Anche se non vi siete mai accorti delle connessioni, c’è una teoria molto convincente per cui Friends, Breaking Bad, X-Files e praticamente qualsiasi altra serie TV americana esistono all’interno dello stesso universo. La teoria si chiama “The Tommy Westphall Universe” e prende il nome dalla rivelazione contenuta nel finale di “St. Elsewhere” secondo cui tutto lo spettacolo sarebbe stato un sogno del personaggio Westphall.
I miscugli tra elementi dell’universo di “St. Elsewhere” con quelli di altri show, e poi questi ultimi a loro volta con altri ancora, ha creato un’elaborata ragnatela che riassume la televisione americana. Keith Gow e Ash Crowe sono i due individui che hanno portato avanti questa teoria per oltre un decennio, è a loro che dobbiamo rendere grazie. Ecco un’illustrazione da loro realizzata in partnership con Huffington Post.
Gow e Crowe hanno elaborato un sistema di regole per cui uno show può o meno essere incluso nella lista, la regola fondamentale è che “non può essere incluso nessuno show che non presenti una continuità lineare logico-narrativa tra tutti gli episodi”. Ciò significa automaticamente che cartoni animati e i classici late night shows, sono esclusi. Le regole si fanno poi sempre più complesse, un altro esempio: nessuno show all’interno del quale è compresa l’esistenza di reality show può essere incluso.
Ecco la lista completa di show tra cui Gow e Crowe hanno trovato elementi di connessione:
24
90210
704 Hauser
Adam-12
Addams Family, The
Adventures of Superman, The
AfterM*A*S*H
ALF
Alias
All in the Family
All My Children
Ally
Ally McBeal
Alphas
American Horror Story: Murder House
Americans, The
Amos Burke – Secret Agent
Andy Barker, P.I.
Andy Griffith Show, The
Angel
Anne Sothern Show, The
Archie Bunker’s Place
Arrested Development
Arrow
Art of Being Nick, The [pilot only]
As the World Turns
Batman
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Beat, The
Becker
Benson
Better Call Saul
Beverly Hillbillies, The
Beverly Hills 90210
Beverly Hills Buntz
Bewitched
Bill Dana Show, The
Blansky’s Beauties
Blossom
Blue Bloods
Blue Skies
Bob
Bob Cummings Show, The
Bob Newhart Show, The
Bold and the Beautiful, The
Bones
Boston Legal
Boston Public
Boy Meets World
Brady Brides, The
Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The
Brady Bunch, The
Bradys, The
Breaking Bad
Buddies
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Burke’s Law (1963-65)
Burke’s Law (1994-95)
Burn Notice
Californication
Call Mr. ‘D’
Can’t Hurry Love
Caprica
Caroline In The City
Castle
Checking In
Cheers
Chelmsford 123
Chicago Fire
Chicago Hope
Chicago Med
Chicago PD
Chuck
City of Angels
City, The
Civil Wars
Clueless
Coach
Code of Vengeance
Cold Case
Columbo
Community
Conviction
Cop Rock
Cosby
Cosby Show, The
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
Crossing Jordan
CSI: Crime Scene Investigators
CSI: Cyber
CSI: Miami
CSI: New York
D.A., The
Danny Thomas Show, The
Day by Day
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Dead Like Me
Deadline
Degrassi High
Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Dennis the Menace
Dexter
Dharma & Greg
Diagnosis: Murder
Dick Van Dyke Show, The
Diff’rent Strokes
Different World, A
Doctor Who (1963)
Doctor Who (1996) [pilot only]
Doctor Who (2005)
Donna Reed Show, The
Double Rush
Dragnet
Dragnet 67
Drew Carey Show, The
E/R (1984)
Early Edition
Eerie, Indiana
Eerie: The Other Dimension
Eli Stone
Ellen
Emergency!
ER (1994)
Eureka
Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life, The
Family Matters
Family Ties
Famous Teddy Z, The
Fear the Walking Dead
Fighting Nightingales [pilot only]
Finder, The
Firefly
First Monday
Flash, The
FlashForward
Flying Nun, The
Frasier
Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The
Friends
Fringe
Full House
Fuller House
Game, The
Geena Davis Show, The
General Hospital
George & Leo
Get Smart
Get Smart (1995)
Gideon’s Crossing
Gidget
Gilligan’s Island
Girl Meets World
Girlfriends
Glee
Gloria
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Goober and the Trucker’s Paradise [pilot only]
Good Times
Grace Under Fire
Green Acres
Green Hornet, The
Hangin’ with Mr Cooper
Hanging In
Happy Days
Harry’s Law
Hart to Hart
Haven
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O (2010)
Hazel
Hello, Larry
Here’s Lucy
Heroes
Heroes Reborn
Hi Honey, I’m Home!
