The Tube and The Tubes.

I've heard that life imitates art. Now it seems old media (TV) is referencing new media (Web). Recently, on the Simpsons, Homer had a near death experience and saw his life flash before his eyes. To show this, the writers referenced Noah K Everyday, a project where Noah took a shot of himself everyday for six years. You can see the videp of Homer's version here. (The video will not be available long, as Fox has a bunch of paranoid, stodgy media types running the show.)

Speaking of old and stodgy, last week while my husband Toby Joe and I were watching 30 Rock (quite possibly the funniest TV show ever) we nearly choked to death at one obscure joke.

In that episode, Liz Lemon's (Tina Fey) family visits her. At one point the Lemons, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), and his mother are sitting around a dinner table. The check comes, and Dick Lemon pays the tab. He turns to Jack and says, "It's not a Lemon party without ol' Dick!" TobyJoe: "Oh my god! Did you just hear that?" Me, all 'OMFG': "Yes!"

For those of you who've never been the butt of certain office pranks, I will explain. For starters, this is not at all work safe. NSFW! Entirely. Don't go running off and check the URL at work.

There is a site with a URL using the words "Lemon" and "Party". On their main page is a picture of three male senior citizens doing "things" to one another. It's dirty and a little shocking if you're not ready for it. I mean, how often does one get to see an orgy between people where the sum total age is 195?

My point is, the writers for 30 Rock have not only seen the Web site at one point during their career, but they actually referenced it during an episode. This started a brainstorm at our house. We were trying to remember more examples of the web getting referenced on TV. Peanut Butter Jelly Time has made it onto Family Guy, for instance. 

PB&J Time showed up on Ed as well. And I think that creepy, dancing Internet baby was used on Ally McBeal, although, I'm not sure which came first; I hate that dancing baby.

The executives over at Fox, NBC, ABC, and CBS may not yet understand the Web (I bet that's how the Lemon Party bit made it past legal) but the writers sure do!

I can see the immediate future: CSI opens with a slow pan across the Nevada desert, zooms over the city and then lands on a hotel and then zooms into one window on the 13th floor. On the bed before us, are two dead women. One of them has a cup in her hand...