Wikipedia in popular culture
Encyclopedia
References to Wikipedia in culture have increased as more people learn about and use the online
encyclopedia
project. Many parody
Wikipedia's
openness, with characters vandalising or modifying articles. Still others feature characters using the references as a source, or positively comparing a character's intelligence to Wikipedia. Also, the encyclopedia many times is not used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game. Wikipedia has also become culturally significant with many individuals seeing the presence of a Wikipedia entry as a status symbol.
References to Wikipedia in culture have increased as more people learn about and use the online
encyclopedia
project. Many parody
Wikipedia's
openness, with characters vandalising or modifying articles. Still others feature characters using the references as a source, or positively comparing a character's intelligence to Wikipedia. Also, the encyclopedia many times is not used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game. Wikipedia has also become culturally significant with many individuals seeing the presence of a Wikipedia entry as a status symbol.
References to Wikipedia in culture have increased as more people learn about and use the online
encyclopedia
project. Many parody
Wikipedia's
openness, with characters vandalising or modifying articles. Still others feature characters using the references as a source, or positively comparing a character's intelligence to Wikipedia. Also, the encyclopedia many times is not used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game. Wikipedia has also become culturally significant with many individuals seeing the presence of a Wikipedia entry as a status symbol.
announced the neologism "wikiality," a portmanteau of the words Wiki
and reality, for his segment "The Wørd". Colbert defined wikiality as "truth by consensus" (rather than fact), modeled after the approval-by-consensus format of Wikipedia. He ironically praised Wikipedia for following his philosophy of truthiness
, in which intuition and consensus is a better reflection of reality than fact:
According to Stephen Colbert, together "we can all create a reality that we all can agree on; the reality that we just agreed on." During the segment, he joked: "I love Wikipedia... any site that's got a longer entry on truthiness
than on Lutherans has its priorities straight." Colbert also used the segment to satirize the more general issue of whether the repetition of statements in the media leads people to believe they are true. The piece was introduced with the tagline "The Revolution Will Not Be Verified", referencing the lack of objective verification seen in some articles.
Colbert suggested that viewers change the elephant
page to state that the number of African elephants
has tripled in the last six months. The suggestion resulted in numerous incorrect changes to Wikipedia articles related to elephants and Africa. Wikipedia administrators subsequently restricted edits to the pages by anonymous and newly created user accounts.
Colbert went on to type on a laptop facing away from the camera, claiming to be making the edits to the pages himself. In addition, initial edits to Wikipedia corresponding to these claimed "facts" were made by a user named Stephencolbert. Thus, many believe Colbert himself vandalized several Wikipedia pages at the time he was encouraging other users to do the same. The account, whether it was Stephen Colbert himself or someone posing as him, has been blocked from Wikipedia indefinitely. Wikipedia blocked the account not for the vandalism (as believed), but for violating Wikipedia's username policies, which state that using the names of celebrities as login names without permission is inappropriate.
The account was confirmed to be his later that week, but remains blocked.
chose to commemorate Wikipedia's 10th Anniversary by issuing a special postmark and a Souvenir Leaf. These were the world's first Wikipedia-related postal items. As is customary on Wikipedia, the Souvenir Leaf, postmark and the text on the back of the souvenir leaf were created by a collaboration of volunteers. The design of the postmark was based on the work of "MT0", a Wikipedia editor.
xkcd
published a comic showing a protester holding up a placard during a political rally that says "[CITATION NEEDED]", mimicking the Wikipedian Citation Needed template used to request a citation for an unsupported statement.[citation needed] The tooltip
of the comic, often part of the joke, shows the additional comment "SEMI-PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION". Numerous other references to Wikipedia have been made in xkcd.
called the "Cult of the Amateur" in his book of the same name, resulting in toleration and enjoyment of lowerbrow culture.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
project. Many parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Wikipedia's
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
openness, with characters vandalising or modifying articles. Still others feature characters using the references as a source, or positively comparing a character's intelligence to Wikipedia. Also, the encyclopedia many times is not used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game. Wikipedia has also become culturally significant with many individuals seeing the presence of a Wikipedia entry as a status symbol.
Cases
References to Wikipedia in culture have increased as more people learn about and use the online
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
project. Many parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Wikipedia's
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
openness, with characters vandalising or modifying articles. Still others feature characters using the references as a source, or positively comparing a character's intelligence to Wikipedia. Also, the encyclopedia many times is not used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game. Wikipedia has also become culturally significant with many individuals seeing the presence of a Wikipedia entry as a status symbol.
Cases
References to Wikipedia in culture have increased as more people learn about and use the online
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
project. Many parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Wikipedia's
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
openness, with characters vandalising or modifying articles. Still others feature characters using the references as a source, or positively comparing a character's intelligence to Wikipedia. Also, the encyclopedia many times is not used as an encyclopedia at all, but instead serves more as a character trait or even as a game. Wikipedia has also become culturally significant with many individuals seeing the presence of a Wikipedia entry as a status symbol.
Cases
| Date | Nature | Country (of origin) | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 10, 2004 | article Article (publishing) An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:... |
 United States |
"I Must Take Issue With The Wikipedia Entry For 'Weird Al' Yankovic", the Onion The Onion The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club... . |
| 2005 | promotion Promotion (marketing) Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix . It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyer's purchasing decision.... |
 Australia |
Jericho Jericho (TV series) Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States... ads |
| May 7, 2005 | comic strip Comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions.... |
United States |
FoxTrot |
| 2006 | commercial |  Kingdom of England |
Cisco Systems Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$... : Human Network Anthem |
| March 1, 2006 | TV show (satirical) | United States |
The Colbert Report, episode 58 |
| April 14, 2006 | novel Novel A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century.... |
 United Kingdom |
The Righteous Men The Righteous Men The Righteous Men is a novel written by Sam Bourne, a pseudonym of English journalist Jonathan Freedland. The story is about a half-British news reporter, Will Monroe , Jewish Occult Mysticism, Kabbalah, Hasidic Judaism, and the nefarious Christian sect known as Church of the Reborn Jesus.It has... , Sam Bourne Sam Bourne Sam Bourne is the pseudonym of the British journalist, Jonathan Freedland intended to distinguish his work in fiction from his journalism. Freedland is credited on the copyright page as the author of the thrillers The Righteous Men , The Last Testament , The Final Reckoning and The Chosen One .His... |
| August 12, 2006 | music video Music video A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings... |
United States |
"White & Nerdy White & Nerdy "White & Nerdy" is the second single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album Straight Outta Lynwood, which was released on September 26, 2006. It parodies the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone... " music video, by "Weird Al" Yankovic "Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts... |
| January 18, 2007 | sitcom | United States |
30 Rock 30 Rock 30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live... : "The Head and the Hair" |
| March 17, 2007 | TV show (satirical) | United Kingdom |
Bremner, Bird and Fortune Bremner, Bird and Fortune Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner.The show started in 1999. The fourteenth series... |
| April 22, 2007 | TV show (sport) | United States |
SportsCenter SportsCenter SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major... |
| May 31, 2007 | Non-fiction Non-fiction Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact... |
United States |
It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News It's Not News, It's FARK It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News is the first book byFark.com founder Drew Curtis. It is a critical look at the Mass Media industry and the go-to stories used when there is a lack of hard news to report.-Background:... , Drew Curtis Drew Curtis Drew Curtis is the founder and an administrator of Fark.com, an Internet link dump site. He is also the author of It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News in May 2007.-Bio:... |
| June 11, 2007 | commercial demo | United States |
Apple iPhone, Apple Inc. |
| August 3, 2007 | play Play (theatre) A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed... |
United States |
The Wikipedia Plays |
| September 3, 2007 | magazine Magazine Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three... |
United Kingdom |
Official Nintendo Magazine, Issue 21 |
| July 23, 2009 | radio Radio Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space... (satirical) |
United Kingdom |
Bigipedia Bigipedia Bigipedia is a comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 that first aired between 23 July and 13 August 2009. A second series of four episodes began on 12 July, 2011. The show's storyline revolves around "Bigipedia", a fictional website broadcast on radio, intended to be a parody of Wikipedia,... |
| August 11, 2010 | sitcom | United States |
Hot in Cleveland Hot in Cleveland Hot in Cleveland is an American sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White. The series, which is TV Land's first original scripted series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highest rated telecast in the cable network's 14-year history. The... : "Good Luck Faking The Goiter" |
| Title | Description | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| I Must Take Issue With The Wikipedia Entry For 'Weird Al' Yankovic | In an article from The Onion The Onion The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club... , the character Larry Groznic writes an article about how he was banned from Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,... for starting an edit war on the "Weird Al" Yankovic "Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts... page, and goes on to criticize the content on the said page. |
Having taken place well before the John Seigenthaler Sr. Wikipedia biography controversy, it was one of the first major parodies. |
| FoxTrot | First appearance of Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,... in a syndicated comic strip Comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions.... . |
|
| The Colbert Report, episode 58 | Arianna Huffington Arianna Huffington Arianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s... challenges host Stephen Colbert Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an... on his claim that he had coined the word "truthiness Truthiness Truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or that it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.... ". She cited Wikipedia, claiming that he had merely "popularized" the term. Regarding her source, Colbert, in character, responded: "Fuck them." |
First nationally-broadcast television program to mention Wikipedia. |
| The Colbert Report, episode 93 | Colbert refers to Wikipedia as his source of information for research on Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis... . With his normal sarcastic and deadpan Deadpan Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor... delivery, Colbert's segment "The Wørd" mocked Wikipedia's sometimes-questionable information with the screen posting "Even the accurate parts." |
Colbert's first scripted reference to Wikipedia, a lead into his "Wikiality" piece. |
| Global Language Monitor Global Language Monitor The Global Language Monitor is an Austin, Texas-based company that collectively documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language... |
Global Language Monitor, which tracks trends in languages, named wikiality and truthiness the top T.V. Television Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound... buzzword Buzzword A buzzword is a term of art, salesmanship, politics, or technical jargon that is used in the media and wider society outside of its originally narrow technical context.... s for 2006. Shortly after the episode aired, a fan-created Wikipedia parody site opened at Wikiality.com, inspired by the term. On October 19, 2006, the term was mentioned again on the show, this time with Wikiality.com given as the url for Wikipedia. |
