Here’s a Friday Question that became an entire post. Actually, this is part one, because another FQ touched on a similar area and I will address that tomorrow.
It's from Kyle Burress.
When actors or actresses guest star on a show and portray the same character they appear as on another show are there any hoops they have to go through or need permission from the network or show runners? A couple instances I'm thinking of are when Frasier showed up on Wings and when Carla, Norm and Cliff appeared on St. Elsewhere.
Well, first off, networks encourage crossover episodes. They’re usually a ratings boost. And fans love 'em.
Obviously, the actors have to agree to it and their compensation. Often it is the network that will shell out the extra money for the crossover actors. Again, it’s the network that stands the most to gain.
So let’s assume the actors are in. Yes, the show runners have to agree, but in most cases it’s to their benefit.
If the crossover shows are from the same studio or are similar in style and tone it makes things much easier. You mentioned Frasier on WINGS. The producers of WINGS had produced CHEERS and the writers of the episode were me and David Isaacs, and we had written for both shows. So that was an easy transition. Same for when Sam Malone visited FRASIER. We wrote that episode.
There have been a number of shows in the Greg Berlanti superhero universe that have crossed over. THE FLASH and SUPERGIRL spring to mind.
What becomes weird is when shows cross genres. The strangest example is the one you pointed out — ST. ELSEWHERE characters coming into Cheers. The ST. ELSEWHERE writers tried to write in the CHEERS style and it was cringeworthy. Not that I could write a ST. ELSEWHERE scene that wouldn’t totally suck.
Usually, whatever show hosts the crossover handles the writing. Although sometimes both shows participate. I wish that had been the case on ST. ELSEWHERE.
But on ALMOST PERFECT, CBS wanted a crossover scene between our show and CYBILL. It was to be shown on CYBILL and shot on their set. Their show runner, Howard Gould and I kept rewriting the scene back and forth. I actually very much enjoyed that. Howard is a terrific writer and it was fun to collaborate with him for a scene.
Crossover shows are fun. Wouldn’t you like to see a crossover show of THE CONNERS and GAME OF THRONES?
I noticed recently on-screen program guide for KING OF QUEENS episode included mention of meeting Cosby in doctor's office waiting room, but that scene never appeared in the episode. Guessing it was cut so as to not show Cosby.
ReplyDeleteThere was once a crossover between Ally McBeal and The Practice (the first part taking place on Ally McBeal and the second part on The Practice). I was a big Ally McBeal fan, and the first part of the episode seemed like a normal episode of the show. However, I never watched The Practice except for that one episode, and the Ally McBeal who appeared on that show seemed out of place and not like themselves. It just seemed off-kilter.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the "Frasier" episode with Sam. Was a lot of fun and you and David did a great job of explaining some continuity issues (e.g., Martin being "dead" on "Cheers"). From what I've read of the CW Berlanti Productions shows, the schedule coordination can be arduous to sync-up each of the shows involved; especially when they did a 4-show crossover. As a viewer, it was fun to watch. Ratings were strong for each show, thus proving your point of how the networks benefit from them.
ReplyDeleteThere was also a crossover between THE PRACTICE and the Andre Braugher medical drama GIDEON'S CROSSING: A pregnant character from THE PRACTICE sought emergency care at the Braugher show's hospital. But it was pretty anticlimactic since as a viewer you knew nothing major was going to happen to a PRACTICE character on another show.
ReplyDeleteMark Bennett: I remember the Network calling it Cross Promotional Stunt Casting...Wasn't there a big thing between Empty Nest and I think The Golden Girls and a hurricane?...
ReplyDeleteFriends had a couple of crossovers with other programs in its first season that should some of the challenges involved. In the first part of a two-parter, Helen Hunt and Leila Kenzle from Mad About You popped into Central Perk, where they encountered Lisa Kudrow's Phoebe--but they assumed it was Ursula, their usual waitress at Riff's (their hangout restaurant on MAY). It was at this point that Phoebe and Ursula were defined as twins (although it had been alluded to earlier); the Friends producers had gotten permission from Danny Jacobsen at Mad About You to do so, even though the shows were produced by Warner Brothers and Sony, respectively. Still, Hunt and Kenzle weren't named as "Jamie" or "Fran" at any point.