High Society
Hill Street Blues
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The
Hogan’s Heroes
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life On The Street
Honey West
Honeymooners, The
Hope And Gloria
Huff
Hughleys, The
I Dream Of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
In Plain Sight
In the House
Ink
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It’s Gary Shandling’s Show
Jackie Gleason Show, The
JAG
Jake 2.0
Jake and the Fatman
Jeffersons, The
Jo
Joanie Loves Chachi
Joey
Joey Bishop Show, The
John Larroquette Show, The
Journeyman
Judging Amy
Julia
Justified
K9 and Company [pilot only]
Karen Sisco
Kids of Degrassi St
Killer Instinct
King Of Queens, The
Kingdom
Kingdom Hospital
Knight Rider
Knight Rider (2008)
L Word, The
L.A. Law
Las Vegas
Laverne & Shirley
Law & Harry McGraw, The
Law & Order
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: LA
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
Law & Order: UK
LAX
Leave it to Beaver
Lone Gunmen, The
Lost
Lou Grant
Love And War
Love That Bob
Loving
Lucy Show, The
Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The
Luther
M*A*S*H
Mad About You
Madman of the People
Magnum P.I.
Make Room For Daddy
Make Room For Granddaddy
Malcolm in the Middle
Mannix
Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The
Married… with Children
Martial Law
Mary Tyler Moore Show, The
Matlock
Maude
Mayberry R.F.D.
Medical Investigations
Medium
Meego
Melrose Place
Melrose Place (2009)
Method & Red
Miami Vice
Middle, The
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Millennium
Miss Match
Mission: Impossible (1966)
Mission: Impossible (1988)
Mister Ed
Models Inc
Moesha
Monk
Monkees, The
Moonlight
Moonlighting
Mork & Mindy
Mrs Columbo/Kate Columbo/Kate the Dectective/Kate Loves a Mystery
Munsters Today, The
Munsters, The
Murder, She Wrote
Murphy Brown
My Mother, the Car
N.Y.P.D. Blue
Nanny and the Professor
Nanny, The
Nash Bridges
NCIS
NCIS: LA
NCIS: New Orleans
New Andy Griffith Show, The
New Gidget, The
New Leave it to Beaver, The
New York Undercover
Newhart
Nick And Hillary
Nikki
Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
Nip/Tuck
Norm
Office, The (UK)
Office, The (US)
Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
One Life to Live
Orange is the New Black
Out All Night
Out of the Blue
Oz
Paris Section Criminelle
Parker Lewis Can’t Lose
Parkers, The
Party of Five
Passions
Perfect Strangers
Person of Interest
Petticoat Junction
Phyllis
Picket Fences
Port Charles
Practice, The
Prison Break
Private Secretary
Promised Land
Providence
Public Morals
Pushing Daisies
Quantum Leap
Quincy ME
Reaper
Red Dwarf
Remington Steele
Rhoda
Richard Diamond, Private Dectective
Ropers, The
Running Wilde
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Sarah Jane Adventures, The
Saving Grace
Scorpion
Secret Life of the American Teenager,The
Seinfeld
Shameless (US Series)
Sierra
Silver Spoons
Simon & Simon
Simple Life, The
Single Guy, The
Six Feet Under
Sleepy Hollow
Soap
Something So Right
Sons Of Thunder
Sordid Lives: The Series
Soul Man
Space: 1999
Space: Above & Beyond
Special Unit 2
Spin City
Sports Night
St. Elsewhere
Star Trek
Star Trek Deep Space Nine
Star Trek Enterprise
Star Trek the Next Generation
Star Trek Voyager
Stargate: Atlantic
Stargate: SG1
Stargate: Universe
Step by Step
Still the Beaver
Strain, The
Strange Luck
Supernatural
Tabitha
Tattingers
Team Knight Rider
Teen Angel
That 70s Show
These Friends Of Mine
Third Watch
Three’s A Crowd
Three’s Company
Thunder Alley
Time of Your Life
Top of the Heap
Torchwood
Tortellis, The
Touched by an Angel
Trapper John, M.D.
Tru Calling
Twin Peaks
Two and a Half Men
Two Guys and a Girl
Two Guys, a Girl and Pizza Place
Unforgettable
United States of Tara, The
Up All Night
Veronica Mars
Vinnie & Bobby
W*A*L*T*E*R [pilot only]
Walker, Texas Ranger
Walking Dead, The
War at Home, The
Warehouse 13
Webster
Weeds
White Shadow, The
Whiz Kids
Wings
Wire, The
Without a Trace
Wonder Woman
Wonderfalls
X-Files, The
You Wish
Young and the Restless, The
Young Marrieds, The