Did you get that?

It used to be that TV guffaws were punctuated by the sound of a grating laugh track and a pointed pause.

But with a wink-wink and a nudge-nudge, inside jokes – those covert chuckles typically shared among friends – have invaded the television world.

For Josh Schwartz, executive producer and creator of “The O.C.,” inside jokes provide a way of communicating with his audience on another level.

In its second season, the Fox soap has been accused of losing its edge. So Seth, a character on the show, recently ranted that this year hasn’t been as good as last year for him.

“I think it’s fun to have a dialogue with your audience in that way,” Schwartz says.

From the beginning, characters on “The O.C.” have routinely mocked the very genre the show brought back to life.

Summer, for instance, is addicted to the fictional prime-time soap “The Valley” (which also is experiencing growing pains in its second season). And a reality version of “The Valley” called “Sherman Oaks: The Real Valley” is reminiscent of the MTV series “Laguna Beach.”

“You kind of know that people are gonna hit you where you live, so you might as well hit yourself before they can hit you,” Schwartz says. “That’s my attitude. That’s how I got through high school.”

Audiences also are savvier these days. Thanks to the Internet and an abundance of entertainment gossip, all sorts of details are just a mouse-click away.

“It’s sort of the environment in which I’ve grown up,” Schwartz says. “We all come to these TV shows or movies with the full context of what’s going on in the media.”

To remind viewers about the heroic future of the adolescent of steel, “Smallville” incorporates visual images (Clark wears red and blue, the colors in Superman’s costume); clever casting (Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder, who starred in the 1978 “Superman” film, also appeared on the series); and verbal cues (in the pilot, Clark is asked, “So what are you? Man or Superman?”).

“When you’re doing the origin story of Superman and everybody is so familiar with this iconic character, we thought it would be fun to have those references,” says Alfred Gough, executive producer of “Smallville,” adding: “It’s just a nod to the long history that Superman has enjoyed.”

Many shows also include subtle allusions to an actor’s past career.

“The O.C.” has referred to a character who threw up a lot in “The Sixth Sense” – a role played by “O.C.” star Mischa Barton. And the Sandy character, played by Peter Gallagher, starred in his college production of “Grease.” Gallagher starred in the Broadway version.

John Schneider played Bo Duke in “The Dukes of Hazzard” and now plays Clark’s father, Jonathan Kent, on “Smallville.” In “Smallville’s” first season, Jonathan listened to the “Dukes” theme in his car.

“He’s sort of Bo Duke grown up and now raising a kid who also bends the law in his own way,” Gough says.

Audiences who get the jokes instantly feel more hip, but those who don’t are none the wiser.

“We try to build the joke so if you get it, it’s a little extra tickle for you,” Schwartz says. “And if you don’t, it hopefully will still make sense in the context of the show.”

But he admits he’s not so sure how far to go with such references. When do inside jokes stop being fun and start taking the audience out of a scene?

“I’m sure there’s a fine line, but we’re happy to cross it,” Schwartz says. “That’s the only way to find out where the line is.”