(no subject)

[andrew_jorgensen]

Recently, I was involved in a discussion on the board concerning the shared realities created when television shows crossover. It is surprising, and a little scary, to see how many shows actually can be linked in this way. For example, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. can be linked to The X-Files: Gomer Pyle is a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show; Andy Griffith's character on that show was created on The Danny Thomas Show, which, in another episode, featured Morey Amsterdam as Buddy Sorrell, his character from The Dick Van Dyke Show. Mad About You brought back some characters from The Dick Van Dyke Show as an homage; Lisa Kudrow played the same character on Mad About You and Friends; Friends crossed over with Caroline In The City which crossed over with Frasier which was a spin-off from Cheers. An episode of St. Elsewhere featured two doctors drinking at the bar from Cheers; various other St. Elsewhere characters have recurred on Homicide; and Homicide is linked to The X-Files through the ubiquitous Detective John Munch.

It is my contention that when our children will talk about the archetypical characters of mythology, they will mention The Hero, The Shadow, The Trickster and John Munch. Richard Belzer has now appeared on five different shows on three different networks as the character. Apparently, he's in line to add another.