ReplyDeleteThis was a two-part episode; George Clooney and Noah Wyle from ER (which was also a Warner Brothers production) were in the second part as doctors, but since there was no logical reason to have Doug Ross and John Carter practicing in New York as well as Chicago, they were given different character names altogether (although they were both similar to their ER characters).
I'd like to see a crossover between The Conners and The Guy Who Feeds Hotdogs To Raccoons on YouTube. The writers of The Connors gave him a mention in the season finale. They'd have to figure out why he'd travel to Nova Scotia, but it would be perfect seeing Dan Conner sitting on that porch, hand-feeding the raccoons.
ReplyDeleteThe strangest crossover has to be Colonel Klink (of Hogan's Heroes) popping out a window during a Bat-Climb on Batman. There's time-travel involved in that one. (Does this even count as a crossover?)
The problem with the St Elsewhere crossover was that the Cheers characters were doing broad comedy while the two doctors were having a dramatic conversation. It would have been much more interesting (and actually funny) if the Cheers characters played straight drama, a la Lou Grant.
ReplyDeleteAn earlier crossover: From the Dick Van Dyke Show, Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam), the "human joke machine" of the Alan Brady Show shows up on the Danny Thomas Show, on an episode called, "The Woman Behind the Jokes". When Alan Brady uses Danny's wife Kathy as the subject of some of his jokes, she asks Sorrell to write her some insult jokes to get back at Brady.
ReplyDeleteI saw part of this episode and it made me appreciate the Dick Van Dyke Show all the more. When DVD had Thomas on the show, it was a dream sequence. Rob has a nightmare based on a scary late-night movie and Thomas plays an alien planning to conquer the earth in "It May Look Like a Walnut".
Norm and Cliff taking a weekend flight to Nantucket on WINGS was a good cross-over.
ReplyDeleteGiven Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman's history on TAXI as Louie and Zita, I would have liked to seen Louie walk into CHEERS and meet Carla. A strange attraction with bullets and arrows flying that you couldn't get away with today...
My favorite crossover was the one between The Simpsons and The Critic. Matt Groening hated it so much that he removed his name from the credits. "A Star is Burns," the crossover title, was written and produced by The Critic staff, but with The Simpsons animators.
ReplyDeleteIn YouTube parlance, crossovers are called collabs.
I remember a particularly awful crossover from 1979, between Diff'rent Strokes and Hello, Larry. Conrad Bain's and McLean Stevenson's characters were supposed to have been old Army buddies who met up after many years. Nobody gave a shiznit, of course.
ReplyDeleteVery early in "Friends"'s run, David Schwimmer crossed over as Ross in a short-lived sitcom "The Single Guy". A sticking point for the writers was that the cast of "The Single Guy" included Jessica Hecht, who also played Susan, Ross' ex-wife's girlfriend on "Friends". The writers had to structure the episode so that Schwimmer and Hecht didn't appear in the same scene, as Ross would have had trouble seeing someone who looked exactly like Susan.
ReplyDeleteI recall that NBC did a special blackout event one Thursday night, during which all of their sitcoms experienced the same NYC blackout. I don't recall if there were any character crossovers, but I do recall that SEINFELD did not participate. I guess they had the clout to say no to the network.
ReplyDelete"CSI" and "Two and a Half Men" did an interesting experiment where they switched their writing staffs for one episode each. I remember the "Two and a Half Men" episode as being just okay. But I'd really like to see the "CSI" episode, written by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, which included a cameo by Katey Sagal as the murdered star of a "Roseanne"-like family sitcom. ("CSI" always had some comedic elements, so I'm guessing it worked pretty well.)