|
| "White & Nerdy White & Nerdy "White & Nerdy" is the second single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album Straight Outta Lynwood, which was released on September 26, 2006. It parodies the song "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone... " |
 The character who is implied to be the nerd says that editing Wikipedia is one of his nerdy activities. In the video, Al is shown editing the article Atlantic Records by typing in large letters YOU SUCK. Thus Al takes revenge on the record company for refusing to let him include "You're Pitiful," a parody of James Blunt James Blunt James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005... 's song "You're Beautiful You're Beautiful "You're Beautiful" is a pop rock song co-written by British singer James Blunt, Sacha Skarbek, and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam . It was released as the third single from the album in 2005. In the UK and Australia the song reached number one and number two respectively... ", on his new album Straight Outta Lynwood Straight Outta Lynwood is the 12th studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It was released on September 26, 2006 in the U.S. by Volcano, on September 30, 2006 in Australia, on October 3 in Canada, on October 6, 2006 in New Zealand, November 13, 2006 in the United Kingdom, and November 24, 2006 in... . This has prompted copycat vandalism of the Atlantic Records Atlantic Records Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz... page, which resulted in the page's being semi-protected. Yankovic "Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts... has said "I don't officially approve of [the vandalism], but on a certain level it does amuse me." |
The song was also Yankovic's first career Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #1 at the U.S. iTunes Store, and peaked at #1 on VH1's top 20 video countdown. |
| Tar Baby Tar baby The Tar-Baby is a doll made of tar and turpentine used to entrap Br'er Rabbit in the second of the Uncle Remus stories. The more that Br'er Rabbit fights the Tar-Baby, the more entangled he becomes... |
Australian songwriter, Carolyn Shine's 2009 track 'Tar Baby' refers to Wikipedia in the line: "If it's all about supply and demand, I don't know which one of us is needier. 'What's a Tar Baby Tar baby The Tar-Baby is a doll made of tar and turpentine used to entrap Br'er Rabbit in the second of the Uncle Remus stories. The more that Br'er Rabbit fights the Tar-Baby, the more entangled he becomes... ?' I hear you ask. Look it up for yourself in Wikipedia.". |
|
| Jericho Jericho (TV series) Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States... ads |
Following Jericho episodes on Network 10 in Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... , a promotion would appear encouraging viewers to log onto Wikipedia and search for "Jericho (tv series)" for proof of the hype and theories surrounding the show. |
This is the first station advertisement to encourage people to search Wikipedia for their product. |
| Cisco Systems Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$... |
A TV advertisement for Cisco Systems Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$... shows a young child with a laptop, the Wikipedia logo clearly visible on the screen. Part of their "Human Network Anthem" ad campaign. |
First television advertisement showing Wikipedia as part of the plot line. |
| 30 Rock 30 Rock 30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live... |
While Tracy Jordan Tracy Jordan Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:... , James "Toofer" Spurlock and Frank Rossitano are working to complete Jordan's autobiography within a single day, Rossitano finds Jordan's Wikipedia article while using the Internet on his laptop. The article says Jordan was discovered after doing stand-up comedy at the Apollo Theater Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers... in 1984, and Jordan, though stating he has no recollection of this, tells the two to add it to the book. |
First sitcom series reference. |
| Bremner, Bird and Fortune Bremner, Bird and Fortune Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner.The show started in 1999. The fourteenth series... |
A sketch about the 10 most popular, yet unread books, featuring a voice over talking about the plots of the books, which seem to constantly refer to aliens. At the end of the sketch it says that the information came from Wikipedia. | First mention in a British United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... satirical Satire Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement... comedy programme. |
| SportsCenter SportsCenter SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major... |
After citing a stat about Houston Astros Houston Astros The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field... pitcher Roy Oswalt Roy Oswalt Roy Edward Oswalt is an American Major League Baseball pitcher and Olympic gold medalist who is currently a free agent. Oswalt, a slender six-foot right-handed starting pitcher, is currently in his eleventh major league season... , anchor Kenny Mayne Kenny Mayne Kenneth "Kenny" Wheelock Mayne is a sports journalist and comedian for ESPN.-Sports career:A native of Kent, Washington, Mayne is a former honorable mention junior college All-American quarterback in 1978 at Wenatchee Valley Community College in Wenatchee, WA... jokingly gave credit to Wikipedia for providing the number. |
First recorded reference from a sports highlight show. |
| The Righteous Men The Righteous Men The Righteous Men is a novel written by Sam Bourne, a pseudonym of English journalist Jonathan Freedland. The story is about a half-British news reporter, Will Monroe , Jewish Occult Mysticism, Kabbalah, Hasidic Judaism, and the nefarious Christian sect known as Church of the Reborn Jesus.It has... |
In the 2006 Da Vinci Code-style novel The Righteous Men The Righteous Men The Righteous Men is a novel written by Sam Bourne, a pseudonym of English journalist Jonathan Freedland. The story is about a half-British news reporter, Will Monroe , Jewish Occult Mysticism, Kabbalah, Hasidic Judaism, and the nefarious Christian sect known as Church of the Reborn Jesus.It has... , Wikipedia features as an academic style encyclopedia. |
First known reference in fictional literature. |
| It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News | This book, which examines media bias, mainly about stories which do not count as news, Curtis writes: |
First known appearance in a book criticising the mass media, referencing Wikipedia. |
| Apple Inc. iPhone IPhone The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007... |
In the demonstration for the iPhone's internet capabilities, the Wikipedia page for the iPod IPod iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle... is shown, along with a link in the user's bookmarks. |
First known reference in a multinational product demonstration by a Media Conglomerate. |
| The Wikipedia Plays | Seventeen short plays, inspired by Wikipedia entries. | First play known to highlight Wikipedia. |
| The Colbert Report, episode 302 | On August 21, 2007, Colbert attacked WikiScanner WikiScanner WikiScanner was a tool which consisted of a publicly searchable database that linked millions of anonymous edits on the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia to the organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on the owners of the associated block of... , a website that tracks down people who make anonymous Anonymity Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a... edits on Wikipedia, claiming that it is an invasion of privacy, particularly for corporations, and that it attacks "Self-invention". He highlighted a case where Pepsi Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo... edited their entry by removing "Long-term health effects" from their article. This resulted in his "Wørd" being "Self-Determination", claiming that everyone on the internet should be anonymous and should not be forced to give away their true identity. Colbert later described Wikipedia as "Second Life Second Life Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars... for corporations," saying if a corporation wants to pretend to be someone else online, then that is their business. |
First nationally-broadcast television program to mention WikiScanner. |
| Bigipedia Bigipedia Bigipedia is a comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 that first aired between 23 July and 13 August 2009. A second series of four episodes began on 12 July, 2011. The show's storyline revolves around "Bigipedia", a fictional website broadcast on radio, intended to be a parody of Wikipedia,... |
Bigipedia is a BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... sketch show set on a website which is a parody of Wikipedia. |
First nationally-broadcast radio program devoted to parodying Wikipedia. |
| Hot in Cleveland Hot in Cleveland Hot in Cleveland is an American sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White. The series, which is TV Land's first original scripted series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highest rated telecast in the cable network's 14-year history. The... |
In the episode "Good Luck Faking The Goiter", Victoria Chase (Wendie Malick Wendie Malick Wendie Malick is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles as Judith Tupper Stone on the HBO series Dream On , Nina Van Horn on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! , Ronee Lawrence on the NBC sitcom Frasier and Victoria Chase on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland .-Early... ) mentions that she has a Wikipedia page and has to keep changing it because posters keep getting her age wrong. |
First time that a fictional character (and the first fictional female character) on a television series admitting to having created their own Wikipedia page and the first time a fictional character admitted to having to make corrections on their own page. |
Wikiality
In a July 2006 episode of the satirical comedy The Colbert Report, Stephen ColbertStephen Colbert (character)
The Reverend / Sir / Dr. / Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A., brain-child of Google, is the persona of political satirist Stephen Colbert, as portrayed on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. Described as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed high-status idiot", the character is a self-obsessed right-wing...
announced the neologism "wikiality," a portmanteau of the words Wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
and reality, for his segment "The Wørd". Colbert defined wikiality as "truth by consensus" (rather than fact), modeled after the approval-by-consensus format of Wikipedia. He ironically praised Wikipedia for following his philosophy of truthiness
Truthiness
Truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or that it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts....
, in which intuition and consensus is a better reflection of reality than fact:
You see, any user can change any entry, and if enough other users agree with them, it becomes true. ... If only the entire body of human knowledge worked this way. And it can, thanks to tonight's word: Wikiality. Now, folks, I'm no fan of reality, and I'm no fan of encyclopedias. I've said it before. Who is Britannica to tell me that George Washington had slaves? If I want to say he didn't, that's my right. And now, thanks to Wikipedia, it's also a fact.
We should apply these principles to all information. All we need to do is convince a majority of people that some factoid is true. ... What we're doing is bringing democracy to knowledge.
According to Stephen Colbert, together "we can all create a reality that we all can agree on; the reality that we just agreed on." During the segment, he joked: "I love Wikipedia... any site that's got a longer entry on truthiness
Truthiness
Truthiness is a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or that it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts....
than on Lutherans has its priorities straight." Colbert also used the segment to satirize the more general issue of whether the repetition of statements in the media leads people to believe they are true. The piece was introduced with the tagline "The Revolution Will Not Be Verified", referencing the lack of objective verification seen in some articles.
Colbert suggested that viewers change the elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
page to state that the number of African elephants
Loxodonta
African elephants are the species of elephants in the genus Loxodonta , one of the two existing genera in Elephantidae. Although it is commonly believed that the genus was named by Georges Cuvier in 1825, Cuvier spelled it Loxodonte...
has tripled in the last six months. The suggestion resulted in numerous incorrect changes to Wikipedia articles related to elephants and Africa. Wikipedia administrators subsequently restricted edits to the pages by anonymous and newly created user accounts.
Colbert went on to type on a laptop facing away from the camera, claiming to be making the edits to the pages himself. In addition, initial edits to Wikipedia corresponding to these claimed "facts" were made by a user named Stephencolbert. Thus, many believe Colbert himself vandalized several Wikipedia pages at the time he was encouraging other users to do the same. The account, whether it was Stephen Colbert himself or someone posing as him, has been blocked from Wikipedia indefinitely. Wikipedia blocked the account not for the vandalism (as believed), but for violating Wikipedia's username policies, which state that using the names of celebrities as login names without permission is inappropriate.
