I Love Lucy started to air in 1951. When it first crossed over with another series, it started a chain reaction through the television world that still continues today with John Munch scheduled to appear on Paris enquêtes criminelles.1 Since the first crossover, over 150 television series can be considered part of the same shared reality due to spin-offs and crossovers. There are characters that move between different series, crossover special nights, characters from one series visiting another through a location, an item that appears in various series, and so much more. There are around 20 series which are still being broadcast as of 2008.
After I Love Lucy was renamed to The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, Susie McNamera from Private Secretary made an appearance in the first episode "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana."2 Danny Williams from The Danny Thomas Show and the rest of the Williams family made an appearance in The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour "Lucy Makes Room for Danny".3 Lucy and Ricky Ricardo made an appearance in The Danny Thomas Show "Lucy Upsets the Williams Household."4
The Danny Thomas Show was renamed to Make Room for Daddy. Andy Taylor appeared in Make Room for Daddy "Danny Meets Andy Griffith,"5 which lead to The Andy Griffith Show. Danny Williams appeared in The Joey Bishop Show "This Is Your Life."6 Make Room for Daddy had one spin-off Make Room For Granddaddy. Barney Fife of The Andy Griffith Show made an appearance on The Joey Bishop Show "Joey's Hideaway Cabin."78 The Andy Griffith Show had three spin-offs; Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Mayberry R.F.D., and The New Andy Griffith Show. Howard Sprague from The Andy Griffith Show appeared in It's Garry Shandling's Show "The Day Howard Moved In."910
Buddy Sorrell of The Dick Van Dyke Show made an appearance on The Danny Thomas Show "The Woman Behind the Jokes".1112 Alan Brady of The Dick Van Dyke Show appeared on Mad About You "The Alan Brady Show."1314 Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld appeared on Mad About You "The Apartment."1516 In Mad About You "Pandora's Box," Jamie Buchman causes a blackout. The blackout also appeared on Madman of the People "Birthday in the Big House" and Friends "The One with the Blackout." Mad About You and Friends characters Ursula Buffay and Phoebe Buffay are twin sisters.17 Chandler Bing of Friends and Jonathan Eliot of The Single Guy appeared in Caroline in the City "Caroline and the Folks."1819 Ross Geller of Friends appeared on The Single Guy "Neighbors."2021 Hope and Gloria stopped by the Central Perk coffee shop of Friends.22 Friends has one spin-off Joey. The comic strip from Caroline in the City appears on Frasier23 In The John Larroquette Show "More Changes," John Hemingway calls Dr. Frasier Crane's radio show.24 Frasier is a spin-off of Cheers. Cheers has another spin-off The Tortellis. Norm Peterson and Cliff Clavin of Cheers appeared in Wings "The Story of Joe;"25 Frasier and Lilith Sternin-Crane appeared in Wings "Planes, Trains and Visiting Cranes."2627 Melville's restaurant above Cheers was mentioned on Boston Legal.28 Boston Legal is a spin-off of The Practice. Doctor Ben Gideon appeared in The Practice "Gideon's Crossover;"29 then Ellenor Frutt appeared in Gideon's Crossing "Flashpoint."30 Kevin Riley appeared in The Practice "The Day After;"31 then Ellenor Frutt and Jimmy Berluti appeared in Boston Public "Chapter Thirteen."3233 Several characters of The Practice appeared in Ally McBeal "The Inmates,"34 which ended on The Practice "Axe Murderer;"35 Bobby Donnell also appeared in Ally McBeal "These Are the Days."3637 Ally McBeal had one spin-off Ally. Judge Isabel Hernandez from Miss Match appeared in Boston Legal "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"38 and "Head Cases."3940
Carla Tortelli, Norm Peterson, and Cliff Clavin from Cheers appeared in St. Elsewhere "Cheers."4142 Dr. Mark Craig of St. Elsewehere made a minor mention of the M*A*S*H character Dr. B. J. Hunnicut.43 M*A*S*H had three spin-offs Trapper John, M.D., AfterMASH, and W*A*L*T*E*R. The character Warren Coolidge from The White Shadow appeared in over twenty episodes of St. Elsewhere.44 The cousin of the character Dr. Elliot Axelrod appeared in an episode of Tattingers.45 Tattingers was renamed to Nick & Hillary. The character Dr. Mark Craig on St. Elsewhere had received the Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award, as did a character on Chicago Hope.46
Elliot Carlin from The Bob Newhart Show appeared on St. Elsewhere "Close Encounters."4748 Howard Borden from The Bob Newhart Show mentions Roger Healey from I Dream Of Jeannie.49 Dick Loudon from Newhart meets Elliot Carlin from The Bob Newhart Show.50 Jerry Robinson from The Bob Newhart Show appeared in Bob "Better To Have Loved And Flossed."5152 Newhart's Larry, Darryl, and Darryl appear in Coach "Leaving Orlando: Part 2"53 and "Leaving Orlando: Part 3."54 Grace Under Fire "Vegas,"55 Coach "Viva Las Ratings,"56 The Drew Carey Show "Drew Gets Married,"57 and Ellen "Secrets & Ellen"58 all had characters in Las Vegas on the same night.59 Ellen was originally These Friends Of Mine.60 Mr. Roper from Three's Company appeared on Ellen "Roommates."61 Three's Company had two spin-offs The Ropers and Three's A Crowd.
