A
fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete
fictionFiction is a branch of literature which deals, in part or in whole, with temporally contrafactual events...
al
charactersA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
,
settingIn fiction, setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may...
s, or
universesA fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements which differ from the real world. It may be called, variously, a fictional realm, world or universe...
into the context of a single
storyA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant
copyrightCopyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation, after which time the work is said to enter the public domain...
holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by
fanFandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
s.
Crossovers happen in various media mostly because of some intent by the property rights holders to reap the financial reward of combining two or more popular, established properties.
A
fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete
fictionFiction is a branch of literature which deals, in part or in whole, with temporally contrafactual events...
al
charactersA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
,
settingIn fiction, setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may...
s, or
universesA fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements which differ from the real world. It may be called, variously, a fictional realm, world or universe...
into the context of a single
storyA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant
copyrightCopyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation, after which time the work is said to enter the public domain...
holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by
fanFandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
s.
Legal crossovers
Crossovers happen in various media mostly because of some intent by the property rights holders to reap the financial reward of combining two or more popular, established properties. In other cases, the crossover can serve to introduce a new concept that derives from an older one.
Crossovers generally occur between properties owned by a single holder, but they can more rarely involve properties from different holders, provided that the inherent legal obstacles can be overcome. They may also involve using characters that have passed into the public domain with those that currently enjoy copyright protection.
A crossover story may try to explain its own reason for the crossover, such as "they live next door" (one example being the casts from
Golden Girls and
Empty Nest) or "a dimensional rift brought them together" (a common explanation for
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
properties that have different owners). Some crossovers are not explained at all. Others are absurd or simply impossible within the fictional setting, and have to be ignored by the series' respective
continuitiesIn fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer. It is of relevance to several media....
. Still others intentionally make the relations between two or more fictional universes confusing, as with
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
and
Futurama, where each show is fiction in the other.
Comics
Crossovers of multiple characters owned by one company or
publishedPublishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information – the activity of making information available for public view...
by one publisher, have been used to set an established continuity, where characters can frequently meet within one setting. This is especially true of
comic book publishers, as different characters in various
MarvelMarvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
,
DCDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
or
ValiantValiant Comics is a American comic book publishing company founded by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, writer/artists Bob Layton and a number of financial partners in 1989....
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
s frequently interact with one another since they live in the same "
universeA shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
." For example, in the Marvel Comics universe, the
X-MenX-Men is a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1 . Under a cloud of increasing anti-mutant sentiment, Professor Xavier creates a haven at his Westchester mansion to train young mutants to use their powers for the...
have frequent dealings with another group of Marvel heroes, the
Fantastic FourThe Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new naturalism in the medium...
, just as in the DC Comics Universe,
BatmanThe Batman, originally referred to as the Bat-Man, is a fictional character, a comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger , appearing in publications by DC Comics...
and
SupermanSuperman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc...
frequently collaborate. In comic book terminology, these "guest star" roles are common enough that they are not considered crossovers. A crossover in comic book terms only occurs when a story spans more than one title. This has led to "crossover events", in which major occurrences are shown as affecting (almost) all the stories in the shared universe.
The first major crossover event was spearheaded by the Marvel Editor-in-Chief at the time,
Jim ShooterJames Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books...
. As a way to further toy sales he devised the
Secret WarsMarvel Super Heroes Secret Wars is a twelve-issue comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics...
crossover which brought all the major Marvel heroes into a twelve issue mini-series to battle a common threat. After the threat was dealt with they all returned to their regular titles. This
Secret Wars was hailed as both a critical and commercial success largely because the events of the crossover had lasting effects on the characters (such as the introduction of
Spider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer and editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
's black suit which would later become the villain
VenomEddie Brock is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane, the character first appeared in Web of Spider-Man #18 ; Brock became one of Spider-Man's deadliest foes, and later an anti-hero, as the first...
). Jim Shooter later perfected his crossover at Valiant Comics with the
Unity"Unity" was a company-wide "crossover" story published by Valiant Comics in the summer of 1992.-Overview:Unity was a story that would eventually unfold over 18 issues and in 8 different books published by Valiant over the summer months. The dates on the book covers are for August and September 1992...
event. Unity brought all the Valiant characters together to defeat
MothergodMothergod is a fictional character from Valiant Comics. She was exposed to the same energies that turned Phil Seleski into Solar, and she gained the same energy and matter manipulation powers...
but was told within the existing Valiant Comics titles (and two bookend special issues). Readers were not obliged to buy all 18 chapters as the story was coherent when reading just one title, but far more layered when all were read. Like
Secret Wars, the Unity crossover had lasting effects on the Valiant universe most notably the introduction of
TurokTurok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishing published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 , then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone...
, the birth of Magnus Robot Fighter and the death of a major Valiant hero.
The Aliens Versus Predator franchise was a success that continued into many games and two movies and even an Aliens Versus Predator Versus The Terminator.
The Simpsons and
Futurama had two crossover mini-series in which the
Futurama characters become trapped in a Simpson comic book and then upon escaping cause characters from
The Simpsons, as well as many other literary characters, to be brought into the
Futurama universe, this being the only way, according to editor Bill Morrison, "in which fictional characters (could) interact with "real" ones."
Archie ComicsArchie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenage Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Forsythe "Jughead" Jones characters were created by...
once released a crossover between
Sonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog is an ongoing series of American comic books published by Archie Comics, featuring Sega's mascot video game character of the same name. The comic book series debuted in the United States at the beginning of 1993, two years after the release of the first video game in 1991 for...
and
Sabrina the Teenage Witch, in which Enchantra, an enemy of
SabrinaSabrina Spellman is the title character—a half-mortal and a half-witch—from the comic book Sabrina, the Teenage Witch which was later adapted in 1969 by Filmation as a segment from The Archie Comedy Hour . The character was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo...
, brought
Sonic, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the protagonist of the eponymous video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The first game in the franchise was released on June 23, 1991, in order to provide Sega with a mascot to...
to Sabrina's hometown from Mobius and brainwashed him into fighting Sabrina herself.
Cartoons
Cartoon crossovers aren't terribly uncommon, and most of them - like comics or live-action TV shows - will often feature characters owned by the same company or network. One example is Cartoon Network's
The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door. It features 5 crossovers -
Ed, Edd n Eddy,
Codename: Kids Next DoorCodename: Kids Next Door, also known as Kids Next Door or by its acronym KND, is an American animated television series created by Tom Warburton and produced by Curious Pictures. The series debuted on Cartoon Network on December 6, 2002 and aired its final episode on January 21, 2008. The series...
,
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy,
The Powerpuff GirlsThe Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series about three kindergarten-aged girls who have superpowers. Created by animator Craig McCracken, the program was produced by Hanna-Barbera until 2001 when Cartoon Network Studios took over production for Cartoon Network...
, and one phrase of
Scooby-DooScooby-Doo is a long-running American animated series produced for Saturday morning television in several different versions from 1969 to the present. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, CBS executive Fred...
, which are all licensed Cartoon Network series. Most of the last episodes of the
Lilo & Stitch: The SeriesLilo & Stitch: The Series is the animated television spinoff of the feature film, Lilo & Stitch and the follow up to Stitch! The Movie.-Plot:...
(a spinoff of the
movie of the same nameLilo & Stitch is a American film produced by Walt Disney Pictures on June 21, 2002. The forty-second animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, it was written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, and features the voices of Sanders, Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, David Ogden...
) had crossovers with various other
DisneyThe Walt Disney Company , often simply known as Disney, is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world, known for its family-friendly products...
cartoons, including
The Proud FamilyThe Proud Family is an American animated television series that aired on Disney Channel from September 15, 2001 to August 19, 2005.- Production :...
,
Kim PossibleKim Possible is an American animated television series about a teenage crime fighter who has the task of dealing with worldwide, family, and school issues every day...
