Fargo (2014) (TV Show)

stars  Each episode of the first season has a title that refers to a koan, parable, or philosophical paradox.

stars  Every episode starts with the onscreen words "This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 2006. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." This is a nod to the way that the 1996 source movie Fargo started (also by claiming that its events were based on a true story). However, neither the movie nor the TV show are actually based on true events. In a 2014 interview, the show's Executive Producer Noah Hawley clarified the "true story" episode introductions by saying "the show.... It's all just made up. The whole cloth. I didn't go looking for (a) true crime. It started from a character standpoint and everything grew organically out of that."

stars  "Lou's Diner" named after Marge's deputy from Fargo (1996)

stars  Even though Noah Hawley is the only writer credited in the whole first season, he actually put together a writers room, with people that help him twitch the stories and discussed ideas.

stars  Billy Bob Thornton and Stephen J. Root have both appeared in films by the Coen brothers: The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Colin Hanks's father, Tom Hanks, appeared in The Ladykillers (2004). Adam Goldberg and Tom Hanks appeared together in Saving Private Ryan (1998), which also featured Harve Presnell, who had appeared in the original Fargo (1996).