TV Crossovers

[Prof. Sky Alton]

I’m nearly finished with The Defenders, an entire series dedicated to bringing together the characters and storylines from 4 other shows from the MCU (itself a maze of references and out and out team ups). Holby City, a British medical drama I love, often features characters or plots from sister show, Casualty.

I really enjoy these instances: there’s just something magic about knowing that they exist in a broader fictional universe and that there are connections there to be explored. At the same time, I can remember some TV crossovers that perhaps didn’t make quite as much sense or work as well.

So, do you like TV Crossovers? Do you think they have creative depth? Or do you think they’re just gimmicky? You could also let us know your favourite/least favourite examples and if there are any shows past or present you wish would cross over.

[Prof. Amy Lupin]

I remember being pleasantly surprised watching an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, when Zooey Deschanel's character from New Girl (Jessica Day) appeared. While I haven't watched New Girl since maybe its third season, I do have some fond memories of the show, so it was nice having a reminder. I looked it up and there's a similar crossover in New Girl with Andy Samberg's chracter (Jake Peralta) from Brooklyn Nine-Nine (using the same or a similar scene).

While the crossover was rather unexpected, the directors did it in such a way that it seemed natural, so I was rather impressed with their efforts.

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

It really depends on how the crossover is done, for me.

I like it, or at least see it as interesting, when it is a small, short cameo, maybe one episode long. As Amy mentioned, Brooklyn Nine-Nine did that with New Girl and did it right. I do not watch New Girl, so I did not feel as if I were out of depth when Deschanel's character showed up.

However, most of the shows that I watch are part of a larger universe (Chicago-verse, FBI-verse, etc., or really any show with Dick Wolf as a producer) and their idea of a crossover is that the story start in an episode of one show that ends in an episode of the other. I really dislike that because I usually only watch one of the two and it is annoying trying to watch/find the other part to complete the story. I would really rather that the episode is a two-parter on one show and some of the characters join the other cast to solve the crime. Less inconvenient.