,
RecessRecess is an American animated television series that was created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Recess focuses on six elementary school students and their interaction with other classmates and teachers.-Premise:The series is centered around...
and
American Dragon Jake Long, although one might count them as mere cameos, as each plotline took place exclusively in Lilo's hometown in
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
. The
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour trilogy is another example, as
Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner switch universes. Another crossover is The Rugrats Go Wild when the
RugratsRugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on Sunday August 11, 1991 and aired its last episode on Tuesday June 8, 2004....
are stranded on an island where
The Wild ThornberrysThe Wild Thornberrys is an American animated television series that aired on Nickelodeon from September 1, 1998 to 2002. It was rerun in the USA on Nickelodeon and occasionally Nicktoons Network until 2007...
were at the time.
During the 1970s and 1980s, crossovers were particularly common among the
Hanna-BarberaHanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. , was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
properties. Some of the earliest examples happened on
The New Scooby-Doo MoviesThe New Scooby-Doo Movies is the second incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. It premiered on September 9, 1972 and ran for two seasons on CBS as the only hour-long Scooby-Doo series...
, which featured appearances by characters from
Harlem GlobetrottersHarlem Globetrotters was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera, featuring animated versions of players from the basketball team, Harlem Globetrotters....
,
Josie and the PussycatsJosie and the Pussycats is an American animated television series, based upon the Archie Comics comic book series of the same name created by Dan DeCarlo...
,
Jeannie, and
Speed BuggySpeed Buggy was a Saturday Morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 8, 1973 to August 30, 1975 on CBS. Similar in style to Hanna-Barbera's successful Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Speed Buggy followed the adventures of an anthropomorphic, fiberglass Dune Buggy, Speed Buggy...
(as well as
The Addams FamilyThe Addams Family was an animated adaptation of the Charles Addams cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1973.-Scooby-Doo appearance:...
and
Batman and Robin, each a year prior to having their own H-B series). Later, the
Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 is a series of ten syndicated movies for television produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for syndication and aired from 1987 to 1988 featuring the studios' most well-known and popular classic animated characters in feature-length adventures.Originally, the made-for-TV...
set of "movies" involved several crossovers, including such combinations as
The Jetsons Meet the FlintstonesThe Jetsons Meet the Flintstones is an animated TV movie, featuring the first meeting between the characters from two Hanna-Barbera cartoon series, The Flintstones and The Jetsons...
. This was taken to an extreme in the 1977-79 series
Laff-A-LympicsLaff-A-Lympics was the co-headlining segment, with Scooby-Doo, of the package Saturday morning cartoon series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show was a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC television series Battle of the Network Stars...
, which was essentially a gathering of the most popular H-B characters (at that time) for a regular series.
Another example of a crossover in the 1980's was the Transformers episode "Only Human" which featured characters from the G.I Joe universe.
However, not all crossovers are necessarily composed of characters under common ownership. Two of the most notable cartoon crossovers consisted of characters from different companies. Disney's famous movie
Who Framed Roger RabbitWho Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg and based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures, under the Touchstone banner and co-produced by Amblin Entertainment...
, a landmark in animation, had characters from various companies, most notably Disney and
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
Daffy DuckDaffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Daffy was the first of the new breed of "screwball" characters that emerged in the late 1930s to supplant traditional everyman characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Popeye, who...
and Donald DuckDonald Duck is an American cartoon character from The Walt Disney Company. Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt, cap, and a red or black bow tie, but no trousers...
made a simultaneous appearance in one scene, in which the two of them exchanged blows during a piano duet. Later in the movie, Mickey MouseMickey Mouse is a comic animal cartoon character who has become an icon for The Walt Disney Company. Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and voiced by Walt Disney. The Walt Disney Company celebrates his birth as November 18, 1928 upon the release of Steamboat Willie...
and Bugs BunnyBugs Bunny is a fictional character who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1945. In 2002, he was named by TV Guide as the greatest cartoon character of all time, an honor he shares...
were shown parachuting together (to keep things from getting too iffy legally, Mickey and Bugs' lines were written so that each of them said the exact same number of words in the movie). The film also includes cameos of characters from MGM (e.g. Droopy, Tom and JerryTom and Jerry is a series of theatrical animated cartoons featuring a cat and a mouse.Tom and Jerry may also refer to:* The Tom and Jerry Show, a 1975 television series featuring the cartoon characters...
). And of course, the end of the movie features all the carrtoons from all of the animation companies joining together in song, to be concluded by Porky PigPorky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
uttering (or, rather, stuttering) his famous "That's All, Folks!" line as Tinker Bell ends the scene with a magical fade-out.
Another cartoon crossover would occur in 1990, Cartoon All-Stars to the RescueCartoon All-Stars to the Rescue is an animated drug prevention television special starring many of the popular cartoon characters from American Saturday morning television. Financed by McDonald's, the special was originally simulcast on April 21, 1990 on all three major American television...
. This cartoon featured popular characters from children's Saturday morning cartoons, banding together to preach an anti-drug message. ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
, CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
, FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
, and NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
aired this half-hour special one Saturday morning with characters from all their networks, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie (from DuckTalesDuckTales is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge comic book series, featuring the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews, the show premiered on September 18, 1987 and ended on November 28, 1990.- Premise :The...
), Winnie the Pooh, TiggerTigger is a fictional tiger-like character originally introduced in A. A. Milne's book The House at Pooh Corner. He is easily recognized by his orange and black stripes, beady eyes, a long chin, springy tail, and his bouncy personality...
, Slimer (from The Real GhostbustersThe Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Entertainment and Coca-Cola. "The Real" was added to the title over a dispute with Filmation and its Ghost...
), Michelangelo (from Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an joint-venture between American/Japanese animated television series produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson and Shogakukan Studios. It premiered December 28, 1987, first as a five-part mini-series animated by Toei...
), Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The SmurfsThe Smurfs are a fictional group of small blue creatures who live in Smurf Village somewhere in the woods. The Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world in a series of comic strips, making their first appearance in the Belgian comics magazine Spirou on October 23, 1958...
, ALF (from his short-lived cartoon spinoffALF: The Animated Series was a animated cartoon spin-off based on the live-action Sitcom series ALF. It premiered on September 26, 1987 and ran for 26 episodes.-Synopsis:...
), GarfieldGarfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
, and the trio of Baby KermitKermit the Frog is one of puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creations, first introduced in 1955. Kermit was performed by Henson until his death in 1990. Since then he has been performed by Steve Whitmire. He was voiced by Frank Welker in Muppet Babies and occasionally in animation...
, Baby PiggyMiss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing her, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
, and Baby Gonzo (from Muppet BabiesJim Henson's Muppet Babies was an American animated television series that aired from September 15, 1984 to December 29, 1990 on CBS. It was spun off from a dream sequence in The Muppets Take Manhattan, released two months earlier, where Miss Piggy imagined what it would be like if she and Kermit...
). Animation companies granted unlimited, royalty-free use of their cartoon characters for this project, a feat that has been unequalled before or since then. This cartoon was also introduced by then-PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States . He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence....
and Barbara BushBarbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush. She is one of only two women to be both wife and mother to US presidents, the other being Abigail Adams...
, and would be distributed to schools and video stores free of charge nationwide.
Also notable is the episode of South ParkSouth Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become infamous for its crude, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, Cartoon Wars Part I"Cartoon Wars Part I" is episode 142 of South Park which aired on April 5, 2006. It is part one of a two-episode story, which concludes with "Cartoon Wars Part II".-Plot:...
and Cartoon Wars Part II"Cartoon Wars Part II" is episode 143 of South Park which aired on April 12, 2006. It is part two of a two-episode story, which starts with "Cartoon Wars Part I".-Plot:...
featuring crossovers between South Park, Family GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television sitcom, created by Seth MacFarlane, for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family which consists of Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris, Stewie, and their pet dog Brian...
and The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
. South Park and The Simpsons also crossed over in the earlier episode The Simpsons Already Did It.
