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.)

If I have the definition correct I think I saw an "extra" in the NCIS rerun last night (Wife and I have been watching this show regularly because we never caught it before the writers strike. We like it for some reason. Isn't this the same production company as Magnum PI?).

The David Mac Callum pathologist character called "Ducky" (I think his name is Mallard) is being grilled by an FBI guy.
Ducky: I'd like to take a look at the body.
FBI Guy: It's already been autopsied by Maryland's chief pathologist.
Ducky: Oh, she's very good.

I think he's referencing Patricia Cornwell's "Kay Scarpetta."
Well...I laughed anyway.

Just finished watching the 100th episode of 'Monk', which had a show within the show, "In Focus". As the "In Focus" episode ended, the credit came up for its executive producer: David Hoberman.

Hoberman in real life is the executive producer of 'Monk' itself!

On last week's Boston Legal, Denny Crane and Alan Shore dressed as members of the Coast Guard were riding in a boat to invade a bikini filled yacht. At one point Denny announces "I am the Captain!" Of course he is, he is Captain Kirk.

In the second season premiere for 'Pushing Daisies', Ned sabotaged a call to the Happy Time Temp Agency in order to secure the job for himself. This is the same company from 'Dead Like Me' - and both shows were created by Bryan Fuller. (Great catch, Toby, as always. You're the official Extras all-time champ. -- David B.)

On Monday's (Oct 6) [episode of NBC's "Chuck"], a spy named Sasha Banichek was on. Same name as Linda Fiorentino's character in the (pretty good) 1985 movie GOTCHA.

Nothing specific that comes to mind except that Psych is a goldmine for obscure references. Many times the references are overt and discussed by the main characters, but if you listen for names and places of incidental characters throughout the series there are many laughs to be had by those in the know.

1) From Tue 9/30 HOUSE episode: We find out the name of the doctor who's only been referred to as Thirteen. Her name is Dr. Hadley.
On the original Star Trek, Lt. Hadley, was crewman who filled in as helmsman/navigator for either Sulu or Chekov, and never had any dialogue.

2) From Wed. 10/1 BONES episode: Booth says that FBI agent Graham Kelton had died. When Brennan asks him "Were you friends?", Booth says "He was a jerk."
On short-lived FOX series "Vanished", the lead FBI agent was named Graham Kelton. The character was killed off, mid-season. And there were indications in news articles that actor who played Kelton was difficult to work with.

There was an episode of Smallville I saw sometime ago where I caught an extra. The character of Jonathan Kent is played by actor John Schneider, who played Bo in The Dukes of Hazzard. When Jonathan Kent gets into and starts his pick-up in one scene the radio starts playing the theme song to the Dukes of Hazzard. (This is an oldie, but I'll let it go. Thanks. -- David B.)

On last night's season premiere of "Eli Stone", the bank that Jordan (Victor Garber) was trapped in after the crane fell on it was 'Credit Dauphine', the front for SD-6 in the first seasons of "Alias". (GREAT Extra! Especially since, of course, Garber was a regular on that series, too. -- David B.)

A couple of episodes ago in "Samantha Who?," we saw Christina Applegate's character doing a little fantasy-dance-sequence while singing "Hey, Big Spender" -- just like we would've seen Christina Applegate doing when she was starring in a Broadway revival of "Sweet Charity" a few years ago.

Hi David,
Here's an Extra that I remember from ancient times. I recall a scene from my all time favorite tv show, St. Elsewhere, where William Daniels character is walking down the halls of St. Eligius hospital. As he is walking, the PA system in the hospital announces a page. "Dr. Josiah Bartlett, paging Dr. Josiah Bartlett".
William Daniels, of course, played the lead character John Adams in the movie "1776" back in the early 1970's. Dr. Josiah Bartlett was the Congress' representative from New Hampshire and was an ally of Adams, both being in favor of American Independence. This Extra has always stuck with me over the years and I love it's "insided-ness!" Thanks Dave Henry (The amazing Extra I remember from "St. Elsewhere" was the episode that was a full-blown salute to MTM Productions, with Betty White as a patient thinking she was on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show," and mistaking one of the doctors for Lou Grant. Priceless. -- David B.)

