These callbacks belong in the TV hall of fame! For this list, we’ll be looking at the classic pulls and most well-executed references in TV shows, either to themselves, other parts of their franchise, or pop culture in general.
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00:00If you're committed enough, you can make any story work.
00:02I once convinced a woman that I was Kevin Costner,
00:05and it worked because I believed it.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:12for the top 10 most clever callbacks in TV shows.
00:15You are not Kevin Costner.
00:19I was last night.
00:21For this list, we'll be looking at the classic pulls
00:23and most well-executed references in TV shows,
00:27other parts of their franchise, or pop culture in general.
00:30Also, some of these callbacks involve important plot points,
00:34so there will be spoilers ahead.
00:41For a show about nothing, Seinfeld sure likes its callbacks.
00:45While its finale may be considered a letdown by some,
00:48there's no denying that so many of its references
00:51to moments throughout the show are a lot of fun.
00:53Published my recipes.
00:55I had to close the store and move to Argentina.
00:59She ruined my business.
01:01His soup's not all that good anyway.
01:03What did you say?
01:05All the testimony from characters from the show's past are great,
01:08but it's a moment from the end that's the deepest cut.
01:11After going to jail, Jerry and George have a conversation
01:14about George's second button, which seems eerily familiar to them.
01:19The second button is the key button.
01:21It literally makes or breaks the shirt.
01:23Look at it.
01:24It's too high.
01:25It's in no man's land.
01:28Haven't we had this conversation before?
01:30That's because they have the same discussion in the very first episode,
01:34in the very first lines, bringing everything full circle.
01:37See, that button's in the worst possible spot.
01:40The second button literally makes or breaks the shirt.
01:43Look at it.
01:44It's too high.
01:45It's in no man's land.
01:46You look like you live with your mother.
01:48Number nine.
01:49Handprint.
01:50Supernatural.
01:51When you're on the air as long as Supernatural was,
01:54you're bound to have a ton of in-jokes and self-referential moments.
01:57But one of the cleverest occurs during one of the most heartbreaking moments in the show.
02:01You know, ever since we met, ever since I pulled you out of hell,
02:07knowing you has changed me.
02:09When Castiel and Dean are pursued by Death herself,
02:12Cas uses blood from his hand to protect Dean.
02:15After making his goodbye to Dean and touching his shoulder,
02:18Cas is pulled with Death into the empty,
02:21leaving Dean distraught with a bloody handprint on his arm.
02:29Yes.
02:32Goodbye, Dean.
02:33Dean's farewell with his angel Bestie actually mirrors his first meeting with him.
02:37When Cas pulls him out of hell, he leaves a handprint burned on his arm.
02:42It's great symmetry, and a nice bright side to a tear-jerking scene.
02:46Who are you?
02:48I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.
02:51Number 8.
02:52Kitty's Outfit.
02:53That 70s Show.
02:54While That 90s Show also has some fire callbacks to its parent show,
02:59we're going with the original for this entry.
03:04The finale of That 70s Show takes many looks back at the series,
03:08mostly through the form of flashbacks.
03:10But one of the callbacks that is easiest to overlook happens to be a character's wardrobe.
03:15During the New Year's Eve party,
03:17Kitty Forman wears the same red blouse and floral skirt
03:20she wears during the party in the pilot episode.
03:23Okay, take two.
03:24There's plenty.
03:24There's plenty coming.
03:25Is everybody good?
03:27I know, I know.
03:28Vienna sausages are so versatile.
03:30And even with a new hairdo,
03:32Kitty still pulls it off well years later.
03:34It's like I've been gone for so long, I almost forgot that you're a hot mom.
03:41You know what else is hot?
03:43My foot when it's in your ass.
03:46The beginning and the end.
03:48Lost
03:49Lost has one of the most dramatic openings to any TV show.
03:52Jack Shepard awakens in a bamboo forest, dazed and confused.
03:56He spots a dog and stumbles onto a beach where the plane he was aboard,
04:00Oceanic 815, has crashed.
04:03Stay away from the gas! Stay there!
04:13Six seasons later and it's the finale.
04:16Although the show's ending was controversial,
04:18most people will agree that it did at least one thing right.
04:22Its final moments are a perfect mirror of its opening moments.
04:25Jack is now dying, stumbling through the same bamboo forest.
04:29The same dog, Vincent, comes up to him.
04:32And as he passes away, he spots his friends flying away on a plane.
04:46The show closes just like it opened, with Jack's final moments.
04:51The show closes just like it opened, with Jack's eyes.
