When Supernatural Meta The Honeymooners…
We never met a meta reference we didn’t like, especially when served up in a mega-clever way. So this Friday’s Supernatural (The CW, 9/8c) is truly something super, as it catapults Sam and Dean into an alt-reality where they are “Jared Padalecki” and “Jensen Ackles,” the stars of a TV series called… Supernatural.
Ever since the twisty premise was first revealed — and especially after TVLine brought you a first look clip of the episode, “The French Mistake” (a nod to a meta tune from Blazing Saddles) — TV connoisseurs have made notice of similar, self-referential installments of other series.
Supernatural First Look: Watch Sam and Dean Morph Into Jared and Jensen!
Growing Pains, for example, gave us “Meet the Seavers,” where Ben dreams that he’s Jeremy Miller, an actor on a family-oriented sitcom. And Eerie, Indiana‘s “Reality Takes a Holiday” had Marshall discover that he’s really Omri Katz, but a player on a stage. (Fans of Eerie should know that Supernatural‘s meta outing has a certain something in common with that show’s dramatically tense arc.)
But as I prepped to watch “The French Mistake,” I thought of another, far earlier instance of a TV show smashing down that fourth wall. The exact show and scene was on the tip of my brain but escaped me for a half-hour, until it finally crystalized. I then hit YouTube and dug up this Honeymooners episode, in which (starting at the 1:00 mark), Ralph Kramden (played by Jackie Gleason) makes a concerted bid to meet… Jackie Gleason, only to have his best bud Norton encounter “The Great One” instead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrUhH2GRFJcAll of which is a long-winded way of reminding you to check out Supernatural tonight, and of course weigh in below with any of your own recollections of masterfully “meta” TV moments.
Want Scoop and Spoilers Sent Directly to Your In-Box? Sign Up for the TVLine Newsletter Now!
Comments (14)