk about them in English class if only you call them "allusions". However, remember that many
tropes, symbols, and such are older than they look and can, often, arise in parallel. So despite (or because of) the ubiquitous nature of some creative properties that doesn't mean that anything that seems somewhat similar is referencing said work.
Reference Overdosed is when a series is loaded with these.
Giving references to other works can predate to older times but became increasingly common in medieval times. In modern times, almost every larger film,
Video Game and so on intentionally references some other work, making the phenomenon nearly omnipresent.
Tropes Are Not Good applies to
shout outs. A good shout out should still fit within the context of the story or it may end up a
Big Lipped Alligator Moment to people not familiar with what's being shouted about. It also has to be subtle enough that viewers either only notice the
double meaning after a trip to the
fridge or have a short chuckle if they notice it immediately, a blatant
Shout Out will break the
Suspension of Disbelief and kick viewers out of the story.
See also
Homage,
Stock Shout Outs,
Opening Shout-Out,
Shout Out Theme Naming and
The Joy of X.
Literary Allusion Title is a subtrope. Easily confused with a
Mythology Gag and
Continuity Nod, and may overlap with
Actor Allusion. Contrast
Take That, which is a negative-spirited
Shout Out.
See
Stock Shout Outs for a list of
Shout Outs and other references common enough to earn their own page.
Remember, a Shout Out is intentional. If a character just happened to use a similar turn of phrase to another work, that's
just a coincidence.
Examples
