1. The Brady Bunch Hour Meets Donny & Marie
When The Brady Bunch Hour aired in 1977, viewers were already trying to wrap their heads around the fact that the wholesome sitcom family had suddenly become a variety act. But things got even stranger when Donny and Marie Osmond made an appearance. The crossover had the Bradys performing musical numbers alongside the Osmonds, complete with sequins, spotlights, and synchronized dance moves. It was supposed to blend two beloved families of the decade, but it mostly left audiences confused about whether this was still the Brady family or just the actors doing a parody of themselves.
The episode felt like a fever dream of ’70s television excess, when variety shows were everywhere and boundaries between genres didn’t matter. Seeing Mike and Carol Brady sing duets with Donny and Marie made people nostalgic and baffled at the same time. It was one of those TV moments that could only have happened during the polyester era, when networks were desperate for crossover ratings magic that didn’t always make sense.
2. Charlie’s Angels and The Love Boat
In 1979, Charlie’s Angels traded crime-fighting for cruise ships when the Angels boarded The Love Boat for a two-part special. The idea was to bring the glamorous detectives into the romantic, sunny world of ocean getaways, but the mix of crime drama and lighthearted cruise antics was jarring. Viewers watched as the Angels flirted with passengers, chased jewel thieves, and somehow managed to wear high heels on deck without falling over.
The crossover felt like a corporate experiment by ABC to mash together two of its biggest hits. While the Angels did solve the case, the tone shift was wild. One minute there was danger and gunfire, the next minute, Captain Stubing was cracking a dad joke. It made for entertaining TV, but not exactly coherent storytelling.
3. Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley
This crossover at least made a little sense, since both shows shared a Milwaukee setting and a similar tone. But when Laverne & Shirley officially popped up on Happy Days, it was more like watching two sitcom universes collide. The crossover introduced Laverne and Shirley as wild dates for Richie and Fonzie, creating a spin-off that would later have its own success.
What made it strange in hindsight is how cartoonish the world suddenly became once the girls showed up. Happy Days had already leaned into broad humor, but with Laverne and Shirley’s slapstick energy, it almost felt like two different comedies were stitched together. Still, it worked well enough that the crossover turned into one of the most successful spin-offs of the decade.
4. The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman
Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers had a long, complicated relationship that crossed over so many times that even loyal viewers started to lose track of which show they were watching. Their crossovers were equal parts action, romance, and science fiction soap opera, often jumping between The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman in mid-storyline.
While fans loved seeing the pair together, the constant hopping between shows confused casual viewers. One week you’d need to switch channels to see how the story ended, and the next week, Jaime was suddenly back on her own missions as if nothing had happened. It was groundbreaking television for its time, but the network scheduling made it feel more chaotic than cohesive.
5. The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island Variety Crossover
In 1977, America’s favorite sitcom family shared the stage with the stranded castaways of Gilligan’s Island during a Brady Bunch Hour variety special. The crossover featured both groups performing song-and-dance numbers and comedy sketches that completely ignored their original storylines. Viewers watched Gilligan trading lines with Greg Brady as if they had always existed in the same world.
It was strange, colorful, and very much a sign of the times. By the mid-’70s, variety TV was more about spectacle than logic, and this surreal crossover proved it. For fans, it was a nostalgic reunion of familiar faces, but to newcomers, it looked like two separate realities had accidentally collided under one disco ball.
6. Scooby-Doo and Batman
Yes, this actually happened. In The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Batman and Robin joined the Mystery Inc. gang to solve crimes together, turning an already strange cartoon into something truly unforgettable. The Caped Crusaders teamed up with Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, Fred, and Scooby to take down villains like the Joker and Penguin—who, for some reason, were more interested in haunted houses than Gotham’s underworld.
It was part superhero adventure, part haunted mystery, and entirely bizarre. Batman lecturing Scooby about bravery while Shaggy panicked in the corner was the kind of crossover that only made sense in the Saturday morning lineup. Yet despite its absurdity, the mash-up became one of the most beloved animated team-ups of the decade.