ReplyDeleteOn the "Inspector Morse" prequel "Endeavour," characters from Morse turn up on "Endeavour," as younger versions of themselves.
ReplyDeleteBest crossover of all time was the final episode of NEWHART, where he wakes up next to Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) and realizes he dreamed of owning an inn in Vermont. (Crossover three minutes, anyway, and most of that was laughter.)
ReplyDeleteLAW & ORDER did several crossovers with HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET. Since the latter was never syndicated, we don't get to see how the stories came out. A frustrating case of crossus interruptus.
I recall a couple more "Cheers" crossovers on "Wings": Cliff and Norm arriving on a fishing trip and spending the whole time in a bar, and Rebecca fleetingly trying to meet a country music star. Did any of the "Wings" troupe show up on "Cheers"?
ReplyDeleteI'm also old enough to remember when "Man From Uncle" and "Girl From Uncle" traded stars: Robert Vaughn joined Stephanie Powers for a "Girl From Uncle" episode that featured Boris Karloff as an evil old lady; meanwhile Powers's usual sidekick Noel Harrison was teamed with David McCallum on a mostly Vaughnless "Man From Uncle" (he was injured in the opening scene, and reappeared at the end to steal the girl away from the two sidekicks). I suspect the shows were filming simultaneously, so the mutual crossover kept both on schedule.
Comic books and television animation probably don't count, since companies like Disney and Hanna Barbara have casually mixed the characters they owned since the days of 12¢ comics, while superhero publishers may have started even sooner. Crossovers are a bit less common in newspaper funnies, although the current incarnation of Dick Tracy has worked in Little Orphan Annie, Brenda Starr, Mr. Magoo and several more. The Hearst syndicate mashed up their comic strip properties to create "Defenders of the Earth", gathering Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, Lothar and the Phantom into a TV show that managed a guest appearance by Prince Valiant.
@Michael
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing that same description in the episode guide for Everybody Loves Raymond on DirecTV, about the doctor's office crossover. And, same thing, it wasn't in the actual episode. But this was well before Cosby's fall from sitcom sainthood, so could it have been some rights issue?
I have a question - an FQ?
ReplyDeleteHow often do these crossovers appear on the DVD/Blu-Ray of the series? There are some shows where both parts of the crossover are pivotal. Definitely a Law and Order/Homicide, more than once. L&O: SVU/Chicago PD plotline went four or six episodes, back and forth. In Station 19/Grey's Anatomy, the patient is rescued in the first and treated in the second.
Liggie said:
ReplyDelete>>The writers had to structure the episode so that Schwimmer and Hecht didn't appear in the same scene, as Ross would have had trouble seeing someone who looked exactly like Susan.
They could have had fun with it, I suppose. Many years ago, Florence Henderson and Robert Reed were in the same episode of The Love Boat in different storylines. Their two characters bumped into each other at the breakfast buffet, nodded hello, then did a "don't I know you?" double take.
@Mark Bennett - I think Empty Nest was a Golden Girls "spinoff". Makes sense for a crossover since they were set in the same universe. Wasn't a real spinoff, just a back door pilot episode.
ReplyDeleteOne of the strangest crossovers I recall was a writer's crossover where the CSI and Two and Half Men writers wrote each other's episodes. FQ - Ken, do you recall this? What were/are your thoughts on both the (stunt) premise and the execution? Would you have wanted to be involved?
Best drama on TV in the 90's Homicide Life On The Streets crossed over with 4 two part episodes with the Law and Order franchise. It was driven by the friendship of Tom Fontana and Dick Wolf who became friends writing in the same building. Also NBC wanted the ratings. Still hard to see the one part show up on Law and Order re-runs without the other part from Homicide.
ReplyDeleteDick Wolf does that a lot with his shows. Most recently he has had several episodes of "Law & Order SVU" and "Chicago P.D." where the New York detectives have to go to Chicago and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this technically qualifies as a crossover, but one time "C.S.I." and "Two and a Half Men" switched writers. The "C.S.I." team wrote or cowrote "Fish in a Drawer." The episode where Evelyn's new husband Teddy dies on their wedding day. It was essentially a comedy version of "C S.I." It's one of my favorite episodes.