Video games
The King of Fighters, Marvel vs. Capcom, and many other franchises from third-party developers such as Capcomis a leading international developer and publisher of video games headquartered in Osaka, Japan. It was founded in 1979 as Japan Capsule Computers, a company devoted to the manufacturing and distribution of electronic game machines...
and SNKSNK Playmore is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of Shin Nihon Kikaku , Japanese for "New Japan Project", which was SNK's original name...
bring these licenses together. The 2.5D2.5D , also called pseudo-3D, is an informal term used to describe visual phenomena which appears to be three-dimensional but for some reason isn't completely so, be it for not being constituted by true 3D entities in the case of graphics, or not allowing full 3D movement—typically restricting it...
fighting game series, Super Smash Bros., brings Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel...
characters together for a massive fight. The third game in the series, Super Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by Sora and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. Brawl was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conference by Nintendo president and Chief...
introduces the first non-Nintendo characters with the inclusion of Solid Snakeis a fictional character and the main protagonist of Konami's Metal Gear series of stealth video games. Created by Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear is Konami's main franchise and has sold approximately 26.5 million units as of February 2009. Introduced in the first game of the series, Metal Gear , Snake...
and Sonic the Hedgehog, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the protagonist of the eponymous video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The first game in the franchise was released on June 23, 1991, in order to provide Sega with a mascot to...
, of Konamiis a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
's Metal Gearis a critically acclaimed series of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima and developed and published by Konami. In the series, the player takes control of a Special Forces Operative repeatedly facing off against the latest incarnation of the eponymous superweapon "Metal Gear"; a bipedal walking...
series and Segais a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan...
's Sonic the Hedgehog series respectively. Namco x Capcomis an action RPG/tactical RPG hybrid game for the PlayStation 2 console, developed by Monolith Soft and featuring characters from games produced by companies Namco and Capcom.-Storyline:...
, however, is a fighting/RPGA console role-playing game is a video game genre that has its origin rooted in video game consoles and includes game mechanics and, frequently, settings derived from those of traditional role-playing games...
from Monolith Softis a Japanese entertainment company in Japan that has created video games for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Nintendo DS and cell phones. The company was founded in 1999 by producer Hirohide Sugiura after he left Square Co. and accepted an investment from Namco...
featuring characters from the Capcom and Namco, is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. The company is most famous for creating Pac-Man, the best-selling arcade game in history...
universe. Also, the new creation from KoeiKoei Co., Ltd. , formerly 光栄 ) is a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978...
, Warriors OrochiWarriors Orochi, known in Japan as , is a PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 hack and slash video game developed by Koei and Omega Force. It is a crossover of two of Koei's popular video game series, Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors...
crosses characters from both the Samurai WarriorsSamurai Warriors is the first title in the series of video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based loosely around the Sengoku period of Japanese history and it is a spinoff of the Dynasty Warriors series...
series and the Dynasty Warriorsis a series of tactical action video games created by Omega Force/Koei! The award-winning series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, based loosely around the Chinese epic of the same name. The first game titled Dynasty Warriors, Sangokumusō in Japan, is...
series. The Namco, is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. The company is most famous for creating Pac-Man, the best-selling arcade game in history...
-developed Soul series, particularly Soulcalibur II and Soulcalibur IVis the sixth installment in Namco's Soul series of fighting games, and was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on July 29, 2008, in North America, on July 31, 2008, in Japan, Europe, and Australia, and on August 1, 2008, in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.The game is notable for its inclusion...
feature characters from outside of Namco's titles (Link from Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series, Heihachiis a fictional and one of the main characters in the Tekken fighting game series. He is one of only four characters to have appeared in every game in the series and he makes two appearances within the series as the final boss .He is also the only Tekken character aside from Yoshimitsu to be...
from Tekken, and Todd McFarlaneTodd McFarlane is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn....
's SpawnSpawn is a fictional comic book character, an undead superhero created by Todd McFarlane. Spawn primarily appears in a comic of the same name, published by Image Comics, and his first appearance was in Spawn #1 .-Overview:...
) and the Star WarsStar Wars is an epic space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two immediate sequels, released at three-year intervals...
(Darth VaderDarth Vader is the central antagonist in George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy and his final prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. In the original Star Wars trilogy, Vader is embodied by David Prowse, though Sebastian Shaw makes a brief cameo as the unmasked Vader. In Star Wars...
, YodaYoda is a character in the Star Wars fictional universe, appearing in the three prequel trilogy films as well as the second and third original films. Yoda dies in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when he is around 800 years old. He is widely considered to be the greatest Jedi of all time...
, and Starkiller) universe respectively.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic GamesMario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, known in Japan as , is a sports game developed by Sega. It was published by Nintendo for Japan and by Sega for North America, Europe and all other regions. The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee through exclusive licensee...
, released in Japan two months before Super Smash Bros. Brawl, was the first time that Mariois a fictional character in his eponymous video game series, created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
and Sonic (as well as their associated characters) appeared in a game together.
In the RPG field, Kingdom Hearts mixes Disney and Final Fantasyis a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of science-fantasy console role-playing games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
characters together. Also, Crash Bandicoot, or simply "Crash", is a video game character and the primary protagonist of the Crash series of video games. In the series, Crash is described as a genetically-advanced Eastern Barred Bandicoot who attempts to live a quiet life on a three-island chain southeast of Australia...
and Spyro the Dragon join forces in Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex ConspiracyCrash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy are two platform games published by Vivendi Games and developed by Vicarious Visions for the Game Boy Advance...
. The two characters have continued to make slight cameos in each other's games since.
In 1993, a video game was released based on the RoboCop versus The Terminator comic book. Whilst the Super Nintendo version used the style of the comic, the Sega Genesis version utilized a darker style, closer to that of the respective movies.
Super Robot Warsis a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Banpresto, a Japanese division of Namco Bandai. Its main feature is having a plot involving multiple mecha titles, allowing characters from different titles to team up or battle each other...
are turn-based strategy games featuring a variety of Japanese mechaMecha, also known as meka or mechs, are walking vehicles controlled by a pilot, often appearing in anime, science fiction, or other genres involving a fantastic or futuristic element. Mecha are generally, though not necessarily, bipedal, with arms, hands, and fingers capable of grasping objects...
series from many generations, such as Mazinger Z, known as Tranzor Z in United States, is a Super Robot manga and anime series created by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later continued in Kodansha TV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974. In December...
, Gundamis a metaseries of Japanese anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Gundam". The metaseries started in 7 April 1979 as a serial TV show called Mobile Suit Gundam. That first TV series has since spawned a franchise that has come to include works released in numerous media...
, Neon Genesis EvangelionThe franchise is a multi-billion dollar umbrella of Japanese media properties generally owned by the anime studio Gainax. The central works of the franchise feature an apocalyptic mecha action story which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization Nerv to fight monstrous...
, and GaoGaiGar. Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! known in Japan as Bomberman GB, is a Game Boy game published in 1994 by Nintendo and developed by Hudson Soft. It is a crossover between Nintendo's Wario franchise and Hudson's signature Bomberman franchise. It is much more of a Bomberman game than a Wario game...
features Wariois a fictional Nintendo video game character originally designed by Hiroji Kiyotake. Wario was designed as another antagonist to Mario , and first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main antagonist and final boss...
of Nintendo fame, and BombermanBomberman is a strategic, maze-based computer and video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft. The original game was published in 1983 and new games in the series are still being published to this day. Today, Bomberman is featured in over 60 different games...
of Hudsonis a electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in Japan. It was founded on May 18 1973. Initially, Hudson dealt with personal computer products, but has expanded to the development and publishing of video games, mobile content, and video game peripherals. As of 2003, the company employs...
fame, battling against each other. Nicktoons Unite!Nicktoons Unite!, known as SpongeBob SquarePants and Friends: Unite! in Europe, is a 2005 video game featuring characters and levels from SpongeBob SquarePants, Danny Phantom, The Fairly OddParents, and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.It spawned 3 sequels named Nicktoons: Battle for...
is a video game similar to the Jimmy Timmy Power Hour, but the shows SpongeBob SquarePantsSpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series and media franchise. It is currently Nickelodeon's highest rated show, the most distributed property of MTV Networks, and among Nicktoons Network's most-watched shows...
and Danny PhantomDanny Phantom is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon, produced by Billionfold Studios. The show is about a teenage half-ghost boy, who frequently saves his town and the world from ghost attacks, while attempting to keep his ghost half a secret...
are included in the crossover. There is also Mortal Kombat vs. DC UniverseMortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a crossover fighting game from Midway Games and Warner Bros. in the Mortal Kombat series, which was released on November 16, . The game contains characters from both the Mortal Kombat franchise and the DC Universe...