The account was confirmed to be his later that week, but remains blocked.
In comics
| Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Penny Arcade Penny Arcade (webcomic) Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic... |
Skeletor Skeletor Skeletor is a featured villain in the Masters of the Universe franchise and the arch-enemy and main antagonist of He-Man. Depicted as a muscular blue humanoid with a purple hood over his yellowing bare-bone skull, Skeletor seeks to conquer Castle Grayskull so he can learn its ancient secrets,... is vandalizing the Wikipedia article of his arch-enemy He-Man He-Man He-Man is a fictional heroic character featured in the Masters of the Universe media franchise. In most variations, he is the alter ego of Prince Adam... under the title of "I have the power". |
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| 52 52 (comic book) 52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen... , Week 15 |
Fictional "Ballostro" article. Clark Kent Clark Kent Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman.... is told by his assistant that they can "wiki out the word rumoured" upon seeing it attack Metropolis Metropolis (comics) Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 .... . |
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| FoxTrot | Thomas Edison Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial... article. |
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| Get Fuzzy Get Fuzzy Get Fuzzy is an American daily comic strip written and drawn by Darby Conley. The strip features the adventures of Boston advertising executive Rob Wilco and his two anthropomorphic pets: dog Satchel Pooch and cat Bucky Katt. Get Fuzzy has been published by United Feature Syndicate since September... |
Bucky Katt looks at a vanity article about himself and his fictitious album, and shows the "evidence" to Satchel Pooch. |
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| Non Sequitur Non Sequitur (comic strip) Non Sequitur is a comic strip created by Wiley Miller in 1992 and syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate to over 700 newspapers... |
Danae introduces Lucy the horse to Wikipedia, by editing the site to note her fictitious win for "Most Brilliant and Beautious Girl". Lucy complains, but is satisfied when Danae adds a prize for "Most Beautious Horse". | |
| The Order The Order (comics) The Order is the name of two fictional comic book superhero teams in the Marvel Comics universe. The first team was a brief offshoot of the team Defenders, and the second is part of an initiative to place a superhero team in each state of the United States.... #1 (Marvel Comics Marvel Comics Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media... ) |
The lead character mentions the Wikipedia as describing him as a "one-time actor". | |
| The Amazing Spider-Girl Spider-Girl Spider-Girl is a superheroine in Marvel Comics' MC2 universe. The character was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz as the teenage daughter of Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, and first appeared in What If #105... #12 |
The title character mentions that she gained knowledge of Carnage Carnage (comics) Carnage is a fictional character, a supervillain in the . The character first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #344 , and was created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley. The character is frequently depicted as an enemy of Spider-Man... and his weaknesses through Wikipedia. |
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| Thor #601 | The well-known Marvel super-villain called Doctor Doom Doctor Doom Victor von Doom is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak... appears to have utilized Wikipedia, commenting to the assembled Asgardians during the feast in Latveria that even he had not even known what a "winkle" was until he looked it up in Wikipedia. |
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| The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee is a comic strip created by John Hambrock and distributed by King Features Syndicate. It debuted November 12, 2006. While this strip is about a ten-year-old boy genius, Edison Lee, it also has aspects of an editorial cartoon since Edison constantly talks about the... |
Edison Lee, the title character mentions that on Wikipedia US President President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor.... was known as the Teflon President to his assistant Joules. (This term doesn't actually appear in the Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor.... article, it appears in Teflon (nickname)). |
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| Ambush Bug: Year None Ambush Bug: Year None Ambush Bug: Year None is a six-issue comic book limited series written Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming, and illustrated by Keith Giffen and Al Milgrom. The first issue, "Hey, You Sank My Battle-Ax!", was published on July 23, 2008. DC Comics announced that instead of releasing a sixth issue,... #1 |
Ambush Bug Ambush Bug Ambush Bug is a fictional character who has appeared in several comic books published by DC Comics.His real name is supposedly Irwin Schwab, but he has mental problems that prevent him from truly understanding reality around him, so even his true identity might be no more than a delusion on his part... says he used "Wokipedia" to look up Hugey Huge/Abdul Smith of the Green Team. |
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| Deadpool #900 | While in the middle of an assassination mission, Deadpool has a fourth wall Fourth wall The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play... -breaking conversation with his inner voices in which he discusses his own fanbase, noting that as of that writing, his own Wikipedia entry was longer than that of Spider-Man Spider-Man Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15... . |
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| Pearls Before Swine Pearls Before Swine (comic strip) Pearls Before Swine is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Stephan Pastis, who was formerly a lawyer in San Francisco, California. It chronicles the daily lives of four anthropomorphic animals, Pig, Rat, Zebra, and Goat, as well as a number of supporting characters... |
Rat questions Stephan Pastis Stephan Pastis Stephan Thomas Pastis is an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine.-Background:... (the creator of the strip) about past events in Stephan's life. When Stephan refutes these claims, Rat says he got them from Stephan's Wikipedia article. These changes were later mirrored in real life before being reverted. |
In television episodes
| Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Colbert Report | Colbert did a segment on an attempt by Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions... to hire writers to skew certain Wikipedia articles in their favor, ending with a call by Colbert to change the Wikipedia article on "truth Truth Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character... " to the phrase "Truth has become a commodity Commodity In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services.... " and offering a $5 cash reward to the first viewer to do so. |
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| The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie... : "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons nineteenth season, and first aired on October 14, 2007. For the second time in the series, Marge helps a prison assailant. Marge meets Dwight , a man who attempts to rob the bank the two are in... " |
Snake tells his girlfriend to kill the man who changed his biography on Wikipedia. | |
| The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie... : "Funeral for a Fiend Funeral for a Fiend "Funeral for a Fiend" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons nineteenth season and first aired on November 25, 2007. It was written by Michael Price and was directed by Rob Oliver. It features Kelsey Grammer in his tenth appearance as Sideshow Bob, as well as David Hyde Pierce in his second... " |
Sideshow Bob Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of... complains about loading time as he looks up a Shakespeare reference on Wikipedia. |
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| The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie... : "Apocalypse Cow Apocalypse Cow "Apocalypse Cow" is the seventeenth episode of The Simpsons nineteenth season. It was broadcast on April 27, 2008. After joining 4-H, Bart saves a cow named Lou and gives it to a girl named Mary , a farm girl. Her father, Cletus, mistakenly believes it as a token for Mary's hand in marriage, and... " |
Bart Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... argues with Homer Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987... using Wikipedia; Homer plans to edit the page (...and many more pages). |
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| Aqua Teen Hunger Force Aqua Teen Hunger Force Aqua Teen Hunger Force , retitled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 in 2011, is an American animated television series on Cartoon Network late night programing block, Adult Swim, as well as Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4 Canada's ADd block in Canada... : "Reedickyoulus" |
Frylock Frylock Frylock is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force since its premiere in 2000 until 2011... curses Wikipedia after believing false information pertaining to killing zombies. |
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| Cavemen Cavemen (TV series) Cavemen is an American comedy-drama show which ran on ABC from October 2, 2007 to November 13, 2007. The show was created by Joe Lawson and set in San Diego, California... : "Pilot" |
In the premiere episode of the commercial-turned-sitcom, Andy blames his inability to work on his dissertation on the fact that "Wikipedia is under construction". | |
| Psych Psych Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. It stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts... : "And Down The Stretch Comes Murder" |
In the episode "And Down The Stretch Comes Murder", when Shawn is explaining his theory of the crime, Gus weighs in with a factoid about an obscure indigenous tribe. Shawn applauds Gus' knowledge of the subject with the line, "Gus shoots and scores! ...with an assist from Wikipedia." | |
| Grand Slam | Michelle Kitt is asked the question, "The Hawaiian word for 'quick' is prominently featured in the name of which online encyclopedia?" She answers, "Wiki...Wikipedia" and is judged incorrect. | |
| Veronica Mars Veronica Mars Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros... : "Show Me the Monkey" |
The television show references Wikipedia in the episode when Veronica Veronica Mars (character) Veronica Mars is a fictional character in UPN/The CW the television series, Veronica Mars, which aired on the UPN and CW networks from 2004 to 2007. She is portrayed by Kristen Bell.- Background and details of plot :... looks up the origins of the color manila Manila folder The manila folder is a file folder designed to contain documents. It is generally formed by folding a large sheet of stiff card in half. Though traditionally beige, sometimes other colors are used to differentiate categories of files.The manila envelope is an envelope designed for transporting... . |
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| iCarly ICarly iCarly is an American sitcom that focuses on a girl named Carly Shay who creates her own web show called iCarly with her best friends Sam and Freddie. The series was created by Dan Schneider, who also serves as executive producer. It stars Miranda Cosgrove as Carly, Jennette McCurdy as Sam, Nathan... : "iHatch Chicks |
Freddie goes to a site that is a pun off of Wikipedia, called Chickipedia, to find information on baby chicks. | |
| The Office The Office (US TV series) The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. An adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name, it depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company... : "Ben Franklin" |
Jim Jim Halpert James Duncan "Jim" Halpert is a fictional character in the United States version of the television sitcom The Office, played by John Krasinski. The character is based on Tim Canterbury from the original version of The Office... , having heard Michael Michael Scott (The Office) Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc... mention prima nocta Droit de seigneur Droit du seigneur is an alleged legal right allowing the lord of a medieval estate to take the virginity of his serfs' maiden daughters. There is no historical evidence that such a right ever existed.-Terminology:... , says that he used Wikipedia to confirm his suspicions over the term's meaning. |
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| American Dad! American Dad! American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television... : "Black Mystery Month" |
After uncovering a plot involving peanut butter and the Civil War, Stan Smith Stan Smith (American Dad!) Stan Smith is a character from the animated television series American Dad!. Stan is a Central Intelligence Agency officer. Although once a case officer, he is now a weapons expert. Stan is voiced by the series' creator and executive producer, Seth MacFarlane.-Summary:Stan Smith born 12 February,... says "If only there was a place where you could make outrageous claims, without any proof, and millions of people would accept it as fact...", and the episode cuts to his son Steve Steve Smith (American Dad!) Steven Anita “Steve” Smith is a character from the animated television series American Dad!. He is Stan and Francine Smith's only son and Hayley's younger brother as well as the youngest of the series' 6 main characters. Steve is voiced by Scott Grimes.According to TVTDB.com, Steve's original... editing The Truth about Peanut Butter. |
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| The Office The Office (US TV series) The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. An adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name, it depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company... : "The Negotiation" |