I don't know if this counts, but it sure made me laugh. On last week's Eli Stone (Nov. 18, "The Humanitarian"), Eli took a case defending a man's right to run a clinical trial testing marijuana as a treatment for childhood-onset MS. Well, who should play the trial judge but the actress (Tonye Patano) who played marijuana dealer Heylia James in Showtime's series, Weeds. In the same episode, another lawyer from Eli's firm successfully negotiates his client's way out of a DUI conviction, but it turns out his client hadn't just been drunk, she had been high on cocaine. Who was the attorney who ended up getting the charges dropped? Actress Deirdre Lovejoy, best known as The Asst. State's Attorney for Narcotics, Rhonda Pearlman, from HBO's The Wire. Someone sure had fun casting that episode. (Wow -- That's some intense Extra detecting. I'm impressed. -- David B.)

On Pushing Daisies last night they were in a cooking competition and the pie holes main rival was Muffin Buffalo run by Marianne Marie Beetle from Wonderfalls.

this adds that show to my list, which is now at 540 shows.

I just noticed your column at the Daily News and am going to be looking through them for more shows to add. Thanks to you I have already added Pride and Joy. -- Just don't for me in the Daily News any longer. Been gone from there a year and counting... -- David B.

Hi Dave! In this final season of "Boston Legal," I found a great extra...one of so many with this incredible series. In the "Juiced" episode that aired on 12/1, Betty White's Catherine was sitting in the office of John Larroquette's Carl. When Carl confronted her and eventually tried to call 911, the call went to Catherine's cell phone. The ring on her phone was the theme song from "The Practice," the launching pad for this other wonderful David E. Kelley show! Loved hearing even a few notes from that great theme song.

A nice little Extra in this week's episode of 'Leverage' ("The Bank Shot Job"):

When Hardison and Parker presented themselves as FBI agents to the local police, Hardison identified himself as Agent Leonard, and Parker as Agent Elmore.

A tip of the hat to writer Elmore Leonard, I'd say. Perhaps the plot-line was similar to one in a novel of his.....

here's an Extra for you:

A recent episode of "How I Met Your Mother" had Marshall and Robin patronizing a bar overpopulated with Minnesota Vikings' fans. The names on some of the Jersers being worn is where the extra lies. I saw jerseys sporting the names of "Thomas", "Bays", "Fryman" and "Smulders". The show was created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, with Pamela Fryman as an executive producer. Robin is played by Cobie Smulders...thought they'd slip one past us. Thanks for listening. Happy 2009 & good luck with the Smothers Brothers Book. I look forward to picking up a copy. (Thanks -- You'll have plenty of warning hear about publication dates and book signings... After I finish writing, that is. Any week now. And good catch on the jersey Extras... -- David B.)

Hi Dave,

I thought I saw an extra in Chuck vs Santa Claus, I hope its not too obvious. Was the police officer in the lot that called in to the Buymore the same actor who played a similar part in the movie Die Hard? He sounded exactly like him down the the catch phrases. (Good catch -- It was the same guy, Reginald VelJohnson. "TGIF" fans will also remember him from "Family Matters." -- David B.)

About the Chuck episode- it was full of Die Hard stuff - Reginald's name in the episode was Al Powell, same as the movie, he was shown eating a twinkie in the beginning, (his favorite food in Die Hard), and the show also took place at Christmastime, same as the movie. Add a hostage situation, and the hug at the end, well, it was just chock-full. (Nice. -- David B.)

While doing research for my TV blog about 'Stargate SG-1', I found an episode from the 7th season called "Inauguration" that contained an Extra:

Three members of a secretive group called "The Trust" (I believe they may have been aliens), presented themselves as Mr. Parker, Mr. Wayne, and Mr. Kent.

All three are references to the aliases of superheroes: Peter Parker (Spiderman), Bruce Wayne (Batman), and Clark Kent (Superman). (Very good catch... but where's Mr. Banner? -- David B.)

I'm just back from the Paley Center where I saw 2 episodes of 'Secret Agent' and 1 of 'Danger Man' in tribute to Patrick McGoohan.

At any rate, I found a classic Extra in one of the episodes of 'Secret Agent', "The Not So Jolly Roger". Drake was working undercover at a pirate radio station out at sea where stolen military information was being transmitted. One of the other DJs, Suzy Wade, was an innocent in the plot and during the climactic scene she got into a fight with the owner's wife who had been holding Suzy prisoner.

During the fight scene, the turntable was playing "He Who Rides The Tiger" by Patsy Ann Noble.

