In retrospect, we should've noticed these foreshaodwing moments. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the times when situational comedies dropped hints at later story developments.
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00:00 I never thought I'd miss a hand so much.
00:02 Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the times when situational comedies drop hints at later story developments.
00:11 For this list, we're only looking at live action shows, but beware of potential spoilers ahead.
00:16 He creeps and crawls in the midnight hush.
00:19 Number 10. Sheldon and the Psychic - The Big Bang Theory
00:24 No one would accuse Sheldon Cooper of being open to new things. When his friend Penny takes him to a psychic in season 7, he is not into it.
00:33 He is also not there for personal advice about his partnership with longtime girlfriend Amy.
00:38 He should give himself to this relationship. Once he does, all his other pursuits will come into focus.
00:44 Not to mention, he has some professional issues to work out. However, the psychic annoys him when she says his goals, professional included, will only come to fruition once he commits to his relationship.
00:57 Sheldon, do you hear that? I mean, Amy is the key to your happiness.
01:00 Exactly. Personally and professionally, everything will fall into place once you commit to her.
01:07 That actually turns out to be incredibly true. Sheldon and Amy not only get married, but they win a joint Nobel Prize in the series finale.
01:15 We won the Nobel Prize!
01:17 Number 9. Kenneth is Immortal - 30 Rock
01:23 Kenneth Parcell is the devoted NBC page whose optimism and eccentric worldview make him a standout among a cast of oddballs.
01:32 I remember the day he was born. He looked up at me and he said, "Mama, I am not a person. My body is just a flesh vessel for an immortal being whose name, if you heard it, would make you lose your mind."
01:43 But throughout the series, one running joke about him stands out. Though implied many times that Kenneth is an immortal being, it isn't actually confirmed until 30 Rock's series finale.
01:54 A friend of mine has been worried they'll be bringing in new page rules, like age limits and age verification.
02:02 Indeed, in the episode "Last Lunch's" epilogue, all these jokes pay off. It takes place in the distant future.
02:10 Kenneth is still at NBC and hasn't aged a day in many, many decades.
02:15 While it's not exactly a shocker, it is a gratifying reveal that puts the running gag into a whole new perspective.
02:22 So the whole show just takes place here at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Is that right, Miss Lemon?
02:28 Yes, sir. It's based on stories my great-grandmother told me.
02:31 I know. And I love it.
02:34 Number 8. Beetlejuice - Community
02:38 In Tim Burton's 1988 classic "Beetlejuice," the titular demon is summoned when his name is spoken thrice.
02:45 Throughout the first three seasons, the writers of "Community" find inconspicuous pieces of dialogue to shove the moniker into across three separate episodes.
02:55 I'm chaperoning tomorrow's dance. You should come. Maybe your study buds will go.
02:59 What's the blonde's name? Bitter Butter Beetlejuice?
03:02 Brita, yes.
03:03 By the third time, it hits a lot of threes, we know. Fans may not even realize what they had been set up for.
03:08 What are those underwear made out of? They look luxurious.
03:11 Oh, they're an organic soy cotton blend.
03:13 This Gwyneth must be real special. Don't you usually wear the stripy turquoise Beetlejuice numbers?
03:18 What does she mean usually?
03:19 But sure enough, an actor playing Beetlejuice then passes by.
03:23 Here's another running joke that pays off in an unexpected and truly ridiculous way.
03:28 Then again, unexpected and ridiculous jokes have always been what "Community" does best.
03:33 You didn't have to dress up.
03:35 We were wearing this when you called.
03:36 Yeah, when we dress up, you'll know it.
03:38 There's nothing in your playlist but Spooky Party, the Beetlejuice soundtrack and NPR podcast.
03:43 Number 7. Chloe, Friends
03:46 It's arguably the defining moment of Ross and Rachel's relationship.
03:51 Well, technically, they were on a break, but the point stands.
03:54 Early in this classic season 3 episode of Friends, Joey and Chandler discuss their shared attraction to Chloe,
04:01 who would become known to fans as the Xerox girl.
04:04 Chloe, switch with me. There's some guys here who got a crush on you.
04:07 Okay, that hurt us.
