10 Modern TV Crossovers We Want To See

There’s nothing quite like a good crossover between two TV shows. Back in the day, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to see Lucille Ball share the screen with Superman, or for Alf to spend an episode obsessing over Gilligan’s Island. In modern TV, crossovers are fewer and farther between, given how it’s rarer than ever for networks and streaming services to come together rather than compete.

Still, the occasional TV crossover is enough to remind us just how magical it is to see two shows, sometimes with entirely different tones, weave together for an episode. Take, for instance, the shocking It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Abbott Elementary crossover, which allowed the characters from both shows to play off each other in new and unexpected ways. Crossovers also typically still happen for franchises like Law & Order, Chicago Fire, and Grey’s Anatomy. However, there are plenty of popular shows that deserve a crossover, too.

Shrinking & Ted Lasso

Bill Lawrence’s Feel-Good Apple TV Shows Would Make A Perfect Pair

Bill Lawrence has been behind plenty of successful sitcoms, including two current sitcoms on Apple TV that share more than behind-the-scenes talent. Ted Lasso, the Jason Sudeikis-led dramedy following an American coaching an underdog soccer team in London, was meant to end after its third season but is surprisingly returning for a fourth, a prospect that has garnered mixed reactions from fans.

Though Ted Lasso season 4 may be Apple TV’s biggest test yet, a good way to win over audiences would be to cross it over with Lawrence’s other Apple TV show, Shrinking, in which Jason Segel plays a therapist grieving his wife’s death. It’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility for the Shrinking characters to cross the Atlantic Ocean and see one of Ted Lasso’s games; it would be incredible to see Brett Goldstein’s Roy Kent interact with Harrison Ford’s Paul Rhoades in a grumpy showdown.

Only Murders In The Building & Poker Face

Natasha Lyonne Could Lend A Hand To The Arconia’s Amateur Podcasters

Peacock’s Poker Face was already an underrated crime series before it was sadly canceled after two seasons. However, there’s a chance to bring back Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale in another popular TV murder mystery: Only Murders in the Building, a Hulu series in which Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez play three true crime fanatics who start a podcast covering a series of murders that take place in their luxurious New York apartment building.

Only Murders has already become a haven for incredibly talented actors in recurring roles, from Meryl Streep to Paul Rudd, and even Ron Howard. Given how much Only Murders lampoons Hollywood, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Lyonne to show up not as Charlie Cale but as herself, albeit using the detective skills she learned on Poker Face to help the well-meaning but somewhat messy Arconia trio.

Ted & The Orville

Seth MacFarlane Is No Stranger To Letting His Shows Cross Paths

The future of Seth MacFarlane’s series Ted on Peacock is up in the air, given how expensive it is to produce. Maybe it’d be easier to secure Ted‘s season 3 fate if MacFarlane incorporated a crossover episode in the next season of The Orville, his sci-fi series spoofing the likes of Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. After all, he’s previously done crossovers with his animated series Family Guy and American Dad.

The only question is, how would the suburbia-set Ted cross paths with 25th-century space exploration? Well, Ted already plays around with absurdist humor, and The Orville experimented with time travel in its third season. Perhaps the sci-fi series could pay homage to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home by letting its cast get trapped in 1990s Boston, where they somehow need the help of the Bennett family to get home. It’ll just be a bit awkward for Lieutenant Malloy to meet Matty, given they’re both played by Scott Grimes.

Ponies & The Americans

The Latest Cold War-Era Russia Series Could Bring Back An Old Favorite

The only thing keeping the characters from Ponies and The Americans crossing paths is a couple of years and a plane ride; Peacock’s newest series takes place in 1977 Moscow, while The Americans starts in Washington, D.C. in 1981. However, it’s easy to imagine Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell reprising their roles as KGB agents Philip and Elizabeth Jennings before the events of The Americans via a Ponies cameo.

Ponies only improved during its first season, showing a lot of promise as a successor to The Americans as a Cold War-set drama. If anything, the timeline of The Americans leaves a lot of room for Philip and Elizabeth between the early ’70s and ’80s, meaning it’s entirely possible they somehow cross paths with housewives-turned-spies Bea and Twila.

