Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "show-within-a-show"
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1. Full House (1987–1995)
TV-G | 22 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A widowed sportscaster raises his three daughters with assistance from his rock and roll brother-in-law and madcap best friend.
Stars: Bob Saget, John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Candace Cameron Bure
Votes: 63,135
2. Home Improvement (1991–1999)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy, Family
The daily trials and tribulations of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, a television show host raising three mischievous boys with help from his loyal co-host, loving wife, and eccentric neighbor.
Stars: Tim Allen, Earl Hindman, Taran Noah Smith, Zachery Ty Bryan
Votes: 49,157
3. Bolt (2008)
PG | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
The canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star from a threat he believes is just as real.
Directors: Byron Howard, Chris Williams | Stars: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton
Votes: 229,115 | Gross: $114.05M
4. Barton Fink (1991)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner
Votes: 129,018 | Gross: $6.15M
5. The Muppet Show (1976–1981)
TV-G | 30 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
Kermit the Frog and his fellow Muppets put on a vaudeville show at their theatre, bringing in a famous celebrity to help out for each episode.
Stars: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz
Votes: 26,249
6. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004)
TV-MA | 24 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
This parody series is an unearthed 80s horror/drama, complete with poor production values, awful dialogue and hilarious violence. The series is set in a Hospital in Romford, which is situated over the gates of Hell.
Stars: Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, Matthew Holness, Alice Lowe
Votes: 20,163
7. Dead Set (2008)
TV-MA | 28 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
During a fictional series of Big Brother, a zombie outbreak occurs, but the house-mates are unaware of the impending doom outside of the Big Brother House.
Stars: Paul 'Bubble' Ferguson, Jaime Winstone, Andy Nyman, Riz Ahmed
Votes: 20,927
8. A Star Is Born (1954)
Passed | 154 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford
Votes: 19,687 | Gross: $14.93M
9. The Comeback (2005–2014)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy
An ex A-list celebrity attempts to rekindle the flame of her once prominent acting career with nothing but a camera crew and some determination.
Stars: Lisa Kudrow, Lance Barber, Robert Michael Morris, Laura Silverman
Votes: 7,829
10. The Longest Week (2014)
PG-13 | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Conrad (Jason Bateman) is helped by his old friend Dylan (Billy Crudup) and returns the favor by falling for Dylan's girlfriend Beatrice (Olivia Wilde).
Director: Peter Glanz | Stars: Jason Bateman, Olivia Wilde, Billy Crudup, Tony Roberts
Votes: 13,447
11. Henry's Crime (2010)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Released from prison for a crime he didn't commit, an ex-con targets the same bank he was sent away for robbing.
Director: Malcolm Venville | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, James Caan, Judy Greer
Votes: 21,374 | Gross: $0.10M
12. Sonny with a Chance (2009–2011)
TV-G | 23 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
Sonny, a talented Midwestern girl, has won a nationwide talent search to move to Los Angeles and star in a popular television series. Sonny's home and work life is documented along with her adjustment to life in the spotlight.
Stars: Demi Lovato, Tiffany Thornton, Sterling Knight, Brandon Mychal Smith
Votes: 13,113
13. The Famous Jett Jackson (1998–2001)
TV-G | 30 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
After spending years in California working as the TV action hero Silverstone, Jett Jackson decides to move the show to his hometown hoping to pursue a more normal life.
Stars: Lee Thompson Young, Kerry Duff, Ryan Sommers Baum, Gordon Greene
Votes: 2,064
14. Curly Top (1935)
Approved | 75 min | Family, Musical, Romance
Wealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty older sister Mary and arranges to adopt both under the alias of "Mr. Jones." As he spends more time with them, he soon finds himself falling in love with Mary.
Director: Irving Cummings | Stars: Shirley Temple, John Boles, Rochelle Hudson, Jane Darwell
Votes: 2,112
15. Greg the Bunny (2002–2004)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy
Greg the Bunny is one of the 3.2 million fabricated Americans living in the United States. Wanting a job that doesn't involve working only on Easter, he finds a job on a kid's show.
Stars: Eugene Levy, Seth Green, Bob Gunton, Sarah Silverman
Votes: 1,830
16. Let's Make Love (1960)
Not Rated | 119 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand, Tony Randall, Frankie Vaughan
Votes: 8,037 | Gross: $6.54M
17. Grosse Pointe (2000–2001)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy
Satire centers on the off-camera antics of five actors who star in a fictional high school drama called "Grosse Pointe".
Stars: Irene Molloy, Lindsay Sloane, Bonnie Somerville, Kohl Sudduth
Votes: 793
18. Cult (2013)
60 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Tracks the investigation of a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances surrounding the show-within-a-show.
Stars: Matthew Davis, Jessica Lucas, Alona Tal, Robert Knepper
Votes: 4,584
19. Kappa Mikey (2006–2008)
TV-Y7 | 22 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Parody of Japanese anime, featuring a guy named Mikey who travels to Japan to star in an anime, where he discovers his new co-stars are all basically walking anime clichés.
