Kentucky Fried Madness!
Updated on April 1, 2023
I brought this on myself, because I questioned why no one had done it yet. Here goes...
Unlike many corporate mascots, Colonel Sanders was a real person, born Harland David Sanders. He used to make appearances all over the United States and Canada to both promote his company and perform quality checks on unsuspecting franchises. Many people have played the Colonel in Kentucky Fried Chicken ads after the real Harland passed away; sometimes multiple Colonels appear in the same commercial. Fortunately, as this timeline will show, there is canonically a multiverse of Colonel Sanders counterparts to explain how he can show up before and after the life and death of the real world Harland, how one version of him can encounter another, and how his variants can be so... varied.
Note that this will NOT be an attempt to catalogue all the appearances of Kentucky Fried Chicken in pop culture. With few exceptions, this will only track instances where Col. Sanders shows up as a real person or as a character (but those exceptions will happen, such as the "Curse of the Colonel" and the "Ghost of Kentucky Fried Chicken").
A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
32 BBY - THE PHANTOM MENACE
Colonel Sanders, Alexis the Pizza Hut Girl, and the Chihuahua respond to a request for aid from Queen Amidala to assist in the Battle of Naboo. The trio leave an Earth-like planet (possibly Daiyu) to join the fight. [1999 "Defeat The Dark Side" ad campaign]
Col. Sanders (age 65) appears to be a Jedi Master, though this information would seem to contradict the visuals in the first commercial, depicting a statue of Colonel Sanders coming to life after hearing Padme Amidala's plea for help. His companion Alexis is a martial artist and is likely an enforcer/bodyguard for Pizza the Hutt. Chihuahua is probably a mog with a birth defect, given that he can speak Common, but walks on all fours and is considerably smaller than most mogs.
4 ABY - SPACEBALLS: Chapter 11
Colonel Sandurz is an officer in the Spaceballs military serving directly under Lord Dark Helmet during President Skroob's campaign to steal the air from planet Druidia. The plan is foiled when Princess Vespa, Lone Starr, Barfolemew, and Dot Matrix cause the transformed starship Spaceball-One to return the stolen air and self-destruct, which strands Sandurz, Skroob, and Dark Helmet on a planet with some apes. [SPACEBALLS: THE MOVIE]
Though part of the Spaceballs empire, and thus likely born on Planet Moron, Col. Sandurz is probably related to the Colonel Sanders who fought against the droid army on Naboo years earlier. That Sanders was born 100 years before the destruction of Mega Maid, according to promotional materials put out during the "Defeat the Dark Side" ad campaign and the appearance of the Millennium Falcon at the Space Stop 5 diner (which likely took place shortly after the Battle of Endor, during a time of peace).
Note that both the "Defeat the Dark Side" ads and "Spaceballs" have space-worthy vehicles that resemble Earth automobiles, so even if these do not take place in the mainstream Star Wars Legends universe or the Star Wars Cinematic Universe (as defined by Disney), they ought to at least take place in the same alternate Star Wars Infinities timeline.
Victorian Era -
Sailor Harland Sanders befriends Lady Madeline Parker, a woman who recently broke off her engagement in Victorian England. [Tender Wings of Desire, published in 2017]
Per the official release: When Lady Madeline Parker runs away from Parker Manor and a loveless betrothal, she finally feels like she is in control of her life. But what happens when she realizes she can’t control how she feels? When she finds herself swept into the arms of Harland, a handsome sailor with a mysterious past, Madeline realizes she must choose between a life of order and a man of passion. Can love overcome lies? What happens in the embrace of destiny, on the Tender Wings of Desire?
1888 - WAVE OF THE FUTURE
Fully adult Col. Sanders offers a KFC franchise to restaurateurs Caroline Ingalls and Harriet Olsen in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. They politely refuse, having already had a bad experience with restaurant franchising. [season 8 episode of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, 1981]
1890
Harland David Sanders is born September 9, 1890 in Henryville, Indiana.[Historical Fact]
1906-1907
Sanders serves in the United States Army, using falsified documents to appear old enough. [Historical Fact]
1930
Sanders opens his first restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, serving chicken at the gas station he ran . [Historical Fact]
1935
Sanders is commissioned a Kentucky Colonel (not a military title) by Ruby Laffoon, the governor of Kentucky. [Historical Fact]
1942
A Time-Lost Ivan Schablotski, posing as Dr. Raclaw Schablotski, visits Kentucky and meets Col. Sanders. Harland is convinced that Schablotski's talk about a secret branch of the Defense Department called the Ordnance is evidence of shell-shock from fighting overseas in World War II.