, which features many famous characters from both sides like Liu KangLiu Kang is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. First appearing in Mortal Kombat Liu Kang is portrayed as a Shaolin monk who enters the Mortal Kombat tournament to save his world, Earthrealm, from being destroyed due to having lost nine consecutive tournaments...
and Sub-Zero for the Mortal Kombat side, and characters like BatmanThe Batman, originally referred to as the Bat-Man, is a fictional character, a comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger , appearing in publications by DC Comics...
and SupermanSuperman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc...
for the DC side. The story explains the merging of the two worlds and the struggle from both sides to overcome the other one: howewer the game is not considered canon for both companies.
Literature
In literatureLiterature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" , and therefore the academic study of literature is known as Letters...
, certain authors also engage in crossovers by including characters from different novels they have written in one particular volume; Michael MoorcockMichael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels....
frequently uses this device - particularly in his Eternal ChampionThe Eternal Champion is a fictional creation of the author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in many of his novels.-About the Eternal Champion:...
sequence of novels, which establish a vast 'multiverseThe Multiverse is a series of parallel universes in many of the science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories written by Michael Moorcock. Central to these works is the concept of an Eternal Champion who has potentially multiple identities across multiple dimensions...
' populated by numerous different characters, many of whom appear in different novels and even different genres. Kim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
is another author who frequently uses this device. The works of James Branch CabellJames Branch Cabell, was an American author of fantasy fiction and belles lettres. Cabell was well regarded by his contemporaries, including H. L. Mencken and Sinclair Lewis. His works were considered escapist and fit well in the culture of the 1920s, when his works were most popular...
, William FaulknerWilliam Faulkner was a Nobel Prize-winning American author. One of the most influential writers of the 20th century, his reputation is based on his novels, novellas and short stories. He was also a published poet and an occasional screenwriter.Most of Faulkner's works are set in his native state...
, Margaret LaurenceJean Margaret Laurence, CC was a Canadian novelist and short story writer.- Early years :...
, Mordecai RichlerMordecai Richler, CC was a Canadian author, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and essayist. A leading critic called him "the great shining star of his Canadian literary generation" and a pivotal figure in the country's history...
, Edgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
and Isaac AsimovIsaac Asimov , was an American author and professor of biochemistry, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books...
also 'crossover' with each other, linking different characters and settings together over a number of different works.
Brazilian writer Monteiro LobatoJosé Bento Renato Monteiro Lobato was one of Brazil's most influential writers, mostly for his children's books set in the fictional Yellow Woodpecker Ranch but he had been previously a prolific writer of fiction, a translator and an art critic...
also created solid and imaginative crossovers, using elements and characters from Brazilian folklore such as the Cuca and SaciThe Saci is arguably the most popular character in Brazilian folklore. He is a one-legged black or mulatto youngster with holes in the palms of his hands, who smokes a pipe and wears a magical red cap that enables him to disappear and reappear wherever he wishes...
, from Greek MythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
such as HeraclesIn Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles , Alcides or Alcaeus , was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
, from the Arabian Nights, from Fairy Tales such as Grimm's Snow WhiteSnow White is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm. The German version features elements such as the magic mirror and the seven dwarfs, who were first given individual names in Disney's 1937 film Snow White...
, western literature such as Peter PanPeter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
, silent movies such as PopeyePopeye the Sailor is a fictional hero famous for appearing in comic strips and animated films as well as numerous television shows. He was created by Elzie Crisler Segar, and first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
and Felix the CatFelix the Cat is a cartoon character created in the silent film era. His black body, white eyes, and giant grin, coupled with the surrealism of the situations in which his cartoons place him, combined to make Felix one of the most recognizable cartoon characters next to Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck,...
(cartoons) and western films actor Tom MixThomas Edwin Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
.
Other examples include many characters from seemingly unrelated works, which are set into a fictional reality of an actual location. Two examples include Irvine Welsh and Bret Eaton Ellis, whose main characters in their most noted works, American Psycho (Ellis),and Trainspotting (Welsh) appear in several other works. One is noted in the film The Rules of AttractionThe Rules of Attraction is a dark satirical film directed by Roger Avary, based on the novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis...
when Sean Bateman answers the phone and askes "Patrick?" who in Ellis' universe is Patrick Bateman, protagonist of 'American Psycho'. Sean is in that book but not in the movie.
Robert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called "the dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of the genre. He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's...
also made use of this approach, with several of his last works of fiction bringing together key characters who had recurred in various of his previously disjoint timelines. Robert B. ParkerRobert B. Parker is an American crime writer. His most famous works are the Spenser series, which was dramatized as a television series, Spenser: For Hire, on the ABC network during the late 1980s. His works incorporate considerable knowledge about the Boston metropolitan area.-Biography:Parker...
does this as well, with his series Spenser: For HireSpenser: For Hire is a mystery television series based on Robert B. Parker's "Spenser" novels. As is typical, the series, developed for TV by John Wilder, differs from the novels, mostly in its lesser degree of detail....
, Jesse StoneJesse Stone was an American rhythm and blues musician and songwriter whose influence spanned a wide range of genres. He also used the pseudonyms Charles Calhoun and Chuck Calhoun...
and Sunny Randall characters making occasional cameo appearances in one anothers' series.
Public domain
It is also common for authors to 'crossover' characters who have passed into the public domain, and thus do not require copyright or royalty payments for their use into their works; a prominent example of this occurs in Loren D. EstlemanLoren D. Estleman is an American writer of detective and Western fiction. He writes with a manual typewriter....
's novel Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula, in which Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
and DraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel,...
are brought together and pitted against each other. The League of Extraordinary GentlemenThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published beginning in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries...
by Alan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer known for work in comics, including the acclaimed comic book series Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell...
and Kevin O'NeillKevin O'Neill may refer to:*Kevin O'Neil - Winter Hill Gang Lieutenant*Kevin O'Neill , illustrator*Kevin O'Neill , coach*Kevin O'Neill , Australian football player...
is another example of this, as all of the main characters and most of the secondary / background characters are fictional characters whose copyright has expired, and all are characters of different authors and creators brought together within one massive extended universe. Many of the works of Philip José FarmerPhilip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
's Wold Newton familyThe Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer...
sequences (which has also been explored and developed by other authors) also utilize and interweave numerous otherwise unrelated fictional characters into a rich family history by speculating familial connections between them (such as a blood-relationship between Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
and TarzanTarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by fictional great apes, who later returns to civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
).
Occasionally, authors will include into crossovers classic fictional characters whose copyright is still held by the original authors (or at least their estates), but who are nevertheless considered iconic or 'mythic' enough to be recognised from a few character traits or descriptions without being directly named (thus not requiring royalties payments to be made to the copyright holder). A prominent example occurs within the first volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, wherein a character who is clearly intended in appearance and description by other characters to be Dr. Fu ManchuDr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character first featured in a series of novels by English author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century...
appears as a significant villain; however, as this character was not in the public domain at the time of writing and the rights still held by the estate of his creator Sax RohmerArthur Henry Sarsfield Ward , better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu.- Life and work :...
, he is not directly named as such in the work and is only referred to as 'the Devil Doctor'.
Roger ZelaznyRoger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels. He won the Nebula award three times and the Hugo award six times , including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel ...And Call Me Conrad Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995)...
's novel A Night in the Lonesome OctoberA Night in the Lonesome October is a satirical novel by Roger Zelazny published in 1993, near the end of his life.The book is divided in 32 chapters, each representing one "night" in the month of October . The story is told in the first-person, akin to journal entries...
cross-overs Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Frankenstein, Jack the Ripper and the Cthulhu Mythos, although he never specifically identifies them as such ("The Count", "The Good Doctor", "Jack", etc.).
Spin-offs
In its simplest and most common form, a television crossover involves a starring character on a parent show appearing on a spin-offMedia spin-off is the process of deriving new radio programs, television programs or video games or even novels from already existing ones. Spin-offs work with varying degrees of success...
because of established character relationships. An obvious example of this type of crossover occurred when Cliff Huxtable of The Cosby ShowThe Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, first airing on September 20, 1984 and running for eight seasons on the NBC television network, until April 30, 1992...
visited his daughter, Denise, on A Different WorldA Different World is an American television sitcom which aired for six seasons on NBC . It was a spin-off series from The Cosby Show originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college in the state of Virginia...
