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Extras: What They Are, Where To Find Them
One of my most popular regular column offerings, when I was TV critic for The New York Daily News, was a feature called Extras - my name for in-jokes buried within TV shows. Over the years, I deputized my loyal readers to search for them and send them my way, and every month or so I'd print the best Extras, as well as the names of the readers who found them.
Well, I'm very happy to report that the Daily News has given me official permission to continue Extras here at TV WORTH WATCHING. So here we go - or, rather, here YOU go. If you find a neat Extra, post it here under comments, and we'll al get to read and enjoy them at the same time. And in real time, rather than waiting for me to collect and collate them.
Toby O'Brien, the Tubeworld TV guru who may have sent me more worthwhile Extras than anyone else during my 14-year Daily News reign, sent one to me back in November, just in case I was still collecting them. So let's use that as an example, since I was able to hunt up appropriate visual aids.
"Last night," O'Brien from Manhattan wrote then, "Pushing Daisies did a cross-medium in-joke with a flashback for guest star Molly Shannon's character. She was out in a skiff, heading for Bodega bay, when she was attacked my sea gulls.
"Besides the obvious comparison to the movie The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock, especially with the mention of Bodega Bay, I think Molly Shannon's wardrobe and reactions were supposed to recall the image of Tippi Hedren in that movie."
True enough. See for yourself: Exhibit A, the photo at top left -- at the Tippi top -- is Shannon from ABC's Pushing Daisies. Exhibit B, at top right, is Tippi Hedren from the original 1963 Hitchcock film. That's an Extra that really is for the birds...
And here's a more recent example, from an April 2008 episode of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. My teaching colleague at Rowan University, Prof. Mike Donovan, caught this one and called me immediately.
At the end of the show, Neil Patrick Harris, who plays Barney, was writing an entry of "Barney's Blog" onto his laptop, as the familiar strains of the theme song of Harris' first TV series, Doogie Howser, M.D., played in the background. Harris, as Doogie, typed his inner thoughts onto a computer in that series, too, way back in 1989... and even stared off into space the same way when thinking about what to write next. See for yourself:
Now it's your turn. Caught any good Extras lately? Describe and share them here, by clicking COMMENTS. And thanks, to my former employer and to you, for keeping this TV treasure-hunting tradition alive.
Did you see the Extra in last night's "How I Met Your Mother"?
At the end of the episode, Neil Patrick Harris' Barney is seen in front of a laptop
updating his blog, as the Doogie Howser MD theme music is in the background.
(Dave sent this independently of my posting this example, and well before, so he deserves credit. -- David B)
Great in-joke goes back to "That 70's Show." Tanya Roberts is going to renew her vows. Kitty, her best friend, is upset she wasn't asked to be a bridesmaid. Turns out she had them picked and the three were also former Bond girls. (M. Adams, B. Carrera and K. Wayborn.) The shot lasted long enough to recognize them and then said no more about it. Thanks to the ladies for being good sports about it.
The "Ugly Betty" episode that aired 11/01 included some scenes centered on a night at the Broadway show "Wicked."
One song from the musical prominently featured in that episode is "I'm Not That Girl"...in the context of "Betty," it serves as an allusion of sorts to guest star Marlo Thomas' classic sitcom. Her character, an ad representative, was at "Wicked" with Dan.
Last night's Simpsons episode included a parody of the late Sopranos episode when Tony suffocates Christopher to death after a car accident. In the Simpsons universe, it was Homer suffocating Grampa after a similar accident (it turns out to be a dream Homer is having while driving Lisa to Girl Scouts). Upon waking, Homer says, "Ohh... I always wake up before the good part."
(Great one! -- David B)
Tonight's episode of '30 Rock' featured Tim Conway as an old TV comedian named Bucky Bright. He went on a weird and twisted nostalgic trip through the halls of NBC until he found a picture of himself with the gang from the old days.
