Crossovers, Subtle And Otherwise

(Hey, how about a toast for reaching Post # 100 on this collaborative blog in less than three months?)

At a time when CBS is promoting a major crossover event between CSI and Without a Trace (this Thursday, 9:00 to 11:00... set your PVRs!), a much smaller example went largely unnoticed a few weeks ago. You probably have to be a fan of both ER (NBC) and Men in Trees (ABC) to even appreciate this, but it was still pretty funny.

Actor Abraham Benrubi was a semi-regular on ER, off and on for about a dozen years, playing oversized orderly Jerry Markovic. He was a bit of a gentle giant character, and typically only had (at most) a minute or less of face time per episode as the show focused on the doctors, nurses and transitory patients who passed through the place every week. Jerry went missing sometime last season, as not-coincidentally Benrubi joined the cast of nascent try-out show Men in Trees, which shot 13 episodes for the 2006/07 TV season. With MiT now well now into its second season (a full one, this time), Benrubi's fully off the medical drama thanks to his recurring role as Ben Jackson, a tavern owner in Elmo, Alaska, on the ABC romantic comedy. This lead to an exchange on ER recently in which one of the regulars asked, "Where's Jerry?" to which another responded, "Didn't you hear? He moved to Alaska. I think he's slinging beers there" (or words to that effect).

As I say, it was pretty subtle, and probably went over many heads, but we certainly enjoyed it in our household.