04:55The perfect bookends. Bravo.
04:58Number six, Kevin Cosner, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
05:02Given that it's a sequel slash prequel,
05:05Better Call Saul has lots of opportunities for clever callbacks
05:08and call forwards to Breaking Bad.
05:10From here on out, I'm Mr. Low Profile.
05:13Just another douchebag with a job and three pairs of Dockers.
05:16If I'm lucky, a month from now, best case scenario,
05:19I'm managing a Cinnabon in Omaha.
05:21Although it was tempting to discuss Saul predicting his eventual career path
05:24at Cinnabon post-Breaking Bad, our favorite callback slash forward is more comedic.
05:30When talking with Walter White about making a story convincing,
05:33Saul mentions offhand that he once convinced a woman that he was actor Kevin Cosner.
05:39If you're committed enough, you can make any story work.
05:41I once convinced a woman that I was Kevin Cosner, and it worked because I believed it.
05:47In Better Call Saul, we see the aftermath of his date with said woman.
05:51Naturally, she's none too pleased.
05:53But the in-joke certainly has us amused.
05:56You mean seriously?
06:00Lucianne?
06:01Lucianne?
06:02He's not Kevin Cosner.
06:04What?
06:05I'm not Kevin Cosner's manager.
06:08Number five, Mal Cosplay, Castle.
06:11On Castle, Nathan Fillion plays the eponymous writer Richard Castle.
06:16Castle's irreverent literary proclivities
06:18lead to a lot of great references throughout the series.
06:21But easily the best callbacks are to Fillion's last famous TV role
06:26as Captain Malcolm Reynolds on the cult hit Firefly.
06:29I got nothing but trouble since I did it,
06:30not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character.
06:33So let me make this abundantly clear.
06:36I do the job.
06:40And then I get paid.
06:41There are many sprinkled throughout Castle,
06:43and the most blatant of these occurs when Castle dresses up as a space cowboy for Halloween.
06:49What exactly are you supposed to be?
06:52Space cowboy.
06:53Okay, A, there are no cows in space.
06:56B, didn't you wear that like five years ago?
06:58So?
06:59So don't you think you should move on?
07:00It's exactly Mal's outfit from Firefly,
07:03and Fillion wears it well even a few years on.
07:06Our fingers remain forever crossed, hoping for a revival.
07:10This is all the money Niska gave us in advance.
07:13You bring it back to him, tell him the job didn't work out.
07:16We're not thieves.
07:18But we are thieves.
07:19Point is, we're not taking what's his.
07:21Number four.
07:22Beetlejuice.
07:23Community.
07:24You should come.
07:25Maybe your study buds will go.
07:26What's the blonde's name?
07:27Bitter Butter Beetlejuice?
07:29Community loves pop culture references like most people love breathing,
07:33so there are a lot to choose from.
07:35But for our money,
07:36the cleverest has to do with the supernatural comedy film Beetlejuice.
07:40This Gwynevere must be real special.
07:42Don't you usually wear the stripy turquoise Beetlejuice numbers?
07:45As anyone who's seen it can tell you,
07:47the titular ghost played by Michael Keaton
07:49is summoned whenever you say his name three times.
07:52Beetlejuice.
07:55Beetlejuice.
08:00Beetlejuice.
08:02It's showtime.
08:05During the first three seasons of Community,
08:08a character says the name once,
08:09and by the third time,
08:11a character dressed like Beetlejuice walks by in the background.
08:15There's nothing in your playlist but spooky party,
08:17the Beetlejuice soundtrack,
08:18and NPR podcasts.
08:19Now if you'll excuse me,
08:21I need to go call an exorcist.
08:24Number three.
08:25The ending.
08:26Newhart.
08:27Bob Newhart was a TV star for decades.
08:29When his 80s show Newhart comes to a close,
08:32his character Dick Loudon is hit with a golf ball.
08:40You're all crazy!
08:44Smash cut to a darkened bedroom where Newhart's previous character,
08:48Bob Hartley from the Bob Newhart show,
08:51awakens next to Suzanne Plachette,
08:53who played his wife Emily on the same show.
08:56Bob describes the events of Newhart to Emily like they were all a dream,
09:00which is itself a parody of a similar,
09:02it was all a dream twist on Dallas.
09:05I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont.
09:10I'm happy for you.
09:13Good night.
09:14The tongue-in-cheek nature of the callback
09:16has made it the subject of similar tributes in the years since,
09:19but Newhart did it first.
09:21You mean beautiful blonde.
09:26Go to sleep Emily.