. Another example of this is the appearances made by Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters to AngelAngel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
in Los Angeles from Sunnydale.
Sometimes, spin-off crossovers don't involve principals, but rather supporting cast members. For instance, the main link between Green AcresGreen Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a farm in the country...
, Petticoat Junction Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on the CBS network from 1963 to 1970. The series is part of a triad of interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning, the other two being The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The...
and The Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American television sitcom. It ranked among the top 12 most watched series on television for seven of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the #1 series of the year, with a number of episodes that remain among the most-watched television episodes of all time...
is Sam DruckerSam Drucker was the operator of the general store in Hooterville in the fictional world of the 1960s American sitcoms Petticoat Junction and Green Acres and made several guest appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies, created by Paul Henning...
.
Depending on the complexity of the franchise, though, the crossover can be even more indirect, serving to suggest the size of the fictional world. This sort of crossover is somewhat common to the Star TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series.The original Star Trek was an American television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation...
universe, where minor guest stars from one series have appeared as featured guest stars later on. A good example of this kind of crossover is that of Arne Darvin. Despite the passage of about a century of narrative time, he appeared as a secondary character in the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles", but was the principal villain of the Star Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television program that premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Rooted in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe, it was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and produced by Paramount...
episode, "Trials and Tribble-ations".
One of the more dramatic examples of a crossover occurred in the two-part season four finale of the revived science-fiction series Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
. Earlier characters Jack HarknessCaptain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appears in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappears in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
and Sarah Jane SmithSarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures....
returned to guest star in the episodes The Stolen Earth"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by showrunner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first episode of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode...
and Journey's EndJourney's End is a 1928 drama, the seventh of English playwright R. C. Sherriff. It was first performed at the Apollo Theatre in London by the Incorporated Stage Society on 9 December 1928.-Plot summary:...
, accompanied by several characters from their respective series (Gwen CooperGwen Elizabeth Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. Gwen Cooper is a former police officer recruited into the Torchwood Institute...
and Ianto JonesIanto Jones is a fictional character from the BBC television series Torchwood and its parent show, Doctor Who, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd....
from TorchwoodTorchwood is a British science fiction television programme, created by Russell T Davies. It deals with the machinations and activities of the Cardiff branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute, who deal mainly with incidents involving extraterrestrials...
, and Luke Smith and K-9 from The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC science fiction programme Doctor Who and focuses on the adventures of...
.)
Star Trek affords an easy understanding of yet another kind of spin-off crossover: that of crossover by implication. By making the various ships and devices to be of roughly the same visual design, the implication is that all of series take place in the same universe. This kind of crossover occurs in other shows when shared characters are mentioned but do not actually appear, as when Michael StivicMichael Casimir "Meathead" Stivic is a fictional character on the American sitcom All in the Family, played by Rob Reiner.- Character overview :...
was referenced on GloriaGloria was a television situation comedy that lasted one season on CBS, from September 1982 to September 1983. It starred Sally Struthers, reprising her role as Gloria Bunker Stivic, the daughter of Archie Bunker on the hugely successful 1970s sitcom All in the Family...
.
This type of crossover is also common with Tokusatsuis a Japanese term that describes any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
shows from Japan. One of the most common crossovers stars characters from programs under the banner of Super SentaiThe is the name given to the long running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Company Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...
. Each year, the current Sentai team meets up with the Sentai team that came before them and unite between a common villain, such as Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, translated into English as Special Investigation Squadron Dekaranger, was the twenty-eighth production of the Super Sentai television series...
vs. Abarangerwas Toei Company Limited's twenty-seventh production of the Super Sentai television series. Its action footage was used in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder.-Plot:...
. During an Anniversary year, Sentai warriors from various teams come together to help the current team, such as GoGo Sentai Boukenger vs. Super Sentaiis a direct-to-video tokusatsu movie. The DVD was released in February 2007. The movie celebrates the 30 year anniversary of the Super Sentai Series.-Plot:...
. These adventures are produced under V-CinemaJapanese is the direct-to-video industry that appeared in Japan in the 1980s. The term is a trademark of Toei Company but is widely used in the West to describe any Japanese direct-to-video release...
, direct to video. These team-ups are not limited to Super Sentai. The multiple series of Kamen Rider and UltramanThe is the collective name for all the shows produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad Ultra Monsters. The Ultra Series is one of the prominent tokusatsu superhero genre productions from Japan, along with Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and the Metal...
have instances of current and past heroes meeting with each other. Several of these times occur in theatrical films, such as Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shockeris the film adaptation of the 2009 Kamen Rider Series Kamen Rider Decade. The film was released in Japanese theaters on August 8, 2009, alongside the Samurai Sentai Shinkenger film, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger The Movie: The Fateful War. In its first week in theaters, it opened at the #1 spot,...
and Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers. Rarely, these heroes will crossover with each other, like in Ultraman vs. Kamen Rideris the name of a television special that aired July 21 1993 featuring a meetup between Tsuburaya Productions' Ultraman and Toei Company's Kamen Rider.-Plot:...
and a recent team-up between Kamen Rider Decadeis the title of the first of the 2009 editions of the long-running Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu dramas. Decade, as its title suggests, is the tenth of the Heisei Rider Series, having begun with Kamen Rider Kuuga in 2000...
and Samurai Sentai Shinkengeris the title of Toei Company's thirty-third entry in its long-running Super Sentai Series of Japanese tokusatsu television series. It premiered on February 15, 2009, the week following the finale of Engine Sentai Go-onger...
.
The distinction between "spin-off" and "crossover" is sometimes narrow. The two terms can become especially conflated if two shows are linked by a guest star with a single appearance. There is debate, for instance over whether Out of the BlueOut Of The Blue is a short-lived American fantasy-based sitcom that aired on the ABC during the fall of 1979. It is chiefly notable as having featured a Mork and Mindy crossover, and for the controversy surrounding its status as a spin-off of Happy Days.The series starred Jimmy Brogan as Random, an...
is a spin-off of Happy DaysHappy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1974 to 1984 on ABC. The show presents an idealized vision of life in mid 1950s to mid 1960s America....
, or whether the star of Out of the Blue merely crossed over into Happy Days.
Crossovers between established shows
Crossovers involving principals can also occur when the characters have no prior relationship, but are related by time period, locale or profession. Such crossovers were characteristic of early Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
westernsThe Western is a fiction genre seen in film, television, radio, literature, painting and other visual arts. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the later half of the 19th century in what became the Western United States , but also in Western Canada, Mexico , Alaska The Western...
. Perhaps the biggest such crossover was seen in the episode "Hadley's Hunters" from the fourth season of MaverickMaverick is a comedy-western television series created by Roy Huggins that ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and featured James Garner, Jack Kelly, Roger Moore, and Robert Colbert as the poker-playing traveling Mavericks...
. It featured the lead characters of Cheyenne, BroncoBronco is a Western series on ABC from 1958 through 1962. It was shown by the BBC in the United Kingdom. The program starred Ty Hardin as Bronco Layne, a former Confederate officer who wandered the Old West, meeting such well-known individuals as Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, Jesse James,...
, LawmanLawman is a western television series originally telecast from 1958 to 1962 starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and Peter Brown as Deputy Johnny McKay. Set in Laramie, Wyoming, the action often centered on the Birdcage Saloon, owned by Lily Merrill, portrayed by Peggie Castle...
and SugarfootSugarfoot is the title of a TV western that aired from 1957 to 1961. The series featured Will Hutchins as fledgling frontier lawyer Tom Brewster and Jack Elam as sidekick Toothy Thompson...
, along with signature props from Colt .45Colt .45 was a western television series shown on ABC between 1957 and 1960. The show is derived from the 1950 Warner Brothers film of the same name starring Randolph Scott and formed part of the William T...
and even the non-Warner's western, Wanted: Dead or Alive. While seeing so many crossovers in one episode is rare today, the Law and OrderThe term "Law & Order franchise" is commonly used to describe a number of related American television programs created by Dick Wolf and originally broadcast on NBC, all of which deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system...
franchise rivals the old ABC/Warner's westerns in terms of frequency. Like them, the Law and Order series afford a commonality of setting which lends itself to crossovers.