Then Chuck Lorre's team wrote "Two and a Half Deaths." A "C.S.I."episode where an obnoxious, insufferable sitcom star is murdered on the set of her show. Both episodes had uncredited cameos by various cast members.
Hey! No anonymous comments. I guess it worked.
M.B.
In the 90s, NBC also did a few crossovers between Law & Order (the original version) and Homicide: Life on the Street, where the story that began on the Wednesday Law & Order episode concluded on the Friday episode of Homicide.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, after Homicide: Life on the Street was cancelled, Richard Belzer's John Munch character joined the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit--the beginning of Belzer's legendary run appearing as John Munch in guest appearances and cameos in many and various TV shows.
If I'm remembering what I read online is right the Greg Berlanti Superheroes crossover events had a super-showrunner who oversaw all the showrunners of each individual show during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover events. Seems to me that, as a showrunner, I'd be sorta bent out of shape over someone coming onto my set/show telling me what to do but I can also see the benefits of one person overseeing all to keep any plot inconsistencies from getting out of hand. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteBoss Hogg and Enos from "The Dukes of Hazzard" crossed over to "Alice" in 1983 when both shows were past their sell-by dates and Warner Bros. was trying to revive interest in them.
ReplyDeleteJack, Janet and Chrissy of "Three's Company" guest-starred in one episode of "The Ropers", but in syndication it airs with the "Three's" credits so they become the stars and Norman Fell and Audra Lindley become the support again while Jeffrey Tambor and Patty McCormack are relegated to the guest cast.
I remember that crossover between "Ally McBeal" and "The Practice" as being hailed as kind of a big deal because it was between two shows on different networks (Fox and ABC), although both were created and show-run by David E. Kelley and produced by 20th Century Fox TV.
ReplyDeleteA year or two earlier, Kelley and Chris Carter tried to arrange a crossover between "Picket Fences" and "The X-Files" (which were both on Friday nights at the time), but Fox wouldn't allow it due to concern that affiliates would rebel if they ran a show that basically told viewers to change the channel to CBS at 10pm. The episodes that were intended to cross-over still ran on the same night and it was fairly easy to see how it was intended to work. In particular, the key guest stars on the "Picket Fences" episodes were visiting FBI agents that obviously were originally supposed to be Mulder and Scully.
Brian: Alan Brady (played by Carl Reiner, of course) also appeared on MAD ABOUT YOU. Helen Hunt did a passable imitation of MTM's sob note, "Oh, Paul..." Paul needed Brady for a documentary about the history of comedy.
ReplyDeletewg
The Green Hornet made its debut in the fall of 1966; the show was played in a serious and dramatic manner.
ReplyDeleteBatman made its debut in mid-season in early '66. It was played for laughs as a camp parody of the superhero genre.
Since Batman was an enormous hit and the producer of Batman also produced The Green Hornet, he decided to have TGH & Kato guest star on Batman.
I get that he did this in order to boost the ratings and visibility of TGH. However, the two series were oil and water and did not mix given their very different atmospheres.
To me, some of the strangest cross-overs (or at least "guest stars") happened on a little-known cartoon called The Brady Kids, a spinoff from The Brady Bunch.
ReplyDeleteThe six Brady kids (and their dog, two pandas, and a magical bird) met up with people like the Lone Ranger, Superman, and Wonder Woman. This makes for an excellent trivia question: what TV show featured the first animated appearance of Wonder Woman? The Brady Kids!
And speaking of superhero crossovers in comic books, yes, they did crossover even back in the earliest (10 cent) days. Early on, it was simply that some heroes were inspired by other heroes (like Wildcat and the Red Tornado were both inspired by the comic book adventures of Green Lantern) but soon the heroes were meeting. Usually, it was a minor event, like the Star-Spangled Kid chasing a villain, only to cross paths with Batman who was chasing a different villain. On the other hand, the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner would cross paths and do battle with each other.