Stars: Jesse Adams, Michael Sinterniklaas, Sean Schemmel, Gary Littman
Votes: 1,229
20. Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Romantic antics abound among the guests at a luxury hotel, including a stage director, an eccentric millionaire, and the daughter of a financial backer.
Director: Busby Berkeley | Stars: Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart, Alice Brady
Votes: 2,965
21. Love Monkey (2006)
TV-PG | 345 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A music scout gets fired from his corporate job and gets a job at a smaller indie label.
Stars: Tom Cavanagh, Judy Greer, Larenz Tate, Christopher Wiehl
Votes: 919
22. Happy Go Lovely (1951)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A chorus girl gets a ride from millionaire Bruno's driver. The cash-strapped theater director thinks, she's Bruno's girlfriend and makes her the lead. She meets Bruno, thinking he's a reporter. More confusion follows.
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone | Stars: David Niven, Vera-Ellen, Cesar Romero, Bobby Howes
Votes: 876
23. The Pickle (1993)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
Harry Stone (Danny Aiello), a formerly top notch director, has had three disastrous movies in a row. Facing dismissal from the top perch of Hollywood and financial ruin from back taxes, he ... See full summary »
Director: Paul Mazursky | Stars: Danny Aiello, Dyan Cannon, Clotilde Courau, Shelley Winters
Votes: 713 | Gross: $0.08M
24. Charger Girl Ju-den Chan (2009)
TV-MA | 24 min | Animation, Action, Comedy
Plug is a Charger Girl from a parallel dimension. Her job is to find people on Earth that are depressed and charge them up to restore their energy.
Stars: Vic Mignogna, Kira Buckland, Felecia Angelle, Matt Shipman
Votes: 161
25. Song lang (2018)
101 min | Drama, Romance
An unlikely bond forms between an underground debt collector and a cai luong "Vietnamese opera" performer against the backdrop of Saigon in the 90s.
Director: Leon Le | Stars: Kim Chi, Isaac, Vu T. Le Thi, Phuong Minh
Votes: 850
26. Here Come the Girls (1953)
Approved | 78 min | Comedy, Musical
A clumsy, full-of-himself chorus boy gets a chance at Broadway stardom when he's a stand-in for a leading actor threatened by an infamous killer.
Director: Claude Binyon | Stars: Bob Hope, Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl, Rosemary Clooney
Votes: 435
27. Lookwell (1991 TV Movie)
30 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
The former star of a cancelled cop TV show solves crimes. Pilot episode for a TV series that was never picked up.
Director: E.W. Swackhamer | Stars: Adam West, Ron Frazier, Ann Weldon, Todd Field
Votes: 561
28. Call Me Mister (1951)
Approved | 96 min | Musical, Romance
A G.I. in occupied Japan tries to re-woo his old love, who's putting on a show for the troops.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Betty Grable, Dan Dailey, Danny Thomas, Dale Robertson
Votes: 279 | Gross: $2.70M
29. Sensations of 1945 (1944)
Approved | 86 min | Music, Romance
Father and son press agents fail to see things eye to eye, in the final screen appearance of comedian W.C. Fields.
Director: Andrew L. Stone | Stars: Eleanor Powell, Dennis O'Keefe, C. Aubrey Smith, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 185
30. It Happened in Hollywood (1937)
Approved | 67 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
While hospitalized young Billy meets his silent movie idol Tim Bart but then the talkies came, destroying Bart's career. Now Bart must convince his young friend he is still a star.
Director: Harry Lachman | Stars: Richard Dix, Fay Wray, Victor Kilian, Charles Arnt
Votes: 703
31. That's Right - You're Wrong (1939)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Radio sensation Kay Kyser and his band are lured to Hollywood to make a movie, but the screenwriters assigned to the project have difficulty tailoring a script to Kyser's persona.
Director: David Butler | Stars: Kay Kyser, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Lucille Ball
Votes: 373
32. Body Swap (2019)
72 min | Comedy, Romance
CJ (played by Ella Jordan) is a high strung business woman working at the Versa Corporation on the biggest deal in her company's history. Casey (Jimmy Kustes) is a laid-back slacker who ... See full summary »
Director: Timothy Morton | Stars: Ella Jordan, Jimmy Kustes, Gunner Willis, Kayte Giralt
Votes: 110
33. Nobody's Watching (2006 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 166 min | Comedy
Two best friends challenge the WB to let them create a new sitcom - they're surprised when they're left to live on a sound stage and have their every move recorded while working on the project.
Director: Gail Mancuso | Stars: Taran Killam, Paul Campbell, Lauren Bittner, Mircea Monroe
Votes: 425
34. The David Steinberg Show (1972– )
30 min | Comedy
Years before "The Larry Sanders Show" came this Canadian-made sitcom taking place behind the scenes of the fictional "David Steinberg Show," starring real-life comic David Steinberg. Like ... See full summary »
Stars: David Steinberg, Martin Short, Joe Flaherty, John Candy
Votes: 190
35. .hack//G.U. Last Recode (2017 Video Game)
T | Animation, Action, Drama
Director: Hiroshi Matsuyama | Stars: Yuri Lowenthal, Bridget Hoffman, Jamieson Price, Johnny Yong Bosch
Votes: 49
36. The Medicine Man (1930)
Not Rated | 66 min | Comedy, Romance
The son and daughter of an abusive shopkeeper turn to a medicine show salesman for help.
