# Cross-Network Crossovers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728 "2013-02-08T19:50:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/1 "2013-02-08T19:50:38Z")
Bricker Jr asked me if there was any chance of the “Modern Family” characters visiting Pasadena and running into Dr. Sheldon Cooper. I said the chances were vanishingly small. But it got me wondering: has there ever been a crossover that crossed networks? Buffy and Angel come to mind, but they’re a special case because Angel was a Buffy spinoff and they began on the same network. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/2 "2013-02-08T20:08:08Z")
Didn’t something happen between Community (NBC) and CougarTown (ABC)? ---
**Author:** ![Osiris\_the\_1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Osiris\_the\_1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osiris_the_1st)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/3 "2013-02-08T20:29:03Z")
Boston Public crossed over with The Practice and Boston Legal. IIRC Boston Public was on Fox the other two were on ABC. I believe all were created by David Kelly. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/4 "2013-02-08T20:34:00Z")
Homicide (NBC) and The Wire (HBO). Richard Belzer showed up as Munch in an episode of The Wire once. The character has also shown up on Arrested Development & X-Files (Fox) and The Beat (UPN), as well as various incarnations of NBC’s own Law & Order series. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/5 "2013-02-08T21:16:00Z")
> [@Osiris\_the\_1st](#): > > Boston Public crossed over with The Practice and Boston Legal. IIRC Boston Public was on Fox the other two were on ABC. I believe all were created by David Kelly. Kelly did it previously with **Ally McBeal** (Fox) and **The Practice** (ABC) The final season of **The Bionic Woman** was on NBC, while **The Six Million Dollar Man** was on ABC. The character of Oscar Goldman was on both shows. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/6 "2013-02-08T21:18:13Z")
_The Six Million Dollar Man_ and its spinoff, _The Bionic Woman_, both originally ran on ABC in the 1970s. For its final season, _The Bionic Woman_ switched networks (to NBC). At least according to IMDB, during that season, two supporting characters (Oscar Goldman, played by Richard Anderson, and Dr. Rudy Wells, played by Martin E. Brooks) appeared on both shows, on both networks. This was, apparently, the first time that actors played the same characters on different shows, on different networks. _Edit: ninjaed by **RealityChuck** , but I also got Dr. Wells. 😃_ ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/7 "2013-02-08T21:23:40Z")
Dare I bring up Tommy Westphall? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/8 "2013-02-08T22:03:11Z")
There was a _Seinfeld_ - _Murphy Brown_ cross-over where Kramer was briefly Murphy’s secretary. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/9 "2013-02-11T02:43:58Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Richard Belzer showed up as Munch in an episode of The Wire once. > > The character has also shown up on Arrested Development & X-Files (Fox) and The Beat (UPN), as well as various incarnations of NBC’s own Law & Order series. Yeah, I think his character Munch holds some kind of ‘official’ record for most appearances by the same character on different TV shows. Note that he played both himself \*and \*Lt. Munch in separate episodes of _Arrested Development_! TV shows are more ‘owned’ by their production companies now than simply by the TV network that airs them, so if they share that it’s highly possible. Plus fans tend to really like it when they do this, the episode gets heavily cross promoted and usually high ratings, so it’s win-win (even if they’re not made by the same company). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/10 "2013-02-11T02:58:21Z")
I think Richard Belzer appeared on X-files and Arrested Development(both on Fox) as his other-network cop from one of the Law and Orders. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/11 "2013-02-11T03:23:32Z")
George Reeves showed up as the big guy for a CBS episode of _I Love Lucy_ back when _Adventures of Superman_ was in first-run syndication. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/12 "2013-02-11T04:08:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Dare I bring up Tommy Westphall? 😃 Was gonna say. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/13 "2013-02-11T05:34:10Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I think Richard Belzer appeared on X-files and Arrested Development(both on Fox) as his other-network cop from one of the Law and Orders. Actually, the character originated on _Homicide: Life on the Street_. When that show ended he was hired for the first L&O spin-off SVU. [According to Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Munch) the character \*\*\*does \*\*\*hold the record for most appearances on different series (ten different shows on five different networks!) Ok, I’m familiar with the infamous St. Elsewhere finale, but how does it relate to crossovers? Did the Tommy character appear later someplace else? (I also know about the St. Elsewhere/Cheers/Frasier connection…) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/14 "2013-02-11T17:01:31Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Ok, I’m familiar with the infamous St. Elsewhere finale, but how does it relate to crossovers? Did the Tommy character appear later someplace else? (I also know about the St. Elsewhere/Cheers/Frasier connection…) The so-called [“Tommyverse”](http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html) incorporates hundreds of shows from multiple networks, including at least one Canadian network. ---
**Author:** ![LaurenIpsum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@LaurenIpsum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaurenIpsum)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/15 "2013-02-11T17:16:43Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > There was a _Seinfeld_ - _Murphy Brown_ cross-over where Kramer was briefly Murphy’s secretary. I don’t think that counts as a crossover. This was from the two- (or three?) parter where Kramer moves to LA to try a career in acting, and manages to get a bit part in one episode of Murphy Brown - Jerry and George are shown watching the episode. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/16 "2013-02-13T01:17:43Z")
Filthy Phil from Sons of Anarchy (FX) appeared on Raising Hope (FOX) in a cameo role. Jimmy and Christine from Yes, Dear (CBS, cancelled in 2006) also made an appearance in Raising Hope this past week. They were part of a larger plotline. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/17 "2013-02-13T01:34:00Z")
Leaving the character of Tommy aside, _St. Elsewhere_ also featured the character of Warren Coolidge, who had previously been a character on Bruce Paltrow’s CBS series _White Shadow_. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/18 "2013-02-13T01:40:53Z")
Didn’t two of the characters from Chicago Hope cross over to LA Law? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/19 "2013-02-13T02:38:58Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Didn’t two of the characters from Chicago Hope cross over to LA Law? Two of the characters from the NBC soap _Santa Barbara_ crossed over to _LA Law_, which ended in May 1994. _Chicago Hope_ premiered in September 1994. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728/20 "2013-02-13T04:57:38Z")
Then-Governor Michael Dukakis appeared on _Saint Elsewhere_, therefore the 1988 election was fictional. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cross-network-crossovers/649728.md?page=2)