Though most common on shows of the same production company, they have also occurred because shows share the same distributor or network. A good example of this kind of link is that between Murder She Wrote and Magnum, P.I.Magnum, P.I. is an American television show starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
. Both these shows were made by different companies, but owned by Universal StudiosUniversal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major American movie studios. Its main motion picture production/distribution arm is called Universal Pictures. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California...
and broadcast on CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
. A more unusual case is that of Mad About YouMad About You is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992, to May 24, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations...
and FriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. The series revolved around a group of friends in the area of Manhattan, New York City, who occasionally live together and share living expenses. The series was produced by...
, which are conjoined by the character of Ursula Buffay. Neither show shares any production or distribution commonality whatsoever, but, rather, an actress (Lisa KudrowLisa V. Kudrow is an American actress, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends. Throughout her career she has received many accolades for her work in film and television including an Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.-Early life:Lisa V. Kudrow was born...
), a setting (New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
) and a schedule (Friends initially followed Mad About You on NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's Thursday night schedule). Also, on The King of QueensThe King of Queens is an American sitcom that ran for nine seasons, from 1998 to 2007, on CBS.The show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures Television...
, characters from Everybody Loves RaymondEverybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996 to May 16, 2005.Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
appear occasionally in cameos with Doug and the rest of the cast.
Mad About You and Friends share another type of "network crossover". On rare occasions, networks have chosen to theme an entire night's programming around a crossover event. In their case, a New York City blackoutA power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
caused by Paul ReiserPaul Reiser is an American stand-up comedian, actor, author and writer.- Early life :Reiser was born in New York City, the son of Helen, a homemaker, and Sam Reiser, a wholesale health food distributor. Reiser attended the East Side Hebrew Institute on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and...
's character on Mad About You was experienced by the characters on Friends and Madman of the PeopleMadman of the People was a short-lived sitcom broadcast on the American network NBC from 1994 to 1995. It had the Thursday 9:30 timeslot, part of Must See TV. It starred veteran character actor Dabney Coleman as Jack "Madman" Buckner, an outspoken newspaper columnist who had written a popular...
. But event nights can also be linked by a single character's quest across multiple shows on the same evening. ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
attempted this kind of "event night" crossover with its Friday night programming during the 1997 season. There, they proposed that the titular character of Sabrina the Teenage WitchSabrina the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name. Its first four seasons aired on ABC from September 27, 1996 to May 5, 2000; the final three seasons ran on The WB Television Network from September 22, 2000 to April 24, 2003.-History and...
should chase her cat, SalemSalem Saberhagen is a character from the American comic Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, who also appeared in all other adaptations of the original, including the 1969 animated version by Filmation in which Salem is a cat of indeterminate breed, and has no other name except "Salem". In addition, unlike...
, through Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets World was an American television sitcom that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, who grows up from a young boy to a married man...
, You Wish and Teen AngelTeen Angel is an American sitcom that was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss of The Simpsons fame. The show aired on ABC's TGIF Friday night lineup from 1997 to 1998.-Synopsis:...
because it had run away with a "time ball" that was displacing each show through time. Another ABC crossover was featured on a Saturday morning cartoonA Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming which was typically scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the 1990s. In the United States, the generally accepted times considered to be Saturday mornings...
-- it featured none of the characters from any of the 1 Saturday Morning shows, but a common "villain" named S.T.U.A.R.T. appeared on DougDoug is an American animated sitcom that was created by Jim Jinkins and produced by Jumbo Pictures for the Nickelodeon network, as the first of their successful line of Nicktoons. Later on, the series was then produced for Disney for airing on ABC's One Saturday Morning block...
, RecessRecess is an American animated television series that was created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere, and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Recess focuses on six elementary school students and their interaction with other classmates and teachers.-Premise:The series is centered around...
and Pepper AnnPepper Ann is an animated series created by Sue Rose and shown in the United States and Canada on ABC. It debuted on Saturday, September 13, 1997....
. Sometimes the crossovers between adjoining shows can be even more subtle than these examples, such as when characters at the end of an episode of Spin CitySpin City is an American sitcom television series that ran from 1996 to 2002 on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike Flaherty, the Deputy Mayor of New York...
decided to watch a broadcast of the fictional sports telecast, Sports NightSports Night is an American television series about a fictional sports news show and the people who work there. It focuses on the friendships, pitfalls, and ethical issues they face while trying to produce a good show under constant network pressure...
, which led immediately into an episode of the sitcom of the same name.
On other occasions, crossovers between established shows can occur without a network or production commonality, but simply because there is some narrative rationale for the crossover. The appearance of detective John MunchJohn Munch is a fictional Detective played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Upon that series' cancellation, the character was transplanted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the Law & Order franchise. He made his 300th...
(from NBC's Homicide: Life on the StreetHomicide: Life on the Street was an American television police procedural series chronicling the work of a fictional Baltimore Police Department homicide unit. It ran for seven seasons on the NBC network from 1993 to 1999 and then was followed by a 2000 TV-movie that served as a de facto series...
) on FOX's The X-FilesThe X-Files is an American cult science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. It first aired in September 1993 and ended in May 2002...
happened merely because the episode revolved around a crime scene in Baltimore, a logical place for characters on The X-Files to have encountered Munch. Munch would also appear on the TV series Law & OrderLaw & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, which premiered on NBC on September 13, 1990. Created by Dick Wolf, the series is set in New York City, and follows the professional lives of several police officers and prosecutors who represent the public interest in...
on NBC in which it had one episode which began on that series in New York City and concluded in Baltimore on Homicide: Life on the Street. Later, when Homicide went off the air in 1999, Detective Munch ends up leaving Baltimore to move to New York, and becoming a permanent character (as New York City Detective Munch) on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural TV series about the Special Victims Unit in a fictional version of the 16th Precinct of the New York City Police Department...
.
A two-part crossover episode between CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
with Without a TraceWithout a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series is set in New York City and is about a fictitious full-time FBI missing persons unit.-Premise:...
aired on November 8, 2007. The first hour was on CSI and the second hour was on Without a Trace. ERER is an American medical drama series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 1994 to April 2009. It is set primarily in the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment in...
had a crossover with Third WatchThird Watch is an NBC television drama set in New York City that ran from September 23, 1999 to May 6, 2005.-Premise:The series followed the exploits of a group of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics in the fictional 55th Precinct and Fire Station 55 whose shifts fell between 3 p.m...
which involved a series high for the latter show – 17.2 million viewers.
Promotional cameos
Crossovers can take the form of a promotional cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television. Short appearances by film directors, politicians, athletes, musicians, and other celebrities are common. These roles are generally small, and...
, used to draw attention to another work of fiction, with little rational explanation in the context of the hosting show's narrative. When not clearly presented as parody, this is frequently scorned by fans as blatant commercialism. A notable example of this is The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
episode A Star Is Burns"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons
' sixth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 5, 1995. In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge...
, in which the character of Jay Sherman (from The CriticThe Critic was an American animated series revolving around the life of movie critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994, finishing...
) appeared. This episode was largely condemned by fans of The Simpsons as existing to promote The Critic. Even Simpsons creator Matt GroeningMatthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell and the television series The Simpsons and Futurama....
objected, preferring to remove his name from the credits of that particular episode in protest.
Parodic crossovers
Often, the problems of bringing together two shows with different narrative ambitions makes the writing of a crossover burdensome. Such difficulties are encountered by situation comedies that wish to crossover with dramatic television programmes. The satirical crossover—ranging in length from a cameo to a full comedy sketchSketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
or episode—is an extremely popular way of circumventing this problem. By various means, such crossovers typically avoid outcry from fans by being obvious parodyA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
or homageHomage is pronounced variously as , , or . The last reflects the modern French pronunciation, although the word entered Middle English many centuries ago. In traditional usage it is analogous to praise; one properly speaks of homage or the homage, rather than a homage or an homage...
. However, on rare occasion, the humor of such crossovers can be used by one show make a narrativeA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
point by capitalizing on the audience's experience of the other programme.
