"One Day More" parodies, shout-outs, pastiches, and other references
Considered by many to be the quintessential Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number, many references to "One Day More" abound in media.- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: The song "Flooded with Justice" from "Josh and I Go to Los Angeles" is a pastiche of "One Day More", as a Crowd Song about a class-action lawsuit patterned after it.
- In the The Magicians (2016) episode "Lesser Evils", Margo uses magic to wrangle the castle staff into a truncated rendition of the song as a way to psych up Eliot.Margo: Sorry, I had to skip some verses. They're great, but they don't really apply to our situation.
- Galavant: "Today We Rise" is patterned after "One Day More", as Sid tries to rouse the peasantry of Valencia in rebellion. The lyrics, melody, and instrumentation are patterned after the song, and Sid even waves a red flag as Enjolras does in the show. It's also a parody, since too much singing about a low chance of survival causes them to abandon him pretty quickly.
- Key & Peele spoof Les Mis in general and "One Day More" in particular with their "Les Mis
" sketch, where the characters sing all over each other and the Javert analogue complains about it (hence the song title "One at a Time"). - Saturday Night Live: The "Diner Lobster" sketch, in which the chorus bemoans a customer ordering a lobster in a diner dressed like characters from Les Mis.
- A "Cookie's Crumby Pictures" sketch from Sesame Street is entitled ''Les Mousserables". The sketch features caricatures of the 2012 film's cast with dessert pun names, including Flantine, Creamette, Epienine, Enjelfood, Marshmallowius, and Jean Bonbon (played by Cookie Monster himself). Many of the film's songs are also parodied, including "One Day More" (as "One Day S'more"). In this sketch, Cookie, as Jean Bonbon, learns how to identify the feelings of his fellow French friends by the way they look and act.
- In the Green Eggs and Ham (2019) episode, "Mouse", Squeaky the Mouse's entire character and backstory are a parody of Les Misérables. He's thrown in jail during a time when those living in poverty are revolting against their oppressors and he tells his backstory in a pop-opera song.
- Robot Chicken: "Chipotle Miserables" features a trailer for "Les Miserobble Robble", which stars the characters from McDonaldland. Hamburglar has been given his name by Judge Ronald McDonald as punishment for stealing burgers to feed his family. After Ronald has Birdie the Early Bird killed and cooked, Hamburglar looks after her unborn child and leads a revolt against the employees of McDonald's.
- The Simpsons spoofs this song with "Let Them Play" from the episode "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting", where Homer and Bart stick up for some horses. The verses follow the cadence, and Homer eventually steps out in period clothing as Bart carries a French flag.
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut: The climactic Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number "La Résistance" is a parody of this song, since it encompasses the song's themes of rebellion and vendetta.
Other
Fan Works- The Ultimate Evil: While discussing with Valerie Payne about her holding his possible redemption in her hands, Shendu cites Bishop Myriel pardoning Jean Valjean.
Film — Animated
- Aladdin is introduced running from law enforcement after stealing a loaf of bread. His line "All this, for a loaf of bread?" is an Actor Allusion to Princess Jasmine's voice actress Lea Salonga, who had played Eponine in the musical's 10th anniversary concert.
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022): One shot of the Los Angeles skyline features a billboard for LEGO Miserables.
- The Commitments: One of the women auditioning for the band sings "I Dreamed a Dream". Jimmy's mother seems to like it - Jimmy, not so much.
- Keep the Change (2017): Will asks the drama club what they want to sing next, and Zach suggests something from Les Mis. Sammy says, "Can we please do something else? We hear it all the time from Sarah."
- In American Psycho, the musical is repeatedly namedropped as a symbol of the yuppie culture that Patrick Bateman is a part of, as the immense popularity of the play in the late '80s led to tickets being high in both price and demand, making being able to see it a status symbol that Patrick and his coworkers covet.
- In The Easy Part of Impossible, Maggie tells Ria that the diving team worked their legs to the entire Les Mis soundtrack.
- In Things I Should Have Known, Ethan tells Ivy that he didn't like Les Misérables and asks her if she's seen it. She says she hasn't.
- Arrested Development: Oscar Bluth's prison number is 24601.
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, again, has a parody of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" with the song "The Buzzing from the Bathroom."
- Glee:
- Rachel auditions with "On My Own".
- "Dream On":
- Will and Bryan audition for a local production of Les Mis.
- Rachel and Shelby later duet "I Dreamed a Dream".
- Lost Girl. In "Caged Fae", Bo is in prison and finds out her cellmate is there for stealing bread. Bo asks if she's Jean Valjean. She insists her name is Sylvie.
- Prison Break: Sucre's subplot in one episode involves him stealing a car from an old man who had given him dinner the night before and being arrested for it, only for the man to cover for him when the police bring him back. It's a clear reference to Valjean's encounter with Bishop Myriel.
- Space Cases: In one episode, an escaped prisoner gets Catalina imprisoned in her place. Their prisoner number is 24601.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In "For the Uniform", Captain Sisko is compared by Maquis rebel Eddington to Inspector Javert. Sisko realises from this that Eddington thinks of himself as Valjean, unjustly pursued by the authorities for a minor crime. Incidentally while the Maquis vessel captained by Chakotay in the Star Trek: Voyager pilot is not named, it's later shown to be called the Val Jean [sic], implying that Eddington named it.
- Ted Lasso: Coach Beard tells Nate about a past incident where he betrayed Ted's kindness shortly after getting out of prison only for Ted to cover for him to the police. Both characters lampshade the similarity to Les Mis.
Radio
- How Green Was My Cactus. King Bonza assumes that "Les Miserables" is Les Patterson's French cousin.
- In I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, songs from Les Mis will often appear as the "tune" part in rounds of "One Song to the Tune of Another"; as befits the round, the new lyrics will often be something totally different, but the absolute crowner has got to be the theme from Spider-Man to the tune of "Bring Him Home".
- In The Battle Cats, One of J.K Bun Bun’s major works is named Les Pénitents.
- Persona 5 Strikers: Zenkichi has Valjean as his Persona. His awakening references multiple lyrics from the musical. The original Persona 5 has Mes Miserables as a movie you can see with Yusuke. You hear a short snipped of a Valjean standing accusing someone of stealing candlesticks.
- In System Shock, the main character is referred by some characters as "Employee 2-4601".
- Hark! A Vagrant: "Javert" gets comedy out of Javert's near inhuman lack of humor, constant seriousness and single mindedness.
- The American Dream: An American Officer ISOTed to the Revolutionary War: Samuel Kim rallies wavering Patriot troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill by singing a slightly modified version of "Do you Her the People Sing?". Over time the song spreads and becomes an international anthem against tyranny.
- Centaurworld: In the episode "Holes: Part 3" Glendale's prisoner number as seen on a Wanted poster is 24601.
- Phineas and Ferb: In a brief snapshot in the episode 'Rollercoaster The Musical' Phineas and Ferb are seen waving the French Flag standing on a pile of rubble in a reference to the song 'Do You Hear The People Sing'.
- The Simpsons:
- The prison number 24601 appears in a few episodes; it belonged to Sideshow Bob in "Black Widower", Marge in "Marge in Chains", and Principal Skinner (back when he was a POW) in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet".
- In "The Italian Bob", Lisa mentions Jean Valjean as one of the great tales of redemption.
- South Park:
- In "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000", Cartman gets the number 24601 when in juvie.
- In "Fatbeard", Ike's runaway letter mentions that he's sick of hearing about Susan Boyle's performance of "I Dreamed a Dream".
- In "World War Zimmerman", Mr. Garrison's lesson on French Revolution contains references to the 2012 film.
