Summary
Sitcom crossovers are an odd TV tradition, bringing together characters from unrelated shows for new and unique stories. If they are executed poorly, crossover episodes can add up to little more than cheap marketing exercises for their shows, but there have been plenty of sitcom crossovers that have struck upon a winning formula. Often, the key is to create a story which brings the best out of both sets of characters.
Crossover episodes are often among the most highly anticipated episodes of any show, but they don’t always live up to these expectations. Not all shows can blend their styles of humor so easily, and the fact that they are on the same network isn’t a good enough reason to attempt to combine them. Sometimes, sharing a creator or an actor can help things run smoothly, and many of the best sitcom crossovers benefit from more connections between the two shows.
10 Groundbreaking Sitcom Episodes That Hugely Impacted The Genre
Sitcoms have always been known for their hilarious characters and wild storylines, but several episodes redefined the genre in groundbreaking ways.
10The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Season 2, Episode 20, “That’s So Suite Life Of Hannah Montana”
That’s So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, & Hannah Montana
For a certain generation, nothing can bring on a wave of heady nostalgia quite like the mention ofThat’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana,the Disney Channel crossover event that combined three of its biggest shows.That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montanais the second of three episodes, one from each show, and it’s the one which features the most interactions between characters of different shows.
That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montanalived up to the billing, making it by far the most successful and memorable of many Disney Channel crossover events.
Raven and Hannah Montana separately travel to the Tipton Hotel, and their worlds collide with the staff there, as well as Zack and Cody, of course.That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montanalived up to the billing, making it by far the most successful and memorable of many Disney Channel crossover events that established a fictional universe. Raven’s psychic abilities make a fun change to the dynamics of both the other shows, without ever being too distracting.
9The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Season 5, Episode 17, “Will Is From Mars…”
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air & The Jeffersons
The Jeffersonswas hugely influential, and it helped pave the way for other sitcoms focusing on Black joy and success.The Fresh Prince of Bel-Airgave a nod toThe Jeffersonsin the season 5 episode “Will Is From Mars…” At this point,The Jeffersonshad been off the air for ten years, but Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford returned to their famous roles one last time.
At this point,The Jeffersonshad been off the air for ten years, but Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford returned to their famous roles one last time.
In “Will Is From Mars,” Will and Lisa agree to visit a relationship counselor so that Uncle Phil will pay for their honeymoon, but the other couples they meet there help put their problems in perspective. George Jefferson is bold enough to offer Will his own advice, although his relationship with Louise seems much more tumultuous.TheFresh Prince of Bel-AirgivesThe Jeffersonsa well-deserved victory lap.
8The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius & Fairly Odd Parents
The Jimmy Timmy Power Hourwas a series of three crossover events featuring Jimmy Neutron andFairly Odd Parents' Timmy Turner. The fact that there was a whole trilogy proves just how popular the idea was among Nickelodeon’s young viewers. The first episode sees Jimmy and Timmy swapping places and animation styles, after one of Timmy’s wishes goes awry. Over the course of the three episodes, Jimmy and Timmy become good friends, despite living in different universes.
While it’s fun to see two popular characters swapping visual styles,The Jimmy Timmy Power Houris also a standout episode for both shows.
While it’s fun to see two popular characters swapping visual styles,The Jimmy Timmy Power Houris also a standout episode for both shows. The synthesis of Timmy’s magic and Jimmy’s genius-level intellect is like a genre mash-up of fantasy and science fiction, whether the characters are working together or against one another. As with most great crossover episodes,The Jimmy Timmy Power Hourprovides a different set of challenges for its characters.
7Full House Season 4, Episode 16, “Stephanie Gets Framed”
Full House & Family Matters
Family MattersandFull Houseboth represent a bygone era of family-friendly sitcoms which always paired humor with a sweet moral lesson. TheFull Houseepisode “Stephanie Gets Framed” has exactly the kind of earnest attitude that would be ripped to shreds by the modern era’s more cynical worldview, but it’s still nice to see Jaleel White’s Steve Urkel comforting Stephanie when she gets nervous about wearing glasses.
Family MattersandFull Houseboth represent a bygone era of family-friendly sitcoms which always paired humor with a sweet moral lesson.
Steve Urkel’s cameo inFull Househelped fill the gaps in the theorized “TGIF universe,” which accounts for crossovers between multiple ABC shows which aired on the same night in the 1990s.Sitcom crossovers were more common back then than they are now, and not just on ABC. “Stephanie Gets Framed” works well because it simply lets Steve Urkel unleash his chaotic comedy on a new environment, and the Tanner family don’t quite know how to handle him.
6The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones
The Jetsons & The Flintstones
The Flintstoneswas one ofHanna-Barbera’s biggest hits, and its success has led many to seeThe Jetsonsas little more than an attempt at recycling the same concept. Both shows feature recognizable families living in wildly different time periods. The Flintstones may use dinosaurs as home appliances, while the Jetsons have a robotic maid, but both families face the same timeless problems.
The Flintstones may use dinosaurs as home appliances, while the Jetsons have a robotic maid, but both families face the same timeless problems.
