In 2023, crossovers and multiverses of madness are all the rage in the arts and media, the IP machine grafting other pieces onto itself in an ever-expanding effort to pull in mass audiences. Yet the initial creative impulse at the core of crossovers — "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if X met Y?" — goes much further back into history than the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Due to pesky issues like copyright law and the like, most crossovers in films prior to the MCU tended to be either "wink-wink" references or cameo appearances. Television was another matter, however; thanks to so many popular shows airing on a single network, many characters from sitcoms, dramas, and other series turned up for an episode or two on a sister show. This happened often enough that, beginning in the 1980s, the bizarre phenomenon known as the "Tommy Westphall Universe" inadvertently began (look it up).
Of course,...
Due to pesky issues like copyright law and the like, most crossovers in films prior to the MCU tended to be either "wink-wink" references or cameo appearances. Television was another matter, however; thanks to so many popular shows airing on a single network, many characters from sitcoms, dramas, and other series turned up for an episode or two on a sister show. This happened often enough that, beginning in the 1980s, the bizarre phenomenon known as the "Tommy Westphall Universe" inadvertently began (look it up).
Of course,...
- 12/25/2023
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
One of the most iconic shows of the 1980s was, without a doubt, The A-Team. Starring screen veteran George Peppard, Dirk Benedict, Dwight Schultz, and the legendary Mr. T, the show premiered in January 1983 and became a pop culture phenomenon. It helped that the show came out hot on the heels of Rocky III, with Mr. T already in the zeitgeist for playing the unforgettable villain, Clubber Lang. Here, as B.A. Baracus, T would adopt a much more family-friendly persona. While he was the breakout star, audiences also loved Peppard as Hannibal, the wannabe actor mastermind, Benedict as Faceman, the ladies’ man, and Schultz as Murdock, the crazy one. The story of an underground crew of Nam vets who are framed for a crime they didn’t commit, the show ran for five seasons before slipping out of fashion towards the end of the decade when the mix of...
- 12/6/2022
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
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