1974
Colonel Sanders meets Alice Cooper when they are staying at the same hotel in Amsterdam. [Historical Fact]
1975
Colonel Sanders appears on DONAHUE. [Historical Fact]
1980
The Ghost of Kentucky Fried Chicken attacks then Governor of Kentucky John Y Brown Jr. (who was part of the business conglomerate that purchased KFC from Harland Sanders). The "Ghost" is eventually revealed to be the Phantom of Actor's Theatre of Louisville, and is stopped by super-powered vigilante Captain Kentucky. [Captain Kentucky #48, comic strip by Don Rosa, published in the Courier Journal Saturday Scene newspaper and reprinted in THE CAPTAIN KENTUCKY COLLECTION vol 1]
1980
Death of Harland David Sanders on December 16, 1980, in Louisville KY . [Historical Fact]
1985 - THE CURSE OF THE COLONEL
A statue of Col. Sanders is thrown into the Dōtonbori River in Osaka, Japan by
baseball fans celebrating a Pennant victory. This invoked "The Curse of the Colonel", causing the Hanshin Tigers to never win another Japan Series. The Curse is also believed to plague those who would serve KFC chicken without following the Colonel's original recipe, or expose that recipe to the public. [Urban Legend]
In the small town of Hinamizawa, children clean up a statue of Col. Sanders they found in hopes of ending a curse, because their town is full of courses. Oh, and people disappear or get killed a lot there, but timelines hardly matter thanks to someone being able to reset reality to 1983. [episode 2 of Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU anime]
Many anime have referenced the statues of Colonel Sanders found at KFC restaurants in Japan. Most of these do not directly connect to the Curse of the Colonel, but it is clear that the event in 1985 helped solidify the Colonel's pop culture icon status in Japan. Of course, having Colonel Sanders somehow become a stand-in for Santa Claus in the 1970s also endeared him to the Japanese public, but that's a whole different mess of weird.
From TVTROPES.COM regarding Colonel Sanders in anime and manga:
The founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken has shown up everywhere from Slayers to Project A-ko, usually in the form of the statue that apparently stands in front of every KFC in Japan.
Negima! Magister Negi Magi in particular has a glaring example: Albiero Imma enters a tournament under the name "Ku:nel Sanders" and insists that everyone refers to him by that name.
The ridiculous propensity of the Colonel's popularity is almost a case of real life Cultural Cross Reference. Firstly, for the role of one of those famous statues in the long-standing Curse of the Colonel haunting the Hanshin Tigers, and the very means of KFC's popularity in Japan: Due to the sheer lack of turkeys in Japan, KFC promoted its fried chicken as the closest thing to an honest-to-god classic Christmas Dinner. It's ingrained deeply enough that not only is fried chicken now considered the Japanese Christmas staple (enough that you need to order several DAYS ahead of time in order to get a dinner on Christmas)
, but there are actually people in Japan who genuinely don't know the company isn't Japanese.
1987
A Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise on Gurhal provides in-game and real world promotional tie-ins, as well as allowing Colonel Sanders to partner with the player characters in the Phantasy Star Portable series.
2010 - BASIC ROCKET SCIENCE
A Space Flight Simulator created by Kentucky Friend Chicken decades earlier for educational and promotional purposes called the Kentucky Friend Chicken Eleven Herbs and Space Experience is acquired by Greendale Community College. A study group is accidentally locked inside by the onboard A.I., Systematic Android Network Diode Energy Rocket System (aka, S.A.N.D.E.R.S.) while the Winnebago used to house the simulator is towed to a remote location. [Season 2 episode of COMMUNITY]
2010 - MEDICINAL FRIED CHICKEN
The town of South Park, Colorado bans Kentucky Fried Chicken. To fight this injustice, perpetual 4th-grader Eric Cartman travels to Corbin, Kentucky to make a deal with Col. Sanders for illegal fried chicken distribution. The deal goes bad when Cartman starts using his own product and can't meet the payments. [Season 14 episode of SOUTH PARK]
2013
The statue of Col. Sanders in the Dōtonbori River is seen by characters in Kill la Kill. The timeline surrounding these characters alters and resets frequently, making it difficult to know which details carried over to the final version of events. [Kill la Kill]
2015
KFC PRESENTS: THE COLONEL'S ADVENTURE COMICS #1 tells the accurate story of Harland David Sanders' early years, covering his birth in Henryville, IN, his stint in the Army, his time with the railroad company, attempt at being a lawyer, selling gas, delivering babies, and the many fights he was in throughout it all. The comic is narrated by Col. Sanders himself, but since it only had one issue, it didn't even reach the period of his life when he founded Kentucky Friend Chicken. It is unknown if the comic book story would have covered his passing in 1980.
2015 - The Colonel of Two Worlds
Colonel Sanders, the Flash, and Green Lantern must deal with the evil Colonel Sunders from Earth-3, who sells bad-tasting Fried Chicken by making it the "Easy Way". Supervillains the Mirror Master and Captain Cold aided Sunders in his plot, but at the end of the story they were offered jobs at a legitimate KFC by Sanders. [KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN PRESENTS #1, DC Comics]
This comic is said to pay homage to Colonel Sanders Comics #2 from 1970, though in that story the faux Colonel was not from a parallel Earth. As this story (and two more that follow it) are set with in DC Comics continuity, it should be assumed that the earlier comics are NOT in continuity with these newer ones, which are set in the Post-Flashpoint Prime Earth.
