Top 10 Most Random TV Crossovers That Somehow Worked

Top 10 Most Random TV Crossovers That Somehow Worked

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the times when shows with completely different vibes and universes come together to maximize their joint slay.

#10: “General Hospital” (1963-) & “Roseanne” (1988-97; 2018)

Roseanne Conner was like any other working mom who needed an escape. She was a “General Hospital” fan. In this Season 6 episode, Roseanne meets Luke and Laura Spencer, the first soap opera supercouple, themselves. “General Hospital” legends Anthony Geary and Genie Francis made cameos in the episode’s last moments, lamenting about all the crazy storylines they’re having to deal with. If you don’t know how big a deal they were in the 80s and 90s, the audience’s screaming should clue you in. Turns out these two couples have more in common than we would have thought. It was a hilarious meta-moment that honored both shows.

#9: “ALF” (1986-90) & “Mr. Robot” (2015-19)

The sitcom about a puppeteered alien creature taken in by a suburban family is a curio that could have only existed in the 80s. In fact, the very idea sounds a little like a fever dream. You might not think that an intensely paranoid techno-thriller is where ALF would show up, but when you think about how weird “Mr. Robot” is, it makes a little more sense. Rami Malek’s character suddenly finds himself in an 80s sitcom world. The use of the character ends up saying a lot about Elliot and the way we protect ourselves from emotional pain and hard truths. ALF, in that sense, becomes a vehicle for the show’s big ideas.

#8: “Bones” (2005-17) & “Family Guy” (1999-2003; 2005-)

Viewers tuning in to catch up on the mystery-solving duo Bones and Booth probably thought their cable was messing up when they saw Stewie Griffin. The cheeky “Family Guy” baby appears to the FBI agent when he arrives at a sperm bank. Stewie appears on a TV screen and begins taunting him. He almost sounds like a fan the way he goads Booth about his longtime sexual tension with title character Temperance “Bones” Brennan. It was the kind of big swing that got a lot of attention at the time. The show later explained that the visions were actually a symptom of Booth having a brain tumor.

#7: “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (2013-21) & “New Girl” (2011-18)

These popular sitcoms merged for a two-episode arc in 2016. Airing on the same night, the episodes see Detective Jake Peralta commandeering Jess Day’s car in pursuit of a suspect. Zooey Deschanel and Andy Samberg really shine together. What’s kind of amazing and unique is how both shows really maintain their own brand of humor while still taking place in the same world. We see the same events through Jess and Jake’s separate perspectives. Jess is a particularly zany, obstructive side character in Peralta’s case, and the cops at precinct 99 are given an extra layer of goofiness through her eyes.

#6: “How to Get Away with Murder” (2014-20) & “Scandal” (2012-18)

Shonda Rhimes is a true gift to the culture. She’s given us some of the best TV heroines ever. The idea of Kerry Washington’s Olivia Pope and Viola Davis’ Annalise Keating joining up should have been on our minds from the jump. But “Scandal’s” intensely fictionalized version of the United States and its government meant that a crossover would take some retconning. Another reason a crossover might have been unlikely is that each character usually wears the pants on their respective shows. In the pair of episodes, Annalise and Olivia join forces, though not always comfortably, to handle a legal matter. The crossover event was a lightning rod of drama and intense acting from two of the best to ever do it.

#5: “I Love Lucy” (1951-57) & “Adventures of Superman” (1952-58)

In its last season as a weekly series, the groundbreaking sitcom got a visit from Superman himself. “Lucy and Superman” sees Lucy Ricardo’s attempts to get George Reeves, the actor who plays Superman on TV, to appear in costume at her son’s birthday party go fantastically awry. So much so that Lucy ends up spending a good portion of the episode stuck on a ledge outside their apartment building. The real Superman does show up, only to have to rescue Lucy from her latest predicament. It’s a hilarious, albeit mind-bending, crossover between two titans of 50s television.

#4: “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” (1969-70; 1978) & “Supernatural” (2005-20)

In this episode, the demon hunting Winchester brothers are sucked into the cartoon world of the Mystery Inc. gang, and team up with them to stop a homicidal ghost. There are some major differences between these two shows right off the bat. The first is that the demon-hunting brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, deal with some very real and very scary monsters. The villains on “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” always turn out to be people in masks. Then, of course, there’s the fact that “Scooby-Doo” is animated and “Supernatural” is live-action. Random as it may be, it turned out to be a fan favorite.

#3: “Community” (2009-15) & “Cougar Town” (2009-15)

Abed Nadir is the resident pop culture nerd at Greendale Community College. As a result, he’s often the bridge between “Community” and the real world, using his knowledge of TV to enlighten the other characters. One such merging of reality and fantasy occurred in the show’s second season episode “Critical Film Studies.” Abed tells his study group about his philosophical realizations made while being an extra on the show “Cougar Town.” That show responded in kind with its own episode featuring the Abed character. The “Community” episode in particular got great reviews for its exploration of the characters’ lives and feelings.

#2: “Cops” (1989-) & “The X-Files” (1993-2002; 2016-18)

Mulder and Scully made a huge impact on the culture, and as a result, they found themselves in a few other universes. They even showed up on “The Simpsons” at one point, but who hasn’t? That was topped by one of the craziest and most unexpected crossovers of all time. This episode was the brainchild of “X-Files” staff writer and future “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, who was a fan. In it, the FBI agents ride along with local police in search of a criminal they believe might be a werewolf. The episode adopted the handheld camera and fourth-wall-breaking documentary style of “Cops” while continuing the supernatural themes of “The X-Files.”

#1: “Abbott Elementary” (2021-) & “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2005-)

The teachers and staff at Willard R. Abbott Elementary School may have their quirks, but they are just a group of fundamentally good people trying to do their best with limited resources. The patrons of Paddy’s Pub are a group of sociopaths and reprobates who wouldn’t know a good deed if they could steal it. But one thing they do share is the city of Philadelphia. Mixing the two ensembles turned out to be an incredible move. Where the Abbott teachers see an opportunity to get these jerks to give back to their community, the “It’s Always Sunny” crew sees yet another chance to be a public nuisance. It’s a mismatch made in TV heaven.

Which shows would you love to see get a crossover? Tell us in the comments.