Titanic references in TV Shows

[Beth Barber]

What shows have you seen that referenced the Titanic?

NCIS
Big Bang Theory
M*A*S*H
All in the family
Everybody loves Raymond

I know there has to be tons more! - Beth

 

[Talira Greycrest]

I've never seen either of these, but season 3 of the 1970s British drama series "Upstairs, Downstairs" opens with the news of Titanic's sinking. The same thing happens in the first episode of "Downton Abbey". This greatly affects characters in both programs, as they deal with the grief of losing family members.

 

[Talira Greycrest]

Slight mistake with that "Upstairs, Downstairs" episode. Haven't watched it the whole way through (found it on YouTube) but it seems Titanic isn't mentioned until close to the end of the episode. Will have to watch the whole thing to see when Titanic is first mentioned.

 

[Talira Greycrest]

Just checked and it's actually the first two episodes of "Upstairs, Downstairs" season 3. In the first episode, titled "Miss Forrest", it's discovered that two of the main characters will be travelling on Titanic to visit relatives in New York, but it's the 2nd episode, "A House Divided", that begins with the news of the sinking.

 

[Christophe Puttemans]

I remember a reference in an episode of the Nickelodeon series Instant Mom, but I don't remember any details. Something like:
"Do you know why it was women and children first on the Titanic? Those men couldn't wait to send off their wives."
Please correct me if you know the reference.

 

[Aaron_2016]

Here are a few references I found in British sitcoms over the years.


You Rang M'Lord
Terry and June
Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em
Gimme Gimme Gimme
Tony Hancock's Half Hour
The New Statesman
Hi De Hi (several episodes)

Dailymotion:x57skfp

 

[Alex Clark]

Was that a Murdoch impression at the end?

 

[N. D. Risener]

I have a very old memory of some kind of Playhouse episode I watched on TV back in the 1950's. A very nice man was engaged to be married. His friends were quite concerned for his future happiness as they realized his intended bride was an unscrupulously evil person who cared nothing for him. She planned to take him for all his money and then dump him.

Fortunately that never happened. The night before the wedding the bride received a visit from the man's great aunt who had died on the Titanic. The following morning she was found dead in her bed, her lungs filled with water.

 

[David G. Brown]

Prior to the movie, there was an hour-long LIVE dramatization of Lord's ANTR book. It even included water flooding the first class smoking room. This was a remarkable show in that all of the action had to be done in one take. There was no video tape back in those days and Kinescopes were of dreadful quality.

Walter Cronkite of CBS also did a half-hour show about the sinking as part of his "You Are There" series.

-- David G. Brown

 

[Jay Roches]

The Simpsons have referenced both the actual Titanic and the 1997 film:
RMS Titanic - for references to the ship
Titanic - for references to the film

Perhaps not surprisingly, Mr. Burns has a direct connection to Titanic: he survived the sinking by making a raft out of steerage passengers. There's also an episode where a DJ plays the oldest record he owns for Mr. Burns: "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine". (It's the song Jack and Rose sing, and it's really quite pleasant and catchy, particularly the later male-female duet with Ada Jones and Billy Murray on Youtube.)

Monty Python refers to Titanic in Episode 28, seen on Youtube here. Some stock footage of Titanic is used and the general theme is that the captain and crew dress up in various costumes and the captain eventually alters "Women and children first" to "Women, children, "Red Indians", spacemen, and a sort of idealized version of the complete Renaissance Man first."