2015
Colonel Sanders hires the Robot Chicken to take his fried chicken into space, but the chicken runs into obstacles. [ad campaign featuring Robot Chicken stop-motion animation]
2016
Sanders begin his wrestling career by taking down a humanoid chicken and other wrestlers during WWE SummerSlam 2016 and continued through 2018. [KFC 2016 television commercial, 2018 videogame WWE2K18]
2016 - COLONEL CORPS: CRISIS OF INFINITE COLONELS
Colonel Sanders (Prime Earth) forgets all but one of the ingredients for his secret Original fried chicken recipe. He is met by Colonel Arla Sanders from Earth-11 and the Earth-11 Flash, who explains that Earth-3's Col. Sunder has made multiple Colonels forget the recipe, so they must team up to get the list all of the ingredients back and defeat Sunder. They bring in Colonel Lad from the 31st Century's Legion of Super-Heroes, Teen Colonel (world of Teen Titans Go!), Detective Colonel Sanders (Earth-19, world of GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT), Bizarro-Colonel (Earth-29, the Bizarroverse), Kolonel (anthropomorphic rooster, Earth-51, world of KAMANDI THE LAST BOY ON EARTH), All-Star Colonel (world of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN), Cowboy Sanders (Earth-18, world of JUSTICE RIDERS), Comrade Sanders (Earth-30, world of SUPERMAN: RED SON), and Koln-El (Earth-22, world of KINGDOM COME). Together as the Colonel Corps they defeat Col. Sunder and his accomplice, Colonel Grodd, and restore their collective memories. [KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN PRESENTS #2, DC Comics]
2017 - GREEN LANTERN/COLONEL SANDERS: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Colonel Sanders sends Zinger chicken sandwiches into space in the hopes of getting extraterrestrial life forms hooked on KFC. Green Lantern Hal Jordan assists him by opening a worm hole to inhabited space, and other Green lanterns aid as well, but all the space capsules arrive at their destinations empty. To investigate, Hal deputizes Col. Sanders into the Green Lantern Corps and presents him with a temporary GL ring. They track the "thieving varmint" to Okaara where they deal with Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern. In order to deal with Larfleeze's lust for the Zinger sandwich, the Colonel sets him up with his own KFC franchise before returning to Earth. [KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN PRESENTS #3, DC Comics]
Commercials showing the Colonel in an astronaut suit (portrayed by Rob Lowe) are consistent with the space-suited Colonel in early scenes of this comic book. This establishes that at least one live-action Colonel Sanders depicted is part the DC Multiverse. It is possible that the live-action Astronaut Sanders is the DCEU or CW Arrowverse version of the Colonel, rather than the Prime Earth (aka Earth-0) Colonel from this story. 
2017
Colonel Sanders narrates a GPS Program... on audiocassette tape! The recording has predetermined starting points and destinations in order for Harlands' directions to be correct. If you don't begin driving at Sander's burial place in Cave Hill Cemetery, none of the directions or destinations will work out... which means this version of the Colonel acknowledges that he is deceased. [KFC GPS promotional audiocassette tape]
2017 - KFC: THE HARD WAY
A KFC Virtual Training escape room designed to lead those trapped within into preparing fried chicken the way Colonel Sanders intended is made available, in a cross between a puzzle game and SAW, and hosted by the Colonel himself. [KFC THE HARD WAY 3D game for Rift, Rift S, and Occulus Touch]
2018 - WHAT'S FOR DINNER?
Colonel Sanders brings his KFC fried chicken to a family of four at their suburban home, and slowly takes over the family, replacing mom, dad, the mailman, and at least one neighbor with himself. [WHAT'S FOR DINNER ad campaign]
This campaign has Jason Alexander as the Colonel, and presents the creepy scenario as if it was a television sitcom.
Colonel Sanders visits his friend Maxie at General Hospital in Port Charles to secure the secret of his chicken recipe. [June 6 Episode of GENERAL HOSPITAL, ABC]
2019 - RUDY II: HE'S COLONEL SANDERS NOW
College football hopeful Daniel Eugene "Rudy" Ruettiger decides that after he graduates college, he will become Colonel Sanders. He faces many obstacles on the way, most of which focusing on that fact that he Rudy, not Colonel Sanders. Eventually, he gets to be the Colonel. [RUDY II: HE'S COLONEL SANDERS NOW, faux movie trailer/commercial]
Rudy graduated from Notre Dame in 1976, but no time frame is given for how long it took him to become the new Colonel Sanders. Presumably it had to happen after 1980, after the real Colonel Sanders passed away, but with no further evidence, real time release of 2019 is used. Rudy is portrayed by Sean Astin, who played the character (based on a real person) in the original RUDY in 1993.
2019
A cyborg Col. Sanders is released using technology similar to OmniCorps' RoboCop project. This cyborg is identified as Colonel Sanders and knows the original recipe to Kentucky Fried Chicken, but looks and behaves like the original RoboCop. In the live action commercials, he is portrayed by RoboCop actor Peter Weller.
An unrelated Korean commercial for fried chicken featuring RoboCop was released years earlier. That RoboCop was not played by Peter Weller and was desirous of fried chicken, rather than providing fried chicken to others as the Col. Sanders RoboCop does.
2019
You attend the University of Cooking School: Academy for Learning for a three-day only semester with your best friend Miriam, Aeshleigh, Van Van the Man Man, Pop/bob, Clank, some other student no one is interested in, and the dreamy Harland "Colonel" Sanders. The teacher is Sprinkles, aka Professor Dog, a corgi who is also the CEO of the University. This version of the Colonel is much younger than most and does not have his own restaurant yet. [I LOVE YOU, COLONEL SANDERS dating simulator]
2019 Mother's Day
The Colonel and the hardbodied Chickendale Dancers perform a routine designed to celebrate mothers in a delightfully disturbing way. The Chickendales are a blatant parody of the Chippendale's dancers. [Television Commercial]
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2019
Col. Chester Sanders saves people from hunger with his new sandwich, Extra-Crispy Chicken Fillet in a special Cheetos sauce. This feline anthropomorphic mascot is a mash-up of Chester Cheetah from Cheetos and Colonel Sanders from KFC, and may represent a version of the Colonel from a mash-up reality like the Amalgam Universe.
