10 Best Sitcom Crossover Episodes Of All Time, Ranked

Summary

• Executing a successful sitcom crossover requires a unique story that brings out the best in both sets of characters.
• Not all crossover episodes live up to the hype, as comedy styles may not blend seamlessly across unrelated shows.
• Connections between shows, whether through creators or actors, can help ensure a crossover doesn’t feel like too much of a gimmick.

Sitcom crossovers are an odd TV tradition, bringing together characters from unrelated shows for new and unique stories. If they are executed poorly, crossover episodes can add up to little more than cheap marketing exercises for their shows, but there have been plenty of sitcom crossovers that have struck upon a winning formula. Often, the key is to create a story which brings the best out of both sets of characters.

Crossover episodes are often among the most highly anticipated episodes of any show, but they don’t always live up to these expectations. Not all shows can blend their styles of humor so easily, and the fact that they are on the same network isn’t a good enough reason to attempt to combine them. Sometimes, sharing a creator or an actor can help things run smoothly, and many of the best sitcom crossovers benefit from more connections between the two shows.

10 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Season 2, Episode 20, “That’s So Suite Life Of Hannah Montana”

That’s So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, & Hannah Montana

For a certain generation, nothing can bring on a wave of heady nostalgia quite like the mention of That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana, the Disney Channel crossover event that combined three of its biggest shows. That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana is the second of three episodes, one from each show, and it’s the one which features the most interactions between characters of different shows.

That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana
lived up to the billing, making it by far the most successful and memorable of many Disney Channel crossover events.

Raven and Hannah Montana separately travel to the Tipton Hotel, and their worlds collide with the staff there, as well as Zack and Cody, of course. That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana lived up to the billing, making it by far the most successful and memorable of many Disney Channel crossover events that established a fictional universe. Raven’s psychic abilities make a fun change to the dynamics of both the other shows, without ever being too distracting.

9 The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Season 5, Episode 17, “Will Is From Mars…”

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air & The Jeffersons

The Jeffersons was hugely influential, and it helped pave the way for other sitcoms focusing on Black joy and success. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air gave a nod to The Jeffersons in the season 5 episode “Will Is From Mars…” At this point, The Jeffersons had been off the air for ten years, but Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford returned to their famous roles one last time.

At this point,
The Jeffersons
had been off the air for ten years, but Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford returned to their famous roles one last time.

In “Will Is From Mars,” Will and Lisa agree to visit a relationship counselor so that Uncle Phil will pay for their honeymoon, but the other couples they meet there help put their problems in perspective. George Jefferson is bold enough to offer Will his own advice, although his relationship with Louise seems much more tumultuous. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air gives The Jeffersons a well-deserved victory lap.

8 The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius & Fairly Odd Parents

The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour was a series of three crossover events featuring Jimmy Neutron and Fairly Odd Parents‘ Timmy Turner. The fact that there was a whole trilogy proves just how popular the idea was among Nickelodeon’s young viewers. The first episode sees Jimmy and Timmy swapping places and animation styles, after one of Timmy’s wishes goes awry. Over the course of the three episodes, Jimmy and Timmy become good friends, despite living in different universes.

While it’s fun to see two popular characters swapping visual styles,
The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour
is also a standout episode for both shows.

While it’s fun to see two popular characters swapping visual styles, The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour is also a standout episode for both shows. The synthesis of Timmy’s magic and Jimmy’s genius-level intellect is like a genre mash-up of fantasy and science fiction, whether the characters are working together or against one another. As with most great crossover episodes, The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour provides a different set of challenges for its characters.

7 Full House Season 4, Episode 16, “Stephanie Gets Framed”

Full House & Family Matters

Family Matters and Full House both represent a bygone era of family-friendly sitcoms which always paired humor with a sweet moral lesson. The Full House episode “Stephanie Gets Framed” has exactly the kind of earnest attitude that would be ripped to shreds by the modern era’s more cynical worldview, but it’s still nice to see Jaleel White’s Steve Urkel comforting Stephanie when she gets nervous about wearing glasses.

Family Matters
and
Full House
both represent a bygone era of family-friendly sitcoms which always paired humor with a sweet moral lesson.

Steve Urkel’s cameo in Full House helped fill the gaps in the theorized “TGIF universe,” which accounts for crossovers between multiple ABC shows which aired on the same night in the 1990s. Sitcom crossovers were more common back then than they are now, and not just on ABC. “Stephanie Gets Framed” works well because it simply lets Steve Urkel unleash his chaotic comedy on a new environment, and the Tanner family don’t quite know how to handle him.

6 The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones

The Jetsons & The Flintstones

The Flintstones was one of Hanna-Barbera’s biggest hits, and its success has led many to see The Jetsons as little more than an attempt at recycling the same concept. Both shows feature recognizable families living in wildly different time periods. The Flintstones may use dinosaurs as home appliances, while the Jetsons have a robotic maid, but both families face the same timeless problems.

The Flintstones may use dinosaurs as home appliances, while the Jetsons have a robotic maid, but both families face the same timeless problems.

