The way the whole thing's a reality TV show or whatever with an emphasis on callbacks. I'm an actor in a variety comedy show that does a lot of that.

...huh. All the way down to the callback thing?

Oh, yeah, we have a bunch of running gags and repeated sketch concepts that get put in mostly so that longtime viewers can enjoy the reference.

Like, we had this "calming detective" character in one episode early in the run, and then five years later we brought him back as a surprise twist in the middle of a sketch. That used the same mansion for the setting, if you were paying enough attention and somehow still remembered what that place had looked like.