Does crossover between series means they're part of the same franchise?

MAT13 wrote 2 years ago: 1

As many of you may know, in the Arrowerse we had episode starting in Arrow then continuing on The Flash then on Batwoman, and on Supergirl. I don't think that is the reason they may be part of the same franchise, but I wonder if that alone would be reason enough?

The reason I'm asking is because "Magnum, P.I." and "Murder, She Wrote" had similar crossover.

The episode started with Magnum episode... https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/92984/magnum-pi-7x09-novel-connection
...and then continued on Murder, She Wrote... https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/164965/murder-she-wrote-3x08-magnum-on-ice

Now, apart from that I don't think they ever crossed over those characters. Though there are similarities seeing how they both solve various crimes, Magnum being paid for it since he's a private eye, and Jessica doing it on her own as a hobby, since she is a crime novel writer.

So, my question is, since those two main characters crossed over to each other's tv series, does that make the two series part of the same franchise?

kevin87 wrote 2 years ago: 1

If they don't exist in a shared universe, like the Arrowverse, and it was just a crossover then probably not. The same has happened with New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and happened with a bunch of Disney Channel and even TGIF back in the day where Salem ate a time ball on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and the other shows on the schedule that night had him show up and had time related storylines... or the Mad About You blackout affecting those NBC shows that night. If they don't interact more than once or characters spin off, then it's mostly a network stunt and not something of a franchise.

MAT13 wrote 2 years ago: 1

Okay, thanks.

LadyShelley wrote 2 years ago: 1

Please don't do anything yet. We are working on an update to the comic books stuff (a revised character naming policy was added this week) the next thing to tackle will be the show relationships.

The Magnum PI/Murder She Wrote should not be related either. Those should be connected through the Episode Notes feature.