The 7 most inexplicable TV crossovers of all time
Jeff Wysaski
Though it doesn’t happen too often any more, crossovers between popular TV shows were all the rage in previous generations. It was an easy way to share an audience and perhaps briefly pop a rating. But that doesn’t mean they exactly made sense. Here are the 7 most inexplicable TV crossovers of all time.
1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Power Rangers
Back in 1997, Saban Entertainment owned two popular ninja-based TV shows – the Power Rangers and a short-lived live-action Ninja Turtles show. Based on the sole connection of martial arts, Saban decided it was a good idea to introduce the Ninja Turtles into the plotline of Power Rangers in Space (never mind the fact that the turtles live in New York and not outer space).
During the episode, the Turtles are brainwashed by a Space Rangers villain named Astronema to defeat the Rangers. Later, the spell breaks and the two teams pair up to defeat Astronema. Radical? Hardly.
2 Scooby Doo and The Harlem Globetrotters
The Scooby Doo franchise is perhaps the most notorious television program when it comes to odd character crossovers. One of the most famous and laughable examples is the episode in which the Harlem Globetrotters make an appearance (note: the Harlem Globetrotters cartoon was a short-lived TV series. So yes, this is a valid TV crossover).
Other notable TV crossovers that took place on Scooby Doo include Laurel and Hardy, Dick Van Dyke, The Addams Family, Speed Buggy and Batman and Robin.
3 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Meets Boy Meets World
ABC went for a massive crossover event back in 1997 that required more than a few poorly cobbled-together plot points. The idea of the event was to have Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s cat, Salem, swallow a “time ball.” Sabrina would then chase the cat from one time period to another, simultaneously interweaving with plots from other TGIF shows to air on the same night.
These three other shows were Boy Meets World, You Wish and Teen Angel. Since Boy Meets World is the most memorable, I’ll stick with it. Thanks to Salem’s time ball, Cory and pals are whisked back to the 1940s, where they meet Sabrina before she follows that darn cat into the next TV show. Awful TV writing at it’s best.
4 Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue was a once-run anti-drug TV special that aired simultaneously on three networks in 1990. It is notable for boasting the most franchise crossovers in a single television program. These characters, consisting of ten different franchises, included Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Garfield, Michelango (TMNT), Winnie-the-Pooh, Muppet Babies, Smurfs, ALF, Alvin, Simon and Theodore, Huey, Duey and Louie and Slimer from Ghostbusters.
To tie in all these characters to a single plotline, McDonalds (who produced the show), had a human character’s toys come to life to teach kids the perils of doing drugs.
5 Arrested Development and Law and Order
Arrested Development and Law and Order are two television shows with dramatically different tones. Such a fact often makes crossovers difficult. However, Arrested Development does a pretty good job of interjecting Richard Belzer’s Detective Munch into one of the comedy’s multi-layered episodes. Still, why Detective Munch, an NYPD cop, would be in Orange County trying to get Tobias Funke to fill a scrapbook with secret Bluth documents is beyond me.
A quick side note: Detective Munch holds the record for most crossovers by a single character, appearing on a total of eight different TV shows.
6 Batman and the Addams Family
Though the hometown of the Addams Family is never mentioned, I highly doubt that 0001 Cemetery Lane resides in Gotham City. Regardless, Batman and the Addams Family were two of the campiest shows of the 1960s, which apparently made a crossover all too perfect for parent company ABC. During one of Batman and Robin’s infamous side-of-the-building scenes, Lurch sticks his head out of a window to say hello.
7 Flintstones and Bewitched
Usually TV crossovers are partly justified by some sort of commonality between two TV shows. For example, both Ray Romano and Doug Heffernan both live in the New York area, making it at least plausible for these to characters to know each other. Such is not the case, however, with the appearance of Bewitched characters Samantha and Darrin in the fictional world of Bedrock. For one, this crossover doesn’t make sense because Samantha and Darrin are live-action characters in a cartoon world. For two, that cartoon world is set in a time THOUSANDS OF YEARS before the time frame of Bewitched.
Despite these large gaps in continuity, the writers behind the Flintstones chose to introduce the lovable couple into Bedrock as new neighbors of Barney and Wilma. Whatever you say, TV geniuses.
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