Inspired by this thread about TV crossovers, I was thinking about what was the best crossover episode shown on TV. Something that really stands out as good TV, not just a cheap thrill.
Caveat – no mention of the Newhart show. Too easy.
My choice is an old one: back in the 60s, in order to pump up ratings The Man From U.N.C.L.E and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E did a crossover. Mark Slate from GFU joined Illya Kuriakan of MFU in a MFU episode; Napoleon Solo joined April Dancer for GFU. The MFU episode was so-so, but the GFU episode was a wild story about a Fagin-esque woman named “Mother Muffin” who led a bunch of spies. What made it great was the casting of Mother Muffin:
Boris Karloff.
I won’t say he was in drag – he was portraying a woman – but it was a weird and wonderful performance.
Freddy vs Jason (jason vs Freddy?)
Aliens vs Predator
King Kong vs Godzilla
Theres an Abbot and Costello movie with Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Lon Chaney (Jr.?) in their respective Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolfman personnas.
Thanks for blowing the greatest crossover of all time.
My first thought was the episode of The Danny Thomas Show where Danny got caught speeding in Mayberry, but I think that was actually the spin-off episode for Andy Griffith so it doesn’t technically count as a crossover.
Ditto for Archie Bunker and Maude.
There were so many crossover episodes of Green Acres and Petticoat Junction that they might as well have been the same show. Unfortunately, GA was so surreal while PJ was so bland, they never really meshed.
I’ll nominate any episode of Dallas with Gary Ewing, after he was spun off into Knot’s Landing. They only brought him back a couple of times, but it was always an actual part of the plot.
I’d say the first time Buffy visits Angel(not when he visited Buffy). In this episode, Angel is brought back to life, only to have the day removed at the end.
Although Groening apparently hates the episode, and with most other shows it would’ve seemed cheap and contrived, the Simpsons and Critic cross-over with the Springfield film festival is one of my favorites of all time.
Relatively easy for me even though I was about eight at the time.
Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) of Wanted Dead or Alive rode into Dodge City on Gunsmoke and with the help of Matt Dillon (James Arness) and Chester Goode (Dennis Weaver) cleaned out a nest of bad guys even though Chester never really trusted the bounty hunter.
My whole family was totally surprised by the whole thing. I kept watching …Dead or Alive expecting Arness to repay the visit.
And it wasn’t just a cameo, it was a full-fledged featured part and this was while both were major programs.
Second biggest in my memory would be when Jessica Fletcher (Angela Landsbury) of Murder She Wrote stayed at Robin Masters’ (Orson Welles?) estate while she was visiting Hawaii and ended up assisting Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) on Magnum P.I.
Well, if we can’t mention the finale, can we mention the episode in which Jack Riley appeared as Mr. Carlin on Newhart? If not then I’ll mention his appearance as Mr. Carlin on St. Elsewhere (the punchline of which was supplied by guest star Betty White in what was otherwise a non-comedic appearances).
*Does Kramer’s appearance on Murphy Brown (or actually vice versa) count?
*Sherman Hemsley & Isabel Sanford as The Jeffersons and Conrad Bain & Gary Coleman as Mr. Drummond & Arnold on the final episode of Fresh Prince was pretty cool.
While not a great episode, the appearance of the ghost of Jessica (Katherine Helmond) on Benson provided a tiny amount of closure to SOAP (a series that ended with a cliffhanger).
If we can nominate worst crossovers, then I’d go with Boss Hogg & Enos on Alice, the Diff’rent Strokes/Silver Spoons crossover, or the hurricane episode in which The Golden Girls, Nurses and Empty Nest crossed.
I remember Richard Boone’s character Paladin from Have Gun Will Travel appearing in another show, but for the life of me I can’t remember which show it was. I thought it was Bonanza, but I checked the list of guest stars on Bonanza on TVTome.com and Boone wasn’t there.
**Homicide Life on the Street ** and Law and Order had a storyline where Pembleton and Bayles had to go to New York to bring back a murderer that Brisco and Curtis captured. Or maybe it was the other way around?
My favorite is when Dr. Bashir of Deep Space Nine shows up on the Enterprise-D in Birthright, Part I to help Mr. Data discover Dr. Soong’s dreaming program. Birthright, Part II sucked balls, though.
Now that you mention Star Trek, how about Dr. McCoy showing up on the first episode of ST:TNG?
Data: I am not a Vulcan, I am an android
McCoy: Just as bad
I was also thinking of the Happy Days episode where Fonzie and Mork from Ork had their famous showdown, but I suppose that was more of a spinoff than a crossover…
It was both, IIRC. Brisco and Curtis go to Baltimore to investigate what really happened but return to NYC empty handed. With nothing to hold their cheif suspect, they release him and he returns to B’more and the scene of the crime, where Bembleton and Bayles pick him up and take him back to NYC - where it’s learned that he’s really a witness.
Scooby Doo/ Josie and the Pussycats: Everbody keeps commenting on how much Sebastian and Shaggy look alike.
Scooby Doo/ Addams Family (cartoon version)
Static Shock/Batman/Green Lantern/Justice League
For worst crossover I nominate Scooby Doo/ Batman and Robin ('60’s cartoon version)
I wish I could have seen the Scooby Doo/ Speed Buggy crossover.
I always loved the episode of Star Trek, Deep Spce 9, that had the crew travel back in time to the original Star Trek episode, “The Troubble with Tribbles”
I always thought the one show with the train and the water tower and uncle Joe and the 3 girls and Bea Benaderat/Beverly Hillbillies/Green Acres were pretty wacky.
I don’t know if they were crossovers or spinoffs or spinoff crossovers though.
I think I may have missed a couple shows in there as well, maybe the Munsters once showed up there too. Paul Henning was a pretty zany guy.
I think you’re referring to Green Acres and Petticoat Junction which were two series set in the same town. They crossed over occaisonally, although Mr. Drucker, the owner of the general store, was a regular character in both shows.
The Beverly Hillbillies originally came from Hooterville and there were occasional crossovers there, too.
