History BitingTheHandHumor / LiveActionTV

-->'''John''': Hey, do you like HBO, but want ads for ''[[Series/PropertyBrothers The Property Brothers'' and also don't like HBO? Max!

-->'''John''': Hey, do you like HBO, but want ads for ''Series/ThePropertyBrothers'' and also don't like HBO? Max!

** In the movie ''Film/ManhuntInSpace", a character says it's a million to one chance they'll be seen. Crow responds with, "Oh, they're on Comedy Central".

* Many comedy shows on Creator/TheABC (the Australian one) make fun of the network's usually low budget. ''Series/TheChasersWarOnEverything'' also mocked the ABC's left-wing stance, and after Maxine [=McKew=], an ABC News reporter, began running as a candidate for the Labor party, it had one sketch where Australia's parliament gave out Labor seats to ABC personalities.

** An example of another network getting its hand bit on ''Series/TheDailyShow'': In 1997 Creator/KeithOlbermann, a ''Series/SportsCenter'' anchor at the time, appeared as a guest on ''Series/TheDailyShow'' with [[ThePeteBest Craig Kilborn]] (himself a ''[=SportsCenter=]'' anchor before becoming host of ''Series/TheDailyShow'') without permission from his bosses at Creator/{{ESPN}}, as required by that network's rules. During the interview Olbermann was asked (as part of the now-retired Five Questions segment) "What's the most god-forsaken place on the East Coast?" and answered "Bristol, Connecticut." Bristol happens to be the headquarters of ESPN. Keith got a two-week suspension, grief and editorials against him in the local paper, and the incident partially led to his departure from ESPN later that year.

** Subverted in the "Election 2020" segment, where after a few {{Take That}}s at Creator/{{Quibi}}, with the words "BAD IDEA" stamped across every suggestion the streaming service has, John starts to criticize HBO Max's high price, but the "BAD IDEA" stamp cuts him off before he finishes the joke.

-->'''John''': "The stuff that dreams are made of" is a quote from ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon'' about how the thing that seemed like a priceless treasure was actually worthless garbage that brought chaos and despair to everyone around it. [[SarcasmMode Anyway good luck with the merger, I’m sure everything’s gonna go great.]]

* ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver'' had a few digs on their network ("You think they're going to appear on a post-''Series/GameOfThrones'' HBO? They're Moms In Da Hood, they have better things to do!"), its parent company ("In fact, just so you know: HBO is a subsidiary of Time Warner, which means that this joke about being compromised is, in a sense, brought to you by [=FanDuel=].") and once AT&T purchased Time Warner, John puts extra effort whenever he decides to target them:

* In the ''Series/BlackMirror'', since moving to Creator/{{Netflix}}, has taken a couple of potshots at the streamer.

* In the ''Series/BlackMirror'' episode "USS Callister", Robert Daly takes a hit at Creator/{{Netflix}} and the show's move to the platform, by saying he has the VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray versions of his favourite TV show and snarks that it doesn't matter since "everything's on Netflix now". Although the effect of this trope is diminished since he's supposed to be a jerk.

* Although not a comedy, ''Series/TheBill'' had a moment where two character were checking a hotel's CCTV cameras during an undercover operation. They were making comments related to the order of channels on the TV set. [=BBC2=] was gardening, ITV (the show's own channel, before it became [=ITV1=]) was adverts and the final conclusion to the joke was that Creator/Channel4 (not named) was sex, as they discovered Dave and Polly kissing in a hotel room. Taking the joke further, Creator/ChannelFive equals porn (although, not as much... [[Series/CSIVerse these days]].)

* While presenting the Best Animated Feature nominees at the 2009 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, Creator/JackBlack explains to co-presenter Jennifer Aniston his secret to success when it comes to making money at voice acting: "Each year I do one Creator/{{DreamWorks|Animation}} [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda project]], then I take all the money to the Oscars and bet it on Creator/{{Pixar}}." The winner turned out to be ''WesternAnimation/WallE'', to which Black jumped and cheered. One of the people who laughed hardest when he made this joke was... Jeffrey Katzenberg.

* ''Series/{{Superstore}}'': In the cold open for "Conspiracy," Cheyenne insults Mateo by saying he looks like someone put a Creator/{{Pixar}} character in the microwave. Mateo snaps back, "You'd be Creator/DreamWorks, bitch," prompting wide amusement from the other employees. [=DreamWorks=] is owned by Universal, which also produces NBC shows like ''Superstore'' and frequently uses the TV network for cross-promotion.

* In the finale of ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'', Jen breaks the fourth wall after being confused and unhappy with the way the show is going, [[spoiler:and goes to Creator/MarvelStudios themselves with the intention of talking to whoever's in charge. It turns out that the studio is run by a robot AI named [[Creator/KevinFeige K.E.V.I.N.]], who uses an algorithm that enforces a strict formula on all Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse content. Jen calls it out on this and convinces it to give her show a better ending than what it originally planned]].