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TV Media Weekly | October 8 - 14, 2016 By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media I 'm not sure any of us saw this coming, but two of Fox's most popular comedies have reached that zenith of televi- sion: the crossover episode. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense — not yet anyway — but all will presumably be made clear on a very special Tuesday night, when the wacky gang of "New Girl" heads to the Big Apple to mix it up with the goofy law enforcers of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." What? Since when do these two shows exist in the same universe? What conceivable reason is there for these characters to cross paths? Do the shows even share the same studio? (They don't.) Who cares! It's going to be a good night of TV. Tune in Tuesday, Oct. 11, for the highly anticipated "Brooklyn Nine- Nine"/"New Girl" crossover, airing on Fox. So far, the powers that be have kept pretty mum about what actu- ally takes place in the episode. What we do know is that Jess (Zooey Deschanel, "500 Days of Summer," 2009), Nick (Jake John- son, "Let's Be Cops," 2014), Win- ston (Lamorne Morris, "Barber- shop: The Next Cut," 2016), Schmidt (Max Greenfield, "Veroni- ca Mars") and Cece (Hannah Si- mone, "Flock of Dudes," 2016) travel to New York and meet the men and women of Brooklyn's 99th Precinct, which includes Det. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg, "Sat- urday Night Live"), Det. Amy Santi- ago (Melissa Fumero, "One Life to Live") and Capt. Ray Holt (Andre Braugher, "Homicide: Life on the Street"). It's to be assumed that, as a fledgling cop, Winston gets wrapped up in some of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine's" typical police action. Hijinks, presumably, ensue. "The crossover episode has his- torically been the artistic high point of any show that has dared to at- tempt it," quipped "New Girl" cre- ator Liz Meriwether in a statement. "We know we have big shoes to fill, and we look forward to disap- pointing everyone." Indeed, the mashing together of two established series isn't a new concept. Sometimes it makes sense, like when the cast of "Grey's Anatomy" reunited with the docs of its spinoff, "Private Practice." Or, sillier but still technically making sense, when the "Happy Days" gang enjoyed a crossover trifecta with its two spinoffs, "Mork and Mindy" and "Laverne and Shirley." Sometimes it makes hardly any sense, like when the cast of "St. Elsewhere" ended up in the "Cheers" bar (they're both set in Boston, so OK), or, in a particularly saccharine television event, when uber-nerd Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) traveled from "Family Mat- ters" to "Full House" to help Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) get on board with wearing glasses. And sometimes it makes no sense whatsoever, like when the Jetsons traveled back in time and met the Flintstones, or — even more absurd — the Power Rang- ers joined forces with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the Ninja Tur- tles have also popped up in an Ar- chie comic, but we won't get into that). The "New Girl"/"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" episode may fall some- where in the middle — there's no obvious reason for the two casts to meet, but why the heck not? Recently, CW has been all about blending its various DC Comics- based shows, and NBC has been known to merge its four Dick Wolf productions ("Law & Order: SVU" and the Chicago franchise). This isn't Fox's first foray into the cross- over world, either; last year's "Bones"/"Sleepy Hollow" cross- over earned both shows their best ratings for the season, so it's un- derstandable that the network would have the same hopes for its two most popular comedies. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," now in its fourth season, proved a surprise hit for the network, landing two Golden Globes (Best Television Se- ries — Musical or Comedy and Best Actor — Television Series Mu- sical or Comedy for Samberg) as well as three consecutive Emmy nods for Braugher. Plus, with Jake and Amy now together, it's good to give fans something fresh to focus on and look forward to, lest the show be struck with the dreaded "Moonlighting" curse (when a se- ries fizzles after the will-they- won't-they couple finally gets to- gether). As for "New Girl," the roomie- centric comedy is six seasons in and still going strong, with five Golden Globe and Emmy nomina- tions under its belt. The show aver- aged nearly 3.7 million viewers last season, with its ratings up from season 4. It's made Deschanel — seldom more than a supporting ac- tress on the big screen — a star in her own right, and put her cast- mates on the path to becoming the same. The series still garners loads of praise and doesn't appear to be in danger of losing steam any time soon. "The shows definitely feel com- patible," Fox exec Dana Walden said at this summer's Television Critics Association press tour. "They came up with a really fun story for the crossover. If it feels or- ganic and it feels like something that can exist between two shows, I find that most creators these days are very open to anything that will 'eventize' their shows, make them stand out." And who knows, maybe it will even get fans of just one show on board with the other. The one-hour crossover event begins with "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and wraps up immediately after with "New Girl." Check it out Tuesday, Oct. 11, on Fox. Max Greenfield, Hannah Simone, Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson and Lamorne Morris star in "New Girl" 'New' in New York: Jess and co. cross paths with the 99th Precinct 2 | Cover story Harvey Hinklemeyers Martino's 3 x 5" A/Grindstone Charlie's B/Norris Insurance 1 x 4"

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