7. All in the Family and Maude
Maude spun off from All in the Family, but the crossovers between the two were never smooth. Maude Findlay’s visits to the Bunkers’ house often felt like philosophical debates disguised as sitcom episodes. Archie and Maude’s political arguments could last an entire scene, turning what was supposed to be comedy into televised sparring.
The crossovers made sense on paper—both were Norman Lear creations—but tonally, they couldn’t have been more different. Archie’s old-fashioned conservatism clashed with Maude’s feminist confidence, and the result was both entertaining and exhausting. By the end of each crossover, you felt like you’d watched a political debate rather than a sitcom.
8. The Jeffersons on All in the Family
Another spin-off crossover from the Norman Lear universe saw George and Louise Jefferson interacting with the Bunkers before moving on up to their own series. The problem was, George was initially too abrasive even for Archie, making their scenes together feel more like verbal boxing matches than comedy.
The Jeffersons’ world of wealth and ambition didn’t quite fit into the working-class setting of All in the Family, which made their early crossovers feel awkward. But the tension between the families was so electric that it helped launch The Jeffersons into a hit of its own. It might not have been smooth, but it certainly made an impression.
9. The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Team-Up
In 1977, ABC combined The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries for a handful of crossover episodes that seemed great in theory but strange in execution. The young detectives teamed up to solve international crimes, which usually involved suspiciously glamorous locations for teenagers with no visible income.
The crossover aimed to unite fans of both shows, but it often felt like two separate mysteries awkwardly colliding. The dialogue tried to balance both leads’ personalities, yet it ended up watering them down. Still, it remains a fun relic of when TV networks thought the best way to boost ratings was to have two sets of teen detectives share one magnifying glass.
10. Rescue from Gilligan’s Island
Technically a TV movie rather than an episode, Rescue from Gilligan’s Island acted as a crossover between the original series and its modernized sequel, The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island. The plot involved the castaways being rescued and returning to society, only to end up stranded again. It was meta before meta existed, yet somehow managed to feel both repetitive and surreal.
The movie blurred the line between continuity and parody, turning a simple premise into a bizarre time loop of coconut radios and tropical déjà vu. Fans couldn’t tell if it was meant to be a joke or a sincere continuation. Either way, it solidified the series’ reputation for endless, nonsensical misadventures.
11. The Dukes of Hazzard and Enos
When The Dukes of Hazzard spun off its deputy character into his own show, Enos, CBS tried to keep the connection alive with crossover appearances. Enos would return to Hazzard County or call back to his former life, while the Duke boys occasionally popped up in his adventures as guest stars.
While it was meant to create continuity, it often felt forced. The mix of small-town comedy and city police work was clunky, and the tone between the two series didn’t always match. Fans loved Enos as a character, but the spin-off crossovers were proof that sometimes even lovable deputies belong back in Hazzard.
12. The Incredible Hulk and The Amazing Spider-Man (The Crossover That Almost Happened)
In the late ’70s, CBS planned a crossover between The Incredible Hulk and The Amazing Spider-Man, both of which were running simultaneously. The idea was that Spider-Man would try to stop Bruce Banner’s rampage before realizing the Hulk wasn’t a villain. Scripts were drafted, and producers confirmed it was in discussion, but the network canceled before filming.
Even though it never aired, the plans were far enough along that promotional talk in fan magazines helped cement it in pop-culture memory. For years, fans swore they remembered the two sharing a screen. It’s one of the strangest “almost crossovers” of the decade, one that might have changed superhero TV forever had it actually happened.
13. Bewitched and The Flintstones
Yes, there really was a crossover between Samantha Stephens and the Flintstone family—in animated form. In The Flintstones spin-off The New Fred and Barney Show, Samantha and Darrin appeared as neighbors in Bedrock, magic powers and all. Somehow, no one questioned why a modern witch and her husband existed in prehistoric times.
It was one of the strangest cartoon crossovers ever attempted, blurring eras, genres, and logic in the process. Samantha’s spells caused chaos while Fred grumbled about it, and the story ended without much explanation. It was pure ’70s television: charming, creative, and completely nonsensical.
