Is One Really Hidden in the Background of Every Episode?

Any bozo can watch TV. It takes nothing to plonk your butt down, jab at a remote, and spill Dorito crumbs on your neck while the pretty people on your box fight alien invaders.

To be a true TV fan requires homework. You have to learn the extra stuff that makes you somebody that’s hard to watch TV with – somebody who knows the behind-the-scenes reason why that character’s hair looks weird in that Christmas special cameo (they’re wearing a wig after shaving their head for a Marvel role), why there are only 12 episodes in that season (writers’ strike), or why two main characters barely feature in the same scene for eight seasons despite both mostly living in the same Westerosi castle (acrimonious break-up).

True TV fans know about Easter Eggs and running gags and fourth-wall-breaking references. They know to look in the back of shot for aliens in South Park, Superman in Seinfeld, hare statues in Inside No. 9, and more. But do they know enough to sort TV show urban myths from the facts?

Alien Visitors in South Park

In Every Episode? No

From those bastards killing Kenny, to Kyle having learned something today, South Park is king of the running gag. One such is the inclusion of Greys, or alien visitors, in the background of otherwise unrelated episodes. After probing Cartman in South Park’s very first broadcast episode, Greys were spotted peeking around the side of houses or bewigged and sitting among the townsfolk in townhall meetings so often that it was rumoured at least one could be found in every single episode.

Not so. In 2016, Brian Cronin debunked the rumour on Huffpost, citing South Park Studios FAQ answers saying that only around half of the episodes feature sneaky Greys – though in 2009, fans were asked to spot the aliens to enter a Comedy Central contest to become an animated South Park citizen, announcing their ‘hidden’ presence.

Long Dog in Bluey

In Every Episode? Not Quite But Almost

The inclusion of a little sausage dog-shaped toy in the background of Bluey started as “a bit of fun for the crew,” Nick Rees, the lead background artist at Ludo Studio, which makes the hit Australian animated kids’ show, told ABC in 2023.

“All of the background artists took a shine to him, so we started adding him into other backgrounds for the crew to find and enjoy. […] It was always so funny to have animators come up to you and be like ‘I found long dog!’ while they were working on a scene.”

Actor Melanie Zanetti, who voices Chilli in the show, said on Today Extra that the long dog Easter Eggs feature in every episode, but that’s not quite accurate. For anybody going spare trying to find the little long dog in episodes one to four of Australian animated kids’ show Bluey, stand down. According to this ABC article, the animators only started including them from episode five “Daddy Robot” onwards.

Silver Hare Statue in Inside No. 9

In Every Episode? Yes

One of the few recurring TV Easter Eggs that really is in every single episode, the Inside No. 9 hare statue became such a favourite that it inspired its very own episode in series four’s “Tempting Fate.”

“It’s a nice little game we play,” Inside No. 9 co-creator Steve Pemberton told Den of Geek in 2017. Because each episode of the BBC anthology show “is so wildly different,” says Pemberton, the makers “just thought it would be nice to have an object that you could hide and just have there on every set.” Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith say there was no particular relevance to the object, which was chosen from a box of options. If there’s no logical place for it to feature on a set – say, in the tube train-set episode “Boo to a Goose” or in the karaoke booth-set episode “Empty Orchestra” – then it still appears in sticker or photograph form.

Han Solo in Firefly

In Every Episode? No

The influence of Star Wars’ Han Solo on Firefly’s Captain Mal Reynolds character is not subtle, so why not go the whole hog and include an action figure of the man himself? Six of Firefly’s 14 episodes are known to feature a model of Han Solo frozen in carbonite somewhere in the back of shot as a nod to Mal’s inspiration. Considering that Firefly is set over 500 years after The Empire Strikes Back was released, that little anachronism would probably be an antique worth a fortune for the Serenity crew. If only they’d stuck it on space eBay, their smuggling days could have been behind them.

Mystery Fifth Housemate in The Young Ones

In Every Episode? No

When new wave BBC comedy The Young Ones first aired in 1982, few households owned a VHS player so if viewers were going to spot this recurring Easter Egg gag, they had to do it live. As investigated by journalist Peter Farquar in Business Insider Australia, and reported by Chortle, an anonymous fifth housemate was included in multiple (but not every) episode of the sitcom. The character would sit silently and unmoving on the floor in the student house, and with their face obscured by long hair. It was the wheeze of director Geoff Posner and producer Paul Jackson, and just a bit of fun to confuse and entertain.

Observer in Fringe

In Every Episode? Yes (at least in seasons one to four)

This Easter Egg became so big that it bled out into the ‘real’ world. In 2009, some Fox viewers might have been surprised to see a bald man in a suit sitting silently in the audience of various NFL and MLB All-Star games, along with episodes of American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and an ad for Glee. That man was September, an “Observer” character from sci-fi Fringe who made a cameo appearance walking or standing around in the back of outdoor and crowd shots in every one of the show’s episodes (at least in seasons one to four – as listed here).

Pineapple in Psych

In Every Episode? Not quite

Psych creator Steve Franks shared the origin story of his show’s pineapple obsession with Entertainment Weekly in 2016. In the detective comedy-drama’s pilot episode, actor James Roday Rodriguez improvised a line around an on-set pineapple, “Should I slice this up for the road?” that tickled the team so much that it became A Thing. Cue: a pineapple, picture of a pineapple, toy pineapple or verbal reference to a pineapple in pretty much (but not every single) episode.

Reference to Superman in Seinfeld

In Every Episode? No.

Jerry Seinfeld’s Superman fandom made its way into multiple episodes of his and Larry David’s acclaimed US sitcom, either in dialogue or more commonly, tucked away somewhere in the set dressing. A Superman refrigerator magnet, a Superman figurine, a scene of Jerry and his girlfriend reading Superman and Supergirl comics together… fans know to look out for nods among Seinfeld‘s many, many running gags. But is there a Superman reference in every single episode? Nah, as Barry Freiman has shown exhaustively in this blog post.

Waving Snail in Adventure Time

In Every Episode? All but five.

The little waving snail dude who can be seen in pretty much every episode of Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time (and in some of the comics) eventually got his own character arc in which he was possessed by an ancient cosmic being, which may graduate him out of the ‘running gag’ category. Seeing as he began life as an Easter Egg though, we’ll include him. Despite making it into the story on a number of occasions, mostly, he’s just happy to wave.

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