However, I wouldn’t be surprised if CBS tried a sitcom crossover in the near future. They’ve got about a half-dozen multi-camera sitcoms that work in a very traditional style — which is not a bad thing, it’s just that their aren’t any rules of their worlds that would preclude Two and a Half Men from crossing over with Gary Unmarried. It wouldn’t be good, but I can see them trying it in the next couple of years.
Dramas have a similar problem, but even more pronounced. TV dramas are very showrunner-centric. Most of TV’s best dramas have one or two people whose fingerprints are all over every episode — Vince Gilligan on Breaking Bad, Matthew Weiner on Mad Men, Lindelof and Cuse on Lost. The realities are even more sharply defined with dramas. And it seems to me that every show is playing for different stakes. Unless that matches up, you have an inherently bad crossover. Jack Bauer is trying to save the world, while the Bravermans are learning about autism. That’s an extreme example, and there is literally nobody who wants to see a 24 / Parenthood crossover, but hopefully you get my point.