2019
2020
2020
A Halloween masquerade within the world of IDENTITY V provided KFC themed costumes for some established characters, as well as a few new characters, such as Colonel "The Colonel" Sanders and Colonel Ki. Additionally, several cross-promotional items existed between the game and the real world restaurants, but all were available only in China.
2020
At Christmas, a rich family's new chef, Colonel Harland Sanders (played by Mario Lopez), helps Jessica Mancera escape her over-controlling mother Bunny Mancera and her homicidal would-be fiancé Billy Garibaldi III. [A RECIPE FOR SEDUCTION, Lifetime original movie]
This movie, a parody of Lifetime holiday romance movies, is only sixteen minutes long. The depiction of Sanders in this is consistent with his personality and appearance in the I LOVE YOU, COLONEL SANDERS dating simulator, minus the insane anime elements, and assuming an ending to that game in which Sanders does not become romantically attached to anyone.
2021
Unusual Hilichurl and Colonel Sanders interact on the fantasy world called Teyvat. KFC themed recipes, clothing, and gear also became available in this world. [GENSHIN IMPACT mobile app game]
31st Century
Colonel Lad prepares food for the Legion of Super-Heroes. He is one of the counterparts to Colonel Sanders to retain a piece of the Original Recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken and briefly joins the Colonel Corps in 2017 to defeat Colonel Sunders and Colonel Grodd. [KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN PRESENTS #2]
*****
Many other versions of Colonel Sanders have been portrayed by many other actors, even instances where multiple Colonels encounter each other or one version denounces another version as an imitator. Unless these involve crossovers with OTHER fictional characters, they do not qualify for this timeline.
There are also many unofficial fan-made projects; art, videos, games, cosplays, etc.; showing version of Colonel Sanders. Often these projects pit him against other fast food mascots in physical combat, rap battle, or other competitions. They are quite entertaining for the most part, but beyond the scope of this timeline, without some connection to a legitimate IP already in the Television Crossover Universe/Multiverse. For example, FINAL FANTASY XIV famously had a player running around the MMO as Colonel Sanders, but this was not an official use of the character, not was it being presented within the game as an actual iteration of the character, parody or otherwise, so it is not included.
Kentucky Fried Madness!
Colonel Sanders in the Television Crossover Universe
by Kevin Heim
I brought this on myself, because I questioned why no one had done it yet. Here goes...
Unlike many corporate mascots, Colonel Sanders was a real person, born Harland David Sanders. He used to make appearances all over the United States and Canada to both promote his company and perform quality checks on unsuspecting franchises. Many people have played the Colonel in Kentucky Fried Chicken ads after the real Harland passed away; sometimes multiple Colonels appear in the same commercial. Fortunately, as this timeline will show, there is canonically a multiverse of Colonel Sanders counterparts to explain how he can show up before and after the life and death of the real world Harland, how one version of him can encounter another, and how his variants can be so... varied.
Note that this will NOT be an attempt to catalogue all the appearances of Kentucky Fried Chicken in pop culture. With few exceptions, this will only track instances where Col. Sanders shows up as a real person or as a character (but those exceptions will happen, such as the "Curse of the Colonel" and the "Ghost of Kentucky Fried Chicken").
*****
A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
32 BBY - THE PHANTOM MENACE
Colonel Sanders, Alexis the Pizza Hut Girl, and the Chihuahua respond to a request for aid from Queen Amidala to assist in the Battle of Naboo. The trio leave an Earth-like planet (possibly Daiyu) to join the fight. [1999 "Defeat The Dark Side" ad campaign]Col. Sanders (age 65) appears to be a Jedi Master, though this information would seem to contradict the visuals in the first commercial, depicting a statue of Colonel Sanders coming to life after hearing Padme Amidala's plea for help. His companion Alexis is a martial artist and is likely an enforcer/bodyguard for Pizza the Hutt. Chihuahua is probably a mog with a birth defect, given that he can speak Common, but walks on all fours and is considerably smaller than most mogs.
4 ABY - SPACEBALLS: Chapter 11
Colonel Sandurz is an officer in the Spaceballs military serving directly under Lord Dark Helmet during President Skroob's campaign to steal the air from planet Druidia. The plan is foiled when Princess Vespa, Lone Starr, Barfolemew, and Dot Matrix cause the transformed starship Spaceball-One to return the stolen air and self-destruct, which strands Sandurz, Skroob, and Dark Helmet on a planet with some apes. [SPACEBALLS: THE MOVIE] Though part of the Spaceballs empire, and thus likely born on Planet Moron, Col. Sandurz is probably related to the Colonel Sanders who fought against the droid army on Naboo years earlier. That Sanders was born 100 years before the destruction of Mega Maid, according to promotional materials put out during the "Defeat the Dark Side" ad campaign and the appearance of the Millennium Falcon at the Space Stop 5 diner (which likely took place shortly after the Battle of Endor, during a time of peace).