Director: Scott Pembroke | Stars: Jack Benny, Betty Bronson, George E. Stone, Tom Dugan
Votes: 279
37. Sing and Like It (1934)
Passed | 72 min | Comedy
A gangster becomes enamored of a dowdy amateur off-key singer and tries to force a producer to put her in his Broadway production.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Zasu Pitts, Pert Kelton, Edward Everett Horton, Nat Pendleton
Votes: 461
38. Amor sin maquillaje (2007)
40 min | Drama, Romance
This is a love story made in one of the best categories of the telenovelas: the one that evolves parallel to real life. This is Televisa's tribute to commemorate 50 years of telenovelas in ... See full summary »
Stars: Lucía Méndez, Marlene Favela, Sergio Goyri, Alejandro Ibarra
Votes: 35
39. Star Quality (1985 TV Movie)
75 min | Comedy
In 1940's England, a young playwright is getting his first play produced by an important director. But the director wants to get a temperamental actress for the lead. And when Lorraine ... See full summary »
Director: Alan Dossor | Stars: Susannah York, Ian Richardson, Peter Chelsom, David Yelland
Votes: 65
40. Running Scared (2019)
Not Rated | 22 min | Short, Drama, Music
'Running Scared' is a short film that tells the story a life-altering "moment in time" on the football field for one young boy that changed his life.
Director: Zac Gates | Stars: Jackson Lynch, Dylan Gassner, Tara Madison, Rachel D'Ambrosio
Votes: 9
41. Wolf Canyon (2009 TV Movie)
22 min | Comedy
Isolated from any urban contact, the dysfunctional TV cast and crew of a third-rate syndicated action series "Wolf Canyon", fight spirit numbing boredom and madness in their makeshift trailer town on a Native reservation.
Director: Allan Harmon | Stars: Kevin Sorbo, Lorne Cardinal, Nikki Payne, Barbara Tyson
Votes: 75
42. Bob & Ray, Jane, Laraine & Gilda (1979 TV Movie)
75 min | Comedy
A series of skits feature the Finley Quality Network and its many quality TV shows.
Director: Dave Wilson | Stars: Bob Elliott, Ray Goulding, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman
Votes: 45
43. Kiki (1926)
108 min | Comedy, Drama
Kiki, a poor young woman who sells newspapers on the street corners of Paris, is able to land a job singing and dancing at a nearby theater. While she is there, she invites herself into the... See full summary »
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Norma Talmadge, Ronald Colman, Gertrude Astor, Marc McDermott
Votes: 461 | Gross: $0.41M
44. The Night Rider (1962 TV Movie)
Approved | 26 min | Drama, Music, Western
Tim is the boss of a trail-herding crew consisting of Kentucky, a cook who plays the guitar, Joe, and Marty, a young, impressionable cowhand who longs for the glamorous life of a gunfighter... See full summary »
Director: Michael Hinn | Stars: Johnny Cash, Dickie Jones, Johnny Western, Merle Travis
Votes: 36
45. Vegas Showgirls: Nearly Famous (2003– )
Music, Reality-TV
Reality-series detailing the the lives of Las Vegas dancers both onstage and off.
Stars: Nicol Paone, Trevor Richardson, Alix Agar, Ritchie Allen
46. Only Me (1929)
15 min | Short, Comedy
A well-dressed but inebriated man decides to attend a variety show at the Palace Theatre. During the show, both he and the performers are continually harassed by a practical joke-loving boy... See full summary »
Director: Lupino Lane | Stars: Lupino Lane, Wallace Lupino
Votes: 103
47. Cue! (2022– )
TV-14 | 24 min | Animation, Music
16 aspiring voice actresses aim to achieve their dreams to become seiyuu stars.
Stars: Ayaka Takamura, Aya Suzaki, Satsuki Miyahara, Mayu Iizuka
Votes: 70
48. New Cops (2016)
52 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
An ordinary man (played by Tim Morton) lives a dull life till his friend Chet (played by Jimmy Kustes) comes over to stay for a few days. His friend ropes him to various schemes and ... See full summary »
Director: Timothy Morton | Stars: Alex Adams, Greg Cushing, Jimmy Kustes, Chris Maggio
Votes: 19
49. Vai Ficar Tudo Bem! (2020– )
30 min | Comedy
When Mário decides to start recording and filming his days spent in quarantine "due to the covid-19 pandemic", together with his sister - Mariana -, and two friends - Filipe and Pedro - ... See full summary »
Stars: Mário Coelho, Filipe Baptista, Pedro Baptista, Mariana Guarda
50. Barry Welsh Is Coming (1997–2003)
Comedy, News
Stars: John Sparkes, Kim Wall, Gareth Edwards, Howard Marks
Votes: 34