TMC
06-25-2023, 05:17 PM
https://screenrant.com/worst-tv-crossovers/
While crossover episodes can be a fun TV tradition, the worst crossovers (Sabrina and Boy Meets World? Bones and Family Guy?) give them a bad name.
While crossover episodes might be a television staple, the worst of these cringe-worthy outings could leave viewers rushing to change the channel. Long before there were cinematic universes, interlinking multiverses, and arguments about canon events, the crossover episode was one of television’s earliest forays into meta-storytelling. Even though network television is (typically) opposed to risky storytelling strategies, many shows were willing to make an exception when it came to crossover episodes. It is not difficult to see why, as crossover episodes allowed networks to promote one show while viewers were watching another.
While television’s celebrity cameos were often simple ratings grabs, crossover events were a little bit smarter. These cultural moments allowed the two shows to promote each other simultaneously by introducing viewers to their characters. If someone who had never heard of Brooklyn Nine-Nine tuned in to New Girl’s crossover episode with the sitcom, this could theoretically boost the show’s viewership. Similarly, if a longtime Brooklyn Nine-Nine viewer has never given New Girl a chance, this in-universe introduction to the show’s cast might compel them to do so. However, the worst crossover episodes were not so lucky when it came to winning over new viewers.
10
Jessie/ Ultimate Spider-Man
The first and most important thing that a successful crossover episode needs is a consistent tone. Both shows must feel at least superficially similar for their crossover to work well. As such, when the children’s sitcom Jessie crossed over with Ultimate Spider-Man, things ended in disaster. Admittedly, Ultimate Spider-Man’s animated version of Spider-Man was lighter than many iterations of the franchise. However, it wasn't as sickly sweet as Jessie, a sitcom wherein a New York nanny looked after some rich children. This inexplicably crossover got even more confusing when the episode tangled Disney Channel sitcoms up in Marvel canon.
9
Roseanne/ Absolutely Fabulous
While Roseanne and the British series Absolutely Fabulous are both classic sitcoms, that is about all they have in common. Roseanne was a surprisingly grounded look at working-class family life in 90s America, while Absolutely Fabulous was a deliriously campy British comedy about a pair of heavy-drinking, wild-living party animals. The discord between the shows became painfully obvious when Edina and Patsy awkwardly encountered Roseanne in Roseanne season 9, episode 7, “Satan Darling.” The pairing was a flop and proved Roseanne’s exit from the show should have come sooner.
8
Bones/ Family Guy
Bones was a crime procedural series about an anthropologist and an FBI agent who team up to solve crimes but can never quite solve their simmering sexual tension. The tone of Bones was a little sillier than the likes of CSI or NCIS but closer to these hits than an outright dramedy like Pushing Daisies. As such, it came as a shock when Booth, one of the heroes of Bones, hallucinated a full-blown conversation with Family Guy’s Stewie Griffin in a misguided cameo. The most baffling of the series comes in Bones season 4, episode 25, “The Critic and the Cabernet.”
7
Full House/ Family Matters
Family Matters star Steve Urkel appeared in Full House season 4, episode 16, “Stephanie Gets Framed,” in an utterly inexplicable cameo. When Stephanie Tanner got glasses, she understandably needed reassurance that this would not change how people viewed her. Steve Urkel, television’s most iconic nerd, was just about the worst possible person imaginable to tell her that glasses don’t make someone a dork. However, this did not stop him from doing just that in an awkward, misjudged cameo appearance.
6
Boy Meets World/ Sabrina The Teenage Witch
Years after Sabrina The Teenage Witch ended, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina pulled off an effectively trippy crossover by revealing that the show had existed in the same universe as its lighter predecessor all along. However, Sabrina The Teenage Witch’s crossover episode with Boy Meets World was not quite so clever. Eric and Sabrina’s date added up in terms of character history. Sabrina’s cat Salem sending Cory and Topanga back to World War II was a lot less easy to justify.
5
St Elsewhere/ Homicide: Life on the Street
The medical drama St Elsewhere crossed over with the crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street in a relatively solid episode. Homicide: Life on the Street season 6, episode 16, “Mercy,” would most likely be known only for Alfre Woodward’s guest appearance if it weren’t for St Elsewhere’s ending. However, when this twist revealed that St Elsewhere existed only in the mind of Tommy Westphall, this meant that, by extension, so did Homicide: Life on the Street. And The X-Files, which crossed over with Homicide: Life on the Streets. And The Simpsons, which crossed over with The X-Files, and so on ad nauseam.
