In Popular Culture
In the Sports Night episode, "The Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail", character Dan Rydell, uses Tony Orlando as an adlibbed item to cover for a blank teleprompter.
During the "Marge on the Lam" episode of the animated series The Simpsons, recurring character Troy McClure, while emceeing a public television marathon, opens with a version of his familiar catchphrase by stating: "Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such telethons as Out with Gout '88 and Let's Save Tony Orlando's House.", the latter inspiring the title of a song by the Hoboken, New Jersey indie rock band Yo La Tengo, which was released on the band's 2000 album And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out.
During the 1984-85 season of the Cosby Show (its first season), he played the part of a man who runs a community center.
Orlando appeared in an episode of MADtv doing a skit involving a court case, where the defense sings to persuade the jury about their side. He sang for the prosecution, thereby persuading the judge to give the defense jail for life. In another television program, Orlando was featured in "Larry the Cable Guy's Star Studded Christmas Extravaganza".
He also had a cameo appearance as himself in the 2002 film, Waking Up In Reno, in which he sang a version of "Knock Three Times".
As a spokesperson, Orlando has appeared in NutriSystem commercials with Dan Marino to show how much weight they lost.
In an episode of the hit TV series Glee, Burt Hummel (played by Mike O'Malley) reflects on what he wore to his junior prom, stating that he looked 'like a young Tony Orlando'.
Read more about this topic: Tony Orlando
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