For salary negotiations with Darryl Darryl Darryl or Daryl is a name from Old English and Old French origin, generally used for males. It is usually used by Australians, Canadians, English and Americans.Examples:*Darryl Strawberry American Baseball Player... , Michael Michael Scott (The Office) Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc... gets negotiations help from Wikipedia. He then states in an interview that "Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information." As a result of the episode, Wikipedia had to lock down editing of the Negotiation Negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference, or gain advantage in outcome of dialogue, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, to craft outcomes to satisfy... article. |
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| The Colbert Report, episode 265 | Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales Jimmy Wales Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as a co-founder and promoter of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia and the Wikia company.... appears as a guest on the show hosted by Stephen Colbert Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an... on Comedy Central Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated.... . They discuss Colbert's vandalism Vandalism Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable... of Wikipedia and his telling of his viewers to vandalize various pages. Several articles, such as oxygen Oxygen Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition... , librarian Librarian A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs... and Stephen Colbert Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an... , were locked to prevent vandalism shortly after the episode aired. On the show, Wales jokes that he may have to lock down the entire Spanish-language Wikipedia for a few days because of Colbert's comment that perhaps it should learn English. |
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| Real Time with Bill Maher Real Time with Bill Maher Real Time with Bill Maher is a talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous show, Politically Incorrect on ABC , Real Time features a panel of guests that discuss current events in politics and the media... |
Maher jokingly claims to have used Wikipedia in researching the misdeeds of past U.S. presidents President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... to find examples that support Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office... 's assertion that the George W. Bush administration is the worst in history Historical rankings of United States Presidents In political science, historical rankings of Presidents of the United States are surveys conducted in order to construct rankings of the success of individuals who have served as President of the United States. Ranking systems are usually based on surveys of academic historians and political... . |
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| News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald, more commonly referred to as simply News Knight was a British television panel show shown on ITV, at 22:00 on Sunday nights. Fronted by Sir Trevor McDonald and in a similar style to the BBC One programme Have I Got News for You, its format featured three... , episode 7 |
McDonald says that "Wikipedia is one of the most trusted websites in the world" and that, according to its entry on itself Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,... , Wikipedia was founded by Ken Dodd Ken Dodd Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”... in 1673. |
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| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart The Daily Show The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998... |
The host Jon Stewart Jon Stewart Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian... and the night's guest, Jeff Garlin Jeff Garlin Jeffrey "Jeff" Garlin is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, voice artist, director, writer and author, best known for his role as Jeff Greene on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm... , joke about Wikipedia's volatility, and mentions that guest's article on Wikipedia are being hacked by his family and friends. Jeff Garlin finishes off by saying that Wikipedia should not be taken seriously. |
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| Dancing with the Stars (US season 5) | On an episode which aired on September 26, 2007, a satirical mini-documentary was featured in the show exploring the history of dance. The fake history of dance was concluded with the phrase, "You can look it up – I just made an entry in Wikipedia." | |
| Frisky Dingo Frisky Dingo Frisky Dingo is an American animated cartoon series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Adult Swim. The series revolved around the conflict between a supervillain named Killface and a superhero named Awesome X, and much of the show's humor focuses on parodying superhero and action movie... , episode 19 |
Xander Crews attempts to look up whether or not the Vice President of the United States is VP of both the United States and Canada, on Wikipedia. | |
| Damages Damages (TV series) Damages is an American television drama series created by the writing and production trio of Daniel Zelman and brothers Glenn and Todd A. Kessler . It is broadcast in the United States on the DirecTV channel Audience Network after originally airing on FX and is produced by the creators' own... , episode 10 |
Patty Hewes tells Ray Fiske she has a lot of questions for Arthur Frobisher to which Fiske replies "That's what Wikipedia's for." | |
| Have I Got News for You Have I Got News for You Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show... , episode 282 |
In the "Odd One Out" round, Ian Hislop Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop is a British journalist, satirist, comedian, writer, broadcaster and editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye... mentions a case of vandalism involving the late Ronnie Hazelhurst. Hislop, who described Wikipedia sarcastically as, "That reliable tool for all of us," talked about how someone vandalised Hazelhurst's article so it claimed he wrote the S Club 7 S Club 7 S Club, formerly known as S Club 7, were a pop group created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, consisting of members Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, de facto lead singer Jo O'Meara, Hannah Spearritt and Rachel Stevens. The group rose to fame by starring in their... song "Reach". When he died, journalists failed to check the fact, and it was reported as fact in The Times The Times The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International... , The Guardian The Guardian The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format... and by the BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... , which was made worse by the fact that the BBC had been in trouble for faking some TV programmes. |
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| Have I Got a bit More News for You Have I Got News for You Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show... , episode 283 |
Ian Hislop again attacks Wikipedia, in the extended repeat of the episode shown the night before, but was cut out of the original broadcast. When host Alexander Armstrong Alexander Armstrong (comedian) Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius... is trying to pronounce a Serbian name Serbian language Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries.... , Hislop says, "It's like Wikipedia, ain't it? You just wait for it to come up." He then pretended to download an essay on Serbia from Wikipedia and hand it in, commenting on how some students plagiarise using Wikipedia. |
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| Have I Got News for You Have I Got News for You Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show... , episode 285 |
When guest presenter Jo Brand Jo Brand Josephine Grace "Jo" Brand is a BAFTA winning British comedian, writer, and actor.- Early life :Jo Brand was born 23 July 1957 in Wandsworth, London. Her mother was a social worker. Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers... is introducing comedy writer and performer Andy Hamilton Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter and radio dramatist.-Early life:... , she says, "And with Paul Merton Paul Merton Paul Merton is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy... tonight is a full-time professional English darts Darts Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules... player, whose nickname is "The Hammer" and who is currently ranked seventh in the world. I know, I was surprised as well, but I looked him up on Wikipedia." |
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| QI QI QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given... |
In an interview with The Times The Times The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International... , QI's creator John Lloyd John Lloyd (writer) John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd CBE is a British comedy writer and television producer. He is the great nephew of John Hardress Lloyd.-Early life and career:... says, "We don't deny using Wikipedia. It's a thing of complete genius and a tribute to the human spirit." However, the article goes on to say that, "they have a rule against cutting and pasting Wiki anything, and an old-fashioned minimum of at least two sources for anything that goes in a QI programme or book." |
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| Scrubs Scrubs (TV series) Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes... : "My Number One Doctor" |
One of Dr.Cox's patients is scheduled for chemotherapy Chemotherapy Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen.... to treat his cancer, but wants to back out because he used his laptop to look up the condition on Wikipedia and the article said a raw vegetable diet can lead to remission. Cox confronts him on this, questioning the reliability of the claim, given that it was written by the same person who wrote the Battlestar Galactica episode guide. He then takes away the patient's laptop and tells him he will proceed with the treatment. |
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| Through the Keyhole Through the Keyhole Through the Keyhole was a British panel game, hosted by Sir David Frost where panellists are given a video tour of a mystery famous guest's property and attempt to identify them. As of 1996, it is produced by David Frost's own production company, Paradine Productions at The Leeds Studios , and has... |
When the guest panelists were attempting to guess the identity of Angelica Bell and suggested (incorrectly) that she might be best known for her acting, Sir David Frost David Frost Sir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher... said "in Wikipedia, it wouldn't say acting" |
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| The Colbert Report | Reacting to John McLaughlin John McLaughlin (host) John McLaughlin is an American television personality and political commentator. He created, produces and hosts the long-running political commentary series The McLaughlin Group as well as John McLaughlin's One On One.... 's statement that "Warren G. Harding Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator... was a negro", Colbert suggested that the G. stood not for 'Gamaliel', but for 'Gangsta' (and showed a fake screen shot of Wikipedia appearing to say this). The article was repeatedly vandalised to say 'Warren Gangsta Harding' before being locked. |
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| Chuck Chuck (TV series) Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central... |
In the second-season premiere, Vik Sahay's character Lester mentions a Wikipedia article about himself on his resume while being interviewed by Chuck Chuck Bartowski Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski is the main and titular character of the American fiction television show Chuck on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi.-Character profile:... for the assistant manager position at the Buy More. |
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| The Office The Office (US TV series) The Office is an American comedy television series broadcast by NBC. An adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name, it depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company... : "Crime Aid Crime Aid "Crime Aid" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the television series The Office, and the show's seventy-seventh episode overall. The episode aired in the United States on October 23, 2008 on NBC.... " |
Michael Michael Scott (The Office) Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell, and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc... indicates that it is unknown how much crime takes place in the office because there is no Wikipedia entry on office robbery statistics. Since the episode aired, statistics were indeed added to the Wikipedia article "Office". |
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| Dexter Dexter (TV series) Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer... : "About Last Night" |
After a discussion of sexual topics with vice unit detective Barbara Gianna, Masuka comments to Batista that Gianna is "like the Wikipedia of perv". | |
| Law & Order Law & Order Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,... : |
A murder suspect is arrested based upon vandalistic edits made to a Wikipedia article on a (fictional) college sorority. The man had been killing family members of former sorority members and harassing the members themselves; the person arrested is tracked by his IP address. | |
| 30 Rock 30 Rock 30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live... : "Retreat to Move Forward Retreat to Move Forward "Retreat to Move Forward" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 45th overall episode of the series. It was written by executive story editor Tami Sagher and directed by Steve Buscemi. The episode originally aired on the National... " |