But then, there was the comic that featured the Justice Society, where a lot of them came together. This was followed by other groups of heroes. Maybe that's not really a cross-over anymore then. However, it is kind of weird when you realize that the Justice Society heroes weren't all owned by the same company. What we think of as "DC" was two companies: DC/National Comics (with Superman, Batman, and Aquaman) and All-American Comics (with Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash). The did basically merge eventually, but originally, they were different companies.
So, that sort of crossover happened all the time. But when DC and Marvel first worked together on a project together, it was a huge surprise. And that first project was... an adaptation of the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie. But then they did Superman vs Spider-Man, Batman vs Hulk, and so on.
The first season of Scrubs had a crossover where 4 doctors from St. Elsewhere got sick at a medical conference and became obnoxious, all-knowing patients at the Scrubs hospital. It was a good idea, but it seemed a missed opportunity. Maybe 4 cameos at once didn't give enough opportunity to interact with any of them.
ReplyDeleteI know it's widely adored by many, but I've never understood why the Suzanne Pleshette cameo in the finale scene of NEWHART gets praised as some kind of creative masterstroke. Anyone unfamiliar with Newhart's earlier sitcom won't get the in-joke, and in itself the scene doesn't warrant more than a warm chuckle of recognition from viewers like me who loved Pleshette when she payed his wife in THE BOB NEWHART SHOW. I think any "It was all a dream!" ending smacks of lazy writing.
ReplyDeleteI just remember one of the strangest of crossovers: That of "Happy Days" with a character from a very short-lived and forgotten series called "Out of the Blue". I've never actually watched an ep of that show but I remember from ABC's promos at the time of Robin Williams as Mork appearing with the star of that show, Jimmy Brogan, from, I guess, an upcoming ep. Then Brogan appears on "HD" as that character, an angel, in which Chachi made a deal with the devil. Brogan only made a token appearance for a few minutes meaning the plot really didn't need him but I guess ABC hoped it would lead to better ratings for "OUTB" but it didn't. Years later, Brogan became a writer and occasional remote correspondent on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno".
ReplyDeleteSuperman (George Reeves) made an appearance on I Love Lucy back in the fifties. I think this was a cross-network crossover because we normally got Lucy but did not get a channel that carried Superman. I think George Reeves may have been playing himself, playing Superman, but I was a kid. It thrilled me. :)
ReplyDeleteSuperman was syndicated. And shot in color after I believe its first season. Appropriately, X overs mostly started in comics. Superman and Batman teamed. And multi series and heroes in Justice Society. Later Justice League.
ReplyDeleteLucy was brilliant in not destroying anyone's
Supes illusions/ And Reeves was great. Giving her a SUPER putdown.
Joyce, actually George was ID'd only as Superman within the show though that last sentence may still hold water. In fact, at no time during the end credits did the announcer say he was played by Reeves!
ReplyDelete35 comments and no mention of three of the most crossed-over shows. Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction. BH and PJ were created by Paul Henning. While Jay Sommers created GA, Henning was the Executive Producer of the show.
ReplyDeleteNo mention yet of Granny Clampett's guest appearance on Mr. Ed? Or 4 characters from General Hospital appearing on It's Garry Shandling's Show.
ReplyDeleteMad About You & Seinfeld: Paul going to his old apartment, now occupied by Kramer.
ReplyDelete• The Golden Girls hurricane crossover was indeed unique because NBC ran three Witt/Thomas/Harris shows in a row and the storyline carried into all three, the third being nurses. What made it unusual was that they went to the trouble of having the then-current local news anchor or the NBC Miami affiliate station appear throughout the evening, which was also great for publicity and ratings in a strong market for the shows.
ReplyDelete• Marjorie Lord and Danny Thomas played their "Danny Thomas Show" characters in an episode of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour."