Note that both the "Defeat the Dark Side" ads and "Spaceballs" have space-worthy vehicles that resemble Earth automobiles, so even if these do not take place in the mainstream Star Wars Legends universe or the Star Wars Cinematic Universe (as defined by Disney), they ought to at least take place in the same alternate Star Wars Infinities timeline.
Not so long ago as all that...
Victorian Era -
Sailor Harland Sanders befriends Lady Madeline Parker, a woman who recently broke off her engagement in Victorian England. [Tender Wings of Desire, published in 2017]
Per the official release: When Lady Madeline Parker runs away from Parker Manor and a loveless betrothal, she finally feels like she is in control of her life. But what happens when she realizes she can’t control how she feels? When she finds herself swept into the arms of Harland, a handsome sailor with a mysterious past, Madeline realizes she must choose between a life of order and a man of passion. Can love overcome lies? What happens in the embrace of destiny, on the Tender Wings of Desire?
1888 - WAVE OF THE FUTURE
Fully adult Col. Sanders offers a KFC franchise to restaurateurs Caroline Ingalls and Harriet Olsen in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. They politely refuse, having already had a bad experience with restaurant franchising. [season 8 episode of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, 1981]
1890
Harland David Sanders is born September 9, 1890 in Henryville, Indiana.[Historical Fact]
1906-1907
Sanders serves in the United States Army, using falsified documents to appear old enough. [Historical Fact]
1930
Sanders opens his first restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, serving chicken at the gas station he ran . [Historical Fact]
1935
Sanders is commissioned a Kentucky Colonel (not a military title) by Ruby Laffoon, the governor of Kentucky. [Historical Fact]
1942
A Time-Lost Ivan Schablotski, posing as Dr. Raclaw Schablotski, visits Kentucky and meets Col. Sanders. Harland is convinced that Schablotski's talk about a secret branch of the Defense Department called the Ordnance is evidence of shell-shock from fighting overseas in World War II. This encounter is later eliminated from the timeline when Ivan undoes the changes he caused in 1942. ["Some People Call Me Crazy: Ivan Ronald Schablotski in the TVCU", TVCU Blog entry]
1952
Sander's secret recipe for fried chicken is franchised to a restaurant in South Salt Lake, Utah, which begins marketing the product as Kentucky Fried Chicken . [Historical Fact]
1962
Colonel Sanders and Minnie Pearl appear on an April episode of THE TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD SHOW. [Historical Fact]
1963
Colonel Sanders appears on two episodes of the game show WHAT'S MY LINE? [Historical Fact]
1964
Colonel Sanders appears on an episode of the game show I'VE GOT A SECRET. [Historical Fact]
1967
Colonel Sanders meets Gerald Clamson, a man who successfully fails to find stolen diamonds, as well as avoids being killed by rival gangsters looking for the diamonds. [THE BIG MOUTH, movie]
1967
Colonel Sanders provides free chicken dinners for newly-discovered rock band "The Blast-Offs" in exchange for the band playing music outside the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. [BLAST OFF GIRLS, movie]
1967-1969
Kentucky Fried Chicken/Harland Sanders release three Christmas albums in these years, with songs by different artists on each one. [Historical Fact]
1968
Dave Thomas, who turned his restaurant into a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in the mid-50s, learned a lot from Harland Sanders about what to do and, in his opinion, what not to do, in the restaurant business. Eventually Dave, after helping several KFC franchisees succeed, leaves Kentucky Fried Chicken and sells off his shares in the company to found his own restaurant chain, Wendy's Old Fashion Hamburgers, in Columbus OH. [Historical Fact]
1968
Colonel Sanders appears on THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW and ROWAN AND MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN. [Historical Fact]
1969
COLONEL SANDERS COMICS #1 "The Great Brain Robbery"
1970
COLONEL SANDERS COMICS #2 "The Not-So-Great Imposter"
1970
Colonel Sanders feeds FBI agent Mark Adams and Israeli agent Carol Bechtal while they are on assignment to bring down neo-Nazis and the Bloody Devils biker gangs. [HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS, movie]
1970
Colonel Sanders assists with a faux rock band (made up of American agents) to visit Albania on a mission to rescue kidnapped American celebrities. The Lone Ranger and Tonto, and Oddjob (James Bond foe) also make appearances. [THE PHYNX, movie]
1970
Colonel Sanders appears on two episodes of THE DAVID FROST SHOW. [Historical Fact]
1970
Colonel Sanders appears on an episode of PRAISE. [Historical Fact]
1952
Sander's secret recipe for fried chicken is franchised to a restaurant in South Salt Lake, Utah, which begins marketing the product as Kentucky Fried Chicken . [Historical Fact]
1962Colonel Sanders and Minnie Pearl appear on an April episode of THE TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD SHOW. [Historical Fact]
1963
Colonel Sanders appears on two episodes of the game show WHAT'S MY LINE? [Historical Fact]
1964
Colonel Sanders appears on an episode of the game show I'VE GOT A SECRET. [Historical Fact]
1967
Colonel Sanders meets Gerald Clamson, a man who successfully fails to find stolen diamonds, as well as avoids being killed by rival gangsters looking for the diamonds. [THE BIG MOUTH, movie]
1967
Colonel Sanders provides free chicken dinners for newly-discovered rock band "The Blast-Offs" in exchange for the band playing music outside the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. [BLAST OFF GIRLS, movie]
1967-1969 Kentucky Fried Chicken/Harland Sanders release three Christmas albums in these years, with songs by different artists on each one. [Historical Fact]
1968Dave Thomas, who turned his restaurant into a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in the mid-50s, learned a lot from Harland Sanders about what to do and, in his opinion, what not to do, in the restaurant business. Eventually Dave, after helping several KFC franchisees succeed, leaves Kentucky Fried Chicken and sells off his shares in the company to found his own restaurant chain, Wendy's Old Fashion Hamburgers, in Columbus OH. [Historical Fact]
