21 Secret TV Details That Make These Genius Shows Even Smarter

    Loki brilliantly put an homage to the first Iron Man movie in Episode One.

    1. On The Office, the George Foreman grill that Michael burns his foot on in Season 2 can be seen in the Season 4 episode "Dinner Party" when Michael and Jan show Jim and Pam where they sleep.

    Michael says, "Today, I got up, I stepped onto the grill and it clamped down on my foot, that's it," and then we see the grill in the episode "Dinner Party"

    2. When Loki crashes into the desert in Loki Episode One, "Glorious Purpose," it's an homage to when Tony Stark crashed into the desert in Iron Man.

    Loki and Iron Man in the desert

    3. The neighborhood in The Good Place is named 12358W for a reason: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 is part of the Fibonacci sequence.

    Eleanor sitting beneath a sing that says, Railway Station, neighborhood 12358W

    4. In the finale of I May Destroy You, Arabella dances with her past self from the first episode.

    Arabella from episode one dances with Arabella in the finale

    5. In a Series 5 episode of Taskmaster — a British comedy/game show everyone should watch — Alex Horne, who's basically one of the hosts, is replaced by a fake Alex for a moment.

    An imposter Alex is in Alex's chair

    6. Walter White from Breaking Bad crosses paths with his pants from the pilot in Season 5.

    The pants lying in the desert in both episodes

    7. On The Office, Michael's girlfriend Carol — who broke up with him because he photoshopped himself into a picture of her family — has a tiny cameo in Threat Level Midnight. She's the realtor of the house Michael Scarn "lives" in.

    At the bottom of a picture of a large house in "Threat Level Midnight", it says "Carol Stills - Realtor" with a picture of Carol's face

    Just for kicks, here's the photo Michael photoshopped.

    Michael clearly photoshopped next to Carol and her children on a ski trip

    8. Childish Gambino's album Awaken, My Love! was in an episode of Atlanta — a show created by and starring Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino — before the album dropped.

    The Awaken, My Love album cover in the middle ground of an Atlanta scene

    9. In the theme song of WandaVision's first episode, "Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience," there is an homage to the theme song of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Vision almost trips over a chair while carrying Wanda and Rob Petrie — Dick Van Dyke's character in his show — would trip or almost trip over an ottoman in his opening credits.

    Wanda and Vision phasing through a chair vs. Rob from "The Dick Van Dyke" show tripping over the ottoman

    10. Garol from Broad City — you know, the person Abbi speaks to on North Brother Island — shows up two more times in later seasons.

    Garol in three different episodes

    11. On The Office, Pam uses Jim's teapot gift later in the Finer Things Club.

    The teapot highlighted in different scenes

    12. In the second episode of Loki, the titular character looks at a file about events that took place during the film Thor: Ragnarok. The code name for the events is "REVENGERS," which is the team name in the movie for the misfit group that consists of Loki, Thor, Valkyrie, and the Hulk.

    The Revengers name in Loki and the quote I think we should disband the Revengers in Thor Ragnarok

    13. Then we have, of course, the Magna Doodle board on Friends. There were fun and different drawings or messages throughout the show.

    Various art on the board in different episodes

    14. Another Taskmaster Easter egg: In Series 6, the two host figures, "taskmaster" Greg and his "assistant" Alex, wear matching socks in every episode.

    Greg and Alex wearing matching socks in three episodes

    15. On Breaking Bad, Saul Goodman says his best-case scenario for the future, and on Better Call Saul, we see that scenario come true.

    On Breaking Bad, Sauls says, "If I'm lucky, month from now, best case scenario, I'm managing a Cinnabon in Omaha," and in "Better Call Saul", he's working at a Cinnabon in Omaha

    16. Remember that time Michael, Dwight, and Jim drove to the Utica branch on The Office and Michael and Dwight tried to steal the copier? Well, the Utica copier is padlocked when we see it in Season 5.

    The copier is padlocked

    17. In a Season 8 episode of Frasier, damage caused by Eddie the dog can be seen on the "Welcome Home Daphne" banner. Eddie clearly ran over the sign when the paint/ink was still wet.

    Roz and Martin talking with the paw print covered banner behind them

    Here's the banner up close.

    Daphne standing in front of the banner

    18. Michael Scott's "World's Best Boss" mug from The Office is referenced in The Good Place through the form of an "Existence's Best Boss" mug.

    Michael holding the World's Best Boss mug on The Office and Neil holding the Existence's Best Boss mug on The Good Place

    19. Last one about The Office: An item at the garage sale is the stuck-to-the-wall painting from when Jim bought Pam their house. So they finally got it off the wall.

    The painting on the wall is in the garage sale later

    20. In the final scene of the Cheers series finale, Sam adjusts a picture of Geronimo, which was a way to honor Nicholas Colasanto, the actor who played Coach and sadly died during the show's third season.

    Sam adjusting the picture of Geronimo

    21. And finally, bears are referenced in every episode of New Girl.

    Fawn says to Nick, This tastes like the inside of a bear, and that is a compliment, my friend

    I'm serious.

    Nick says, "Speaking of cute, Winston Bishop is so cute," Cece, Coach, and Schmidt say, "How cute is he," and Nick says, "Teddy bears buy Winston for their kids?

    Sometimes bears as a concept are mentioned without the word being said or the animal being shown. Like with the Cubs.

    Reagan says, "I hope that the Chicago Cubs win the World Series while you're in a coma," and Nick says, "That's one of the meanest things anybody has ever said to me"

    The whole idea is perfect.

    The California state flag, which has a bear on it, is in a court room

    Thank you once again, New Girl, for making me thrilled to be alive.

    Jess says, "What do you call top no pants," Schmidt says, "Oh, that's like a Winnie the Pooh, or a Paddington, I guess, pretty much any kind of bear" and Winston says, "Oh, Honey the Smacks Frog, there's the Donald the Duck"