REVIEW: End of Month Reviews #71 - November 2009 [spoilers]

Dave Van Domelen dvandom at eyrie.org
Fri Dec 11 12:27:44 PST 2009


In article <2f0fb7c9-fcff-4a71-b557-0373d71860f6 at s20g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>,
Andrew Perron  <pwerdna at gmail.com> wrote:
>Oh yes.  I love, love, *love* shared universes.  I honestly don't know
>why they seem to be limited to comic books and licensed properties.
>It seems to be for the same reason I love crossovers, mashups and the
>public domain; sharing ideas is fun.

     There's plenty of shared universe action on TV too.  At the most basic
level, most shows have a pool of writers, so even within a single program
there's a lot of sharing.  Extend it a little more to get things like
spinoffs...Laverne & Shirley exists in the same world as Happy Days, while
Mork & Mindy is set in a possible future of Happy Days and Joanie Loves
Chachi is a horrible nightmare someone in Happy Days had.  ;)  A bunch of
shows are set in Archie Bunker's world, with spinoffs of spinoffs existing.
And so forth, even ignoring the obvious franchises like Star Trek or CSI.
     Additionally, every so often two shows that aren't directly based on one
another will have a crossover, like when Martial Law and Early Edition had a
two-part story that started in one show and ended in the other.
     Finally, you get the in joke echoes, like Faceman (Dirk Benedict)
running into an actor playing a Cylon in an early episode of The A-Team, or
Pa Kent in Smallville (John Schneider) listening to the Dukes of Hazzard
theme on the radio or having an old buddy (who Clark thought of as an uncle)
played by Tom Wopat.  :)

     Dave Van Domelen, crossovers are out there....




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