From 30 Rock to The Office to The Chris Matthews Show to, most recently, Iron Man 3, the cultural impact of Downton Abbey knows no boundaries. We all know about the talented efforts of Sesame Street, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live and Latenight with Jimmy Fallon as they paid tribute to the likes of Downton, but the pop-culture status of the mega-hit from ITV and PBS has entered a new galaxy with the recent release of Iron Man 3 starring Robert Downey Jr.

In the movie, ex-boxer Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), Iron Man’s former bodyguard, is hospitalized after a big blast at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood leaves him in a coma. So what does Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) request as entertainment for his unconscious friend? Downton, naturally! Stark claims: “It’s his favorite show.”

Executive producer Gareth Neame had yet to see the film when he chatted with Entertainment Weekly prior to its release this past weekend, but did explain that it came together rather simply. ”They just approached us,” he said. “The Iron Man producers just said, ‘We think the character should be watching Downton in the hospital bed.’ And we looked at the context and thought ‘That’s good. We’ll do it’”.

The scene was of particular interest to both Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan, Iron Man 3) and Alan Leech, who plays Tom Branson in Downton Abbey, as they recently tweeted…

Alan Leech tweet…
 

Jon Favreau tweet…
 

For those few that may not remember the Downton Abbey reference from 30 Rock here is the greatness of (Avery Jessup) Elizabeth Banks and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) scheduling a play date to watch their favorite telly….