Such tongue-in-cheekTongue-in-cheek is a term used to refer to humor in which a statement, or an entire fictional work, is not meant to be taken seriously, but its sarcasm is subtle...
crossovers typically fall into one of several broad categories.
- Parodic crossovers can be directly established as being outside of the continuity of one or all of the properties being crossed over. A good example is the crossover between The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
and The X-FilesThe X-Files is an American cult science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. It first aired in September 1993 and ended in May 2002...
, which was largely accepted as being outside of standard X-Files continuity.
- One episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy shows that after Mandy smiles-Mandy, Billy and Grim are transformed into The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series about three kindergarten-aged girls who have superpowers. Created by animator Craig McCracken, the program was produced by Hanna-Barbera until 2001 when Cartoon Network Studios took over production for Cartoon Network...
with a cameo by Professor Utonium
- They can occur by virtue of a dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other element. Commonly, dream sequences appear in many...
, in which the characters of one show will appear as part of a dream had by a character on another show. This method was perhaps used most famously to explain to audiences that the entirety of NewhartNewhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and his wife who owned and operated a historic inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was populated by eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to...
had been the dream of Bob NewhartGeorge Robert "Bob" Newhart is an American stand-up comedian and actor who is best known for playing psychologist Dr. Robert "Bob" Hartley on the 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show and as innkeeper Dick Loudon on the 1980s sitcom Newhart.Newhart also appeared in film roles such as Major Major in...
's character on The Bob Newhart ShowThe Bob Newhart Show is the name of two different television series, both starring comedian Bob Newhart. The better-known is a situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired on CBS from September 16, to April 1,...
. It has more recently been used to demonstrate that cast members of The Young And The RestlessThe Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional version of Genoa City, Wisconsin. First broadcast on March 26, 1973, The Young and the Restless was originally broadcast as half-hour episodes,...
appeared in a dream of a character onThe King of QueensThe King of Queens is an American sitcom that ran for nine seasons, from 1998 to 2007, on CBS.The show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures Television...
.
- Parodic crossovers can take the form of "gag
A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. These jokes will normally have a punchline that will end the sentence to make it humorous. A joke can also be a single phrase or statement that employs sarcasm...
" cameos by characters of one property appearing on another. Characters from King of the Hill have appeared on The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
to comment on a peewee football game. Gag cameos may also include the appearance of an actor from another show, but not necessarily the character that the actor played. For instance, on the ABC/CBS show Family MattersFamily Matters is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom about an African-American middle-class family living in Chicago. The series was spun-off from Perfect Strangers and revolves around the Winslow family. Midway through the first season, the show introduced the Winslow's nerdy neighbor Steve...
during the closing credits of the episode "Scenes From a Mall" (Season 5, Episode 12), a scene which was shown earlier in the episode featuring Reginald VelJohnsonReginald VelJohnson is an American actor of film, stage and television, best known for his role as Carl Winslow on the sitcom Family Matters, where he was the only cast member to appear in every single episode. He was also LAPD Sgt...
is re-played, but this time with one of the child actors stating that he "looks like that fat guy from Fresh Prince," referring to James AveryJames L. Avery, Sr. is an American TV actor best known for his portrayal of the patriarch and attorney Philip Banks in the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, whom Will Smith's character affectionately called "Uncle Phil". This character was ranked #34 in TV Guide's "50 Greatest...
who played Judge Phillip Banks on NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show starred Will Smith as a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to live with his wealthy relatives in a Bel Air mansion. His lifestyle often...
. To the obvious surprise of the studio audience and VelJohnson, Avery walked onto the set with an angry look, being in on the staged joke himself. Ended the episode (but with the cameras filming still), VelJohnson and Avery hugged and smiling they greeted to the public.
- Crossovers of this type can also be completely wordless. This type of crossover is more common on animated programmes, such as when Bender
Bender Bending Rodríguez, designated Bending Unit 22, is a fictional robot character in the animated television series Futurama. He is voiced by John DiMaggio. In the series, Bender plays the role of a comic anti-hero, and is described by Leela as an "alcoholic, whore-mongering, chain-smoking...
found and ate Bart SimpsonBartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
's shorts on FuturamaFuturama is an animated American sci-fi sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
, or MilhouseMilhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
had a talking Bender doll on The Simpsons. This would seem to be another case when a popular franchise is acknowledged as fiction and not a crossover of the stories.
- Perhaps the most obvious parodic crossover is found when characters from two series interact outside of either series. This occurs most commonly on a sketch comedy
Sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
show or as a humorous interlude on an award telecast. Such crossovers may sometimes involve the real actors — for example, a sketch on Royal Canadian Air FarceAir Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
saw Yasir and Sarah from Little Mosque on the PrairieLittle Mosque on the Prairie is a Canadian sitcom on CBC Television, created by Zarqa Nawaz and produced by WestWind Pictures. It is shot in Toronto, Ontario and Indian Head, Saskatchewan...
buying the gas station from Corner GasCorner Gas is a Canadian television sitcom series created by Brent Butt. Re-runs still air on CTV and The Comedy Network in Canada, WGN America in the United States, and SBS in Australia....
, with all characters in the sketch being portrayed by the shows' real actors — although they may also feature one genuine star from the show amid a cast comprised otherwise of the sketch show's own stable of actors. Such crossovers are generally immediately apparent as parodies to the audience — and in no way considered a part of either show's continuity — due to the need for the hosting show to approximate the sets and costumes of the satirized programmes quickly and inexpensively. When Patrick StewartPatrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor. He has had a distinguished career in theatre for nearly fifty years, including performances as various characters in Shakespearean productions...
appeared in a Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Created about 21 years after the original Star Trek, and set in the 24th century about 80 years after the orginal series, the program features a new crew and a new...
/The Love BoatThe Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24, 1977 until May 24, 1986. The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain, who encourages his customers to find romance...
crossover on Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a weekly late-night sketch comedy and variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975, under a slightly different title. The show features a regular cast of comedy actors, joined by a guest host and musical act...
, for instance, few Star Trek fans would've been fooled by the visual design into believing the event "counted" as an episode of their show. However, there are some cases of this type of parody having some canonicalA canon, in terms of a fictional universe, is a body of material that is considered to be "genuine" or "official", that can be directly referenced as, or as if it were, material produced by the original author or creator of a series...
resonance with viewers. For instance, the British charity appeal, Comic Relief often contains parodic crossovers of a technically higher quality than the normal sketch show. Many of these Relief sketches are produced by the cast and crew of the actual programmes being parodied, and hence appear to be "normal" episodes. A good example of this is the sketch, "BallyKissDibley", an 11-minute piece in which the leads of BallykissangelBallykissangel was a BBC television drama set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English priest as he became part of a rural community. It ran for six series, which were first broadcast on BBC One in the UK from 1996 to 2001...
appeared on the sets of The Vicar of DibleyThe Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. The Vicar of Dibley aired from 1994 to 2007...
, alongside most of Dibleys cast. Since the sketch derived its humor from all actors remaining in characterIn Character is an acting term referring to an actor playing the part of a character, either in a format setting or a public appearance. At a public appearance the actor behaves in accordance with the role or assumed personality of the character. For example, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen often...
, the extent to which these parodies "count" as part of either show's canon is more open to interpretation than most sketch crossovers.
- Parodic crossovers can be used to lend verisimilitude
Verisimilitude—or truthlikeness—in the philosophy of science is trying to articulate how a false theory could be closer to the truth than another false theory. This usage was mostly popularized by Karl Popper. He assumed that science was interested in the informative content of a theory because...
to the fictional world of a programme. Characters from a fictional television series may appear on a stylized version of an established non-fictional television series, such as game showA game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while...
s or reality shows. These crossovers between celebrity hosts and fictional characters are quite common on situation comediesA situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. Today, sitcoms are found almost exclusively on television as one of its dominant narrative forms...
. Mama's FamilyMama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It ended its run on that network in May 1984 when it was cancelled, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In June 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for...
once appeared on Family FeudFamily Feud is an American television game show that pits two families against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey-type question posed to 100 people...
and the townsfolk of The Vicar of Dibley have had their heirloomIn popular usage, an heirloom is something, perhaps an antique or some kind of jewelry, that has been passed down for generations through family members....
s valuated on Antiques RoadshowAntiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom and appraise antiques brought in by local residents. It has been running since 1979...