It turned out to be a picture of the cast from 'McHale's Navy' in which Tim Conway co-starred (only that show was on ABC). (Good catch, Toby, as always. You still have the record for unearthing Extras -- David B.)
On last night's episode of "My Name is Earl," a drug dealer called Earl's father (played by Beau Bridges) "Dude." Earl's father told the drug dealer not to call him Dude, and the drug dealer told him to calm down and then referred to him as "Lebowski." Of course, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski was played by Beau Bridges' brother, Jeff Bridges.
(This one's a classic, Dude. Thanks! -- David B.)
Just watched that '30 Rock' episode again at the NBC site.... And during that press conference at the beginning of the show with Mayor Bloomberg as himself, there were a lot of fake news crawls along the bottom. Along with stories about zombie ambassadors and baby bottles found on Mars, there was an item about NORAD putting Cyborgs in charge of Skynet.
This is a reference to the 'Terminator' franchise, which includes 'The Sarah Connor Chronicles' on rival network FOX.
Between that and the ABC reference of 'McHale's Navy', there must be a few suits at the real 30 Rock who aren't too happy when those kinds of details get through!
(Toby, that's great -- I hadn't caught that one! -- David B.)
I think I spotted an Extra in tonights episode of NCIS. Rocky Carroll co starred as an agent investigating the NCIS crew. Carroll also co-starred with Mark Harmon (Jethro Gibbs) in the CBS medical drama Chicago Hope. In this episode Carroll's character hands Gibbs some money. Gibbs asks him"What is this for". Carroll replies, "For the cheese danish" Gibbs questions.."From eight years ago???" That's about the time frame when Chicago Hope was on the air, so I'm guessing that was an inside joke of some sort!! (You're probably right -- but even though I was a big "Hope" fan, I don;t know whether that's an onscreen or offscreen joke. Anybody else know? -- David B.)
On Boston Legal Tuesday night, Alan and Denny were sitting on the patio with their scothch and cigars contemplating where they should travel to on their next trip. (They had just returned from the Supreme Court). One of them suggested "Wednesdays" presumably meant to be the name of a restaurant and the other agreed to go "next week." ABC has moved the show from Tuesday to Wednesday. (Good catch, Kate! David E. Kelley has done that sort of stuff from time to time, making jokes about theme songs, Emmy wins and so on. -- David B.)
I just got around to watching last weeks Scrubs where Turk revealed to JD that he had to have a testicle removed. JD asks him "Which one, Lamont or Grady?" Lamont and Grady were characters from Sanford and Son - a couple of nuts as I recall. (Very funny -- and remembering "Sanford & Son" was a good catch! Given the context, I would have guessed another sitcom: "Groin Pains." -- David B.)
Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen, helicopter noise and Platoon. Or was it Apocalypse Now and his father as the extra?
I've watched this so many times, and then it finally dawned on me. I'm not presumptuos enough to think I'm the only one to see this, but in "Band of Brothers", Tom Hanks son Colin, plays a character named 2nd Lt. Jones....2nd Lt. Henry Jones to be exact...and wasn't that the 'real' name of Indiana Jones, the product of fellow Producer Steven Spielberg? (It may well be, but I'm not sure whether Spielberg or the elder Hanks would be playful with such a serious subject. I'll ask around, though, and try to find out if you're correct. -- David B.)
Hey Dave did you see the Mythbusters doing a thumbs up on CSI? They were doing a test on a dummy clone of Buster and the guys were in the next room. (No, I missed it. I'll try to catch it on the rerun cycle. Good catch! -- David B.)
i enjoyed reading the "extras" feature in ny daily news for years and never got up the gumption to submit anything, well here it goes . . . it may be a stretch but in the battlestar galactica epi "The Road Less Travelled (sp?)" baltar said that god loves you just the way you are. i thought this was funny because the first thing i remember seeing the baltar's portrayer, james callis, in was "bridget jones's diary", which has d'arcy telling bridget he liked her just the way she was; a line oft repeated in the movie. i know it's a crossover of mediums and genres but it worked for me. (Works for me, too, just fine. Welcome to the squadron of Extra detectives! -- David B.)