09:28You know you uh,
09:30you really should wear more sweaters.
09:33Number two.
09:34All the cameos.
09:35Crisis on Infinite Earths.
09:37When your story's set in a multiverse,
09:39you can make callbacks to nearly anything.
09:42About Barry Allen.
09:43No!
09:44What does that mean?
09:46How can this?
09:47This should be impossible now.
09:48It's impossible now?
09:50You don't know about the...
09:52And in this epic crossover event for the DC Comics set Arrowverse,
09:56they make callbacks to nearly everything.
09:59There are cameos from contemporary series too,
10:02but the sheer volume of deep pulls here is incredible.
10:06The cameos are from Smallville,
10:08the 1989 Batman movie,
10:10Superman Returns,
10:11Super Friends,
10:12and Burt 1960s Robin Ward even shows up.
10:16But the time for preparation has passed.
10:19The crisis is now upon us all.
10:23Holy crimson skies of death!
10:26The list goes on and on.
10:28Some are quick,
10:28while others are integral to the crossover's plot.
10:31But they're always creative,
10:32and are sure to tug on any DC fan's heartstrings,
10:35or at least make you go,
10:37I know that reference.
10:38Family, we've met, Lucifer Morningstar.
10:41Lucifer Morningstar, as in?
10:43The devil, yes, exactly.
10:45So tell me, what is it you desire?
10:48Before we unveil our top pick,
10:50here are a few honorable mentions.
10:53Jumping the Shark, Arrested Development
10:56Henry Winkler, a.k.a. The Fonz, does it again.
10:59And I've skipped breakfast, so I'm off to Burger King.
11:05And Lucille arrived.
11:06Douchebag Jar, New Girl.
11:10Damn it!
11:11I can't find my driving moccasins anywhere!
11:13Good thing he wasn't wearing his driving moccasins.
11:15He'd have been in a lot of trouble if he did.
11:18And there's a lot of good stuff in this movie.
11:20I mean, I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing,
11:22but I think it's a good thing.
11:23Good thing he wasn't wearing his driving moccasins when he broke it.
11:26We need a glass.
11:33Tom Hanks, Veep.
11:35What if Tom Hanks dies?
11:36What?
11:37Dark thought.
11:38I'm not wishing that.
11:39I'm saying anything could happen.
11:40Tom Hanks could die.
11:41Just as the prophecy foretold.
11:43I've just been told that four-time Academy Award winning actor Tom Hanks
11:49has died at the age of 88.
11:51I don't want to wait.
11:52Dawson's Creek.
11:53I don't want to wait for our lives to be over.
11:58I want to know right now, will it be?
12:02They really said the lyrics to the theme song in the show.
12:05I don't want to wait for my life to be over.
12:08I want to know right now, what will it be?
12:11Alpha Centauri, Doctor Who.
12:13Hilarious alien called Alpha Centauri, who looked like a giant eye.
12:19A character last seen in 1974, and a cameo 43 years in the making.
12:25This is Alpha Centauri.
12:28Welcome to the universe.
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12:481.
12:49A Schrute Wedding, The Office.
12:51Weddings are a joyous time in sitcoms.
12:54I got them a toaster.
12:56They called off the wedding and gave the toaster back to me.
12:59I tried to return the toaster to the store and they said they no longer sold that kind
13:03of toaster.
13:04So now my house has got two toasters.
13:07And while Phyllis' wedding to Bob Vance, of Vance Refrigeration fame, paid off a fun
13:12reference to Stanley, weddings, and toasters, it also set the stage for a fantastic callback
13:18in the show's finale.
13:19So what's in the box?
13:21A toaster.
13:22You?
13:23A toaster.
13:25Unbelievable.
13:26At Phyllis' wedding, Dwight Schrute explains that his family has peculiar wedding customs
13:31that involve the bride and groom standing in their own graves.
13:35The Schrutes have their own traditions.
13:37We usually marry standing in our own graves.
13:40Makes the funerals very romantic.
13:42In the finale, we see Dwight get married to Angela, and true enough, they're both standing
13:48in shallow graves.
13:49It's surprisingly sweet, in a Dwight kind of way.
13:52As is traditional to the Schrutes, the lovers are standing in their own graves as a reminder
13:59that this is the only escape from what they are about to do.
14:04If there's a brilliant TV callback that we were foolish to forget,
14:07share your deep cuts in the comments.
14:10Of course, try on when you bought.
14:11Yes, it was purple.
14:13I liked it.
14:13I don't actually recall considering the button.
14:16Oh, you don't recall.
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