10 TV Shows That Made Fun Of Their Fans

Season 2 of Sherlock ended with the massive question of how Sherlock was able to fake his own death, and then the show was off the air for two years, leaving fans plenty of time to drive themselves insane coming up with theories.

Then the Season 3 premiere ends up being super meta, as it's all about people within the show's universe coming up with theories about how Sherlock did it. The episode opens with a scene which appears to be the explanation, but nope, this is actually just Philip Anderson's personal "fan theory." It even includes Sherlock kissing Molly like something right out of fan fiction.

Later in the episode, there's a particularly wacky theory that Sherlock and Moriarty were working together the whole time, ending with the two making out. This is clearly making fun of fan communities like Tumblr who come up with totally outlandish theories and who actually ship Sherlock and Moriarty. It's called Sheriarty, by the way.

In the end, Sherlock reveals how he really did it to Anderson, who can't decide if he believes Sherlock or not, and so he ends up driving himself crazy with doubt. It's like the showrunners are pointing a mirror directly at the audience, having just provided them the answer but knowing that they'll drive themselves crazy speculating over it for years.