The Reference Explanation Thread

[Zeke]

Okay, here's the thing. I was just rereading my "Conscience of the King" fiver and I happened to notice this bit...

Riley: (over the comm) Bleah. Another rotten day in the life of Riley.
Sulu: Foiled again, eh?

That's just the start of the scene, but here's the point: there's some kind of pun in Sulu's line, and I can't remember what it is. It's probably a joke on "foil" as in the kind of sword, but I can't figure it out. Does anyone get it?

Anyway, the reason for the title of the thread is that this got me thinking... when you read something with references in it, you can often tell there is a reference even if you don't get it. Some of you guys must have had that experience. So this will be a thread for asking about such bits, and the author or another reader will answer you. (The long-stagnant Jokes and References page served a similar purpose -- this thread might be a way to get more material for it.)

Use as you will -- and don't forget my question. It bothers me that I have no idea what I was thinking.

[Sa'ar Chasm]

Could it be that Riley's some sort of comic foil for the other characters?

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Anyway, the reason for the title of the thread is that this got me thinking... when you read something with references in it, you can often tell there is a reference even if you don't get it. Some of you guys must have had that experience.

Oh, yeah.

The thing which comes immediately to mind would be the "Sulu as D'Artagnan" bits in "The Naked Time", in which episode Riley also figured prominently (but he wasn't in those particular scenes, so I'm not sure... )

[PointyHairedJedi]

In response to a question that nobody asked (as the voices in my head don't seem to count):

The ending of 5MB5 "Eyes" -

(Garibaldi and Lennier do a wheelie in the stars at Ludicrous Speed)

- is a (not terribly complicated) reference to a book by Nicholas Fisk called Wheelie in the Stars which also happens to feature very prominently a motorbike in an SF setting.

There are probably questions about other fivers that I really want to ask, but I can't remember, so they'll have to wait I suppose.

[mudshark]

Zeke, maybe this is it? From the fiver for "The Naked Time", which had been published the day before:

Sulu: I'm taking up fencing because it goes so well with my rapier wit.
Riley: You already know I don't care about fencing. You just want me to act as a foil.
Sulu: Touché.
Riley: Sigh. Joe, please change subjects. Now.
Joe: I'm thinking of stabbing myself.
Sulu: See? Joe's interested in fencing. Will you use a thrust or a parry?
(STAB!)
Sulu: This scene quickly became non-funny.

Still can't think of anything else to which it might be a reference.


Edit: I just noticed that the menu at the bottom of the fiver has a link to Season 2 instead of Season 1.
Edit2: to include publishing date info

[Zeke]

Aha! That may very well be it. I'm sure I reread that fiver when I was writing mine, since it was the other Riley episode and I like doing cross-fiver continuity.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Family Guy:

Lois: Peter! He's charming! All british men are!
Peter: Yeah right... that's what they said about Benjamin Disraeli.

--- (cut to man writing at a desk circa 1850) ---

Benjamin Disraeli: [to the camera] You don't even know who I am.

Always struck me as maybe the best metajoke in all of Season 3, since Family Guy was famous (and infamous) for obscure references, and this was their way of sticking it to the die-hards and winking at those too young to get the jokes.

[evay]

I finally saw "The Conscience of the King," so now I can read the fiver with some coherency, and Zeke, that was a GREAT job! Brimming with cross-references and good puns!

[Zeke]

Thanks! How'd you like the episode itself? IMO, it's one of the all-time classics -- just a great piece of Trek all round.

[evay]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Thanks! How'd you like the episode itself? IMO, it's one of the all-time classics -- just a great piece of Trek all round.

Other than some of the hoo-boy moments your fiver pointed out, it was quite good. "Sacrificing some to save others" is the kind of moral dilemma the franchise revisits several times, from different angles. "Revenge vs. justice" is another, although on Trek it's rare that the bad guy will ever entirely escape karmic retribution in some form. Joe Bob agrees with you to check it out.

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by evay

Joe Bob agrees with you to check it out.

Four stars, with spray-bottle fu?