04:10 Hi guys. I haven't seen you since this morning.
04:14 This is not the first time we're hearing about her either.
04:16 You know, you're fooling around with her and you get all these like mental images in your brain, you know,
04:21 like Elmick Fierson or that girl at the Xerox place.
04:24 With the belly button ring?
04:25 Oh, no.
04:26 But what we didn't realize was how integral to the plot she would be.
04:30 Well, it's now clear the writers had big plans.
04:34 As we now know, in a bit of dramatic irony, it's Ross who drunkenly hooks up with her.
04:40 After he and Rachel have a fight, he goes out with the two guys, meets the now infamous woman, and the rest is history.
04:47 Do I know why we're rushing?
04:48 Yeah, you know the girlfriend I told you about last night?
04:51 Well, it turns out that she wants to get back together with me.
04:54 Oh, I found it!
04:55 That's so crazy, you guys!
04:58 Number 6. Kicking the Dog - The Good Place
05:01 The first season of this Kristen Bell-led sitcom features some pretty incredible lampshading on the part of the writers.
05:08 Then it hit me.
05:09 They're never gonna call a train to take us to the Bad Place.
05:14 They can't.
05:15 Because we're already here.
05:18 The incongruous and impractical elements of The Good Place are written off as a side effect of the manipulative Eleanor's unearned presence in the utopian afterlife.
05:27 However, it turns out the glitches aren't actually glitches.
05:32 Guys, whose dog is that?
05:35 Whose dog is that?
05:37 See, this is one of those glitches I was talking about.
05:41 Nice try, puppy!
05:43 In other words, Michael punting someone's dog into the sun isn't a bug.
05:48 It's a feature.
05:49 When we finally realize this is actually the Bad Place and Michael is a demon intent on torturing our cast of characters, moments of casual cruelty like this take on new meaning.
06:00 He played us like a fiddle.
06:02 Oh, did?
06:03 Eleanor, I told you that first night that we were in a prank show.
06:06 Oh, yeah.
06:07 You did!
06:08 Great job, man!
06:10 Number 5. Most Kids Get Head Lice - Schitt's Creek
06:14 In a lot of ways, this Canadian classic is about a formerly rich family having to get used to living as a bunch of regular people.
06:22 Apparently, there's a lice outbreak in your class.
06:25 Oh, my God!
06:26 Ew!
06:27 Ugh, it's probably Kelsey. She's such a horse girl.
06:31 This makes for some hysterical moments, like when Alexis, who is incredibly privileged, goes through the childhood rite of passage that is having head lice.
06:39 Can everyone stop saying "lice," please?
06:41 I've got to go back and change all the sheets again.
06:44 Okay, how do I know that she didn't give me her lice?
06:46 David, you don't have lice.
06:48 Nobody here has lice.
06:49 No, no, you do.
06:51 But what's remarkable is that this development is hilariously foreshadowed the season before.
06:56 In the estate sale episode, Alexis reveals she doesn't know how to ride a bike.
07:01 When told that most kids learn how to do so, she counters that they also get head lice.
07:06 Riding a bike is a pretty basic skill.
07:08 Mm, is it, though?
07:11 I think that most kids learn how to ride a bike.
07:13 Yeah, well, most kids also get head lice.
07:15 Sorry if the opportunity never presented itself.
07:17 Well, they do say new experiences broaden your horizons.
07:21 Number four, triplets, parks and recreation.
07:25 Foreshadowing in a sitcom never seems like that in the moment.
07:29 Sometimes a weird throwaway joke can suddenly become incredibly meaningful in retrospect.
07:35 Ben, we're having twins.
07:37 No, you're not.
07:40 Because look who's hiding over here.
07:42 Triplets?
07:44 Triplets?
07:46 Take this weird blind date Leslie Knope goes on in season two.
07:49 Amy Poehler's real-life now ex-husband, Will Arnett, plays a very inappropriate MRI technician
07:56 who insists on giving her her first ever scan.
07:59 At the time, his comment about her having enough room in her womb for triplets just reads as creepy.
08:05 And it is.
08:06 You've got ample room in there.
08:08 Honestly, if you wanted to, you could go triplets right off the bat, Leslie.
