Cross Episode Reference

Emrysgirl

New member
In Stilts, Hal confessed to burning Lois' dress from Red Dress.

In Francis Escapes, Francis mentions the "farm girls" who hang around outside Marlin Academy ie the "local girls" from Dinner Out.

Has anyone noticed any other cross-episode references?
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Stilts was, as appanah put it, the ultimate episode. There were a lot of firsts for quite some time. The reference to Red Dress was not the only cross-ep reference. Appanah found a whole bunch, so I'll let him explain that.

A classic one is the hampster in season three. Dewey takes it home in the latter part of the season, and for the rest of the season, we see it rolling through a scene at some point.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Emrysgirl said:
In Stilts, Hal confessed to burning Lois' dress from Red Dress.

In Francis Escapes, Francis mentions the "farm girls" who hang around outside Marlin Academy ie the "local girls" from Dinner Out.

Has anyone noticed any other cross-episode references?
Francis Escapes came before Dinner Out, so that couldn't have been, unless it was written first.
 

Emrysgirl

New member
yardgames said:
Francis Escapes came before Dinner Out, so that couldn't have been, unless it was written first.
I know. In Francis Escapes, when Malcolm asks him what he was going to do, Francis says "There's a pack of farm girls that hang around outside the fence: probably check that out." That sounded a lot like the local girls. I don't know how it works out though. Maybe, like you said, it was written first. Or maybe they just made use of the line.
 

Garbage Kills Megan

parties with your mom
It seems to me that they wrote that line for the "Francis escapes" episode, and then the next season the writers thought "hey, remember those farm girls we mentioned? Why don't we do something with them?"

I know there are plenty of cross references, I just can't think of any off the top of my head. Next time I see one I'll post it.
 

q46291

New member
I've noticed that in many season 6 episodes, there is constant reference to possums (or opossums). I think there were about six episodes where these marsupial were mentioned. I wonder why.
 

Garbage Kills Megan

parties with your mom
In Reese's Party, Lois interrupts someone's marriage proposal in the hotel. In Ida's Boyfriend, the acting troup at the ranch ruins a marriage proposal. The man mentions before he begins his proposal that it didn't go so well last time. That's because it's the same couple from Reese's Party.
 

Garbage Kills Megan

parties with your mom
Yeah, I thought so too. The two events happened in different seasons, too. They couldn't have thought that many people were going to catch that. Maybe it was sort of an inside joke.
 

bluecobweb

New member
This isn't a reference and it's way too far-fetched, but maybe there is a connection between Malcolm being Sam in Stilts and Lois wanting him to be the president in Graduation. I think Lois was the one that asked him to be Sam. In both situations Malcolm didn't want to accept the job at first, but did so anyway. It might be a coincidence that they're both jobs related to the United States.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Wow, that is far-fetched. :D I suppose anything is possible, but I would argue that being Uncle Sam at your neighborhood drug store isn't exactly the same as being President of the United States. :D
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
Lol, good point, Sam.:D
This isn't really a specific cross episode reference, but I know for sure that Reese's arrest record and court dates were mentioned many times throughout the show.:D
 

cadetspangler

New member
Funny that there are hardly any of these.

Obviously, Clip Show #2 has Lois ask Hal about the sequins he got in Rollerskates, and Hal reminds Lois about her trip to the hospital for the lego incident in High School Play.

I saw Stilts the other week and caught the Red Dress reference :w00t:

There are several references to earlier times though that I wish HAD been episodes. For example, from Stilts:

Malcolm: "Two years ago I was thrown out of the locker room completely naked."

Reese (from Hal's Christmas Gift): "So when I superglued my eyelids shut and was in the emergency room, we could have used your credit card instead of having to call mom?"

The Grandparents mentions Malcolm being put in Krelboyne Class (obviously referencing "Pilot")...Minibike references the "burning Craig's house down" incident from the previous ep...also, Reese Cooks has the scene where Malcolm reminds Cynthia's dad about how he threw a brick through her window (Krelboyne Girl).

Sadly, though, there are pretty much none of these. Which really sucks.

Oh yeah, and Victor's other family revolves around something Ida told Lois in Baby part 2.
 

cadetspangler

New member
So, so far, we've got...

1. Grandparents: to Pilot
2. Reese Cooks: to Krelboyne Girl
3. Mini-Bike: to previous ep
4. Monkey: to Dewey's Dog
5. Clip Show 2: to "Rollerskates" and "High School Play"
6. Dewey's Special Class: to Pilot
7. Victors other family: to Baby(2)
8. Stilts: to Red Dress

I'm honestly shocked they didn't do more of these. I actually remember, while watching the show, actually hoping they'd do some. Sadly, they hardly ever did.

Thankfully, though, they're all over "The Middle". (To name a few: the disneyworld trip, Frankie taking up beading, the lime jello salad, the backyard wedding, taking care of Frankie's sister's house...not to mention the various story arcs!)
 
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