Television Crossover Universe

 I've taken another hiatus on the Sci-Fi Multiverse book.  There's a lot of redundencies with the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia, more than I anticipated.  There's a lot of sci-fi/horror crossovers.  I don't want to repeat myself but I also want to be all-inclusive.  This has left me frustrated and ready to abandon the project altogether.  My previous venture, Cartoon Multiverse, was abandoned because of my quest to be all-inclusive faced me against Family Guy, where the crossovers never end and I was really sick of watching every Family Guy episode in such minute detail.   So...  I figured I can spend more time on the TVCU blog.  I love the TVCU blog.  Except, I'm running out of ideas.  I think I've covered mostly everything, except for maybe some topics I don't have enough familiarity with to cover.  I know there's a lot of anime crossovers, which I would have gotten to in Cartoon Multiverse, but I'm really not that famil...

 Every weekend I block out two hours for writing, and I should be using that time editing my book today, but I'm really not enjoying writing that book, and thinking of abandoning it altogether, so instead I'm doing another blog post to procrastinate from that other project. Some say we have super hero fatigue.  Less super hero movies are being made, after years of flooding the market.  James Gunn says that it's not fatigue for super-hero movies.  We just need good stories.   Super hero movies have been with us since the days of the serials in the 1940s.  Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Captain America all got serials, along with non-super comic book characters like Blackhawk, Hop Harrigan, and Dick Tracy.   For decades, it seemed as though the super-hero movies were focused on Superman and Batman.   That changed in 2000 with the release of X-Men.  Many will say that Blade in 1998 was the start, and that may be true, but I ...

 The Naked Gun just came out.  And it was hilarious.  It captured the essence of the original trilogy while having fresh, original jokes. There is one Naked Gun trailer where Liam Neeson talks about how every day a comedy script is getting rejected.   It's true.  The comedy drama, which has evolved but gone strong since the days of silent films, is dying.   In the 1941 film Sullivan's Travels, a famous director, best known for comedy, decides he wants to make a serious film about the plight of the homeless.  In a series of circumstances, he finds himself in jail, with nobody believing his true identity.  He attends a movie while in jail, a comedy, and sees how the poor suffering souls in prison all find joy in comedy.  And thus he decides he must keep making comedies. We are gong through hard times.  We need comedy more than ever.  But unfortunately, I think the sensitivity of younger generations (the target audience for f...

 Lots of spoilers.  Don't get mad at me if you keep reading. So I should be editing the Sci-Fi Multiverse book, but this is a great way to procrastinate on that project. I said that I'd be mixing it up on the TVCU blog, and here is one of those mixing it up moments. I'm not just the Crossovers Guy, I'm also the Superman Guy.  I was highly anticipating this movie, so much so that even though my car was in the shop, I walked miles to see this movie.   And I felt it was underwhelming.   Before I get to what I didn't like though, let me talk about what I did like. I didn't hate this movie.  I wouldn't even say I was disappointed.  It was fine.  It just didn't blow me away.  So what did I like? First off, Luthor!  Luthor was captured perfectly.  He was evil, arrogant, insecure, envious, so flawed.  Perfect. Lois Lane.  Rachel Brosnahan really looked and acted like Lois.   Though there wasn't much humor for a...

 Three's Company is another series with some spin-offs, but no connection to the TVCU. I know I usually do these posts the first week of the month, but tomorrow is the first so close enough.   1977 - 1984--Three's Company--This was a great series.  It ran in syndication in reruns when I was a kid.  Jack Tripper needs a place to live.  Janet and Chrissy need a roommate.  Only the landlord is conservative and won't let a male room with women.  Except despite being homophobic, he's okay if Jack is gay, and so the deception and constant misunderstandings which are the basis for the comedy begin.   1979-1980--The Ropers--Mr. Roper was such a popular character as the landlord on Three's Company.  He was always breaking the fourth wall, smiling at the camera after cracking a joke, usually at his wife's expense.  So they got a spin-off.  The Ropers sold the building to Mr. Furley (Don Knotts) and moved to a more upscale neighborho...

 Not a lot of crossovers, necessarily, in this one, but it is a franchise with spin-offs.  Anyways, I'm running out of ideas.  Was going to do Diagnosis Murder but turns out I already did that in 2016.  I can't even remember all the subjects I've covered in the past 14 years.   1984 - 1986 -- The Carrie Diaries -- Prequel series with Carrie in high school.   1998 - 2004 -- Sex and the City-- Four really obnoxious women have sex and their in a city.  Carrie Bradshaw I guess writes a column.  Anyways I met Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick once.  They came to my church and participated.  Their son goes to school nearby.  Anyways, I've only seen bits and pieces of the show.  I love comedies and "chick flicks"/romcoms, but this still wasn't really my thing.  Anyways, I thought the brunette was cute. 2008-- Sex and the City (the movie) -- More stuff happens.  I read the plot synopsis on Wikipedia.  ...

