quaternary paries jokes . mysterious address . General tomfoolery . It ’s smashing when shows take a step back and leave us to have a short redundant fun with them . Sometimes it ’s just a harmless goose — other fourth dimension it ’s actually deepen the story and our kinship to the part . Here are a few times our preferent television system shows let us in on the joke too .

https://gizmodo.com/a-history-of-meta-storytelling-on-television-1045718169

1) “What’s Opera, Arnold?” (Hey Arnold)

Looney Tunes is the golden standard of ego - aware absurdity on goggle box . It set the bar for quaternary wall breaks , in - jest , and just about every other hallmark of classic kids TV . This early episode of Hey Arnold pay tribute to the classic Bugs Bunny toon “ What ’s Opera , Doc ? ” by put its characters in the eye of their own larger-than-life opera . Adding wacky , kid - well-disposed words to authoritative deeds like Carmen and Pagliacci , this sequence was both educational and entertaining ( I wonder if there ’s a word for that ? ) . Plus , it ’s only 15 second long so it ’s an easy way to get a chuckle during your afternoon oeuvre disruption .

2) “Trials and Tribble-ations” (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

In this groundbreaking ceremony and lovely episode ofStar Trek : Deep Space Nine , the crew go back in prison term to the events of Star Trek : The Original Series to hold back a Klingon spy from blowing up the Enterprise . Using creative output design and original footage , Deep Space Nine successfully inserted itself into the classic “ Trouble With Tribbles ” episode — making for some great self - aware temper about the original series , and some alone interplay with the original stars .

https://gizmodo.com/star-trek-the-original-series-must-watch-episodes-1842651855

3) “Say Uncle” (Steven Universe)

The second time of year of Steven Universe opened with a jumbo April Fools ’ gag , take the worlds of Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa together for a wacky crossing that put the Crystal Gems way outside of their ease zone . From verbalise pizza slices to video game battles and a literal plot maw , everything about this sequence was nothing you ’d ever look . But do n’t vex : As Uncle Grandpa himself puts it : “ None of this is canon . ”

4) “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” (Community)

A mass of multitude will cite the paintball installment when talking about Community ’s self - cognizance , and those are a spate of fun . But another standout is the vacation particular “ Abed ’s Uncontrollable Christmas . ” Much like Eureka did before , Community brought its characters into claymation for a holiday extravaganza , this time through Abed ’s imagination , which he was using as a apprehend mechanics against harm . The most interesting part was that Abed was aware that that ’s what he was doing , but chose to believe in the magic anyway .

5) “Roll With It” (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

This time of year two sequence of She - Ra and the Princesses of Power had the princesses figuring out a complicated conflict strategy the only logical direction they could : through atabletop roleplaying secret plan . As each fibre went through their architectural plan , we set about some fantastic put-on about the right and worst thing about our heroes — including a natural language - in - impudence nod to the original She - Ra telly series . And amount on : Who does n’t love Sea - Ra ?

6) “Quack Pack” (DuckTales)

This episode , which recently debut on Disney XD , tore through several layer of “ meta ” by trap Donald Duck and his nephew indoors of a television receiver sitcom . It burlesque everything from New sitcoms to the Disney Afternoon , and went to corking length to make the strangeness of their new realism experience as eldritch ( and funny ) as possible — actorDon Cheadle even returnedto voice Quack Pack reality Donald Duck , which contribute a whole bed of WTF on top of it .

https://gizmodo.com/goofy-stopped-by-ducktales-and-canonized-the-cutest-cou-1842704579

7) “ScoobyNatural” (Supernatural)

Supernaturaltends to be more serious than silly . That temporarily changed with “ ScoobyNatural , ” a ridiculous instalment that brought Dean and Sam to the animated humankind of the Mystery Gang to stop a real ghost that had infest the Scooby - Doo , Where Are You episode “ A Night of Fright Is No delectation . ” Full of giant sandwiches , centre bowl , and nod to the fact that these guys do n’t call for to take everything so seriously , it was a sport trip into supernatural nostalgia .

8) “Total Rickall” (Rick and Morty)

Rick and Morty may be one of the most self - aware exhibit out there : It knows on the nose what it ’s doing and will always remind you it ’s in on the joke too . One of the top examples would be “ Total Rickall , ” where the house is invade by a series of parasitic replicating invitee stars , each with their own beloved connectedness to the master characters . It ’s only by recognizing that they do n’t have a “ bad ” memory of the person do they realize that it ’s not someone they care about . Because Rick and Morty knows its part all hate each other in one room or another — except for Mr. Poopybutthole . Temporary RIP .

https://gizmodo.com/the-10-most-important-rick-and-morty-episodes-so-far-1839572656

For more , verify you ’re observe us on our Instagram @io9dotcom .

Clockwise from left: Community, Steven Universe, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Clockwise from left: Community, Steven Universe, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.Image: NBC / Image: Cartoon Network / Image: Netflix / Image: CBS

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