[NAHTMMM]

OK, I have several questions about Sa'ar Chasm's very funny version of Stargate's "Grail".

"Kosh": Seymour, feeeed me!
Deuce: I told you to stop calling me Seymour! I was going to let you feast on the tied-up magistrate here, but now I'm only going to let you eat his jeans.
"Kosh": Are they Levi's?
Deuce: Ha! You wish I'd let you eat topp of the line.

What's the reason for the double P? All that "topp" suggests to me is "baseball cards".

Jinxo: OhmygodCommanderyou'vegottohelpcomequickcowsgomoot hey'vegot- (deeeeep breath)- GrajicIcan'teatsandwicheswithmittensandtheVorlon's gonnaeathimIlikekittens...
Sinclair: Somebody take this man to Medlab, give him a belt of Scotch and a space bar, and see if you can make out what the dickens he's trying to say.

I caught the "Artful Dodger" bit earlier, but are there other Dickens references in there that I've missed? (While we're at it, is the line about sandwiches and mittens and kittens a reference to anything?)
(Heh. The software seems to have added a couple of spaces in that one line on its own.)

Gajic: Ouch...that's going to leave a stubb.

What's the reason for the double B? All that "stubb" suggests to me is . . . uh, there might have been a Stubbs in Moby Dick or something, but otherwise pretty much nothing at all.

[Sa'ar Chasm]

[quote] OK, I have several questions about Sa'ar Chasm's very funny version of Stargate's "Grail".//quote]

B5. Not Stargate. :P Although I am watching Stargate right now. I only seem to get into shows after they've been cancelled.

What's the reason for the double P? All that "topp" suggests to me is "baseball cards".

What's the reason for the double B?

These ones are multilayered and related. The Seymore, feed me line is a reference to Little Shop Of Horrors. In the movie, the plant was voices by Levi Stubbs. Mr. Stubbs was the lead singer of the Four Tops, which, it turns out, is only spelled with one p, but doubling it in the fiver matches the Stubbs reference and draws attention to itself. I can't make every reference invisibly obscure.

I caught the "Artful Dodger" bit earlier, but are there other Dickens references in there that I've missed?

Naw, that's just gibberish. A hysterical stream of consciousness filled with various silly things that amused me at the time. I think I was channelling IJD's Aliens meme of having the anthrovores say "meow", which explains the kittens and why the fake Kosh keeps saying meow.

I'm not sure why I had Sinclair say Dickens - possibly a Far Side cartoon ("see if you can make out what the dickens he was working on"). If I wanted to maintain my reputation for inaccessible references, I'd imply that I put it in there to mislead you.

[Nate the Great]

Yeah, I was also in spit take territory. There are no SG-1 fivers on this site. Never have been, never will be.

By the way, has anyone ever made a Kosh/Koosh joke in a B5 fiver? Seems fairly obvious now that I think about it.

Sheridan: C'mon, you can tell me what you're really like under there!
Kosh: Okay, I'm really a giant ball of technicolor rubber spagetti.
Sheridan: Really?
Kosh: No! Zarquon, you are so dense!

[Sa'ar Chasm]

No, but I stole Derek's crossword gag to compare Kosh to a sock full of sand.

[Katy Jane]

From the Enterprise Episode: Azati Prime

When Archer is giving his farewell speech he says:

Tell your sister... you were right.

I'm sure this is a quote from something or atleast a mangled quote from something but i can't think from what... or maybe i'm just confused...

[Zeke]

That's a reference back to the "Broken Bow" fiver. Archer is quoting his dad, who apparently still liked to use Darth Vader lines.

[Wowbagger]

Oh, I'm going to love this thread. So many jokes missed over the years...

But, for now, I was reading my favorite webcomic today. Is this a reference to FMV (yes, FMV, dammit!), albeit mispelled? Or is this just one of those random moments of serendip?

Good to see you alive, Zeke.

[Nate the Great]

Looks more like a Star Wars reference.

I'd like to ask who came up with the word Kablazmo.

[Katy Jane]

I think he was asking about the *Gack* part