Frank Rossitano, as a prank on Jenna Maroney Jenna Maroney Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield... , who is researching her upcoming role as Janis Joplin Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band... , makes numerous vandalistic edits to Joplin's page and recommends that Jenna use Wikipedia for her research. |
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| The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie... : "Gone Maggie Gone Gone Maggie Gone "Gone Maggie Gone" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons twentieth season. It originally aired on FOX in the United States on March 15, 2009. The episode was written by both Billy Kimball and longtime Simpsons writer Ian Maxtone-Graham, and directed by Chris Clements... " |
Comic Book Guy Comic Book Guy Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The... mentions Wikipedia as a source for his legends. |
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| Mock The Week Mock the Week Mock the Week is a British topical celebrity panel game hosted by Dara Ó Briain that launched in 2005. The game is influenced by improvised topical stand-up comedy, with several rounds requiring players to deliver answers on unexpected subjects on the spur of the moment.It is made by independent... : Series 7, Episode 10 |
In the "Scenes we'd like to see" round, the panel have to suggest "Bad things to hear from a tour guide". Ed Byrne Ed Byrne Ed Byrne is a Perrier Award-nominated, Irish stand-up comedian, voice over artist and actor. He has presented television shows Uncut! Best Unseen Ads and Just for Laughs, and is a regular guest on various television panel games... suggests: "And according to Wikipedia, the east wing was built in the year Dougie is a homo." |
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| Warehouse 13 Warehouse 13 Warehouse 13 is an American fantasy television series that premiered on July 7, 2009 on the Syfy network.Executive-produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins, the dramatic comedy from Universal Media Studios has been described as borrowing much from 1980s television series Friday the 13th: The... : Season 1, Episode 11 |
When mentioning Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective... , Artie pulls out what seems to be a Wikipedia article on the man. |
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| Would I Lie To You? Would I Lie To You? (TV series) Would I Lie to You? is a comedy panel game made by Zeppotron for BBC One. It was first broadcast on 16 June 2007.-Format:The show was presented by Angus Deayton in 2007 and 2008, and by Rob Brydon from 2009 onwards... : Series 3, Episode 7 |
In the introduction to the show, host Rob Brydon Rob Brydon Rob Brydon is a BAFTA-nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist... said: "When asked if lying is justified, a staggering 73% of university students simply copied their answer from Wikipedia." |
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| The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers... : Season 3, Episode 4 (The Pirate Solution) |
When Sheldon asks Raj what did he was doing at work when his research ran into dead-end, he reply included 'Messing up Wikipedia entries'. | |
| FlashForward: Season 1, Episode 8 | The introduction of Sperm donation Sperm donation Sperm donation is the provision by a man, , of his sperm, with the intention that it be used to impregnate a woman who is not usually the man's sexual partner, in order to produce a child.... —as it appeared from July 8 to October 11, 2009—was referenced by a character considering the process. While the screen was altered slightly to say that it was from "www.referendium.com", the style and content were unaltered. |
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| The Amazing Race The Amazing Race The Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams... : Season 15, Episode 9 |
One team in the race uses the English-language version of Wikipedia to learn what a vintage Praga Praga Hostivar Praga is a manufacturing company based in Prague. In 2006, it was purchased by International Truck Alliance.- History :Praga was founded in 1907 to build motor cars. as a venture between Frantisek Ringhoffer and the First Czech-Moravian Machine Factory. Ringhoffer only stayed for one year and in... car was before having to search for it in Prague. |
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| The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie... : "Rednecks and Broomsticks Rednecks and Broomsticks "Rednecks and Broomsticks" is the seventh episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 29, 2009... " |
After discovering a coven of witches, Lisa Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening... attempts to learn more about them by using "Wiccapedia". |
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| Mock the Week Mock the Week Mock the Week is a British topical celebrity panel game hosted by Dara Ó Briain that launched in 2005. The game is influenced by improvised topical stand-up comedy, with several rounds requiring players to deliver answers on unexpected subjects on the spur of the moment.It is made by independent... : Series 7 Christmas Special |
In a round of "If This is the Answer, What is the Question?", the answer "One Fifth" resulting in regular panellist Hugh Dennis Hugh Dennis Peter Hugh Dennis is an English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist, best known for his work with comedy partner Steve Punt. He is also known for his position as a permanent panelist on the TV comedy show Mock The Week... giving the question, "How much of Wikipedia is true?" This results in host Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain Dara Ó Briain is an Irish stand-up comedian and television presenter, noted for hosting topical panel shows such as The Panel and Mock the Week.... and another regular, Russell Howard Russell Howard Russell Joseph Howard is an English comedian best known for his TV show Russell Howard's Good News and his appearances on the topical panel TV show Mock The Week... , talking about inaccuracies on their own articles, and third regular Frankie Boyle Frankie Boyle Francis Martin Patrick "Frankie" Boyle is a British comedian and writer, well known for his pessimistic, often controversial sense of humour... to suggest that all Wikipedia articles should start with the words "I reckon". Following broadcast, Boyle and Howard's articles were repeatedly vandalised to include further inaccuracies and inclusions of "I reckon", leading to the articles being locked. |
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| Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing... : |
A contestant answered the $12,500 question "What Web site's logo depicts a spherical jigsaw puzzle featuring symbols from different languages?" correctly. | |
| Tosh.0 Tosh.0 Tosh.0 is an American television series hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh, who provides sarcastic commentary on online video clips, society, celebrities, and other parts of popular culture.-History:... : |
Host Daniel Tosh Daniel Tosh Daniel Dwight Tosh is an American stand-up comedian and host of the Comedy Central television show, Tosh.0.-Personal life:... told viewers, "So why don't you go to our Tosh.0 'boring' Wikipedia page and put whatever you want. I'm not gonna fix it." The result was numerous changes made to the Tosh.0 Wikipedia article, culminating in the page being locked from editing a few hours after the show aired. Other Wikipedia articles, such as Conan O'Brien Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS.... , Demetri Martin Demetri Martin Demetri Martin is an American comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist. Martin is best known for his work as a stand-up comedian, contributor on The Daily Show and for his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin.- Early life :Demetri Martin was born to a Greek... , and Jay Leno Jay Leno James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,... , were also affected. Tosh read some of the humorous revisions made to the article the following week on his show, and proceeded to apologize to Wikipedia for the mayhem he started. The Tosh.0 page, however, remains locked to unregistered viewers. |
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| QI QI QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given... : "Gravity" |
Host Stephen Fry Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also... says that if you fire a bullet from a gun and drop a bullet from your hand at the same time, they will both hit the ground at exactly the same time, prompting panellist Barry Humphries Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the... to ask "Does this information come from Wikipedia?" |
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| Have I Got News for You Have I Got News for You Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show... : series 39, episode 2 |
Introducing guest panellist Richard Herring Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring is a British comedian and writer, whose early work includes his involvement in the double-act, Lee and Herring... , guest host Alexander Armstrong Alexander Armstrong (comedian) Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius... describes him as "a man described by Wikipedia as one of the leading hidden masters of British comedy. Proving how easy it is to write your own entry on Wikipedia." |
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| The Cleveland Show The Cleveland Show The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States... : "Gone With the Wind" |
At Loretta Brown's funeral, the minister reads from Wikipedia that Loretta Brown was either a singer or a member of the Australian Parliament, then ends by saying "Ci-ta-tion neeed-ed" in a ritualized tone. | |
| The Boondocks The Boondocks (TV series) The Boondocks is an American animated series created by Aaron McGruder on Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim, based on McGruder's comic strip of the same name... : "Stinkmeaner 3: The Hateocracy" |
When Huey Freeman wants to know who is after his family, he said that "while desperate for answers, he would turn to the only place that may tell them what they need, Wikipedia". He then accessed a website which is a visual and content pun of Wikipedia. | |
| Breaking Bad Breaking Bad Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series... : "Half Measures" |
Skyler is researching money laundering Money laundering Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount... , with closeups of the Wikipedia article shown on screen. |
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| Mongrels Mongrels (TV series) Mongrels, formerly known under the working titles of We Are Mongrels and The Un-Natural World, is a British puppet-based situation comedy series first broadcast on BBC Three between 22 June and 10 August 2010, with a making-of documentary entitled "Mongrels Uncovered" broadcast on 11 August 2010... : "Series 1, Episode 1" |
Earlier in the episode, Nelson the metrosexual Metrosexual Metrosexual is a neologism derived from metropolitan and heterosexual coined in 1994 describing a man who spends a lot of time and money on shopping for his appearance... fox kills a chicken that tried to kill him by cutting her head off. Kali the pigeon says that on according to Wikipedia, a chicken can live for over a year without its head. Nelson claims you cannot trust Wikipedia, then turns around to find the headless chicken still alive and trying to kill him. |
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| The Boondocks The Boondocks (TV series) The Boondocks is an American animated series created by Aaron McGruder on Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim, based on McGruder's comic strip of the same name... : "Mr. Medicinal" |
When Robert Freeman is in a trail for possession of weed and driving under its influences, he claims that Obama has made it legal, then the judge searches on Wikipedia if the weed is legal to prove him wrong. | |
| Hot in Cleveland Hot in Cleveland Hot in Cleveland is an American sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White. The series, which is TV Land's first original scripted series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's highest rated telecast in the cable network's 14-year history. The... : "Good Luck Faking The Goiter" |
After Elka Orstrosky (Betty White Betty White Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and... ) helps Victoria Chase (Wendie Malick Wendie Malick Wendie Malick is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles as Judith Tupper Stone on the HBO series Dream On , Nina Van Horn on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! , Ronee Lawrence on the NBC sitcom Frasier and Victoria Chase on the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland .-Early... ) learn about a disease she was trying to fake in a effort to receive votes for a Daytime Emmy Award Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming... by spreading a rumor, only to find out that the disease does exist, she asks her fellow roommates Melanie Moretti (Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli is an American actress, best known for her roles as Barbara Cooper Royer on the television series One Day at a Time , Gloria on the television series Touched by an Angel and Melanie Moretti on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland .- Early years :Bertinelli was born in Wilmington,... ) and Joy Scroggs (Jane Leeves Jane Leeves Jane Leeves is an English film, stage, and television actress, comedienne and dancer.Leeves made her screen debut with a small role in the 1983 popular British comedy television show The Benny Hill Show. Leeves moved to the United States, where she performed in small roles until she secured a... ) where Elka went because Elka looked it up in Wikipedia. Victoria also reveals that she has a Wikipedia page and she has to change it numerous times because they keep getting her age wrong. |
