In the A Series of Unfortunate Events TV series, there are many instances of breaking the fourth wall, or referencing the show's real-world elements.
- In "The Bad Beginning," Count Olaf mentions that the theatre is much more engaging than streaming television.
- In "The Reptile Room", Stephano says he prefers long form television to the movies, a reference to the show's long episodes. He looks at the camera whilst saying this.In "The Miserable Mill", after the Baudelaires escape to the mill, Mr. Poe says it is off-book, a reference to how that scene literally did not happen in the books. Additionally, Violet Baudelaire wonders aloud during their escape whether their life is nothing more than a tragic story which an audience takes some sick pleasure at.
- In "The Austere Academy", Mr. Poe holds up a copy of "The Pony Party!", which is actually the reversible cover to Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.
- Between Season 1 and Season 2, Presley Smith grew, and the writers compensated for that by saying that they were sitting on the bench for so long, Sunny looked less like a baby and more like a toddler.
- In "The Hostile Hospital", Dr. Faustus says he went to Oxford, a reference to actor Louis Hynes hometown of Oxford.
- In "The Slippery Slope," when Sunny is placed in the eagle cage, she remarks to Fernald that this is a rerun (referring to her imprisonment in The Bad Beginning).
- In "The End", the orphans tell Ishmael that their story is very long, and Sunny says, "three seasons", a reference to the show's three seasons.