It may seem like TV shows are made pretty fast, but regardless of their final ratings, the creators, set decoratos, and the rest of the staff still care about putting in little things here and there, hoping viewers would notice them. Sometimes, these details are easy to spot, but other times, you’ll need multiple viewings to find them.
Here are some of the most missable references and easter eggs in TV history.
1. The Simpsons – McBain
Have you ever noticed that The Simpsons are doing their darndest to mock as many famous people as they can? One such mockery is Rainier Wolfcastle, who looks a lot like a certain senator. Wolfcastle is a huge Hollywood star in the show, famous for his “McBain” action movie series, so clearly it’s Bruce Willis, right? Wrong! It’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, dummy.
2. Fringe – The Observer
There was this amazing sci-fi show on FOX called Fringe, where a bunch of federal agents used “fringe science” to investigate unexplainable events. Think X Files but with actual answers. And on this show, there was a bald dude – the Observer – who was always lurking around somewhere in the background of every episode. But the network took it a step further and this guy started popping up in other FOX shows and live sports broadcasts. Pretty cool, huh?
3. Futurama – Nibbler
If you’re a fan of Futurama, you might remember the moment in the first episode where Fry falls off his chair and lands in a cryo-tube, only to wake up in the future. In season five, we find out that it was actually Lila’s pet, Nibbler, who pushed him into the tube. And if you go back to that first episode and look closely, you can see Nibbler’s shadow in the scene where Fry falls.
4. The Good Place – Friends
The Good Place made many references to Friends, but in season four, Michael asks the Judge if she’s fine with putting all of the Friends cast into the Bad Place. After listing Ross, Rachel, Monica, Joey, and Chandler, Michael says, “But not Phoebe, right?” Although at the time this seemed like a casual remark, since Phoebe was arguably the best person of the bunch according to social standards, in the penultimate episode of the series, we meet Hypatia of Alexandria, who is played by Phoebe’s actor Lisa Kudrow! So, one way or another, Feebs did get to the Good Place.
5. Community – Beetlejuice
Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy-horror Beetlejuice about a bio-exorcist who helps ghouls scare humans who move into their homes is a real classic. According to the movie’s lore, to summon Beetlejuice, all you need to do is say his name three times. And guess what? The Community did exactly that in seasons 1 and 2. They kept sneaking Beetlejuice’s name into the scripts, and in season 3, the ghoul himself finally appears when Annie says his name for the third time.
6. Battlestar Galactica – Serenity from Firefly
Joss Whedon’s short-lived space-western series Firefly still has a huge fan base that’s been keeping it alive ever since it got canceled. It even got a full-feature movie called Serenity, but it wasn’t a satisfying bookend for the fans. Then we got another awesome sci-fi series – Battlestar Galactica, which snuck in the ship from Firefly in its premiere episode. Even if it was just for a second, all the nerds out there wept in unison.
7. Game of Thrones – Intricate Braids
Remember when Daenerys and Viserys were with the Dothraki? Viserys was worried that Daenerys would turn him into one of them and joked about having to braid his hair. Daenerys replied that he had no right to a braid since he hadn’t won any victories yet. Fans noticed that as Daenerys became more and more cutthroat, she started adding more braids to her hair. Even though the ending of Game of Thrones was disappointing, to say the least, the attention to detail was still amazing.
8. How I Met Your Mother – The Countdown
In the “Bad News” episode of How I Met Your Mother, keen-eyed viewers discovered a particularly well-hidden countdown from 50 to 0. The numbers appeared on a beer bottle, brochure covers, in magazines, on a calendar, etc. The last number – 001 – can be seen on the taxi. Right after that, Marshal learns about the death of his father, completely changing the tone of the episode.