08:13 You've got a big, industrial-sized oven.
08:16 But lo and behold, it also turned out to be a sign of things to come.
08:21 Indeed, the sixth season of Parks and Rec sees Leslie and her husband, Ben,
08:25 learn that she's pregnant with, you guessed it, triplets.
08:29 If we do this right, we can be parents to one-third of the Supreme Court.
08:33 This is insane.
08:34 This is amazing. I always knew we were one in a million, and now we got the power!
08:38 Number three.
08:39 Kooky guy with a camera.
08:41 Scrubs.
08:42 Brendan Fraser is unforgettable in his three appearances as the beloved Ben Sullivan,
08:47 whom Dr. Cox diagnoses with leukemia in the first season.
08:51 Two seasons later, Ben returns, but their reunion is short-lived.
08:56 Early in the episode, the duo talk about how Sullivan will be the kooky guy carrying a camera until the day he dies.
09:03 So you still doing the whole kooky guy who brings his camera everywhere thing?
09:07 Until the day I die.
09:09 Well, less than ten minutes in, the character no longer has his prized object.
09:14 This is pointed out in his last scene, and suddenly, that little back-and-forth exchange makes so much sense.
09:21 There was your camera, aren't you--
09:23 aren't you going to take some pictures?
09:26 Pictures of what?
09:27 You know, crying babies covered in chocolate, people singing happy birthday to my son.
09:32 He actually passed away off-screen, and Dr. Cox has merely been imagining his presence since.
09:39 Where do you think we are?
09:40 Winter.
09:42 The final revelation is an emotional gut punch, made all the more poignant by this foreshadowing.
09:49 Number two.
09:50 Wedding day.
09:51 How I Met Your Mother.
09:53 Fans have gone back and forth between feeling satisfied and cheated by the fact that the titular Mother Tracy is formally introduced late in the game, just to pass away not long after in a twist reveal.
10:06 Even then, in what can only be called the worst of times, all I could do was thank God.
10:12 Thank every God there is or ever was or will be.
10:16 But it turns out the signs, while subtle, are there for the reading.
10:20 Perhaps no episode gets our antennae up more than Vesuvius.
10:24 In it, Ted and Tracy are discussing Robin and Barney's wedding day, and the surprise appearance of the bride's mother in a flash forward.
10:32 In a moment like that, when what's really happening is too intense to deal with, sometimes it's best...
10:37 to leave it unspoken, and just enjoy each other's company instead.
10:45 A comment about a mom never missing her daughter's wedding prompts a tense and emotional moment between the two.
10:51 Of course, we know now it's because Tracy is terminally ill and wouldn't see her own daughter's nuptials unfold.
10:58 Mother is gonna miss her daughter's wedding.
11:00 Okay.
11:09 No.
11:11 Come on.
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11:30 No. 1. Lucille - A Rusted Development
11:34 The way this show goes out of its way to foreshadow Buster losing his hand to a seal is actually a level of unhinged rarely seen on TV.
11:43 Lucille! Watch out for Lucille!
11:46 I don't care about Lucille! They're mine!
11:49 And then a seal bites off his hand.
11:52 There's that hilarious chair in the shape of a hand he's so fond of.
11:56 That just seems like the kind of weird thing Buster would have before, you know, his fate though.
12:01 But that's not all.
12:02 There's a news story about a different seal attack that seems a lot more intentional in hindsight.
12:08 They may have been built by the same developer and a seal attack beat one surprise bather coming up.
12:14 And let's not forget the very well placed army ad that reads "arm off" when Buster sits in front of it.
12:21 Those are just some examples.
12:23 The amazing thing is how none of them really feel out of the ordinary for Arrested Development.
12:29 Look who's back.
12:30 Let's all say hello.
12:32 Hello.
12:33 Alright, let's all give me a big hand.
12:36 [laughing]
12:40 Which instance of sitcom foreshadowing did you catch when you first saw it?
12:44 Tell us in the comments.
12:46 Actually, I'm Tracy.
12:49 Still Ted.
12:51 And that, kids, is the true story of how I met your mother.
12:55 What?
12:56 I'm kidding.
12:57 Do you agree with our picks?
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13:06 [outro music]