1968
Colonel Sanders appears on THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW and ROWAN AND MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN. [Historical Fact]
1969
COLONEL SANDERS COMICS #1 "The Great Brain Robbery"
1970
COLONEL SANDERS COMICS #2 "The Not-So-Great Imposter"
1970
Colonel Sanders feeds FBI agent Mark Adams and Israeli agent Carol Bechtal while they are on assignment to bring down neo-Nazis and the Bloody Devils biker gangs. [HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS, movie]
1970Colonel Sanders assists with a faux rock band (made up of American agents) to visit Albania on a mission to rescue kidnapped American celebrities. The Lone Ranger and Tonto, and Oddjob (James Bond foe) also make appearances. [THE PHYNX, movie]
1970
Colonel Sanders appears on two episodes of THE DAVID FROST SHOW. [Historical Fact]
1970
Colonel Sanders appears on an episode of PRAISE. [Historical Fact]
1971
Colonel Sanders appears on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW. [Historical Fact]
Colonel Sanders appears on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW. [Historical Fact]
Colonel Sanders meets Alice Cooper when they are staying at the same hotel in Amsterdam. [Historical Fact]
1975
Colonel Sanders appears on DONAHUE. [Historical Fact]
1980
The Ghost of Kentucky Fried Chicken attacks then Governor of Kentucky John Y Brown Jr. (who was part of the business conglomerate that purchased KFC from Harland Sanders). The "Ghost" is eventually revealed to be the Phantom of Actor's Theatre of Louisville, and is stopped by super-powered vigilante Captain Kentucky. [Captain Kentucky #48, comic strip by Don Rosa, published in the Courier Journal Saturday Scene newspaper and reprinted in THE CAPTAIN KENTUCKY COLLECTION vol 1]
1980
Death of Harland David Sanders on December 16, 1980, in Louisville KY . [Historical Fact]
1985 - THE CURSE OF THE COLONEL
A statue of Col. Sanders is thrown into the Dōtonbori River in Osaka, Japan by
baseball fans celebrating a Pennant victory. This invoked "The Curse of the Colonel", causing the Hanshin Tigers to never win another Japan Series. The Curse is also believed to plague those who would serve KFC chicken without following the Colonel's original recipe, or expose that recipe to the public. [Urban Legend]
In the small town of Hinamizawa, children clean up a statue of Col. Sanders they found in hopes of ending a curse, because their town is full of courses. Oh, and people disappear or get killed a lot there, but timelines hardly matter thanks to someone being able to reset reality to 1983. [episode 2 of Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU anime]
Many anime have referenced the statues of Colonel Sanders found at KFC restaurants in Japan. Most of these do not directly connect to the Curse of the Colonel, but it is clear that the event in 1985 helped solidify the Colonel's pop culture icon status in Japan. Of course, having Colonel Sanders somehow become a stand-in for Santa Claus in the 1970s also endeared him to the Japanese public, but that's a whole different mess of weird.
From TVTROPES.COM regarding Colonel Sanders in anime and manga:
The founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken has shown up everywhere from Slayers to Project A-ko, usually in the form of the statue that apparently stands in front of every KFC in Japan.
Negima! Magister Negi Magi in particular has a glaring example: Albiero Imma enters a tournament under the name "Ku:nel Sanders" and insists that everyone refers to him by that name.
The ridiculous propensity of the Colonel's popularity is almost a case of real life Cultural Cross Reference. Firstly, for the role of one of those famous statues in the long-standing Curse of the Colonel haunting the Hanshin Tigers, and the very means of KFC's popularity in Japan: Due to the sheer lack of turkeys in Japan, KFC promoted its fried chicken as the closest thing to an honest-to-god classic Christmas Dinner. It's ingrained deeply enough that not only is fried chicken now considered the Japanese Christmas staple (enough that you need to order several DAYS ahead of time in order to get a dinner on Christmas)
, but there are actually people in Japan who genuinely don't know the company isn't Japanese. 1987
Inspector Gadget meets KFC mascots Frederick Fox and Charlie Hawk at an Australian KFC. [Australian Commercial series with promotional tie-ins]
2010
2010
2010 - BASIC ROCKET SCIENCE
A Space Flight Simulator created by Kentucky Friend Chicken decades earlier for educational and promotional purposes called the Kentucky Friend Chicken Eleven Herbs and Space Experience is acquired by Greendale Community College. A study group is accidentally locked inside by the onboard A.I., Systematic Android Network Diode Energy Rocket System (aka, S.A.N.D.E.R.S.) while the Winnebago used to house the simulator is towed to a remote location. [Season 2 episode of COMMUNITY] 
2010 - MEDICINAL FRIED CHICKEN
The town of South Park, Colorado bans Kentucky Fried Chicken. To fight this injustice, perpetual 4th-grader Eric Cartman travels to Corbin, Kentucky to make a deal with Col. Sanders for illegal fried chicken distribution. The deal goes bad when Cartman starts using his own product and can't meet the payments. [Season 14 episode of SOUTH PARK]
2013
The statue of Col. Sanders in the Dōtonbori River is seen by characters in Kill la Kill. The timeline surrounding these characters alters and resets frequently, making it difficult to know which details carried over to the final version of events. [Kill la Kill] 
2015
KFC PRESENTS: THE COLONEL'S ADVENTURE COMICS #1 tells the accurate story of Harland David Sanders' early years, covering his birth in Henryville, IN, his stint in the Army, his time with the railroad company, attempt at being a lawyer, selling gas, delivering babies, and the many fights he was in throughout it all. The comic is narrated by Col. Sanders himself, but since it only had one issue, it didn't even reach the period of his life when he founded Kentucky Friend Chicken. It is unknown if the comic book story would have covered his passing in 1980.