• Elizabeth Mongomery and Dick York voiced Samantha and Darrin in a crossover "Flintstones" episode because both shows were made by Screen Gems and Hanna-Barbera created the Bewitched title animation. DePatie-Freleng animated "I Dream of Jeannie's" titles.
• "Jeannie" later appeared in her animated teen form on "The New Scooby-Doo Movies," because the animated version was then current on CBS. Fred Silverman, who helped created Scooby-Doo (hence one of the character names) had a lot to do with why other current CBS stars were on that series, like Sandy Duncan, Tim Conway, Dick Van Dyke and Sonny & Cher, all somehow with CBS connections. Hanna-Barbera TV versions of The Harlem Globetrotters, Speed Buggy and Josie and the Pussycats also guested. On the new "Scooby-Doo and Guess Who," one episode actually featured the characters from "The Funky Phantom" and the conceit was that the two sets of characters were somewhat irritated with each other's similarities.
• The recently-passed Billie Hayes appeared took her "H.R. Pufnstuf" Witchiepoo character to another Krofft show, "Lidsville." In the bizarre "Paul Lynde Halloween Special," Hayes did a sketch with Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch from "The Wizard of Oz."
• The villain character of Alonzo Hawk (Keenan Wynn) appeared in Disney's "The Absent-Minded Professor" and "Son of Flubber" then reappeared over a decade later in "Herbie Rides Again." Like Hootervile, Disney's Medfield college setting also originated in "Professor" but extended into Kurt Russell comedies of the 70s and it's referenced on the Imagination attraction at Epcot. Medfield is a real town in Massachusetts where Walt Disney used to visit friends.
There's White Shadow/St Elsewhere, which isn't quite a crossover since the Byron Stewart character (Coolidge) was his White Shadow character, but when he saw Timothy Van Patten (Salami in White Shadow) and recognized him, Van Patten was playing a different character
ReplyDeleteStuntcasts seem to be only about ratings, but they don't make a show better overall. Bring back characters that contribute to the show. FRASIER generally handled it tastefully, particularly with Bebe Neuwirth as Lilith.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I'm biased because I can't argue with that black bathing suit, but that's certainly not the only reason.
I re-watched the Sam visiting Frasier episode yesterday thanks to this post, and I still didn't much care for it. I remembered not liking it when it first aired so I thought with the distance of time my opinion might change. Of course there were the usual funny and clever lines, but I think by that time Sam's character was so pathetic at his age that it just wasn't fun anymore.
ReplyDeleteAt the Hal Roach lot Laurel and Hardy made cameo appearances in shorts starring Charley Chase, Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts, and the Little Rascals. Screen names and character names were the same, so they were technically crossovers despite the general lack of continuity within each series of shorts. Chase and Todd appeared in L&H features, but as characters apart from their series shorts personas.
ReplyDeleteThe radio version of Superman did some stories featuring Batman and Robin, reportedly to test the waters for giving the caped crusaders their own show. It didn't happen, so Batman and Robin finished their radio career as second bananas to Supes.
Another radio crossover: The Lone Ranger sometimes had a kid sidekick, Dan Reid -- orphaned son of the Ranger's brother. An old Dan Reid was disapproving father to playboy newspaper publisher Britt Reid -- secretly The Green Hornet. Both shows were created by the same team, and the Green Hornet eventually had Dan Reid revealing the family secret to Britt. Wikipedia says this bit of linkage went away when The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet ended up under different ownerships.
On the literary front: "Flashman and the Tiger" pits the unapologetic scoundrel Harry Flashman against an old acquaintance: Colonel Sebastian Moran. This leads to a fleeting encounter with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It was a departure for author George MacDonald Fraser, who filled the Flashman novels with real people and events.
The Beverly Hillbillies / Petticoat Junction / Green Acres crossovers were a little complicated. The Clampetts visited the Shady Rest and in return hosted the Petticoat Junction folk. Green Acres was set in the same community as Petticoat Junction and shared Sam Drucker and his store. But on Green Acres, the Beverly Hillbillies was a TV show (the local amateur theater got one of the show's scripts and performed it).