Hanna-Barbera’s two iconic families crossed paths in the TV movie The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, after a time machine mishap sends the Jetsons tumbling all the way back to Bedrock. Before George can repair the machine, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble accidentally send themselves thousands of years into the future. This creates two fish-out-of-water stories at once, which further drives home the point that human foibles and family strife will remain the same forever.

5 Friends Season 1, Episode 16, “The One With The Two Parts, Part I”

Friends & Mad About You

During the first few seasons of Friends, as the show was exploding in popularity, Lisa Kudrow was also in Mad About You. The writers of Friends came up with the brilliant idea of making Kudrow’s two characters identical twins. Ursula, the testy waitress from Mad About You, became Ursula Buffay, and she pops up in multiple Friends episodes over the years. Her first episode also features brief cameos from Jamie and Fran.

The episode delivers a great meta joke about Lisa Kudrow’s role in both shows, and it’s a strong outing regardless of its ties to
Mad About You.

“The One With Two Parts” isn’t a full crossover episode, since it doesn’t feature most of the main cast from Mad About You. However, it’s a great meta joke about Lisa Kudrow’s role in both shows, and a good episode regardless of its ties to Mad About You. Ursula developed a lot more after this first appearance, quickly becoming one of the best side characters in Friends.

4 New Girl Season 6, Episode 4, “Homecoming”

New Girl & Brooklyn Nine-Nine

New Girl‘s crossover with Brooklyn Nine-Nine highlighted how rare sitcom crossovers have become, and they haven’t picked up in the years since. The two-part crossover starts with a Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode, in which Jake has to commandeer a car being driven by Jess. She is less than amenable to the idea, but this minor interaction is merely the set-up for the New Girl episode which follows.

Nick and Winston have a great B-story trying to scrape together enough money for subway fare by being street performers who never perform, and they run into
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
‘s Charles Boyle.

“Homecoming” features the most interactions between New Girl characters and the gang at the 99th precinct. It perfectly captures the clash of cultures between the East and West coasts, as Jess’ quirky charm is bulldozed by the businesslike New Yorkers. Elsewhere, Nick and Winston have a great B-story trying to scrape together enough money for subway fare by being street performers who never perform, and they run into Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Charles Boyle.

3 Archer Season 4, Episode 1, “Fugues & Riffs”

Archer & Bob’s Burgers

Archer season 4 opens with the self-proclaimed world’s greatest spy working in a humble burger restaurant. He believes that he is H. Jon Benjamin’s other iconic animated character, Bob Belcher. When he ruthlessly dispatches a team of assassins, he realizes that he may have some stuff to figure out. Archer only thinks he is Bob because he has entered a fugue state and lost his memory after a traumatic incident.

The juxtaposition between the cutesy charm of
Bob’s Burgers
and the bloody violence of
Archer
produces plenty of hilarious moments.

Linda, Gene and Louise only appear in the first few minutes of “Fugues and Riffs,” but their presence is felt throughout the whole episode. H. Jon Benjamin essentially plays Bob Belcher being thrown into an episode of Archer, as the mild-mannered restaurateur has to get to grips with an assassination plot. This juxtaposition between the cutesy charm of Bob’s Burgers and the bloody violence of Archer produces plenty of hilarious moments. Benjamin’s deadpan voice is perfect for the humor.

2 Family Guy Season 13, Episode 1, “The Simpsons Guy”

Family Guy & The Simpsons

Family Guy has often laughed at its perceived similarities to The Simpsons, but the crossover episode between the shows highlights just how different they are. No episode of The Simpsons would feature such a gruesome fight scene, or a vomit-inducing erotic car wash sequence featuring Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin in tight denim shorts. The Simpsons may have influenced Family Guy, but it’s far more than a rip-off.

Family Guy
has often laughed at its perceived similarities to
The Simpsons,
but the crossover episode between the shows highlights just how different they are.

Family Guy shows some of the superficial similarities between the two shows, such as the main character’s love of beer and the family’s mischievous son, but the humor is completely different. This crossover could only ever work this way around. As Peter says at the end of the episode, it’s unlikely that the Simpson family will find themselves in Quahog, because The Simpsons is too family-oriented to feature Family Guy‘s humor in one of its own episodes.

1 The Simpsons Season 6, Episode 18, “A Star Is Burns”

The Simpsons & The Critic

The Simpsons has had other crossover episodes throughout its 35-year-long run, including a Futurama crossover in season 26, but “A Star Is Burns” is by far the greatest. Featuring Jay Sherman from the short-lived animated sitcom The Critic, the episode sees the people of Springfield putting on a film festival featuring their own terrible home-made movies. The Critic was created by Simpsons writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss, so the two shows blend together perfectly.

“A Star Is Burns” is a fast-paced, hilarious episode packed with plenty of great moments, including Jay Sherman’s interview with Rainier Wolfcastle and
Football to the Groin.

Coming right in the middle of the show’s “Golden Age,” “A Star Is Burns” is a fast-paced, hilarious episode packed with plenty of great moments, including Jay Sherman’s interview with Rainier Wolfcastle and Football to the Groin. Despite its popularity, “A Star Is Burns” is the only episode of The Simpsons which Matt Groening disowned, who saw the crossover as cheap advertising for The Critic.