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| Haven Haven (TV series) Haven is a supernatural drama television series loosely based on the Stephen King novel The Colorado Kid. The show, filmed on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, is an American/Canadian co-production. The one-hour drama premiered on July 9, 2010, on Syfy... : "Fur" |
Jessica Minnion mentions learning Mi'kmaq hieroglyphs Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Míkmaq hieroglyphic writing was a writing system and memory aid used by the Míkmaq, a Native American people of the east coast of what is now Canada.... from a Wikipedia article. |
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| The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers... : "The 21-Second Excitation" |
Amy consults Wikipedia for information on Slumber parties, having never previously been to one. | |
| How Not to Live Your Life How Not to Live Your Life How Not to Live Your Life is a British sitcom, written by and starring Dan Clark, about a neurotic twenty-nine year old man who is trying to navigate his way through life but is not helped by his bad instincts. On 27 May 2011 it was announced by the new BBC Three controller Zai Bennett that the... : "Don Meets His Maker" |
Don uses Wikipedia to fool Samantha into believing he has a fatal disease, creating a badly written fake article on the disease. | |
| The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Comedy Central | During an interview with Wikipedia "volunteer" Jimmy Wales, Stewart claimed he was in fact, Batman; Wales responded with laughter and suggested that Wikipedia administrators would correct and lock Stewart's page. Quickly, the online community responded, editing Stewart's page to represent his claim to be Batman. Wikipedia administrators responded by correcting the changes and locking Stewart's page. | |
| NCIS Los Angeles: "Plan B" CBS | In the opening scene, Kensi Blye and Marty Deeks escort a key witness to the airport for his flight to Miami. When the conversation hits the subject of alligators in the Miami area, Kensi educates her companions about the differences between alligators and crocodile. Rick, the witness then asks Marty, an old friend of his: "Did she just go Wikipedia on me?". In the rest of the episode Kensi is referred to as Wikipedia several times. | |
| Futurama Futurama Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J... : "Ghost in the Machines Ghost in the Machines "Ghost in the Machines" is the nineteenth episode of the sixth season of the animated sitcom Futurama, and originally aired June 30, 2011 on Comedy Central. It aired as the third episode of season 6-B, sixteenth in broadcast order for season 6 overall. The episode was written by Patric M. Verrone... " |
Bender's ghost tells the Robot Devil that Fry Philip J. Fry Philip J. Fry, known simply as Fry, is a fictional character, the main protagonist of the animated science fiction sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a version of his own voice as he sounded when he was 25.-Character overview:... is dead, but the Robot Devil shows him Fry's Wikipedia page, which proves that Fry is alive. |
In the radio
| Date | Title | Notes | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! | Jimmy Wales Jimmy Wales Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as a co-founder and promoter of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia and the Wikia company.... played the "Not My Job" game (renamed for the occasion "It must be true... I read it on Wikipedia"). He is asked three questions about Wikipedia trivia on the Banana Splits discography Banana Splits discography The Banana Splits were a musical group of four animal characters; Fleegle, a beagle; Bingo, a gorilla; Drooper, a lion; and Snorky, an elephant; , who starred in their own successful television series The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.The Banana Splits' bubblegum pop rock and roll was provided by... and Bob Marley Bob Marley Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers... , Constance of Sicily Constance of Sicily Constance of Hauteville was the heiress of the Norman kings of Sicily and the wife of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor... and Esera Tuaolo Esera Tuaolo Esera Tavai Tuaolo is a retired American professional football player. He was a defensive lineman in the NFL for nine years.-Early life:... . Wales recalls the Banana Splits with fondness and then proceeds to get all three questions wrong. The show, in general, will often pull details for the show from Wikipedia, stating humorously, "If it's on Wikipedia, it must be true." |
First reference to Wikipedia in a radio series. | |
| The News Quiz The News Quiz The News Quiz is a topical panel game broadcast on British radio BBC Radio 4.-History:It was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently it was chaired by Simon Hoggart, Barry Took , and then again by Simon Hoggart until March 2006. Hoggart was replaced by Sandi Toksvig in... – BBC |
Alan Coren Alan Coren Alan Coren was an English humorist, writer and satirist who was well known as a regular panellist on the BBC radio quiz The News Quiz and a team captain on BBC television's Call My Bluff... referred to mistakes made on Wikipedia. He later said that he once saw a mistake on his article that stated he was a year younger than he was, but he liked the error as it made him look younger. As a result, he said that whenever someone corrects the article, he set the year wrong again to make him look younger again. As a result, the article was locked after the show was broadcast. |
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| The Wikipedia Story – BBC | Clive Anderson Clive Anderson Clive Anderson is a British former barrister, best known for being a comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom... asks whether Wikipedia is a valuable source of human knowledge or a symptom of the spread of mediocrity. This was also made into a podcast Podcast A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication... between 27 July and 3 August by the BBC. |
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| The News Quiz The News Quiz The News Quiz is a topical panel game broadcast on British radio BBC Radio 4.-History:It was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently it was chaired by Simon Hoggart, Barry Took , and then again by Simon Hoggart until March 2006. Hoggart was replaced by Sandi Toksvig in... – BBC |
Carrie Quinlan Carrie Quinlan Carrie Quinlan is a British actress, comedy writer and journalist. She mainly works in satire for BBC radio comedy, writing material for satirical comedies such as The Now Show. She is also a regular panellist on The News Quiz. She is the youngest child of Mary and Michael Quinlan.-History:Quinlan... gave out a lot of information which the other panellists did not understand. She later claimed that she got the information from Wikipedia. Jeremy Hardy Jeremy Hardy Jeremy James Hardy is a British alternative comedian who is also known for his socialist politics.-Career:Hardy was born in Farnborough, Hampshire. He attended Farnham College and studied Modern History and Politics at the University of Southampton... and Andy Hamilton Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter and radio dramatist.-Early life:... claimed that the word "Wikipedia" sounded rude, with Hamilton claiming that it was, "A sexual attraction to baskets." |
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| The Party Line The Party Line (radio) The Party Line is a British radio sitcom, co-written by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, and produced by Adam Bromley. It was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 2005 and 2008. The show stars James Fleet as Duncan Stonebridge, a Member of Parliament for the imaginary constituency of... : Series 3, Episode 1 – BBC |
In the episode, Duncan Stonebridge MP's laptop computer is stolen, which contains data relating to fishing quotas. Before he talks to an Icelandic fishing minister, Duncan's assistant Roger gives him some information copied from Wikipedia, which turns out to be wrong. The fishing minister comments that it sounds like Duncan just took the information from Wikipedia. | First known reference to Wikipedia in a radio sitcom. | |
| The Now Show The Now Show The Now Show is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the week's news. The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis... : Series 25, Episode 2 – BBC |
Jon Holmes Jon Holmes Jon Holmes is a seven time Sony award-winning and double Bafta winning British writer, comedian and broadcaster.-Early life:... talked about the lack of reliability of online surveys saying that not everything on the internet is true. He said that, "This is the same internet that hosts Wikipedia", and Holmes read some examples of vandalism that he discovered on the site. In the following two shows, fans emailed in other examples of Wikipedia vandalism. |
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| Heresy Heresy (radio series) This article is about the British talk show, for other uses see heresy Heresy is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4, now presented by Victoria Coren and formerly by David Baddiel... : Series 5, Episode 6 – BBC Radio 4 |
The show guest panel, Euan Ferguson, Clive James Clive James Clive James, AM is an Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet and memoirist, best known for his autobiographical series Unreliable Memoirs, for his chat shows and documentaries on British television and for his prolific journalism... and David Mitchell David Mitchell (actor) David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the... tried to argue against the statement: "You can't trust what you read online." Wikipedia is covered by the panel and the host Victoria Coren Victoria Coren Victoria Elizabeth Coren is a British writer, presenter and champion poker player. Coren writes weekly columns for The Observer and The Guardian newspapers and hosts the BBC Four television quiz show Only Connect.... reads out information from the guests Wikipedia pages to see if it is true. |
In postal items
On January 14, 2011, Israel Postal CompanyIsrael Postal Company
Israel Postal Company , formerly the Israel Postal Authority, is a government-owned corporation that handles postal services in Israel....
chose to commemorate Wikipedia's 10th Anniversary by issuing a special postmark and a Souvenir Leaf. These were the world's first Wikipedia-related postal items. As is customary on Wikipedia, the Souvenir Leaf, postmark and the text on the back of the souvenir leaf were created by a collaboration of volunteers. The design of the postmark was based on the work of "MT0", a Wikipedia editor.
Contexts
Wikipedia is not always referenced in the same way. The ways described below are some of the ways it has been mentioned.Citations of Wikipedia in culture
- In the Homestar RunnerHomestar RunnerHomestar Runner is a Flash animated Internet cartoon. It mixes surreal humor with references to retro pop culture, notably video games, classic television, and popular music.The cartoons are nominally centered on the title character, Homestar Runner...
cartoon No Hands On Deck!, Homestar Runner mentions that "'Wikipedia said vulcanizedVulcanizationVulcanization or vulcanisation is a chemical process for converting rubber or related polymers into more durable materials via the addition of sulfur or other equivalent "curatives." These additives modify the polymer by forming crosslinks between individual polymer chains. Vulcanized material is...
was the way to go" in reference to the type of nails used to build a deck. At the time the cartoon was released, the Wikipedia article on decksDeck (building)In architecture, a deck is a flat surface capable of supporting weight, similar to a floor, but typically constructed outdoors, often elevated from the ground, and usually connected to a building...
made no reference to nails or vulcanization. - The cartoon FoxTrot features Peter being criticized by his teacher for copying a homework assignment directly from Wikipedia. Peter replies, "Who's to say I didn't write the Wikipedia entry myself?"
- During a debate on Quebec sovereignty in the Canadian House of CommonsCanadian House of CommonsThe House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
on November 27, 2006, Conservative Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Scott ReidScott Reid (politician)Scott Jeffrey Reid is a Canadian politician. He has served in the Canadian House of Commons since 2000, and currently represents the Ontario riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington as a member of the Conservative Party....
mentioned Wikipedia for its disambiguation of terms and individuals. - In the July 2007 issue of National Geographic MagazineNational Geographic MagazineNational Geographic, formerly the National Geographic Magazine, is the official journal of the National Geographic Society. It published its first issue in 1888, just nine months after the Society itself was founded...
, an article on swarm intelligenceSwarm intelligenceSwarm intelligence is the collective behaviour of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. The concept is employed in work on artificial intelligence...
, both in nature and as a method used by humans, mentions Wikipedia as an example. - The British satirical magazine Private EyePrivate EyePrivate Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
has a section entitled "Wikipedia Whispers", which uncovers stories about how Wikipedia entries are altered. Stories include examples of how people have altered their own articles to make themselves look better, and vandalism on Wikipedia that becomes reported as fact. - Hip hop artist Pharoahe MonchPharoahe MonchPharoahe Monch is an American hip hop artist. He is known for his complex lyrics, complex delivery, and internal and multisyllabic rhyme schemes.-Biography:...
mentions Wikipedia in the song "Welcome to the Terrordome" from his 2007 album, DesireDesire (Pharoahe Monch album)Notes* On the song "Fuck You" the explicit version is 12 seconds longer than the edited version.Samples*"Free" contains elements from the composition "I'm Free" performed by Millie Jackson....