In the season-ender of 'Bones', Booth was reading a "Green Lantern" comic book in his bathtub.
David Boreanaz, who plays Booth, plays Hal Jordan (Green Lantern's alter ego) in "Justice League: The New Frontier". So it was a nice plug for that project..... (Another sharp-eyed catch from the King of Extras. Good one, Toby! -- David B.)
Okay, got another one... Now that the season is over, I'm just now catching up with the last five episodes of 'Reaper'. In "Acid Queen", the guys were looking for an inside source for information among the employees of a fashion magazine. They finally found a dweebish cubicle dweller named Kendall, whom they figured they could bond with.
"I know a brother when I see one." said Sock.
Which makes sense - Sock is played by Tyler Labine, and his brother Kyle Labine was playing the role of Kendall!
I always loved Extras in the Daily News. My first one is a pretty obvious one but here goes. On Sunday night's Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Mary McCormack appeared as her In Plain Sight character. She mentioned in the show that she had to be home by 10:00PM. Det. Logan responded by asking what was there to do on a Sunday at 10:00pm in Albuquerque. Of course, In Plain Sight comes on at 10:00. (This is WONDERFUL! Thanks! -- David B.)
Not only was Mary McCormack an "extra" but now In Plain Sight can be linked to the Tom Fontana-verse. In Plain Sight is only degrees of separation from St. Elsewhere by way of Munch and Dr. Roxanne Turner (who appeared on Homicide)! (You're right -- and the mind reels. Does this mean all these characters, and shows, reside in the snow globe of Tommy Westphall's autistic imagination? -- David B.)
I found two Extra in-jokes over this weekend in classic TV mysteries.
First, a failed comic named Davey Carr was driving a Hollywood tour bus and doing imitations of the stars whose homes he passed. As he was doing his Kirk Douglas impression, a passenger pointed out that it wasn't Kirk Douglas' house, but Edd Byrnes' place. He told her that he didn't do Edd Byrnes.
You probably figured this out already - Davey Carr was played by Edd Byrnes.
In the second one, a "Dr. Satlof" was paged over the intercom at a hospital in an episode of 'McCloud'. Ron Satlof was a director and producer of that series.
(Toby -- You forgot to mention which show you were talking about in the first instance! -- David B.)
In an episode of "Numb3rs" the Eppes boys sit down and Don says, "What are you watching? This channel only shows old shows." Alan responds, "I like the old shows." The theme of Taxi can be heard coming from the TV.
Alan is played by Judd Hirsch who of course was Alex Reiger on Taxi. (It's an oldie, but a real goodie. And I love that "taxi" theme. -- David B.)
Arrrrgh! My apologies! Edd Byrnes as Davey Carr was in an episode of "Burke's Law" - "Who Killed Mr. Colby In Ladies' Lingerie?"
Sorry about that, Chief! (It's okay. Missed it by THAT much... -- David B.)
I'm not sure if this would count as an Extra, or if it was just a coincidence......
In the season premiere of 'Burn Notice' tonight, Michael said in a voice-over near the end that he couldn't think of Fiona as an asset because you don't miss the scent of an asset when it leaves the room.
I have to wonder if that was a reference to the movie "Scent Of A Woman" in which Gabrielle Anwar, who plays Fiona, was a co-star?
I caught the repeat of "Time's Up", an episode of 'CSI: NY' last night, in which a dying man confessed to having killed another man - 24 hours in the future.
The dead man turned out to be a physicist who built his own time machine. And whenever they showed it in operation during flashbacks, you could hear the roar of the TARDIS from 'Doctor Who' (which of course is the Doctor's own time machine). (Very, very nice -- and by the way, I've been VERY impressed by the current season of Dr. Who on Sci Fi Channel -- David B.)