Drew Carey appeared in The Geena Davis Show "Momma Bear."6263 The fictional television series Tool Time from Home Improvement, which has one spin-off Buddies, is seen on The Drew Carey Show "Up on the Roof."64 Brad Taylor of Home Improvement appreared in Thunder Alley "First Date."6566 Home Improvement had two crossovers with Soul Man: Tim Taylor appeared in Soul Man "Communion Wine and Convicts"67, and then Reverend Mike Webber appeared in Home Improvement "Losing My Religion."6869
Detective James Martinez from NYPD Blue appeared in The Drew Carey Show "New York and Queens."7071 Buck Naked from Hill Street Blues,727374>75 which had one spin-off Beverly Hills Buntz, appeared in several episodes of NYPD Blue.76777879 Lt. Howard Hunter from Hill Street Blues appeared on Cop Rock "Cop-a-Felliac;"80 Victor Sifuentes and Abby Perkins from L.A. Law appeared in Cop Rock "Potts Don't Fail Me Now."8182 Eli Levinson and Denise Ianello from Civil Wars were also on L.A. Law.83 John Irvin from NYPD Blue appeared in Public Morals.8485
Mimi Bobeck Carey from The Drew Carey Show appeared in Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, retitled to Two Guys and a Girl, "Two Guys, a Girl and a Psycho Halloween;"86 The Norm Show, retitled to Norm, "Norm vs. Schoolin';"8788 and The Hughleys "Young Guns."89 Darryl Hughley from The Hughleys appeared in The Parkers "Who's Your Mama?"9091 The Parkers is a spin-off of Moesha. Maya Wilkes from Girlfriends appears in Moesha "That's My Mama."9293 Girlfriends has one spin-off The Game. Hakeem Campbell and Niecy Jackson from Moesha appear in Clueless "Prom Misses, Prom Misses."9495 Sabrina Spellman from Sabrina, the Teenage Witch appears in Clueless "Mr. Wright,"9697 Boy Meets World episodes "The Witches Of Pennbrook"98 and "No Guts, No Cory,"99 Teen Angel "One Dog Night,"100 and You Wish "Genie Without a Cause."101102 Dana Foster from Step by Step meets Cory in Boy Meets World "The Happiest Show On Earth."103104 Steve Urkel from Family Matters, a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, appeared in Step by Step "The Dance"105 and "A Star Is Born;"106107 Full House "Ol' Brown Eyes"108 and "Stephanie Gets Framed;"109110 and Meego "Love and Money"111 and "The Truth About Cars and Dogs."112113 Michelle Tanner of Full House appears on Hangin' With Mr. Cooper "Hangin' with Michelle."114115 Perfect Strangers mentions Cunningham Hardware in Milwalkee, WI from Happy Days.116 Happy Days is a spin-off of Love, American Style. Love, American Style had one spin-off The New Love, American Style. Happy Days had five spin-offs Laverne & Shirley, Blansky's Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Out of the Blue, and Joanie Loves Chachi.