Daredevil: Born Again & MCU Spider-Man

They’ve Met On The Big Screen, Now Let’s Reunite Them On The Small Screen

Technically, the Daredevil series has already crossed over with the MCU numerous times, with Spider-Man: No Way Home featuring Matt Murdock as Peter Parker’s lawyer, and Kingpin appearing in Hawkeye. The crossovers are set to continue with Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle in the MCU’s most ambitious upcoming crossover, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

However, it’s well overdue for Spider-Man to reciprocate the crossover and show his masked face in Daredevil: Born Again, the current Disney+ series. It’d generally be a lot of fun to see more of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker fighting street-level baddies, especially if it allows him to face off against Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, one of the most iconic villains in Spider-Man’s rogues gallery.

Pluribus & The Breaking Bad Franchise

Vince Gilligan Says He’s Done With Breaking Bad… But Would A Few More Easter Eggs Hurt?

Eagle-eyed viewers of Apple TV’s Pluribus may have already spotted some Easter eggs for Vince Gilligan’s previous TV hits, Breaking Bad and its prequel, Better Call Saul. From the voice of Patrick Fabian to the appearance of the fictional Wayfarer airline, the chances of a Pluribus and Breaking Bad crossover are especially likely given that both series take place in Albuquerque.

That being said, any crossover between the two series probably wouldn’t include Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, or even Saul Goodman. Knowing Gilligan and his writers’ love for the finer details, however, don’t be surprised if more Breaking Bad cameos and references to Gilligan’s previous work show up in future seasons of Pluribus. Maybe all we’ll ever get is a cameo from Betsy Brandt as a purple-wearing member of the hive-mind, but that would be enough.

A Man On The Inside & The Good Place

They’re Already Effectively Sister Shows

A Man on the Inside is the second collaboration between TV icon Ted Danson and creator Michael Schur, who previously worked together on NBC’s The Good Place. In comparison, A Man on the Inside is a much more grounded show than its predecessor, starring Danson as a private detective investigating petty crimes rather than as a demon running the afterlife.

Maybe Danson’s character is a continuation of Michael’s story after The Good Place‘s series finale, which (spoiler alert!) saw the demon sent to Earth to live a life as a human. Or maybe, A Man on the Inside could rope in more recurring faces from The Good Place to reprise their roles, such as William Jackson Harper as Chidi Anagoye. He could travel to San Francisco as a visiting professor, after all.

Stranger Things & The X-Files Reboot

The Upside Down Would Be A Classic X-Files Case For Mulder & Scully

Ryan Coogler’s The X-Files reboot has a lot of high expectations, but one thing that would really make the show feel like a blast from the past is a crossover episode. What better show to incorporate into X-Files lore than Stranger Things, which the Duffer Brothers have already planned spinoffs for? A crossover wouldn’t even need to include previous characters like Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven or David Harbour’s Jim Hopper.

Any X-Files crossover should continue to focus on Mulder and Scully, but getting their perspective on the Upside Down (or whatever other “stranger things” the planned spinoffs will explore) would not only be a cool merging of the two series, but frankly, very much needed to learn more about Stranger Things’ cool, if confusing, worldbuilding.

Alien: Earth & The Predator Franchise

The Predator Franchise Should Learn From Alien’s Playbook

It’s never easy for continuations of iconic franchises to live up to their beginnings, but Alien: Earth‘s success could fix the mistakes of the Alien vs. Predator movies. Predator, as a franchise, has also seen a resurgence in recent years, thanks to innovative movie takes on the lore with Predator: Badlands and Prey. It’s the perfect time to revive Alien vs. Predator on the small screen and see if, together, these modern prequels can do something new with something old.

Perhaps Predator could have its own television series that carries on the acclaim of Badlands and Prey. It’s certainly not difficult to imagine these worlds colliding again, given what’s already been done on the big screen. To really get the fans excited, though, it’d probably be best for a crossover to involve the cast of the acclaimed Alien: Earth series.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer & Supernatural Joint Revival

If No One Else Will Reboot Buffy, Maybe Supernatural’s Fanbase Can

Fans around the world were heartbroken to learn that Hulu had canceled the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot. It’s especially heartbreaking given that Buffy the Vampire Slayer paved the way for so many other cult fantasy series on TV, including Supernatural, the CW series that ran for 15 seasons.

There have been several attempts at spinning off Supernatural, including The Winchesters and Wayward Sisters, but maybe what a Supernatural revival needs is to join forces with Buffy Summers for the TV crossover to end all crossovers. The shows already have so much in common, including their enduring fan bases, so why not see how Buffy can handle teaming up with the Winchester brothers for an action-packed special episode or two?