4
Magnum PI/ Murder She Wrote
Both Magnum PI and Murder She Wrote are light-hearted crime procedurals, but that is where the similarities between the two shows end. The two mystery series couldn’t have been less similar, which made their crossover a bizarre affair. Murder She Wrote season 3, episode 8, “Magnum On Ice,” is a charmingly absurd romp, but the outing doesn’t make a lick of sense and might be too silly even for fans of both shows.
3
Doctor Who/ Eastenders
To be fair to Doctor Who’s infamous Eastenders crossover, the episode was at least staged for charity. However, this did not make the outing any less surreal as a viewing experience. For longtime viewers of the soap opera Eastenders, its usual kitchen-sink realism was suddenly replaced by rubber-faced aliens and time travel. Meanwhile, for faithful Doctor Who viewers, there was an awful lot of domestic squabbling and gritty dramatics to wade through between the planet-hopping adventures.
2
Fresh Prince Of Bel Air/ Blossom
While The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a popular sitcom, the show was not above engaging in some pretty transparent ploys for ratings. Donald Trump’s infamous cameo is evidence of this, as is Blossom season 2, episode 4, “I’m With the Band.” In this outing of the family sitcom, Will Smith awkwardly appears as the Fresh Prince in a crowbarred-in cameo that is intended to promote the character’s series. While far from organic, this appearance is at least mercifully brief.
1
Seinfeld/ Mad About You
Mad About You season 1, episode 8, “The Apartment,” shocked viewers when the show confirmed that the sitcom took place in the same universe as Seinfeld. Returning to the old apartment that he was subletting, Paul was surprised to discover that its new resident was Seinfeld’s wacky neighbor Kramer. This all seemed fine until a later episode of Seinfeld featured a subplot where George resented that his girlfriend insisted on watching Mad About You. Things only grew more confusing when Mad About You later featured an episode where Paul walked into the “real” Jerry Seinfeld rather than his fictionalized show counterpart.
While crossover episodes can be a fun TV tradition, the worst crossovers (Sabrina and Boy Meets World? Bones and Family Guy?) give them a bad name.
While crossover episodes might be a television staple, the worst of these cringe-worthy outings could leave viewers rushing to change the channel. Long before there were cinematic universes, interlinking multiverses, and arguments about canon events, the crossover episode was one of television’s earliest forays into meta-storytelling. Even though network television is (typically) opposed to risky storytelling strategies, many shows were willing to make an exception when it came to crossover episodes. It is not difficult to see why, as crossover episodes allowed networks to promote one show while viewers were watching another.
While television’s celebrity cameos were often simple ratings grabs, crossover events were a little bit smarter. These cultural moments allowed the two shows to promote each other simultaneously by introducing viewers to their characters. If someone who had never heard of Brooklyn Nine-Nine tuned in to New Girl’s crossover episode with the sitcom, this could theoretically boost the show’s viewership. Similarly, if a longtime Brooklyn Nine-Nine viewer has never given New Girl a chance, this in-universe introduction to the show’s cast might compel them to do so. However, the worst crossover episodes were not so lucky when it came to winning over new viewers.
10
Jessie/ Ultimate Spider-Man
The first and most important thing that a successful crossover episode needs is a consistent tone. Both shows must feel at least superficially similar for their crossover to work well. As such, when the children’s sitcom Jessie crossed over with Ultimate Spider-Man, things ended in disaster. Admittedly, Ultimate Spider-Man’s animated version of Spider-Man was lighter than many iterations of the franchise. However, it wasn't as sickly sweet as Jessie, a sitcom wherein a New York nanny looked after some rich children. This inexplicably crossover got even more confusing when the episode tangled Disney Channel sitcoms up in Marvel canon.
9
Roseanne/ Absolutely Fabulous
While Roseanne and the British series Absolutely Fabulous are both classic sitcoms, that is about all they have in common. Roseanne was a surprisingly grounded look at working-class family life in 90s America, while Absolutely Fabulous was a deliriously campy British comedy about a pair of heavy-drinking, wild-living party animals. The discord between the shows became painfully obvious when Edina and Patsy awkwardly encountered Roseanne in Roseanne season 9, episode 7, “Satan Darling.” The pairing was a flop and proved Roseanne’s exit from the show should have come sooner.