Patsy Ann Noble was playing Suzy Wade. (You're amazing, Toby. A 40-year-old Extra, and you still get to it first. -- David B.)

On tonight's BATTLESTAR GALACTICA episode "The Oath," Lt. Gaeta is accused of making an operatic gesture. In real life, the actor who plays him (Alessandro Juliani) has sung opera in Canada.

On last week's 30 Rock, Jack (Alec Baldwin) was confessing his sins to a priest. He said one of his sins is that he once declared he is God during a deposition. This is taken from the movie Malice which starred Alec Baldwin in which his character did declare he was God during a deposition. (Wonderful! That one went over my head completely, even though I remember Malice. You are a God among Extra detectives! -- David B.)

Don't know if this qualifies as an official "extra" but: On Valentine's Day I saw a TV ad for Certain Dri deodorant. I'd never heard of this brand, but what I found noteworthy about the commercial was its background music, which was the theme from "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Surely the Certain Dri folks must have complied with all legal/licensing requirements. . .

On the Feb. 17 episode of LEVERAGE, Timothy Hutton's character Nate encounters his ex-wife, played by Kari Matchett. Matchett may not have played his wife, but did play girlfriend Lilly Rowan opposite Hutton's Archie Goodwin on NERO WOLFE. (Great catch! And didn't she play a lot of other roles on that show, too? -- David B.)

Just watched my recording of last night's 'Dollhouse' and have a great Extra for you.

Matt Keeslar (formerly 'The Middleman') was playing a guy named Richard Connell, who contracted Echo's services from the Dollhouse, just so he could hunt her down in the woods.

It was very reminiscent of a famous short story called "The Most Dangerous Game" which was written by... Richard Connell. (Yeah, I loved that. Next to the author and philosopher names tossed around on "Lost," it was about as literary as prime-time TV gets. Great catch! -- David B.)

Slowly catching up to everything I recorded from Friday night....

On the 'Psych' episode, Shawn introduced his friend Gus as "Sterling Cooper", which is the name of the advertising firm in 'Mad Men'. (Now you're just showing off. Good for you, again. -- David B.)

I'm six weeks behind on "Psych" episodes and, through the miracle of The DVR, just saw the one about the arson-ders (or were they furders or mur-sonists, I forget?). Anyway, during a morgue-set scene, Shawn is talking to the rookie fire inspector, played by Milena Govich, and he says to her that the disappointed look on her face is similar to the one she gets when she discovers that an episode of "Law and Order" is actually a rerun. The Extra? That rerun might be one from a season in which the junior detective was played by Milena Govich.

Another Extra from a current-season "Psych" -- I think it's from the football episode, so hard to recall this stuff when DVRing a mini-marathon of this show -- Shawn is saying that he could relax by going home and watching a couple of episodes of "The Mentalist." That's the show that some people think pretty much rips off the premise of "Psych." (Nice catches -- and not at all spoiled by age. -- David B.)

In tonight's episode of 'Lost', Caesar was flipping through an old (1954) copy of Life magazine. One of the pages he passed showed "The Creature From The Black Lagoon" and the actress he was carrying was Julie Adams.

Julie Adams appeared on 'Lost' in the episode "A Tale Of Two Cities" in which she was a member of the Island's book club. I always wondered if they planned on bringing her character back for some purpose, as it seemed like such a throwaway scene for bringing in a name actress.

Now this little in-joke has me thinking that again.... (If this happens, I give HUGE props to the writers for planning so deviously, so far ahead -- and to you, for catching it. We'll see. -- David B.)

It seems that since Boston Legal is gone- the place for extras is either Psych or Chuck. In DVR-ing (Like Art C.) I watched 'Chuck vs. Santa Claus" where Big Mike's brother/cousin got a job at the Buy More after he got out of jail. (Played by Jerome Bettis) "Holy Shawshank Redemption, Batman!!" As proof, I submit the following:
A- Big nasty guy- why was he in jail? Answer- Insider trading/monetary fraud, unlike a little skinny guy that it was found to be surprising that was in for murder.
B- Jailbird want to eventually go to "Zihuatenejo"
(Even though in Chuck I believe it turned out to be Cleveland)
C- On his way out, the quote "Get busy living, or get busy dying" is quoted by Chuck's co-worker, Jefferson.
From a very big fan of Chuck and "The Shawshank Redemption)
I hope to see more of this from Chuck -- (Very nice, very involved Extra. Good job. -- David B.)

