Clearly we need more diversity in the writers' rooms.

Note: Vague spoilers for past episodes of How I Met Your Mother and Community, and major spoilers for past episodes of Castle and NCIS. Last week's episode of Community had a joke about Dead Poets Society. This week's episode of How I Met Your Mother had a joke about Dead Poets Society. Either Sepinwall or the AV Club made note of this, with the comment that TV writers have the same median age, and thus the same cultural references. And that's fine. "O captain! My captain!" is a cultural touchstone when we start talking about teaching, and if shows don't reference it, often we the commenters do. NOW. Last week's episode of Castle hinged on Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, wherein two commuters make a deal to commit murder for each other, and they specifically referenced Strangers on a Train. This week's episode of NCIS hinged on Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, wherein two commuters did some insider training together, then one murdered the other. And they specifically referenced Strangers on a Train. Different plots, yes? Except, since I already had the plot in mind from last week's Castle, when they started talking about how the two people had nothing in common, I immediately went to the Strangers on a Train scenario. And spent the rest of the episode being bored. I don't watch procedurals for the surprising! Plot! Twists! But honestly. Sigh. I'm not proposing any sort of solution, or pinpointing any sort of complaint, because we can't change our cultural references, nor can we function without them. I just find the coincidences fascinating, and also annoying.