Hanna-Barbera’s two iconic families crossed paths in the TV movieThe Jetsons Meet the Flintstones,after a time machine mishap sends the Jetsons tumbling all the way back to Bedrock. Before George can repair the machine, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble accidentally send themselves thousands of years into the future. This creates two fish-out-of-water stories at once, which further drives home the point that human foibles and family strife will remain the same forever.
5Friends Season 1, Episode 16, “The One With The Two Parts, Part I”
During the first few seasons ofFriends,as the show was exploding in popularity, Lisa Kudrow was also in Mad About You. The writers ofFriendscame up with the brilliant idea of making Kudrow’s two characters identical twins. Ursula, the testy waitress fromMad About You,became Ursula Buffay, and she pops up in multipleFriendsepisodes over the years. Her first episode also features brief cameos from Jamie and Fran.
The episode delivers a great meta joke about Lisa Kudrow’s role in both shows, and it’s a strong outing regardless of its ties toMad About You.
“The One With Two Parts” isn’t a full crossover episode, since it doesn’t feature most of the main cast fromMad About You.However, it’s a great meta joke about Lisa Kudrow’s role in both shows, and a good episode regardless of its ties toMad About You.Ursula developed a lot more after this first appearance, quickly becoming one of thebest side characters inFriends.
4New Girl Season 6, Episode 4, “Homecoming”
New Girl & Brooklyn Nine-Nine
New Girl’s crossover withBrooklyn Nine-Ninehighlighted how rare sitcom crossovers have become, and they haven’t picked up in the years since. The two-part crossover starts with aBrooklyn Nine-Nineepisode, in which Jake has to commandeer a car being driven by Jess. She is less than amenable to the idea, but this minor interaction is merely the set-up for theNew Girlepisode which follows.
Nick and Winston have a great B-story trying to scrape together enough money for subway fare by being street performers who never perform, and they run intoBrooklyn Nine-Nine’s Charles Boyle.
“Homecoming” features the most interactions betweenNew Girlcharacters and the gang at the 99th precinct.It perfectly captures the clash of cultures between the East and West coasts, as Jess' quirky charm is bulldozed by the businesslike New Yorkers. Elsewhere, Nick and Winston have a great B-story trying to scrape together enough money for subway fare by being street performers who never perform, and they run intoBrooklyn Nine-Nine’s Charles Boyle.
3Archer Season 4, Episode 1, “Fugues & Riffs”
Archer & Bob’s Burgers
Archerseason 4 opens with the self-proclaimed world’s greatest spy working in a humble burger restaurant. He believes that he is H. Jon Benjamin’s other iconic animated character, Bob Belcher. When he ruthlessly dispatches a team of assassins, he realizes that he may have some stuff to figure out. Archer only thinks he is Bob because he has entered a fugue state and lost his memory after a traumatic incident.
The juxtaposition between the cutesy charm ofBob’s Burgersand the bloody violence ofArcherproduces plenty of hilarious moments.
Linda, Gene and Louise only appear in the first few minutes of “Fugues and Riffs,” but their presence is felt throughout the whole episode.H. Jon Benjamin essentially plays Bob Belcher being thrown into an episode ofArcher,as the mild-mannered restaurateur has to get to grips with an assassination plot. This juxtaposition between the cutesy charm ofBob’s Burgersand the bloody violence ofArcherproduces plenty of hilarious moments. Benjamin’s deadpan voice is perfect for the humor.
2Family Guy Season 13, Episode 1, “The Simpsons Guy”
Family Guy & The Simpsons
Family Guyhas often laughed at its perceived similarities toThe Simpsons,but the crossover episode between the shows highlights just how different they are. No episode ofThe Simpsonswould feature such a gruesome fight scene, or a vomit-inducing erotic car wash sequence featuring Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin in tight denim shorts.The Simpsonsmay have influencedFamily Guy,but it’s far more than a rip-off.
Family Guyhas often laughed at its perceived similarities toThe Simpsons,but the crossover episode between the shows highlights just how different they are.
Family Guyshows some of the superficial similarities between the two shows, such as the main character’s love of beer and the family’s mischievous son, but the humor is completely different.This crossover could only ever work this way around.As Peter says at the end of the episode, it’s unlikely that the Simpson family will find themselves in Quahog, becauseThe Simpsonsis too family-oriented to featureFamily Guy’s humor in one of its own episodes.
1The Simpsons Season 6, Episode 18, “A Star Is Burns”
The Simpsons & The Critic
The Simpsonshas had other crossover episodes throughout its 35-year-long run, including aFuturamacrossover in season 26, but “A Star Is Burns” is by far the greatest. Featuring Jay Sherman from the short-lived animated sitcomThe Critic,the episode sees the people of Springfield putting on a film festival featuring their own terrible home-made movies.The Criticwas created bySimpsonswriters Al Jean and Mike Reiss, so the two shows blend together perfectly.
“A Star Is Burns” is a fast-paced, hilarious episode packed with plenty of great moments, including Jay Sherman’s interview with Rainier Wolfcastle andFootball to the Groin.
Coming right in the middle of the show’s “Golden Age,” “A Star Is Burns” is a fast-paced, hilarious episode packed with plenty of great moments, including Jay Sherman’s interview with Rainier Wolfcastle andFootball to the Groin.Despite its popularity, “A Star Is Burns” is the onlyepisode ofThe Simpsonswhich Matt Groening disowned, who saw the crossover as cheap advertising forThe Critic.
