Blog : TV Worth Watching

April 14, 2008 - Extras! Extras! Read All About Them -- Finally!

When I was TV critic at the New York Daily News, I instituted a recurring feature called "Extras" -- my name for in-jokes hidden within TV shows, and unearthed by either me or my sharp-eyed readers. Most of the time, it was the readers who deserved the credit -- and got it, for some 14 years, as I showcased the best Extras and identified the viewers who caught them.

Well, good news: The Daily News has given me official permission to continue the Extra search over here at TV WORTH WATCHING. And with the interactivity of the Interweb, you don't need to wait for me to cull through the mail any more. You Extra detectives can just post your finds, and see what others are catching and posting, in a much faster way of sharing secrets.

Beginning today, you can find the place to read about, or write about, Extras at the top of the FEEDBACK page. We've redesigned things so the other questions on FEEDBACK -- about your first favorite TV show, and first memorable TV sex symbol -- can also be commented on, and read, in their own dedicated areas.

One of the Extras you'll find on the FEEDBACK page is a then-and-now visual joke on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, with Neil Patrick Harris, as Barney, writing his blog in the same thoughtful manner Harris used to type his computer diary on Doogie Howser, M.D., a very long time ago. Here's an extra part of that Extra: The direct references extended not only to the expression on Harris' face, and to the Doogie Howser theme music, but to the primitive white-letters-on-blue-screen computer monitor.

Except, of course, Barney's blog had a slightly cockier message than little Doogie's pubescent musings...

So enjoy the Extras, and the rest of the FEEDBACK page. And check out the JUKEBOX page and the additions to the FRESH AIR FAVORITES page, if you haven't seen them already.

They're all part of the slow but sure changes underfoot here. And not to be too mysterious, but the biggest and best change is just around the corner...

Stay tuned.

1 Comments

Sally W. said:

The Extra of seeing that episode on "How I Met Your Mother" with Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) blogging a la the former Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris) - with a Barney twist - was a huge laugh-out-loud moment for me! I had been waiting for a very long time for "HIMYM" to do this kind of shout-out to Doogie... :-) Priceless!

Also, I don't know if this was intentional on CBS or not, but in the middle of that same episode, they aired the commercial for the Harold and Kumar movie sequel, where apparently Harold and Kumar (John Cho and Kal Penn, who both made appearances - Penn a whole season - on "House") get stuck in Guantanamo and Neil Patrick Harris plays a Barney-like Neil Patrick Harris and has to rescue them (or something like that, if the commercial made sense). Terribly amusing!

Comment posted on April 14, 2008 11:38 PM

Archer T-shirts & fan gear at the Fox Shop!

Behind David in the picture is the first TV owned by his father, Virgil Bianculli, a 1946 Raytheon. (The TV, not his father. His father was a 1923 Italian.)

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air, occasional substitute host for that show's Terry Gross, and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His most recent book is 2009's Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,' and he's at work on another.

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