Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I always thought the Dallas/Knots Landing crossovers didn't work very well--well, at least when the Dallas characters visited Knots. Characters from Dallas were so much larger than life, a bit more broad than the more down-to-earth, realistic characters of KL. Obviously Val and Gary are special cases, since the writers did some tinkering with those two Dallas characters after they arrived in California. But JR seemed so out of place when he visited the cul-de-sac to needle Val and to irritate Gary. His evil laugh and sarcastic barbs, with the big Stetson and all....it was as if an alien had landed. Granted, his appearances were in the early years when KL was a low-key, suburban family drama. He may have fit in better when the show went "bigger" with Greg Sumner's millions and such, but by that time KL had 'divorced' Dallas due to the not-dead Bobby in the shower fiasco. Even when characters like Kristin and Bobby dropped in for an episode or two, they seemed so utterly foreign despite being in the (supposed) same universe. Heck, you know it's bad when LUCY (an established Dallas character who was also Gary and Val's daughter) can't even fit in enough to stick around for more than one episode. This was, to me anyway, an instance of a spin-off (KL) establishing its own identity to a degree that it didn't need the parent show.
Oh wow. I didn't know that other D/KL fans felt that way. But I guess I was such a big D/KL fan back in the day... it was all a 'treat' for me.
Thank you for your post, kevinm. Also, even though I knew that "Murder She Wrote" and "Simon and Simon" and "Magnum PI" were CBS shows, I really don't think that I knew that those shows were in the same universe. Although, I kind of 'ish' remember there being a cross event with those shows, even though I didn't see it.
Also, "Battlestar Gallactica" crossing over with a cylon cameo on "The A-Team"? Although Dirk Benedict played in the original Battlestar. But did that have anything to do with it?
But as far as "Newhart" crossover with "The Bob Newhart Show".... you're going to have to explain that one to me, buster. lol
I recently saw the episode of "Magnum PI" when the "Simons" showed up working a case. They were in competition with each other and got into some fights.
I don't think those are really crossovers - Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy were both spin-offs from Happy Days. By definition, those series all exist in the same fictional universe to begin with, and almost all spin-offs share characters with their parent shows.
One of my favorites is the brief scene of Kramer from Seinfeld acting in a (fictitious) Murphy Brown episode.
Another would have to be the classic final scene from Newhart, revealing that the entire series was just a dream of Bob Hartley (which in the end makes Newhart a spin-off of The Bob Newhart Show, so this really isn't a crossover, either).
I thought about that, Unsettomati. And which is why I didn't post about The Jefferson characters being in All of The Family. Or Florence from Good Times being on Maude. Or Mrs. Garret from The Facts of Life being on Different Strokes. Or Gomer Pyle being on The Andy Griffith Show.
However, I was wondering... After a spin-off show comes into existence, wouldn't the spin-off characters' appearance on the show that they spun off from, constitute a crossover?
Phoebe Buffay's sister Ursula Buffay, who was a waitress on the show "Mad About You" . Both characters played by Lisa Kudrow.
I didn't know that.
Also, after looking it up, the Ursula character existed before the Phoebe character did:
Quote:
Ursula originally appeared as a ditzy waitress on Mad About You, working at Paul and Jamie's favorite New York City restaurant, Riff's. When Lisa Kudrow was cast as Phoebe, who also lives in New York City, producers decided to have the character cross over into Friends.
The Magnum/Simon and Simon crossover had to have been a publicity stunt, playing up the fact that the two shows aired back-to-back on Thursday nights.
It may open a can of worms best left closed, but I always thought the best crossover plotting I ever saw occurred on two daytime programs when evil, psychotic nurse Sheila Carter was presumed dead on The Young and the Restless , only to turn up alive and still un-well on sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful. B&B needed someone to come in and shake things up, and Sheila's special brand of crazy fit the bill. She made herself at home on her new show, but was always plotting various evil things and trying to kill people. Eventually characters from Y&R that had been victimized by 'dead' Sheila visited B&B and viewers were wide-eyed with anticipation of Sheila being found out. In true soap fashion they dragged it out spectacularly. The actress playing Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) was amazing on both shows, too.
I recently saw the episode of "Magnum PI" when the "Simons" showed up working a case. They were in competition with each other and got into some fights.
Also, I forgot to mention when "Charlie's Angels" crossed over into "The Love Boat".
Thanks, Kevin. Also, I didn't even know that two of my favorite popcorn/bubble-gum shows crossed over. But I'm going to have to keep my eye out for that Love Boat episode in repeats.
P.S. Also, as far as the two 'Newhart' shows go, Unsettomati already answered that in his post.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.