Carol Bondurant from The Bob Newhart Show appeared in Murphy Brown "Anything But Cured."117118 Al Floss from The Famous Teddy Z appeared in Murphy Brown "And the Whiner Is."119120 Murphy Brown appeared in Ink "Murphy's Law."121122 The cast of Murphy Brown were seen on television in Love & War.123 Jack Stein from Love & War appeared on three episodes of Ink.124125126127 Meg Tynan from Love & War appeared on Double Rush "Comings and Goings."128129 Liz Taylor's lost black pearls led to a crossover between The Nanny "Where's the Pearls?,"130 Can't Hurry Love "The Elizabeth Taylor Episode,"131 Murphy Brown "Trick or Retreat,"132 and High Society "The Family Jewels."133134 Jim Dial of Murphy Brown appeared on television in The Nanny "The Tart with Heart."135 Sylvia Fine of The Nanny appeared in The Simple Life "The Other Mother."136137
Ray Barone of Everybody Loves Raymond appears in The Nanny "The Reunion Show."138139 Everybody Loves Raymond and The King Of Queens had several crossovers.140 Doug Heffernan from The King Of Queens141 and Hilton Lucas from Cosby142 appeared in Becker "Drive, They Said."143 Doug Heffernan also appeared in Cosby "Judgment Day."144145 Hilton Lucas also appeared in Everybody Loves Raymond "Be Nice."146
Dr. Roxanne Turner from St. Elsewhere appeared in Homicide: Life on the Street "Mercy."147 Doctor Jeffrey Geiger from Chicago Hope accepted a heart from a victim on Homicide: Life on the Street.148 Characters from Chicago Hope crossed over to Early Edition in the episode "Mum's the Word."149150 Sammo Law from Martial Law appeared in Early Edition "Play It Again, Sammo."151 Martial Law "Honor Among Strangers"152 continues in Walker, Texas Ranger "The Day of Cleansing."153154 Walker, Texas Ranger has one spin-off Sons of Thunder.
Oz has two connections to St. Elsewhere, the fictional Weigert Medical Corporation and the character Grace.155 Oz also has connections to Homicide: Life On The Street and The Beat through the fictional children's television program, Miss Sally's Schoolyard.156
Homicide: Life on the Street had three crossover episodes with Law & Order. Law & Order "Charm City" continues in Homicide: Life on the Street "For God and Country"157158 Law & Order followed Homicide: Life on the Street in the episodes "Baby, It's You" on both series.159160 Law & Order followed Homicide: Life on the Street in the episodes "Sideshow" on both series.161162
Law & Order has seven spin-offs Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Conviction, Paris enquêtes criminelles, Law & Order: UK, and Law & Order: Los Angeles. Law & Order and its spin-offs based in New York city use the fictional newspaper The New York Ledger from Deadline.163 Doctor Emil Skoda from Law & Order appeared in New York Undercover "Mob Street;"164 Doctor Elizabeth Olivet from Law & Order appeared in New York Undercover "Smack Is Back."165166 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit character Detective John Munch has appeared in The Beat "They Say It's Your Birthday,"167168 Arrested Development "Exit Strategy,"169170 and The Wire "Took;"171. Prior to joining Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, John Munch appeared in The X-Files "Unusual Suspects."172173 Mary Shannon of In Plain Sight appeared in Law & Order: Criminal Intent "Contract".174175
The X-Files "Red Museum" took place in the town of Delta Glen, and Picket Fences "Away In A Manger" contains a reference to the town and events of "Red Museum."176 In Strange Luck "Struck by Lightning," the character of Chance Harper's brother mentions Fox Mulder of The X-Files.177 In The X-Files "Milagro" the graveyard where the characters Nicholas and Diane Salinger are buried from Party of Five is seen.178 Party of Five has one spin-off, Time of Your Life. Frank and Jordan Black from Millennium appear in The X-Files "Millennium."179 The X-Files has one spin-off The Lone Gunmen.
