Today is the day. Everything we have done here at Reference Humor has led to this. Breaking down one of the most reference loaded live-action half-hours of entertainment ever to be aired on network television. Today we dive deep into Dan Harmon’s classic post-modern homage to the action genre; the paintball episode that started it all: Community Season 1 Episode 23 “Modern Warfare”. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 0:47– Abed compares Jeff and Britta’s…
Category: Reference Humor
Reference Humor: Brooklyn Nine-Nine S1E6 “Halloween”
Halloween is just around the corner and to celebrate I’m bringing you the very first of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Halloween specials. It’s scary at just how many references this show can fit into one episode. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:25- Charles is dressed as Mario Batali a celebrity chef. (This episode aired before Batali faced multiple accusations of sexual harassment) 00:30- Jake guesses that Charles is dressed as a dumpy Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris…
Reference Humor: Psych Season 3 Episode 15 “Tuesday the 17th”
When it comes to meta and murder, no one does it better than fake psychic detective Shawn Spencer. And being as this is October and Halloween is just around the corner I thought I’d use this edition of Reference Humor to break down Psych’s Friday the 13th homage “Tuesday the 17th” As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. You’ve been warned (cue evil cackle). 00:00 The episode title is a reference to the slasher film Friday the 13th (1980) 00:24…
Reference Humor: Chuck Season 1 Episode 6 “Chuck Versus the Sandworm”
In this entry, we’re taking a look at an early episode of one of the geekiest shows ever to air on network television: Chuck. Chuck never shied away from its geekiness and a such it was home to more pop-culture references than you can shake a wookie at. Let’s queue it up. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:00– The title is a reference to the Dune franchise which began with the 1965 novel Dune…
Reference Humor: Bojack Horseman S1E11 “Downer Ending”
Nothing screams nostalgia like a 90’s sitcom and nothing says pop-culture like a show about a talking horse. Combine the two and you what you get is something unexpected, a dark comedy featuring rampant drug use and nihilistic narcissism. In this edition of Reference Humor, we take a look at one of the earlier episodes of one of my favorite Netflix shows: Bojack Horseman As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:11– Bojack’s publisher is Penguin…
Reference Humor: The Venture Bros Season 4 Episode 12 “Everybody Comes to Hank’s”
You can say this for cartoon network, they certainly know how to get a good laugh out of the properties. This week on Reference Humor, we’re going to take a look at one of the early mainstays of Adult Swim, The Venture Bros. This show is perfect for our purposes as the entire series is just one big send up of the Johnny Quest franchise. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:00 The episode title…
Reference Humor: Family Guy Season 8 Episode 1 “Road to Multiverse”
This week we take a look at a show which is known for relying heavily on pop-culture to make its jokes fly. To be honest I’m a bit hit or miss with Family Guy. But I picked an episode I haven’t seen before so we will see how this goes. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. Okay, let’s get started. 00:00 The entire episode is a play on the central premise of the show Sliders (1995-2000), which feature four…
Reference Humor: Futurama Season 4 Episode 1 “Roswell that ends well”
Futurama is a show known for mixing its more over the top plots in with subtler, satiric jabs. It is never afraid to lampoon the conventions of the Sci-fi genre in which it finds itself, or to draw parallels between the far-flung future and our here and now. I was curious though, as much as Futurama seems like its always winking and nodding at it audience, how much does it actually rely on reference humor to accomplish its comedy. And what better episode to put up as a sample then the Emmy-award winning season 4 premiere. As always bold numbers…
Reference Humor: Looney Tunes “Bugs Bunny’s Easter Special”
Hey everybody. This Easter season I decided that we should kick it old school and see how folks did pop culture references back before 21st century got all meta on us. So I went to the vault, aka the VHS collection, and dug out this classic Looney Tunes adventure (or rather I should say adventures as this is actually a collection of classic Looney Tunes shorts strung together with an Easter themed framing device.) So let’s get our cartoon on and see what kind of references Bug’s Bunny is apt to make. As always bold numbers represent the time at…
Reference Humor: Spaced Season 1 Episode 1 “Beginnings”
While I won’t go so far as to say the cult Channel 4 series Spaced started the modern trend towards reference humor it was certainly an early forerunner of the comedic style as we know it today. And since it was there at the very beginning of the 21st-century meta-movement I thought today we should take a look at its very first episode; aptly titled “Beginnings”. As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films. Scroll down at your own risk. 00:32 “I cried like a child at…