Hi David, I hope this qualifies as an "extra". Currently Salma Hayek plays Jack Donaghy's girlfriend on 30 Rock. In real life she is of Mexican descent, but she states on the show that she is Puerto Rican. I believe that this ethnicity choice is not by chance. I was listening to a repeat of a Shadow Stevens Top 40 countdown from the 90s on Sirius and a song by Selena was being introduced. In the intro he mentions that relatively unknown actress Salma Hayek most likely would be cast as Selena (who is Mexican). As we now know Jennifer Lopez (who is Puerto Rican) was cast in that role. At the time I remember there was much outroar over that choice due to Ms. Lopez being of Puerto Rican descent, not Mexican like Selena. Coincidence?

Thanks, Mike Tesoriero (Not quite sure on this one, whether they were making that wide a casting-choice point or just pursuing other punch lines on 30 Rock. Either way, it's interesting, so thanks. -- David B.)

This past week's episode of 'Life On Mars' started with the bombing of a bar that was a popular hangout for NYC cops.

The name of the bar was Glenister's, which is the last name of the actor who played Gene Hunt in the original British version of 'Life On Mars' as well as its sequel, 'Ashes To Ashes' - Philip Glenister. (I'll put this Extra in an Extra special Anglophile. Good one. -- David B.)

On the March 9 epidode of SAVING GRACE, a criminal's name is given as Carl La Fong.

Fans of W.C. Fields know that name from his movie IT'S A GIFT. Fields is trying to sleep and is harassed by a man looking for "Carl La Fong...Capital L, small a, Capital F, small o, small n, small g".

The character on this show has no connection with anything in IT'S A GIFT but that can't be a coincidence. (Good catch, my little chickadee -- and I mean that in a manly, friendly way. -- David B.)

On last week's (3/16) episode of CASTLE, Nathan Fillion is talking to Susan Sullivan, playing his mother and an actress. He mentions her having been on ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Sullivan was never on OLTL, although she was on ANOTHER WORLD, another New York based soap.

Fillion, however, was on OLTL for years. This also qualifies as ABC plugging one of its shows!

On the 3/27 episode of DOLLHOUSE, the big bad corporation is ROSSUM. Could this be a nod to "Rossum's Universal Robots" from the play R.U.R. by Karel Capek? This was the play that introduced the word "robot" which means either "worker" or "slave" in Czech.
(Damn, Sam, I LOVE this! And it shows that those guys from "Lost" aren't the only ones littering their scripts with arcane but illuminating Extras. GREAT catch! Thanks! -- David B.)

Southland: Tom Sizemore's character gets arrested. The cop arresting him notices he's a big wig in hollywood and recalls one of his shows. He exclaims "I love Body Bags!"

Body bags was the name of the movie the Director was making in True Romance, in which Tom Sizemore plays a cop trying to arrest the Director. (Wow. Good one. -- David B.)

At the end of the 4/23 episode of SMALLVILLE, the following takes place.

Lois Lane had put a notice in the Daily Planet that she wanted to interview the "red-blue blur" which is what Clark Kent (not named Superman yet) had been "appearing" as.

She has been given red & blue paper directing her to a location but finds nothing. She then hears a telephone ring.

There is a nearby phone booth and the ringing is coming from there. This is a real "old-fashioned" booth of the kind we saw years ago but is rare today. I think that itself may be an homage to the classic "changing in a phone booth" scenario.

She picks up the phone and we find out Clark (with voice disguised) is talking to her as the "red-blue blur". She babbles a bit and he asks her if she'd nervous.

She responds with "Can you read my mind?"

Which is what Margot Kidder was thinking about as LL (to the theme song) while being flown around by Christopher Reeve in the Superman movie.

There have been a number of homages to the movie on Smallville. This has to be another!

(Yeah, they're being very generous with them this season, making this show fun again. -- David B.)

In the last week, two characters made references to the past acting credits of the actors who portrayed them. (At least, I think it may have been intentional.)

Christian de la Fuente guest-starred on 'Brothers & Sisters' as Cal, an accountant at Ojai Foods. He told Rachel Griffiths' character that he used to play minor league ball - as did his character from 'In Plain Sight'.

And on 'The Unusuals', Detective Banks saw some video of an escaped hospice patient and declared the guy to be a zombie. Since he was played by Harold Perrineau, maybe he knows what he's talking about - Perrineau was in the movie '28 Weeks Later', which was about people who became like zombies from a rage virus.