2015 - The Colonel of Two Worlds
Colonel Sanders, the Flash, and Green Lantern must deal with the evil Colonel Sunders from Earth-3, who sells bad-tasting Fried Chicken by making it the "Easy Way". Supervillains the Mirror Master and Captain Cold aided Sunders in his plot, but at the end of the story they were offered jobs at a legitimate KFC by Sanders. [KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN PRESENTS #1, DC Comics] This comic is said to pay homage to Colonel Sanders Comics #2 from 1970, though in that story the faux Colonel was not from a parallel Earth. As this story (and two more that follow it) are set with in DC Comics continuity, it should be assumed that the earlier comics are NOT in continuity with these newer ones, which are set in the Post-Flashpoint Prime Earth.
2015
Colonel Sanders hires the Robot Chicken to take his fried chicken into space, but the chicken runs into obstacles. [ad campaign featuring Robot Chicken stop-motion animation]
2016
Sanders begin his wrestling career by taking down a humanoid chicken and other wrestlers during WWE SummerSlam 2016 and continued through 2018. [KFC 2016 television commercial, 2018 videogame WWE2K18] 2016 - COLONEL CORPS: CRISIS OF INFINITE COLONELS
Colonel Sanders (Prime Earth) forgets all but one of the ingredients for his secret Original fried chicken recipe. He is met by Colonel Arla Sanders from Earth-11 and the Earth-11 Flash, who explains that Earth-3's Col. Sunder has made multiple Colonels forget the recipe, so they must team up to get the list all of the ingredients back and defeat Sunder. They bring in Colonel Lad from the 31st Century's Legion of Super-Heroes, Teen Colonel (world of Teen Titans Go!), Detective Colonel Sanders (Earth-19, world of GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT), Bizarro-Colonel (Earth-29, the Bizarroverse), Kolonel (anthropomorphic rooster, Earth-51, world of KAMANDI THE LAST BOY ON EARTH), All-Star Colonel (world of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN), Cowboy Sanders (Earth-18, world of JUSTICE RIDERS), Comrade Sanders (Earth-30, world of SUPERMAN: RED SON), and Koln-El (Earth-22, world of KINGDOM COME). Together as the Colonel Corps they defeat Col. Sunder and his accomplice, Colonel Grodd, and restore their collective memories. [KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN PRESENTS #2, DC Comics]
2017 - GREEN LANTERN/COLONEL SANDERS: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Colonel Sanders sends Zinger chicken sandwiches into space in the hopes of getting extraterrestrial life forms hooked on KFC. Green Lantern Hal Jordan assists him by opening a worm hole to inhabited space, and other Green lanterns aid as well, but all the space capsules arrive at their destinations empty. To investigate, Hal deputizes Col. Sanders into the Green Lantern Corps and presents him with a temporary GL ring. They track the "thieving varmint" to Okaara where they deal with Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern. In order to deal with Larfleeze's lust for the Zinger sandwich, the Colonel sets him up with his own KFC franchise before returning to Earth. [KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN PRESENTS #3, DC Comics]
Commercials showing the Colonel in an astronaut suit (portrayed by Rob Lowe) are consistent with the space-suited Colonel in early scenes of this comic book. This establishes that at least one live-action Colonel Sanders depicted is part the DC Multiverse. It is possible that the live-action Astronaut Sanders is the DCEU or CW Arrowverse version of the Colonel, rather than the Prime Earth (aka Earth-0) Colonel from this story.
2017
Colonel Sanders narrates a GPS Program... on audiocassette tape! The recording has predetermined starting points and destinations in order for Harlands' directions to be correct. If you don't begin driving at Sander's burial place in Cave Hill Cemetery, none of the directions or destinations will work out... which means this version of the Colonel acknowledges that he is deceased. [KFC GPS promotional audiocassette tape]
2017 - KFC: THE HARD WAY
A KFC Virtual Training escape room designed to lead those trapped within into preparing fried chicken the way Colonel Sanders intended is made available, in a cross between a puzzle game and SAW, and hosted by the Colonel himself. [KFC THE HARD WAY 3D game for Rift, Rift S, and Occulus Touch] 
2018 - WHAT'S FOR DINNER? Colonel Sanders brings his KFC fried chicken to a family of four at their suburban home, and slowly takes over the family, replacing mom, dad, the mailman, and at least one neighbor with himself. [WHAT'S FOR DINNER ad campaign]
This campaign has Jason Alexander as the Colonel, and presents the creepy scenario as if it was a television sitcom.