, for instance. In such cases, it is generally the non-fictional show which ends up being the most satirized, due to a need to compress the experience to its most recognizable elements. However, these crossovers can happen on dramatic television, such as when Blue PeterBlue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel.It is named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail...
provided narrative expositionExposition is one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration. The purpose of exposition is to provide some background and inform the readers about the plot, character, setting, and theme of the essay/story....
on The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC science fiction programme Doctor Who and focuses on the adventures of...
. Rarely, brief crossovers between two fictional programmes can be used for this same purpose. In the episode, Army of Ghosts"Army of Ghosts" is the twelfth and penultimate episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who which was first broadcast on 1 July 2006...
, Peggy MitchellMargaret Ann "Peggy" Mitchell is a fictional character from the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. Peggy was initially played by Jo Warne when she first appeared in the series on 30 April 1991. Peggy was at this time seen on a recurring basis over several weeks...
was seen in a fictionalized scene from EastEndersEastEnders is a long-running, popular and award-winning television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985...
in order to demonstrate the degree to which the titular ghosts had permeated the popular culture of Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
s BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
. Here, too, time constraints caused the satire of the guest programme (EastEnders) and not the host programme (Doctor Who).
- Star Wrek is a comedy crossover between Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series.The original Star Trek was an American television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation...
and Babylon 5Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on the Babylon 5 space station: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
.
Retroactive crossovers
Sometimes, crossovers occur even when there was no explicit intent to create them. Viewer interpretation can play into the size and complexity of crossovers. These sort of crossovers involve no creation of additional material, but merely result from inferences drawn about existing filmed episodes. Usually they are a product of narrative ambiguity. Perhaps the best example of this was caused by the unusual ending to St. ElsewhereSt. Elsewhere is a U.S. drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood. The hospital's nickname, "St...
. One interpretation of the ending scene of the final episode, has been that the entire run of the programme was n a figment of autisticAutism is a disorder of neural development that is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism involves many parts of the brain; how this occurs is not well understood...
character, Tommy Westphall's imagination. This leads itself to a broad interpretation of the events of that series. Because the show had direct crossovers with twelve different programmes, and each one of these twelve had numerous other crossovers, linkages can be found from Elsewhere to 280 other shows, comprising what has been called "the Tommyverse".
Unofficial crossovers
In contrast with legal crossovers, unofficial crossovers are created solely because of the artistic pleasure derived by its producers. Generally, unofficial crossovers take the form of fan-written fiction and fan art, but it is increasingly prevalent in amateur filmsA fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book or a similar source, created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the more notable films have actually been produced by...
and audioRadio Drama is a form of audio storytelling broadcast on radio. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the story....
. Whereas official crossovers are frequently stymied by such concerns as copyright, royalties payments, quality of writing and ownership of the characters, unofficial crossovers are unfettered by such concerns, so long as property holders do not exercise their right to enjoinAn injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order, whereby a party is required to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. The party that fails to adhere to the injunction faces civil or criminal penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions for failing to follow the...
the distribution of such material.
A good example would be the unauthorised live action fan film: Batman: Dead EndBatman: Dead End is a fan film made by Sandy Collora that premiered July 19, 2003 at the San Diego Comic Con, and on the internet shortly thereafter....
, which brings together the properties of Batman, AlienThe Alien film series is a science fiction horror film franchise, focusing on Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and her battle with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred as "the Alien"...
and PredatorPredator is a 1987 science fiction, action and horror film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. The story follows an elite team on a mission to rescue hostages from a guerrilla group in Central America. Unknowingly, the...
in one setting.
The comedy music song and video "Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate DestinyThe Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, often shortened to Ultimate Showdown, is a comical song and video released on December 7, 2005...
" is like a giant crossover featuring many famous real and fictional characters battling in one giant showdown.
In the film I Am LegendI Am Legend is a 2007 science fiction-disaster film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man. Smith plays virologist Robert...
, a billboard can be seen in Times SquareTimes Square is a major intersection in Manhattan, a borough of New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
depicting a crossover film of Batman and Superman, with a release date of May 15, 2010.
Unofficial crossovers can also occur in a "what-if" scenario. The most notable is an episode of Family GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television sitcom, created by Seth MacFarlane, for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family which consists of Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris, Stewie, and their pet dog Brian...
entitled "Lois Kills Stewie" which turned out to be a simulation along with the previous episode "Stewie Kills Lois". Stewie GriffinStewart Gilligan "Stewie" Griffin is a fictional character in the animated series Family Guy voiced by Seth MacFarlane. Previously obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin...
is confronted by Stan SmithStan Smith PLEASE LEAVE THIS AS "STAN SMITH." See the "Name Section" for a discussion on his full name is the main character of the animated television series American Dad! Stan is a Central Intelligence Agency agent and, later on in the series, promoted Deputy-Deputy...
and Avery Bullock from American Dad!American Dad! is a satirical American animated series owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions and produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television....
while hacking into the central power grid at the CIAThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government.It is an independent agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior United States policymakers....
in a latest plan for world dominationWorld domination, world conquest, global conquest, or global domination may refer to:- Politics :* Hegemony, predominant influence exercised by one nation over others...
. Stewie mistakes Stan for Joe SwansonJoseph "Joe" Swanson is a fictional character in the Fox animated television show Family Guy. He is voiced by actor Patrick Warburton. He is a macho paraplegic police officer in the Quahog Police Department who is at many times subject to intense anger problems...
, due to notable similarities between the two shows. Stewie threatens to turn off all the electricity in the world until Stan and Bullock fulfill his demands of being "President of the World", which they do. Even though this never really happened, this is considered by some to mark the first official appearance of American Dad! characters in a Family Guy episode.
"Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds" introduces the famous detective to the scene of London occupied by Martian invaders, depicted by H. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, and social commentary....
- the crossover facilitated by the fact that both works, set in late Victorian London, are now in the public domain
and can be freely used and modified.
Fan fiction crossovers between different science fiction movies and series are often created, such as Star Wars vs Star Trek or Babylon 5 vs Stargate. Examples include SpaceBattles.com, and many videos on Youtube.
Super Mario Bros. Z, a spriteIn computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional/three-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene....
-based Flash cartoonA Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created using Adobe Flash animation software and often distributed in the .swf file format. It can be created in Flash or with other programs capable of writing .swf files...
, is one fan fiction crossover that has gained a huge cult followingA cult following is used to refer to a small or large group of fans that are either somewhat or highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture.-Cult media:...
; the series features characters from the MarioThe Mario series is a series of highly popular and acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping and defeating enemies...
and Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchises, and draws heavy influence from the Dragon Ballis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 through 1995, and later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha...
franchise.
See also
- List of crossovers in fiction
- Amalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics was an American comic book publisher of metafiction; it was a collaboration between Marvel Comics and DC Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters to create new ones...
- canon (fiction)
A canon, in terms of a fictional universe, is a body of material that is considered to be "genuine" or "official", that can be directly referenced as, or as if it were, material produced by the original author or creator of a series...
- Callback (comedy)
A callback, in terms of comedy, is a joke which refers to one previously told in the set. The second joke is often presented in a different context than the one which was used in the initial joke. Callbacks are usually used at or near the end of a set, as the aim is to create the biggest laugh at...
- Continuity (fiction)
In fiction, continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the reader or viewer. It is of relevance to several media....
- Fanfiction
- Twisting the Hellmouth
- fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
- fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements which differ from the real world. It may be called, variously, a fictional realm, world or universe...
- Intercompany crossover
In comic books, an intercompany crossover is a comic or series of comics where characters published by one company meet those published by another...
- shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
- spin-off
A spin-off is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one, such as television series based on a pre-existing one, or a new company formed from a university research group or business incubator...
- Tommy Westphall
Tommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series St. Elsewhere, which ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. Westphall, who is autistic, took on major significance in St. Elsewhere's final episode, "The Last One," where the...
- Wold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer...
External links