. The lyrics are: "Take a walk through all this misplaced media / They got my name spelled wrong on Wikipedia." - In Volume 6 of the Canadian comic book series Scott PilgrimScott PilgrimScott Pilgrim is a graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. It consists of six digest size black-and-white volumes, released between August 2004 and July 2010, by Portland-based independent comic book publisher Oni Press. It was later republished by Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins...
, after the main antagonists injures one of the principal characters, Ramona Flowers, a character in a crowd, wondering if Ramona had died, stated that he was updating her Wikipedia page at that moment.
- Various people including Jeremy ClarksonJeremy ClarksonJeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
, Sir Ian McKellenIan McKellenSir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
, Patrick StumpPatrick StumpPatrick Vaughn Stump is an American singer-songwriter, composer, record producer, and music critic. He is the composer, lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist of Fall Out Boy, an American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, and is also a solo artist...
, Mitch AlbomMitch AlbomMitchell David "Mitch" Albom is an American best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, dramatist, radio and television broadcaster and musician. His books have sold over 30 million copies worldwide...
and Marcus BrigstockeMarcus BrigstockeMarcus Alexander Brigstocke is an English comedian, actor and satirist who has worked extensively in stand-up comedy, television, radio and in 2010-2011 musical theatre. He is particularly associated with the 6.30pm comedy slot on BBC Radio 4, having frequently appeared on several of its shows...
have criticized or commented about Wikipedia's articles about themselves.
Inaccuracies on Wikipedia as portrayed in culture
- Wikipedia was satirized in The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
with a front-page article ("Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years of American Independence", July 2006), alluding to perceptions that the publicly editable site is an unreliable source of information. - The CollegeHumorCollegeHumorCollegeHumor is a comedy website owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's...
staff posted the video "Professor Wikipedia" as part of the CollegeHumor original videos on September 16, 2008; the video satirized many aspects of Wikipedia.
Political battleground
- In June 2011, Wikipedia received attention for attempts by editors to change the Paul ReverePaul ReverePaul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
article to fit Sarah Palin's accounting of events during a campaign bus tour. The New York Times reported that the article "had half a million page views" by June 10, and "after all the attention and arguments, the article is now much longer ... and much better sourced ... than before Palin's remarks."
Wikipedia as a character trait
- In 2006, commenting to The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
on the demands on Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
analysts to produce instant information, John E. McLaughlinJohn E. McLaughlinJohn Edward McLaughlin is the former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and former Acting Director of Central Intelligence. McLaughlin is an accomplished magician and lectured on magic at the 2006 International Brotherhood of Magicians Annual Convention in Miami, Florida...
, former acting U.S. Director of Central IntelligenceDirector of Central IntelligenceThe Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the principal intelligence advisor to the President and the National Security Council, and the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various United...
, stated, "intelligence analysts end up being the Wikipedia of WashingtonWashington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
". - An altmuslim.com review of a new television series, Sleeper Cell, about terrorists noted that the characters routinely gave detailed background of events in the history of Islam and stated, "no one, and I assume even terrorists, talks like a walking Wikipedia."
Wikipedia as an award recipient
- In the 2007 Lyttle Lytton ContestLyttle Lytton ContestThe Lyttle Lytton Contest is a diminutive derivative of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, and was first run in the year 2001. Both are tongue-in-cheek contests that take place annually and in which entrants are invited "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels."The...
, in which the object is to come up with an opening sentence for a novel, a phrase from the article on FukutsuruFukutsuruFukutsuru or Fukutsuru 068 was a Wagyū bull shipped from Japan to Snake River Farms of Boise, Idaho in the United States in the early 1990s. Fukutsuru fathered countless cattle and helped grow today's U.S. Kobe beef industry...
("Fukutsuru died in 2005 but his frozen sperm lived on for people's benefit") won the prize in Found category.
Wikipedia as comedic material
- Wikipedia is parodied at several websites, including UncyclopediaUncyclopediaUncyclopedia is a satirical website that parodies Wikipedia. Founded in 2005 as an originally English-language wiki, the project currently spans over 75 languages...
and Encyclopedia DramaticaEncyclopedia DramaticaEncyclopædia Dramatica was a satirical open wiki that used MediaWiki software. Launched on December 10, 2004, it lampooned both encyclopedic topics and current events, especially those related or relevant to contemporary internet culture. It was frequently utilized by a socially fluid and dynamic...
. - In the July 2006 issue of MadMad (magazine)Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
, in the Fundalini pages section there was a short joke with a mock picture of Wikipedia called "WonkyPedia". WonkyPedia featured its own logo, in which the letters on the puzzle globe were replaced with MAD characters and the letters "M", "A", and "D:". The article shown was on Lincoln's assassination. The URL followed the appropriate pattern: "http://en.wonkypedia.org/wonky/ ". The same parody returned in the next issue as "Wakipedia". The phrase it advertised was "The Free Encyclopedia (you get what you pay for!)". - Likewise, CRACKED.com, the online publication affiliated with former Mad rival Cracked, has satirized Wikipedia's maintenance templates.
- In May 2006, British chat show host Paul O'GradyPaul O'GradyPaul James Michael O'Grady MBE is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as...
received an inquiry from a viewer regarding information given on his Wikipedia page, to which he responded, "Wikipedia? Sounds like a skin disease." - On the show X-PlayX-PlayX-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
, Morgan WebbMorgan WebbMorgan Ailis Webb is a co-host and senior segment producer of the G4 show X-Play, and host of the show G4 Underground...
looked at the Wikipedia article of Point Blank DS, and then looked at the article on their show. After reading it, the logo in the top left corner of the page spoke to Morgan in typical X-Play fashion. It also pointed out that since the show's inception, they have made 337 fart jokes. When asked why it could talk, the logo stated that Wikipedia had become self aware in 2004 due to the massive amounts of information provided by the public. - On the E!E!E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
network program The SoupThe SoupThe Soup is an E! Entertainment Television weekly series; it is a revamped version of Talk Soup that focuses on recaps of various pop culture and television show moments of the week...
, during the "Reality Show Clip Time!" segment a clip of Flavor of Love 2 was shown in which someone mentioned GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
as a point of research on September 8, 2006, to make fun of this, host Joel McHaleJoel McHaleJoel Edward McHale is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television producer, television personality, and voice artist. He is best known for hosting The Soup and for his role as Jeff Winger on Community....
said "Well at least it's better than saying 'Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia'" Another time he said he looked up something on Wikipedia and saw a dance. - Comedian Zach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisZachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
claimed to look himself up on Wikipedia in an interview with The Badger HeraldThe Badger HeraldThe Badger Herald is a newspaper serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. Founded in 1969, it is one of America's first independent daily student newspapers. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year...
, stating about himself, "...I'm looking at Wikipedia right now. Half Greek, half redneck, around 6-foot-4. And that's about it... The 6-foot-4 thing may be a little bit off. Actually, it's 4-foot-6." - A front page parody news article in The Onion made fun of Wikipedia's tendency to quantify its page views and of its use as a reference source for long-past television series.
Possibly mistaken
- In the American version of the video game Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil SagaShin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil SagaShin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, known in Japan as , is a PlayStation 2 role-playing game developed by Atlus and first released in Japan on July 15, 2004...
, Wikipedia is a selectable mantraMantraA mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
, possible to equip by the game's characters to learn skills. However, it appears it was only a mistranslation made by the translators since the name is not present in the Japanese version.
Entertainment information source
- On the June 5, 2006 episode of The Howard Stern Show, wack packThe Wack PackThe Wack Pack is the name given to a wide assortment of personalities heard throughout the history of The Howard Stern Show. As a parody of the Rat Pack or Brat Pack, they are a considerable part of what the radio show became notable for...
er Eric the MidgetEric the MidgetEric Lynch , better known as Eric the Midget or Eric the Bedhumper, is known solely as a fan of The Howard Stern Show. He is considered a part of the Wack Pack, though membership is unofficial. Lynch is tall, weighs , and uses a motorized wheelchair, in addition to various other afflictions...
called in and complained that his parents had read about a stunt that he did for the show, that involved him measuring his penis, on Wikipedia (which he called "Wackipedia"). Stern read the section of the article regarding penis measuring on the air. Also, Gary Dell'AbateGary Dell'AbateGary Patrick Angelo Dell'Abate , also known as "Baba Booey", is an American radio producer, known for being the executive producer of The Howard Stern Show. His autobiography, They Call Me Baba Booey, was released on November 2, 2010.-Early life and career:Dell'Abate was born in Uniondale, New...
commented on the air he and the Stern Show staff enjoy the picture of Lynch in this article.
Food information source
- In his "pickoff" in which he makes predictions on the winners of NFL games, Peter KingPeter King (sportswriter)Peter King is an American sportswriter. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated and its Web site, including the weekly multiple-page column Monday Morning Quarterback. He is the author of five books, most notably Inside the Helmet, as well as a TV analyst and reporter...
said of the ThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
night game between Indianapolis and Atlanta in 2007 "The sleep-inducing qualities of turkey are overrated, as I learned this week on Wikipedia. There is more tryptophanTryptophanTryptophan is one of the 20 standard amino acids, as well as an essential amino acid in the human diet. It is encoded in the standard genetic code as the codon UGG...
in cheddar cheeseCheddar cheeseCheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....
than turkey."
General information source
- In Tim MinchinTim MinchinTimothy David "Tim" Minchin is a British-Australian comedian, actor, and musician.Tim Minchin is best known for his musical comedy, which has featured in six CDs, three DVDs and a number of live comedy shows which he has performed internationally. He has also appeared on television in Australia,...
's poem Storm, when he criticizes the eponymous character for being excessively gullible and close-minded, he accuses her of being scared of spending an afternoon at "Wiki-fucking-pedia". It has been turned into an animated movie.
Student information source
- Aoi Haru, the end theme of the animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Seitokai YakuindomoSeitokai Yakuindomois a shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Tozen Ujiie. The series premiered in the June 2007 issue of Magazine Special magazine and is ongoing. Chapters are collected and published in collected volumes by Kodansha, with five volumes released as of October 2011 in Japan...
performed by Angela, mentions using the Wikipedia as one of the daily activities of the high school girl portrayed in the song.