The X-Files introduced a Morley brand of cigarettes.180 They were seen in an episode of ER.181 In the ER episode "Brothers and Sisters,"182 the character Doctor Susan Lewis gets a call which prompts her to go to New York and into Third Watch "Unleashed."183184 The Third Watch episode "In the Family Way"185 concludes in the Medical Investigation episode "Half Life."186187
The Morley brand of cigarettes appears in That '70s Show "Eric Gets Suspended"; Malcolm in the Middle "Stock Car Races";Jake 2.0 "Arms and the Girl"; Criminal Minds "North Mammon"; Huff "Radio Silence"; Special Unit 2 "Grain About the Sandman"; Prison Break "Bolshoi Booze" which spun-off Prison Break: Proof of Innocence188 and Burn Notice "Fearless Leader".
In CSI: Crime Scene Investigation the character Warrick Brown smokes Morley cigarettes.189 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has two spin-offs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY. The CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Who and What" concluded in the Without a Trace episode "Where and Why." Cold Case character Detective Scotty Valens appeared in CSI:NY "Cold Reveal." Bones has a mention of the Tangiers hotel in the episode "The Woman in the Sand".190
The character Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer smokes Morley cigarettes.191 Buffy the Vampire Slayer has one spin-off, Angel where Angel's enemy is the fictional law firm Wolfram & Hart. One of Wolfram & Hart's clients is the fictional company Weyland-Yutani. Wyland-Yutani is also seen in Firefly.192 A Firefly class ship is seen in the Battlestar Galactica miniseries.193 The miniseries continues in Battlestar Galactica, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, and Caprica. Red Dwarf "Psirens" has a shipyard of derelict ships, some of which are a Klingon Bird of Prey from Star Trek; a Narcissus escape shuttle, built by Weyland-Yutani from Alien: Resurrection; and the Eagle from Space: 1999.194 Star Trek has four spin-offs; Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Enterprise. Alien has three sequels Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection; and two prequels Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. The Alien prequels are sequels to Predator, Predator 2, and Predators. In Andy Barker, P.I. "Fairway, My Lovely," the character Guy Helverson owns the Doublemeat Palace chain of restaurants which was first introduced on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.195196
In Red Dwarf "Marooned" the TARDIS from Doctor Who can be seen in the hanger of the ship.197 The TARDIS also appears in an episode of Chelmsford 123. Doctor Who has four spin-offs; K9 and Company, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and K-9. The character Arthur Dent from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was mentioned in the Doctor Who episode "The Christmas Invasion."
The Star Trek episode "The Changeling" introduced the character Dr. Jackson Roykirk. Dr. Roykirk would be seen in the Team Knight Rider episode "Apocalypse Maybe."198 Team Knight Rider is a spin-off series of Knight Rider. The Knight Rider two part episode "Mouth of the Snake" introduced the character David Dalton who would go onto his own series Code of Vengeance. In the television film Knight Rider, the characters Mike Traceur and Sarah Graiman met in the Montecito Resort and Casino, the fictional casino in the series Las Vegas.199
Las Vegas had two crossover episodes with Crossing Jordan. Crossing Jordan "What Happens in Vegas Dies in Boston"200 continued in Las Vegas "Two of a Kind."201 Crossing Jordan "Luck Be a Lady"202 continued in Las Vegas "Double Down, Triple Threat."203 There were episodes of each series which had appearances by characters from the other which did not share a story line with the other that week. Jordan Cavanaugh and Woody Hoyt of Crossing Jordan appeared in Las Vegas "History of Violins."204 Danny McCoy of Las Vegas appeared in Crossing Jordan "Crazy Little Thing Called Love."205206
On 20 May207 and 23 May 2005,208 two episodes of Passions were set in the Montecito with Mary Connell making an appearance. Dr. Bombay from the series Bewitched appeared in two Passions episodes on 17 September 1999209 and 24 January 2000.210 Bewitched had the spin-off Tabitha. In Medium "Method to His Madness," Allison Dubois was dreaming about a person who was gambling at the Montecito.211 In Heroes "Collision," the characters Hiro Nakamura and Ando Masahashi gamble at the Montecito.212 In Las Vegas "The Story Of Owe" there is a mention of the fictional company Dunder-Mifflin from The Office (U.S.).213214 The character David Brent from The Office (U.K.) appeared in The Office (U.S.) "The Seminar".215216