Today, we look at TV shows referencing Buffy’s iconic ‘Dawn’s in trouble. Must be a Tuesday” line.
In Drawing Crazy Patterns, I spotlight at least five things from pop culture that fit under a specific theme (basically, stuff that happens frequently enough to be worth pointing it out). Note that these lists are inherently not exhaustive. They are a list of five examples (occasionally I’ll be nice and toss in a sixth). So no instance is “missing” if it is not listed. It’s just not one of the five examples that I chose. You can always feel free to suggest ANOTHER example that fits the theme, if you’d like, but nothing is “missing” from this list.
This is a special Meta-Message edition of Drawing Crazy Patterns! In Meta-Messages, I explore the context behind (using reader danjack’s term) “meta-messages.” A meta-message is where a creator comments on/references the work of another creator (or sometimes even themselves) in their work. Each time around, I’ll give you the context behind one such “meta-message.”
As we close out this month (ON A TUESDAY, NO LESS!), here’s one last special Drawing Crazy Patterns that will consist of a few Meta-Messages. Today, we look at how other shows reference a classic Buffy moment. In Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s famous “Once More With Feeling,” Buffy’s younger sister, Dawn, appears to be in trouble with a dancing demon, seemingly about to be forced to become his bride. Buffy and her friends determine that they have to save Dawn. Dawn’s proclivity for getting into trouble is teased with a meta-message line where Buffy says “Dawn’s in trouble. Must be a Tuesday.”
“Dawn’s in trouble. Must be Tuesday.” #Buffy #BtVS pic.twitter.com/gQYVNSe9pY
— ToQuoteBuffy (@ToQuoteBuffy) October 19, 2019
Buffy, of course, aired on a Tuesday.
Amusingly enough, that exact riff has been referenced a number of times by other TV shows. Here’s five!
THE FLASH “PLASTIQUE”
In the fifth episode of the CW superhero series, The Flash, Joe West references the news that there is a villain who is a living bomb by noting, “So, human bomb. Must be Tuesday in Central City”
DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW “HELEN HUNT”
In DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 3’s “Helen Hunt,” when Professor Stein and Jax switch bodies, Nate notes the switch and Sara Lance replies, “Must be Tuesday.” The series aired on Tuesdays at the time.
EUREKA “FRIENDLY FIRE”
After a whole plot with a Matrix-like simulation gone wrong in Eureka‘s fifth season, Fargo remarks, “Big surprise right guys? Another Isaac Parrish experiment failed? Must be Tuesday!”
THE FLASH “FALLOUT”
Later in Season 1 of The Flash, the gang saves Kaitlin Frost’s fiance, Ronnie Raymond, whose mind is in sync with Professor Martin Stein (before Stein was merged with Jax later on), leading to the following exchange:
Caitlin Snow: Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta – all your brain waves are perfectly in sync. The chances of that happening are next to impossible.
Barry “The Flash” Allen: Impossible’s just another Tuesday for us, remember?
SUPERNATURAL “THE THINGS THEY CARRIED”
In Season 10 of Supernatural, Dean and Cole are working together when Cole notes his amazement at how Dean is so calm with the crazy stuff they’re doing, noting:
Dean Winchester: All right, let’s fire this puppy up.
Cole Trenton: Well, you say that like it’s just another Tuesday.
Supernatural had only recently moved to Wednesday FROM Tuesdays.
Okay, that’s it for a Month of Meta-Messages, but don’t worry, I’ll still do more Meta-Messages in the future, just not a month of them! Okay, folks, if you have suggestions for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns, drop me a line at my all-new, all-shorter e-mail, brian@poprefs.com! Or future Meta-Messages, as well!
To be one of those “well, actually” guys, they thought I was Dawn, but it was in fact Xander who summoned the demon…
Fair point, Christopher! Edited!
huh I never knew Buffy did that joke first.
The fact that more than one of these comes from Flash (and another from one of its spinoffs) kind of speaks to the level of creativity in that show.
Fringe’s season two episode, Unearthed, also has a reference. (Found your post while I was looking to see if it was a coincidence.) Peter says, “”If you tell me the U.S. Government is covering something up, I’ll tell you it must be Tuesday.”