Say Hello to My Little Friend

Today the sky looked like the picture above, except the sun was brighter and the sky was bluer. Ten days from Thanksgiving, the afternoon temperature reached 75° F. A chill is on the way, though. Tonight’s low will be 36° and tomorrow’s high will be 53°. The Prophesies claim Monday’s high will be 43°. December is near. But there may be a few more comfortable days before Old Man Winter gets an icy grip on the land.

(Speaking of Old Man Winter, “Old Man” is a seasonal winter ale brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company. It’s 7% ABV – alcohol by volume. That should give it some kick. I mean, for beer.)

At quarter past 5 I decided to go to the store and bring back a salad from their salad bar. So I did, and it was delicious. I think the garlic croutons and craisins put it over the top. Anyway, the day was dusky dark as I left the house, but the western sky still glowed orange above the horizon. As I walked to the garage I saw, at the far end of my back yard, a small black and white animal that I assumed was a cat. As I got closer it ran from me, and I saw it was a bunny rabbit, the kind kids have as pets. I went to the store, got my salad, and drove back home. As I steered into the alley that runs behind my house, I saw a gray rabbit – a wild, “country” rabbit. It hopped along the alley beside my Jeep, veered into my yard ahead of me, and hopped out of sight.

As I write this blog, the TV is on and a rerun of The Big Bang Theory is airing. In this episode, Howard comes home and sits on the sofa beside Bernadette and shows her the tiny model of himself that he made at work with his new 3D printer. He holds mini-Howard beside his head and utters the line, “Say hello to my little friend.” And I thought, “Where have I heard that line before?”

“Say hello to my little friend” is one of those lines that is too good to use just one time. It was the name of:

• a first season episode of “Wise Guys?”
• a third season episode of “Scandal.”
• a first season episode of “Awake.”
• a first season episode of “Hillbilly Handfishin’.”
• a fifth season episode of “Run’s House.”

It was also the line uttered by the Huge Goon (Stu ‘Large’ Riley) in the 2010 movie “Kick-Ass”, as he hefted his bazooka and aimed it at Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz).

And most famously, it was the line uttered by Tony Montana (Al Pacino) in the 1983 movie “Scarface”, just before he blew away the mobsters.

So now Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) is speaking that line in “The Big Bang Theory.” It’s that moment of recognition as well as the juxtaposition of context that gives the viewer the momentary realization, “I’ve heard that before,” followed by the momentary satisfaction of knowing where and of being “in” on the inside joke. Like on NCIS, when Agent Todd (Sasha Alexander, who incidentally is the real-life daughter-in-law of screen legend Sofia Loren) asks Gibbs (Mark Harmon), “What did Ducky look like when he was younger?” And Gibbs answers, "Illya Kuryakin.” (David McCallum was Illya in the 1960s and is Ducky now.)

Or like on the cult series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, a show filled with insider lines and pop culture references, when Xander (Nicholas Brendon) opened the illustration of the Mayor’s demon form and it unfolded like a renaissance triptych, and Xander says, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” If you hadn’t seen “Jaws”, that line was wasted on you. Of course, Roy Scheider’s actual line in “Jaws” was, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” But close enough.

I notice lots of little things like that – insider jokes, pop culture references – in the best American TV shows. I wonder how many of those insider lines go right over my head. And I wonder if viewers in other countries could possibly recognize those references, especially when the dialog is spoken in another language. Because if they don’t get them, they’re missing a lot of the show they’re watching. Maybe the best way to think of those insider lines and pop culture references is that they’re Easter eggs. And that is another pop culture reference – from the 1975 movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

See what I mean?