8 Most Mindbogglingly Meta TV Show Cameos Ever
1. Mel Brooks - Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Mel Brooks episode of Curb is one of the most bafflingly meta in all of comedy. The plot features Mel Brooks putting on a stage version of his 1967 film "The Producers". In the original film, a theatre producer gets involved in a complicated financial scam that involves sabotaging his own play. He fails and the show becomes a hit.
Whilst Brooks wasn't really working on a stage version at the time, he was working on the 2005 film adaptation, which was itself based upon the 2001 stage version. So, before the episode has started, the head-scratching has already begun.
In "Mel's Offer", Brooks casts Larry in this production of The Producers. In an inspired ending, Larry's agonisingly bad performance (in which he forgets his lines) only causes the play to become (you guessed it) a hit.
So what we have here is a recursive Russian doll of reference: a TV sitcom parodying a film adaptation of a musical adaptation of a film, which itself parodies a fictional musical. Whew.
Which of these cameos is your favourite? Any others worthy of a mention? Share your thoughts down in the comments section.