"The Alphabet Murders", a movie starring Tony Randall and Hercule Poirot, was intended to mirror the successful Miss Marple comedies starring Margaret Rutherford. At one point Rutherford and Stringer Davis have a literal walk-through as Marple and her sidekick, discussing an unrelated case. Had "The Alphabet Murders" scored, we might have eventually gotten a full-on crossover movie. But probably to Agatha Christie's relief, the weird combination of supersleuth and clown (directed by Frank Tashlin) didn't justify a sequel.
The final episode of "Newhart" is pure brilliance. In reference to another's comment...will Gen Z, or future viewers understand the joke? Maybe not. "The Bob Newhart Show" was a hit in the 70s (1972 - 1978). "Newhart" soon followed (1982 - 1990). Audiences watching "Newhart"'s finale would have completely understood the reference. I yelled when I saw it. I swear to God, I thought the week before, "it would be great if they referenced the earlier show." They had circulated a fake script, in which "Dick Loudon" dies, and visits God, played by George Burns. The media took the bait, and I was disappointed with THAT conclusion while going into that last episode viewing.
ReplyDeleteGoogle the "Newhart" finale - they were very careful about the secret.
Also, the closing credits for the final "Newhart" played "The Bob Newhart Show" them music, along with the previous show's title font. More brilliance. (Unfortunately, this was changed during "Newhart's" first syndication run, but reinstated for following syndications.)
Speaking about secrets, one of the biggest for film, was "The Empire Strikes Back" twist of Vader's,"No,I AM your father." The weird thing is, that the novelization of the film came out FIVE WEEKS before the movie release. Never understood how that happened - but there was no Internet with people screeching "spoilers," 24/7...
Another old TV western note. MAVERICK had lost James Garner by the fourth season, so they did a little stunt casting to spotlight Jack Kelly's first new episode as Bart. In "Hadley's Hunters," practically everybody in the WB westerns turned up... Clint Walker as Cheyenne, Will Hutchins as Sugarfoot, Peter Brown and John Russell from LAWMAN, Ty Hardin as Bronco, and even Edd Byrnes as a stable hand at "77 Cherokee Strip." COLT 45 had already been cancelled by that time, but Bart managed to stumble across Christopher Colt's empty office.
ReplyDelete"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" had several crossover episodes, which made sense as "Angel" was a spin-off. Pretty much everybody who watched one watched the other, so following the plot that jumped from one to the other wasn't hard.
ReplyDeleteBack in the day there was a lot of cross-promotion with "Petticoat Junction" and "Green Acres" and "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Maybe not a crossover properly so-called ...
ReplyDeleteWhen ABC made a miniseries out of Stephen King's Storm Of The Century, the network prevailed upon its soap operas (which were all produced in-house anyway) to write calamitous winter storms into their ongoing storylines.
For his part, Stephen King obliged ABC by filming promos for the ABC soaps, for use in all dayparts:
"It's The Storm Of The Century on ABC Daytime!"
By the way:
About a year after the Newhart II grand finale, CBS decided to do a reunion show for Newhart I, with the old Chicago gang showing clips galore.
The premise here was that Dr. Bob was still coming down from that New England dream he'd had, and Emily and the office mates were using clip therapy to bring back the Good Old Days.
By the end of the hour, it didn't seem to be working, so Emily & Co. decided to go home.
Dr. Bob stayed behind as they all piled into one of the two lobby elevators.
After a couple of beats, the other elevator door opened, revealing three workmen ...
... and after the audience cheers died down, one of the workmen spoke:
"Hi! I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl!"
... and Dr. Bob says, "I think I'll take the stairs!"
... and exit Dr. Bob, stage left.
And - scene.
Hey, I liked it ...
The only Cheers characters that really worked on Frasier (besides Frasier himself) were Lilith and Diane. All the other guest appearances felt forced.
ReplyDeleteNobody's going to mention the Tommyverse?
ReplyDelete