(Toby, I wondered about the zombie joke myself, but completely missed the "Brothers and Sisters" reference. You're the champ, as always. -- David B.)

Don't know if we can count this one but on the 4/27 episode of CASTLE, there was a character named "Captain Pike" that was in a wheelchair. I immediately thought of the STAR TREK episode "The Menagerie" with a Captain Pike in a wheelchair.

The only problem is the ST character's first name was Christopher & the CASTLE character was Samuel. Sam's a great name but it calls into question whether this was an Extra. (I'm feeling generous, so I'll give you partial credit. If his wheelchair had a pair of colored lights on it, then we'd know for sure -- David B.)

This week's episode of 'Bones' ("The Beaver In The Otter") was about a murder on a college campus, and it had several in-jokes that made one think of 'Animal House', probably the best movie ever about college life.

First off, right there in the title was "Otter", which was the frat nickname for Tim Matheson's character.

Then there were two other characters whose names suggested other characters - Greg Harmalard > Greg Marmalard, and Dean Vernon Warner > Dean Vernon Wormer. (Perfect. As fraternity Extras go, this was the real Kappa! -- David B.)

Denny Dugally is the production designer on 'Brothers & Sisters', so I guess he could work an in-joke into the look of the show whenever he likes. This past Sunday he snuck one in for himself: the name of the company foreclosing on Tommy and Julia's house was "Dugally Property". (Probably wouldn't have noticed it if he didn't get an on-screen credit so soon after the "For Sale" sign was shown in the opening scene.) (Dear Toby: Your depth, as well as breadth, of Extras amazes me. Thanks for continuing the search, even though I'm now publishing you online rather than in the New York Daily News. -- David B.)

Here's one from an "old" movie. I guess 50 years ago is long enough to call a movie "old".

In NORTH BY NORTHWEST, Cary Grant is kidnapped and in protest mentions his plans for that night.
The line is something like, "I have tickets tonight for the Winter Garden Theatre for a play I very much want to see."

We get a few dates mentioned in the movie and it's taking place sometime after July. It was filmed in 1958, so we can assume that it's taking place in the last part of 1958.

What play was at the Winter Garden at that time?
According to the Internet Broadway Database, it was
WEST SIDE STORY.

Who wrote the script for NORTH BY NORTHWEST?

Ernest Lehman!

A couple of years later, who wrote the screenplay for the movie version of WEST SIDE STORY?

Yep! Ernest Lehman!

(I'm not sure about this one - pre-production schedules may make it purely coincidental. A nice coincidence, but still...
At any rate, though I'm intrigued, a 50-year-old film Extra might be better suited to a website called MOVIES WORTH WATCHING AGAIN.
Take that idea and run, if you like. But stay here, too. I'd miss you. -- David B.)

Still about six episodes back on 'Reaper', so this Extra isn't exactly fresh....

One of the souls that Sam had to collect was a shipping magnate named Edmund Fitzgerald.

This was the name of the Great Lakes freighter that sank in 1975 and made famous in the Gordon Lightfoot song.

So to give him that name it almost seems required that he'd be in shipping...

(Persuasive AND obscure. Points for both! -- David B.)

This is a little one:

On May 1 - Dollhouse, written by Jane Espenson, writer extraordinaire of Battlestar Galactica and various Whedon shows - the character Topher said "Frak" - clearly a reference to BSG. (Indeed -- and frak, I hope this show survives. But I don't think it will. -- David B.)

In the penultimate episode of CASTLE this season, an FBI agent asks Castle why a mega successful crime novelist has to follow a real life police detective around for background info. Castle replies that "the detectives on television are oddly fixated on their sunglasses." Nice jab at the direct Monday at 10 competition, "The Adventures of Super Horatio".

When I got home from work this morning, I watched last night's episode of 'Harper's Island' and found an Extra for you!

At one point the local guy Shane was sitting at the Cannery bar and drinking from a bottle of Robert MacLachlan whiskey, complaining that it was sold at 14 dollars a glass.

Whenever I see a prop like this on a TV show, I always check out to see if it's for real. Well, a quick look at the show's credits netted Robert MacLachlan - he's the cinematographer for 'Harper's Island'!

(The only thing that's NOT impressive about your detective work uncovering this particular Extra, Toby, is what the hell are you doing watching Harper's Island? -- David B.)