8
Bones/ Family Guy
Bones was a crime procedural series about an anthropologist and an FBI agent who team up to solve crimes but can never quite solve their simmering sexual tension. The tone of Bones was a little sillier than the likes of CSI or NCIS but closer to these hits than an outright dramedy like Pushing Daisies. As such, it came as a shock when Booth, one of the heroes of Bones, hallucinated a full-blown conversation with Family Guy’s Stewie Griffin in a misguided cameo. The most baffling of the series comes in Bones season 4, episode 25, “The Critic and the Cabernet.”
7
Full House/ Family Matters
Family Matters star Steve Urkel appeared in Full House season 4, episode 16, “Stephanie Gets Framed,” in an utterly inexplicable cameo. When Stephanie Tanner got glasses, she understandably needed reassurance that this would not change how people viewed her. Steve Urkel, television’s most iconic nerd, was just about the worst possible person imaginable to tell her that glasses don’t make someone a dork. However, this did not stop him from doing just that in an awkward, misjudged cameo appearance.
6
Boy Meets World/ Sabrina The Teenage Witch
Years after Sabrina The Teenage Witch ended, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina pulled off an effectively trippy crossover by revealing that the show had existed in the same universe as its lighter predecessor all along. However, Sabrina The Teenage Witch’s crossover episode with Boy Meets World was not quite so clever. Eric and Sabrina’s date added up in terms of character history. Sabrina’s cat Salem sending Cory and Topanga back to World War II was a lot less easy to justify.
5
St Elsewhere/ Homicide: Life on the Street
The medical drama St Elsewhere crossed over with the crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street in a relatively solid episode. Homicide: Life on the Street season 6, episode 16, “Mercy,” would most likely be known only for Alfre Woodward’s guest appearance if it weren’t for St Elsewhere’s ending. However, when this twist revealed that St Elsewhere existed only in the mind of Tommy Westphall, this meant that, by extension, so did Homicide: Life on the Street. And The X-Files, which crossed over with Homicide: Life on the Streets. And The Simpsons, which crossed over with The X-Files, and so on ad nauseam.
4
Magnum PI/ Murder She Wrote
Both Magnum PI and Murder She Wrote are light-hearted crime procedurals, but that is where the similarities between the two shows end. The two mystery series couldn’t have been less similar, which made their crossover a bizarre affair. Murder She Wrote season 3, episode 8, “Magnum On Ice,” is a charmingly absurd romp, but the outing doesn’t make a lick of sense and might be too silly even for fans of both shows.
3
Doctor Who/ Eastenders
To be fair to Doctor Who’s infamous Eastenders crossover, the episode was at least staged for charity. However, this did not make the outing any less surreal as a viewing experience. For longtime viewers of the soap opera Eastenders, its usual kitchen-sink realism was suddenly replaced by rubber-faced aliens and time travel. Meanwhile, for faithful Doctor Who viewers, there was an awful lot of domestic squabbling and gritty dramatics to wade through between the planet-hopping adventures.
2
Fresh Prince Of Bel Air/ Blossom
While The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a popular sitcom, the show was not above engaging in some pretty transparent ploys for ratings. Donald Trump’s infamous cameo is evidence of this, as is Blossom season 2, episode 4, “I’m With the Band.” In this outing of the family sitcom, Will Smith awkwardly appears as the Fresh Prince in a crowbarred-in cameo that is intended to promote the character’s series. While far from organic, this appearance is at least mercifully brief.
1
Seinfeld/ Mad About You
Mad About You season 1, episode 8, “The Apartment,” shocked viewers when the show confirmed that the sitcom took place in the same universe as Seinfeld. Returning to the old apartment that he was subletting, Paul was surprised to discover that its new resident was Seinfeld’s wacky neighbor Kramer. This all seemed fine until a later episode of Seinfeld featured a subplot where George resented that his girlfriend insisted on watching Mad About You. Things only grew more confusing when Mad About You later featured an episode where Paul walked into the “real” Jerry Seinfeld rather than his fictionalized show counterpart.