Character Name Homage

The farm the DeLorean crashes into belongs to the Peabody family, and the son clutching the comic book is credited as Sherman — making the pair 'Peabody and Sherman', the…

Co-written by James Roday as an unabashed love letter to Twin Peaks, "Dual Spires" sends Shawn and Gus to a woodsy small town's cinnamon festival, where a teenage girl turns up…

When Lassiter buys a condo where the previous tenant died, the episode becomes a two-for-one horror homage. The Shining layer is everywhere: the title riffs on "Here's Johnny!", a…

When Walt needs a name to scare Tuco, he reaches for Werner Heisenberg, the German physicist behind the uncertainty principle — the idea that you can't pin down a particle's…

Alan Tudyk voiced the pompous Duke of Weselton in Frozen — the villain everyone kept mispronouncing as "Weasel Town." Three years later, Disney cast Tudyk as an actual weasel…

The character names are a horror-nerd cipher. Rose echoes Rosemary Woodhouse of Rosemary's Baby, and grandfather Roman doubles the nod — Roman Castevet is that film's cult leader…

Nell's psychiatrist is called Dr. Montague, the name of the paranormal investigator who assembles the team in Jackson's novel. He's played by Russ Tamblyn, who starred as…

Fans reasonably assumed the two eldest Crains honored horror's power couple: Shirley for Shirley Jackson, Steven for Stephen King. The Blu-ray commentary corrects the record…

Jim Beaver — Supernatural's beloved Bobby Singer — joins The Boys as Secretary of Defense Robert Singer, later the presidential candidate 'Dakota Bob.' The name isn't a…

Two of Vought's smarmy in-house creative staffers are named Seth and Evan — a tip of the hat to executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the writing-directing duo who…

Creator Dan Erickson grew up in Olympia, Washington, and seeded the show with hometown references. Lumon founder Kier Eagan shares a name with Eagan's Drive-In, an Olympia burger…

The Wicked Witch of the West never had a name until Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel built one out of her creator's byline: say L. Frank Baum's initials — L, F, B — out loud and you…

Listen closely in the early Shiz scenes and the dialogue name-drops two deep-cut villains. 'Miss Gulch' is Almira Gulch, the bicycle-riding Kansas neighbor who doubles as the…

Valentina's put-upon assistant Mel wears a delicate necklace with a songbird pendant, visible in close-ups throughout. In the comics, Melissa Gold starts as the Masters of Evil's…

Mark Gatiss plays Ted Gilbert, host of Earth-828's biggest variety show and a transparent stand-in for Ed Sullivan, whose program defined 1960s American television. The name is…

Boy Kavalier styles himself a Peter Pan figure, so his research island is called Neverland and his child-minded hybrids are the "Lost Boys": Wendy, Slightly, Tootles, Curly, Nibs…

The 1962 cast reads like a genealogy chart for 1989's Losers. Teddy Uris shares a family tree with Stanley Uris; police chief Clint Bowers is widely read as an ancestor of bully…

The heroine is named after Maggie Kang's own daughter, Rumi — and the casting goes one layer deeper: Kang's daughter also provides the voice of young Rumi in the flashback scenes…

Coogler has said the film's roster of characters was seeded by "Wang Dang Doodle," the blues anthem written by Willie Dixon, recorded by Howlin' Wolf and later Koko Taylor. The…

Fiyero is now captain of the Wizard's witch-hunting secret police, the 'Gale Force' — a name that puns on Madame Morrible's weather magic while quietly honoring Dorothy Gale, who…