Who doesn’t love a good crossover? Some of audiences very favorite episodes are the ones where characters from an entirely different show pop up, like when two “ER” doctors showed up on “Friends,” when Sam and Dean got sucked into an episode of “Scooby-Doo,” or, most recently, when “9-1-1” LAPD sergeant Athena Grant took an unplanned cruise aboard the Odyssey.
Most of the time, these special episodes happen because they are on the same network, or are from the same producer, but sometimes they just happen because they are entertaining as hell … or the show’s creators are big fans of each other, as was the case with Quinta Brunson of “Abbott Elementary” and Rob McElhenney of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
Here are some of our favorite TV crossovers:
“Newhart” and “The Bob Newhart Show” (1990)
In what is still considered one of the most clever series finales of all time, when “Newhart” wrapped up in 1990, star Bob Newhart woke up in bed not with his current TV wife Joanna (Mary Frann), but with his wife from his 1970s sitcom, Emily (Suzanne Pleshette). He tells her about the “strange dream” he had where he ran an inn in Vermont. She tells him, “That settles it — no more Japanese food before you go to bed.”
“Friends” and “ER” (1995)
When Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) needed medical attention in 1995, who else should appear but hunky “ER” stars George Clooney and Noah Wyle (with different names than their characters, but still) “Aren’t you a little cute to be a doctor?” Rachel asks, before amending it to, “I meant young, young to be a doctor!” In the episode, Rachel pretends to be Monica (Courteney Cox) so they have to keep up the name switch when the hospital visit turns into a date.
“The Simpsons” and “The X-Files” (1997)
When Homer thought he saw an alien, naturally it caught the attention of FBI agents Mulder and Scully in the stellar Season 8 episode “The Springfield Files.” Hard to pick a favorite moment, but we will go with Mulder flashing his FBI badge with a photo of himself in a red Speedo, droning on about the “mysteries of mysteries” as Scully rolls her eyes and leaves and the reveal of Moe the bartender’s secret whale smuggling ring. Bonus: “Star Trek” and “In Search of…” star Leonard Nimoy narrates the episode. The animated series also memorably crossed over with other Fox series like “24,” “The Critic” and “Futurama.”
“Homicide: Life on the Street” and “The X-Files” (1997)
The late Richard Belzer’s conspiracy-obsessed detective John Munch surprisingly turned up 10 different shows, (including a long run on “SVU”), but his meet-up with the techie trio The Lone Gunmen of “The X-Files” in “Unusual Suspects” was a match made in geeky TV heaven. A 2000 episode of the sci-fi series that channeled the long-running reality series “Cops” was also a highlight.
“Scooby-Doo” and “Supernatural” (2018)
One of the funniest things to ever hit TV found Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) and brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) getting sucked into a “Scooby-Doo” cartoon in the hilarious “Scoobynatural” episode. Non-stop snacker Dean bonded with chowhounds Shaggy and Scooby, Velma developed a huge crush on Sam and the typical masked-villain mystery got a whole lot bloodier. And yes, there was the traditional goofy chase sequence that had the whole gang hiding in conveniently right-sized urns.
“Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder” (2018)
Sparks flew when these two Emmy-winning actresses crossed paths in this epic Shonda Rhimes crossover: Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) comes to Washington, D.C. to solicit Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington)’s help, but they do not get off to a good start. Olivia calls Annalise a “hot mess,” and the Philly law professor snaps back that Olivia is a “bougie-a– Black woman.”
“Abbott Elementary” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2025)
The Sunny crew volunteers at Abbott — as part of a court-ordered community service and it goes just as awry as you would expect: Charlie (Charlie Day’s) hilariously wrong interpretation of history somehow includes aliens, Frank (Danny DeVito) butts heads with Gregory (Tyler James Williams) and Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) when assigned to help raccoon-proof the garden, which leads to Mr. Johnson and Frank calling each other “trash.” Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) recognizes them: “Did you ever get into a fight at an Eagles game?” Of course they did.
