Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” comes to The Colbert Report

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Caleb J. Ross in Unexpected Literary References | 2 Comments

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series)

On Monday April 1, 2013, The Colbert Report managed to squeeze in a subtle reference to Shirley Jackson’s famous short story “The Lottery” at the very end of the clip below (titled “Health Care Lottery”). What’s especially impressive is that he doesn’t draw attention to the source material. This is ballsy considering that many people probably wouldn’t get the reference (unless of course there was a recent film adaptation or something that I don’t know about).

Click the image above to watch the clip

This isn’t the first time “The Lottery” has made it’s way into popular media. Both South Park and The Simpsons have made references in the past.

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Nathaniel Hawthorne admits to ruining the lives of high schoolers on Family Guy

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Caleb J. Ross in Unexpected Literary References | Leave a comment

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series)

Nathaniel Hawthorne makes an appearance in the Season 11, Episode 10 Family Guy titled “Space Cadet.”

From FamilyGuy.Wikia.com: When Chris presents a poorly written presentation for class in “Space Cadet“, he complains of not being Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel Hawthorne is seen chuckling over ruining ninth grade for everyone as he writes a story.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works include The House of the Seven Gablesand The Scarlett Letter.

Nathaniel_Hawthorne

Here’s the clip:

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The Simpsons takes a stab at J.D Salinger

Posted on December 8, 2012 by Caleb J. Ross in Unexpected Literary References | 2 Comments

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series)

It’s no secret that Catcher in the Rye is J.D Salinger’s most famous work. So, I suppose The Simpsons doesn’t so much insult Salinger as it does simply remind people that Salinger was important at one time, for one book.

In this, Season 22 Episode 16 episode called “A Midsummer’s Nice Dream” (the title itself a literary reference) Marge discovers “A box set of all of J.D Salinger’s novels except Catcher in the Rye” among a pile of garbage that once belonged to the town hoarder, implying that only a crazy hoarder would actually keep copies of these “other” books.

The Simpsons Catcher in the Rye

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The Conan Sometimes References Books Twice (in a Row)

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Caleb J. Ross in Unexpected Literary References | Leave a comment

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series)

The title from this September 25th, 2012 episode is a take on the James M. Cain novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice. This makes two book references in a row.

Not only is this not the first time Conan has referenced a literary work in his episode titles, it’s not even the first time he’s referenced The Postman Always Rings Twice. Someone at the Conan O’Brien show must have a bit of a Cain boner.