Two men watching static on television. Photo. Twins (Getty).
TV crossovers are a gimmick all about grabbing ratings, much like killing off a main character. And yet, we can’t help but love them. So we decided to take a look back at some other seldom heard about crossovers in television history. Let’s fire up the ol’ boob tube.
The Craziest TV Crossovers You Never Knew About
The Simpsons/Cheers Crossover
When it comes to segues from that intro, there’s no better place to start than right here. Sure, any true fan of The Simpsons is well aware that this crossover took place in the classic Season 6 episode “Fear of Flying,” with Homer in search of a new watering hole after a prank gone wrong gets him banned from his favorite tavern. Of course, that doesn’t make it any less of a crazy crossover, especially considering the fact that The Simpsons is animated, while Cheers was not.
Fun fact: Even though Kelsey Grammer has voiced Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons for years, he is not heard in this episode, even though his Cheers character Fraser Crane is present in the scene.
Mad About You/Seinfeld Crossover
Sure, Cosmo Kramer was famously featured in an episode of Murphy Brown in the Season 3 finale of Seinfeld, but even if you’ve seen every episode of the series several times over in syndication, you still wouldn’t know that Kramer’s apartment is the former residence of Paul Buchman. This was was revealed in the Mad About You episode “The Apartment,” where Michael Richards makes a guest appearance as his Kramer character. Jerry Seinfeld also appeared in the Season 7 premiere “Season Opener.”
Magnum, P.I./Murder, She Wrote Crossover
We’re not sure why this happened, especially since no one under 70 years old watched Murder, She Wrote even in its heyday, but regardless, Angela Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher character did appear in the Season 7 episode of Magnum, P.I. titled “Novel Connection.” The favor was then returned the very next week on Murder, She Wrote, as this was a two-part mystery that simply couldn’t be contained by one series.
Mork & Mindy/Star Trek Crossover
OK, things are officially getting weird now. In the final season of Mork & Mindy, Mork had given birth to the title characters’ son, Mearth (played by actor Jonathan Winters). But along with that, another plot device had been introduced to the series: an Orkan mass-transit system that could beam the characters between Earth and Ork. Of course, with a set-up like that, William Shatner had to make an appearance as Captain Kirk. And that he did in the episode “Mork, Mindy, and Mearth Meet MILT,” albeit very briefly. Sure, some would say he wasn’t technically playing Kirk, but all the references were there.
The X-Files/Cops Crossover
We’ll start this one off with another fun fact, but only because it will help explain this odd match-up. Vince Gilligan, creator of perhaps the greatest television series to ever hit the airwaves — Breaking Bad — used to be a writer for another extremely popular show The X-Files. Gilligan is also a fan of the reality series Cops, which would explain why he would write such an absurd crossover. Strangely enough, however, the episode (which was aptly titled “X-Cops” and shot in the same run-and-gun, documentary style) was a critical success and contained a lot of light humor, which is not unexpected considering the source.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective/The Mask Crossover
Let’s take a moment to get in touch with our inner child. Most of us probably saw both Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask when we were young, and surely loved them. However, it’s doubtful that our adoration followed to each franchise’s respective cartoon series, so the fact that they even existed is strange enough in and of itself. But couple that with the ‘toons crossing over on each other’s shows, especially considering they were both Jim Carrey films, and you have a recipe for the truly bizarre. Our only beef with this convergence is that they didn’t somehow find a way to get Dumb & Dumber into the mix.
What do Bill Cosby and Muppets have in common, aside from both being one-time residents on Sesame Street? Well, they also crossed over in a Season 6 episode of The Cosby Show, and it’s every bit as glorious as you could imagine. Before you think too much about how a crossover like this would even make sense, know that it is all a dream Dr. Huxtable has after eating a bad sausage hoagie (who hasn’t been there?). Of course, if you were expecting some Kermit/Cosby interaction, you are sadly S.O.L., because the most famous Muppet to appear here is Gonzo, as Jim Henson was too busy at the time on The Jim Henson Hour to voice the character.
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/Boy Meets World Crossover
Speaking of two series with seemingly no connection to each other in terms of plot, sometimes networks cross TV shows over regardless of little details like that simply because they are on during the same time block. By 1997, most of us had given up on the T.G.I.F. lineup with shows like Full House gone, and others such as Family Matters and Step by Step on their last legs. But that didn’t mean that ABC would stop fishing for ratings, as evidenced by a mega Sabrina, the Teenage Witch crossover with all shows on the current docket (also including You Wish and Teen Angel, which we didn’t even bother mentioning in the headline). The plot device that made this “work” was that Sabrina had to chase her cat through each series because he had a time ball in his possession that was displacing each series in different time periods. Anyone pondering why T.G.I.F. isn’t around anymore, you have your answer.
Becker/Cosby/The King of Queens/Everybody Loves Raymond Crossover
Much like the previous T.G.I.F. entry, this was another instance of a network sham
elessly crossing over the characters from their nightly lineup in order to score a ratings boost. However, this one succeeds where the prior failed because of the fact that it was advertised by CBS as “Shameless Crossover Monday,” so they at least admitted it. That being said, the crossovers weren’t even all that shameless since these series were pretty standard sitcom fair, so having the lead characters from each series meet each other out there in the world wasn’t entirely implausible. Still, the fact that this gimmick was used two years in a row qualifies as cray.
Turtles Forever Crossover
Last but not least, with all the hype (and hate) surrounding the Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, we’d be remiss if we didn’t close out a list of craziest TV crossovers without mentioning perhaps the biggest cartoon crossover of all time, save for perhaps Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, which also starred one of our favorite heroes in a half shell. The big difference between that and Turtles Forever, however, is the fact that it didn’t crossover multiple cartoon series, but instead multiple iterations of Ninja Turtle cartoons and animation, including the most beloved ’80s series. Cowabungas are definitely in order.
