TV Critics Reveal the Shows They Quote More Than Any Other

Saloni Gajjar, the TV critic for The A.V. Club, asked her colleagues to name the show they quote more than any other. The answers range from obscure cult hits to network staples, and they offer a window into what stays with viewers long after the credits roll.

The Six Picks

Each contributor picked a different show:

1. Clone High — Jacob Oller
2. 30 Rock — Drew Gillis
3. The Office — Saloni Gajjar
4. Doctor Who — Lacy Baugher Milas
5. Mr. Show With Bob And David — Jarrod Jones
6. BoJack Horseman — unnamed contributor

Clone High and 30 Rock

One contributor named Clone High as the show they quote most often. They discovered the series on YouTube while in middle school, after its cancellation, and never saw it air on television. The quotes include “Nothing bad ever happens to the Kennedys!” and the habit of replacing sexual euphemisms with “to verb the adjective noun.” The contributor credits the show’s obscurity for making the jokes stick.

Another picked 30 Rock, saying they watched it repeatedly when their brain was still “plastic,” which meant they absorbed it like a foreign language. The obvious references like “mind grapes” and “werewolf bar mitzvah” are common, but the contributor also reconstructs entire minutes of dialogue from specific episodes, especially ones involving Jenna Maroney’s odd reactions to car accidents. They admit it is one of their dorkiest qualities, though they are glad the show has so much sharp, timeless material.

The Office and Doctor Who

Saloni Gajjar herself named The Office as the show she quotes most. She recalled saying “how the turntables” to a group of people who looked at her like she was the problem, which made the answer easy. The dialogue’s straightforward humor in mundane, awkward situations makes the show quotable, she argued. She also cited the “Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica” line and the “that’s what she said” jokes.

Doctor Who was another pick, with Lacy Baugher Milas noting the franchise’s 60-plus-year history offers plenty of options. She quotes Missy, Michelle Gomez’s female Master, muttering “I’m really trying not to kill anyone today. It would be tremendously helpful if your major arteries were out of reach” when someone is annoying. She also uses the Eleventh Doctor’s line about “sometimes impossible things just happen and we call them miracles” in reviews of shows that should not work but do. The reconstructed dialogue remains a weekly occurrence, according to the 30 Rock contributor.

Mr. Show and BoJack Horseman

Jarrod Jones named Mr. Show With Bob And David, calling it the show that hit him at “Mach 3” speed. The late-night sketch series from HBO shaped awkward conversations with friends, family, and strangers over the years. He quotes answering the phone with “Okay, Go?” and telling his girlfriend to look for elusive kitchen items “in the bag hutch.” He can quote every line from the “Monk Academy” sketch and expects to see the whole clip playing behind his eyes on his deathbed.

BoJack Horseman was the final pick. The contributor recalled the streaming-era days when Netflix shows could last beyond a second season, and they tuned into the quirky animated show with friends. The joke “What is this, a crossover episode?” became a running gag, along with the AOL-Time-Warner-Pepsico-Viacom-Halliburton-Skynet-Toyota-Trader-Joe’s reference, which has only gotten better with age. The steady stream of animal puns never ends.

The quotes come from all corners of television history. One contributor admitted they stop short of doing character voices, but the reconstructed dialogue remains a weekly occurrence.

This is a fun, light-hearted look at how television shapes our speech, even when we are not watching it. The contributors named the show they quote most because it is part of who they are.

Source material: “AVQ&A: What TV show do you quote more than any other?,” The A.V. Club.

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