2018
Throughout the month of April, 2018, Colonel Sanders (as KFC Uncle) and the staff of a KFC
franchise at Prontera provided in-game and real world promotional items (such as quests, costume parts, coupons for food, etc.) in the world of RAGNAROK ONLINE.
2018
franchise at Prontera provided in-game and real world promotional items (such as quests, costume parts, coupons for food, etc.) in the world of RAGNAROK ONLINE.
2018
2019 - RUDY II: HE'S COLONEL SANDERS NOW
College football hopeful Daniel Eugene "Rudy" Ruettiger decides that after he graduates college, he will become Colonel Sanders. He faces many obstacles on the way, most of which focusing on that fact that he Rudy, not Colonel Sanders. Eventually, he gets to be the Colonel. [RUDY II: HE'S COLONEL SANDERS NOW, faux movie trailer/commercial]
Rudy graduated from Notre Dame in 1976, but no time frame is given for how long it took him to become the new Colonel Sanders. Presumably it had to happen after 1980, after the real Colonel Sanders passed away, but with no further evidence, real time release of 2019 is used. Rudy is portrayed by Sean Astin, who played the character (based on a real person) in the original RUDY in 1993.
2019
A cyborg Col. Sanders is released using technology similar to OmniCorps' RoboCop project. This cyborg is identified as Colonel Sanders and knows the original recipe to Kentucky Fried Chicken, but looks and behaves like the original RoboCop. In the live action commercials, he is portrayed by RoboCop actor Peter Weller.
An unrelated Korean commercial for fried chicken featuring RoboCop was released years earlier. That RoboCop was not played by Peter Weller and was desirous of fried chicken, rather than providing fried chicken to others as the Col. Sanders RoboCop does.
2019 You attend the University of Cooking School: Academy for Learning for a three-day only semester with your best friend Miriam, Aeshleigh, Van Van the Man Man, Pop/bob, Clank, some other student no one is interested in, and the dreamy Harland "Colonel" Sanders. The teacher is Sprinkles, aka Professor Dog, a corgi who is also the CEO of the University. This version of the Colonel is much younger than most and does not have his own restaurant yet. [I LOVE YOU, COLONEL SANDERS dating simulator]
2019 Mother's Day
The Colonel and the hardbodied Chickendale Dancers perform a routine designed to celebrate mothers in a delightfully disturbing way. The Chickendales are a blatant parody of the Chippendale's dancers. [Television Commercial]
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2019 Col. Chester Sanders saves people from hunger with his new sandwich, Extra-Crispy Chicken Fillet in a special Cheetos sauce. This feline anthropomorphic mascot is a mash-up of Chester Cheetah from Cheetos and Colonel Sanders from KFC, and may represent a version of the Colonel from a mash-up reality like the Amalgam Universe.
2019
Exusiai and Croissant spend time at a KFC, designing custom employee uniforms and a children's party outfit for Silence in the dystopian world of Terra. [ARKLIGHT mobile app game]
In July of 2020, Colonel Sanders becomes one of the hero combatants in the ARENA OF VALOR. [ARENA OF VALOR Mobile Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game]
2020
A Halloween masquerade within the world of IDENTITY V provided KFC themed costumes for some established characters, as well as a few new characters, such as Colonel "The Colonel" Sanders and Colonel Ki. Additionally, several cross-promotional items existed between the game and the real world restaurants, but all were available only in China.
2020 At Christmas, a rich family's new chef, Colonel Harland Sanders (played by Mario Lopez), helps Jessica Mancera escape her over-controlling mother Bunny Mancera and her homicidal would-be fiancé Billy Garibaldi III. [A RECIPE FOR SEDUCTION, Lifetime original movie]
This movie, a parody of Lifetime holiday romance movies, is only sixteen minutes long. The depiction of Sanders in this is consistent with his personality and appearance in the I LOVE YOU, COLONEL SANDERS dating simulator, minus the insane anime elements, and assuming an ending to that game in which Sanders does not become romantically attached to anyone.
2021
31st Century
Colonel Lad prepares food for the Legion of Super-Heroes. He is one of the counterparts to Colonel Sanders to retain a piece of the Original Recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken and briefly joins the Colonel Corps in 2017 to defeat Colonel Sunders and Colonel Grodd. [KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN PRESENTS #2]
*****
Many other versions of Colonel Sanders have been portrayed by many other actors, even instances where multiple Colonels encounter each other or one version denounces another version as an imitator. Unless these involve crossovers with OTHER fictional characters, they do not qualify for this timeline.
There are also many unofficial fan-made projects; art, videos, games, cosplays, etc.; showing version of Colonel Sanders. Often these projects pit him against other fast food mascots in physical combat, rap battle, or other competitions. They are quite entertaining for the most part, but beyond the scope of this timeline, without some connection to a legitimate IP already in the Television Crossover Universe/Multiverse. For example, FINAL FANTASY XIV famously had a player running around the MMO as Colonel Sanders, but this was not an official use of the character, not was it being presented within the game as an actual iteration of the character, parody or otherwise, so it is not included.
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