  I recently learned that the Horror Crossover Encyclopedia is no longer available for purchase anywhere. The publishing rights reverted back to me six years ago, and I just made arrangements for Wild Hunt Press to republish the original version. I'm still working on Sci-Fi Multiverse, the sort of sequel to HCE. It wasn't working the way I was doing it, so I'm making some tweaks after taking some time to rethink the project.

 I've got almost a year's worth of posts planned.  So here we go with the Golden Girls.   The Golden Girls had a series of spin-offs, and two big crossover night event.   1985 - 1992 -- The Golden Girls--Four elderly roommates live, laugh and love.  I want to point out that I was recently re-watching the show, and Bea Arthur says she's 50 in the first season.  I'm 52.  I refuse to acknowledge that I am the same age as the Golden Girls.   Circa 1985 onward--A Prairie Home Companion--"New from Lake Wobegon"--Lake Wobegon is said to be near St. Olaf, Minnesota, the hometown of Rose.   1988 - 1995--Empty Nest--Harry, a widow, lives with his two daughters next door to the Golden Girls.  Sophia would stop by often, and became a regular on the show in the final season.   November 1988--MICKEY'S 60TH BIRTHDAY--Mickey goes missing after he once again misuses the sorcerer's hat. Crossovers include: FANTASIA (SORCERE...

 I said in the TVCU reboot I would do some different things.  Today I'm doing an essay, or more of a rant, about something that really bugs me.  The internet is ruining movies. Two main reasons. First, streaming.  I love the movie theater experience.  I love seeing a movie on a big screen.  I love not staring at my phone for two hours.   But since COVID especially, people got used to streaming.  They don't want to leave home.  They don't want to go watch a movie as an experience.   Don't get me wrong.  I love streaming.  I like to watch very specific things.  My lists, like 70s movies or super hero tv shows.  I can find almost anything on streaming.   But this doesn't replace the theater experience for a new movie.   And the less people go to theaters, the less movies make it to theaters.  So many go direct to streaming now.  Especially comedies.  The comedy film genre is d...

 When I was a kid I got in trouble for calling my mother a sucker.  I heard Esther say it.   Anyways, Sanford and Son is a show I recently rewatched a sampling of.  It's not crossover heavy, but has a ton of spin-offs.  It does have one unusual crossover that I almost thought I made up in a dream. Well, let's go, ya big dummy. This show is actually based on a british sitcom called Steptoe and Son, believe it or not.   1972 - 1978--Sanford and Son--Fred Sanford runs a junkyard with his son Lamont.  They love each other very much but also drive each other crazy.  Hilarity ensues.   1975 - 1976--Grady--Fred's best friend Grady moves out of Watts and in with his daughter in a more upscale and racially diverse neighborhood.   September 1976--Sandford and Son--"The Hawaiian Connection"--In this two parter, Fred and Lamont are lured to Hawaii as Fred is duped into being a mule for jewel thieves.  This episode crosses ov...

 I'm running out of crossovers.  I used to have a rule.  Only series that had three crossovers get covered.  But I'm running out of ideas.  So now I'm also going to cover series that had a franchise, meaning they spun off movies or such from the original concept.  (In doing my due dilligence, I found that this series actually does have the crossovers to make it following my three crossover rule.) So today we're going to talk about Gilligan's Island.  With Gilligan, the skipper too.  The Millionaire and his wife.  The movie star, and the rest... okay, fine, the professor and Mary Ann.   William Gilligan was a mighty sailor man, or so the story goes.  However, he seemed on the island to be dimwitted at best. CPT Jonahs Grumy was the skipper.  He was brave and sure.  If not for the courage of the fearless two, the S.S. Minnow would be lost.   Thurston Howell III is a former multi-billionaire until after the sto...

 This post is not about the Washington Generals but rather than famous nemesis, the Harlem Globetrotters. 1926 to 1954--Go Man Go--The Story of Abe Saperstein and the creation of the Harlem Globetrotters.   1951--The Harlem Globetrotters--A student drops out of college to chase fame and fortune with the Harlem Globetrotters. 1956 to 2024 -- Gameshows and Talkshows--The Globetrotters have made many appearances.  Since they are "real" I'm not going to talk about every time they appear with other "real" people, but only mention when they appear with fictional characters as fictional versions of themselves.   September 12, 1970 to October 16, 1971--HARLEM GLOBE TROTTERS--"The New Scooby-Doo Movies" aka "Scooby-Doo Meets the Harlem Globetrotters" was a Hanna-Barbera show that featured the animated Harlem Globetrotters September 9, 1972 - October 27, 1973 --THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES (ANIMATED SERIES)--Mystery, Inc. continues to solve mysteries, but...