Game show category
- The December 3, 2007 episode of Jeopardy!Jeopardy!Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
had a category entitled "'ick'-ipedia", where all correct responses contained the letters "ick".
Criticism
- Something AwfulSomething AwfulSomething Awful, often abbreviated to SA, is a comedy website housing a variety of content, including blog entries, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka in 1999 as a largely personal website, but as it grew, so...
once featured Wikipedia's article on Knuckles the EchidnaKnuckles the EchidnaKnuckles the Echidna is a video game character of the Sonic the Hedgehog game series, including spin-off games and comics. His first appearance was in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released in 1994 to introduce a new rival for Sonic. He was presented as an antagonist who was tricked by Dr. Eggman into...
as an ALOD (Awful Link of the Day), satirizing the amount of detail that sometimes goes into seemingly irrelevant topics. The link description adds that the article at the time was longer than each of the articles about Echidnas, the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, the internal combustion engineInternal combustion engineThe internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
, William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and Western CultureWestern cultureWestern culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
. The topic was also satirized in the front page, which featured a fake Wikipedia style article about Albert "Al" CalavicciAl CalavicciRear Admiral Upper Half Albert “Al” Calavicci USN is a fictional character on the science fiction drama Quantum Leap, created by Donald P. Bellisario and played by Dean Stockwell.-Biography:...
from the TV series Quantum Leap written by Something Awful contributor David Thorpe. Thorpe elsewhere linked the existence of such articles to Asperger syndromeAsperger syndromeAsperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
, stating "Don't make fun of Aspergers. If it weren't for Aspergers, we wouldn't have 20-page Wikipedia articles about Knuckles the EchidnaKnuckles the EchidnaKnuckles the Echidna is a video game character of the Sonic the Hedgehog game series, including spin-off games and comics. His first appearance was in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, released in 1994 to introduce a new rival for Sonic. He was presented as an antagonist who was tricked by Dr. Eggman into...
." Wikipedia was also mocked in a December 4, 2006 update on Something Awful. The update detailed the life of a talk page on Wikipedia, and mocked the neutrality, copyright, naming, quality, and personal disputes that the pages are beholden to. The update also linked Wikipedia usage to Asperger syndrome once more, with one fictional editor claiming to have a case of the syndrome twice as powerful as that of another fictional editor. In a 2007 Awful Link of the Day, a Wikipedia article was featured again, this time on the villains of Codename: Kids Next DoorCodename: Kids Next DoorCodename: Kids Next Door, also known as Kids Next Door or by its acronym KND, is an American animated television series created by Tom Warburton and produced by Curious Pictures in Santa Monica, California.. The series debuted on Cartoon Network on December 6, 2002 and aired its final episode on...
. Once again, it calls out the detail put onto seemingly irrelevant topics, citing a discussion in said article's talk page about the subjectiveness of the speed of certain characters. Something Awful founder Richard Kyanka then mockingly offered to write up a speed comparison of the KND characters Big Badolescent and Cheese Shogun Roquefort, citing a fake episode called "episode 35, 'I Am a 38-Year Old Man With Several Obese Cats and an Empty Life I Futilely Try to Fill With Childrens' Cartoons'". - An article in The Sun derided Wikipedia for including a "List of big-bust models and performers". Quoting an unnamed "company source", the article concluded: "It's every computer geek's dream come true – definitely one of Wikipedia's breast, I mean best, assets".
Wikipedia in web comics
- On May 7, 2005, the comic stripComic stripA comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
FoxTrot showed one character appending his older sister to unflattering Wikipedia articles. In a similar joke, the web comic Penny Arcade also satirized Wikipedia with a comic strip depicting SkeletorSkeletorSkeletor is a featured villain in the Masters of the Universe franchise and the arch-enemy and main antagonist of He-Man. Depicted as a muscular blue humanoid with a purple hood over his yellowing bare-bone skull, Skeletor seeks to conquer Castle Grayskull so he can learn its ancient secrets,...
vandalizing the He-ManHe-ManHe-Man is a fictional heroic character featured in the Masters of the Universe media franchise. In most variations, he is the alter ego of Prince Adam...
article. The web comic PvPPvPPvP, also known as Player vs Player, is a webcomic, written and drawn by Scott Kurtz, with around 100,000 unique visitors per day . On February 1, 2007, it became the subject of its own animated series.-Themes:...
featured a similar gag with the character Marcy adding embarrassing information about Francis, though she denies it's vandalism, claiming truth. - On December 10, 2005, following the John Siegenthaler incident, UserFriendly showed Greg at first defending Wikipedia, but he then sees an entry about him as a "hairy dork" and declares "Wikipedia is so going down!" Strips also commented on editor agendas, and the relative lack of Wikipedia content in third-world languages.
- In the November 8, 2006 installment of Dinosaur ComicsDinosaur ComicsDinosaur Comics is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on 1 February 2003, though there were earlier prototypes. Dinosaur Comics has also been printed in two collections and in a...
, T-Rex presents a solution to vandalism on Wikipedia; the chickens article would be designated for vandalism, leaving all other articles intact. - A BunnyBunny (webcomic)Bunny is a daily webcomic by Lem , the pseudonym of a Welsh artist named Huw Davies. Launched in August 2004, Bunny follows the gag-a-day formula, with no true plotline...
strip featuring WikipediaWikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
includes a tombstone which reads: "RIPRest in peace"Rest in peace" is a short epitaph or idiomatic expression wishing eternal rest and peace to someone who has died. The expression typically appears on headstones, often abbreviated as "RIP"...
Jeph JacquesJeph JacquesJeph Jacques writes and illustrates the webcomic Questionable Content. He was born in Rockville, Maryland, and graduated from Hampshire College with a degree in music...
" with the bottom caption: "The Moral of the story is you cannot always trust what you read on Wikipedia."
- Questionable ContentQuestionable ContentQuestionable Content is a slice-of-life webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. It was launched on August 1, 2003. Jacques currently makes his living exclusively from QC merchandising and advertising, making him one of the few professional webcomic artists...
references Wikipedia several times. Hannelore, a character who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorderObsessive-compulsive disorderObsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
, cut most of her hair off after reading Wikipedia's article on head lice. Wikipedia was also referenced when Penelope, a character who is bitter against romance, stated that her edits to the De BeersDe BeersDe Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
entry kept getting reverted (she attempted to add a conspiracy theoryConspiracy theoryA conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
to the article suggesting that the company had subverted humanity's mating drive in order to sell more diamonds). Wikipedia was also parodied, taking the form of a mock product similar to SpaghettiOsSpaghettiOsSpaghettiOs is an American brand of canned, sweetened spaghetti featuring circular pasta shapes in a cheese and tomato sauce — and marketed to parents as 'less messy' than regular spaghetti...
.
- ApplegeeksApplegeeksApplegeeks was a webcomic illustrated by Mohammad Haque, and written by Ananth Panagariya. The comic was usually updated every Monday and Thursday. A small, spin-off comic, dubbed Applegeeks Lite, was begun on April 18, 2006, and updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays...
has jokingly referred to Wikipedia as a replacement for traditional education twice.
xkcd
Xkcd
xkcd is a webcomic created by Randall Munroe. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." It has been recognized in such mainstream media as The Guardian and The New York Times....
published a comic showing a protester holding up a placard during a political rally that says "[CITATION NEEDED]", mimicking the Wikipedian Citation Needed template used to request a citation for an unsupported statement.[citation needed] The tooltip
Tooltip
The tooltip or infotip is a common graphical user interface element. It is used in conjunction with a cursor, usually a mouse pointer. The user hovers the cursor over an item, without clicking it, and a tooltip may appear—a small "hover box" with information about the item being hovered...
of the comic, often part of the joke, shows the additional comment "SEMI-PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION". Numerous other references to Wikipedia have been made in xkcd.
- The webcomicWebcomicWebcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
PartiallyClipsPartiallyClipsPartiallyClips is a webcomic, created by Rob Balder, which has been running since 2002. At the start of 2010, Balder handed authorship of the comic to Tim Crist, the comedy musician behind Worm Quartet....
criticised Wikipedia's supposed policy of deleting many articles on webcomics. - Roadkill BillRoadkill BillRoadkill Bill is a comic strip created by Ken Avidor.The cartoon has an anti-car theme and frequently advocates the theories of Ivan IllichThe main character, Roadkill Bill, is a squirrel with distinctive tire tracks across his torso and tail....
has a comic mocking Wikipedia. - George of Bob and GeorgeBob and GeorgeBob and George was a sprite-based webcomic which parodied the fictional universe of Mega Man. It is written by David Anez, a physics instructor who lives in the American Midwest. The comic first appeared on April 1, 2000 and ran until July 28, 2007...
once used Wikipedia to research The First Annual Robot Tournament (a plot element from Mega Man 6Mega Man 6Mega Man 6, known in Japan as , is a video game developed by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System . It is the sixth installment in the original Mega Man series and was originally released in Japan on October 5, 1993 and in North America the following March. It was included in the Mega Man...
) after being told his brother, Bob, was killed during it, but found no information. Later, however, Mega ManMega ManMega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
researches the subject and finds detailed information has been added. This article is then used as a plot devicePlot deviceA plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
in following comics as the characters read about the events being depicted. - Diesel SweetiesDiesel SweetiesDiesel Sweeties is a webcomic and former newspaper comic strip written by Richard Stevens III . The comic began in 2000, originally hosted at robotstories.com...
comic #1831 shows the Red Robot swearing "on the Wikipedia's entry for 'Honor'" to not kill anyone, and then later editing the page. In addition, comic #2036 is entitled "This article about my love life is a stub. You can help 'sexipedia' by expanding it." In this comic, Metal Steve asks Lil' Sis if she remembers losing her virginity. Her response is, "What am I, Wikipedia?"
Claims of negative impact of Wikipedia on culture
Wikipedia has been criticized for encouraging what Andrew KeenAndrew Keen
Andrew Keen is a British-American entrepreneur and author. He is particularly known for his view that the current Internet culture and the Web 2.0 trend may be debasing culture, an opinion he shares with Jaron Lanier and Nicholas G. Carr among others...
called the "Cult of the Amateur" in his book of the same name, resulting in toleration and enjoyment of lowerbrow culture.
See also
- Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia
- Wikipedia in the media