'New Girl' and 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' to Cross Over This Fall

Two of Fox's most popular comedies will join forces in the fall as the characters from New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine come together for an hour-long crossover episode. The shows' producers announced the upcoming event at this week's Television Critics Association press tour in California.

The crossover is really going to happen, but the tone of the announcement was decidedly tongue-in-cheek.

"Stay tuned for our two casts to do a soulful R&B number on Empire, co-anchor the Fox 10 O’Clock News and connect for a touchdown on Fox NFL Sunday," said Brooklyn Nine-Nine producer Dan Goor. "But in all seriousness, we’re all huge fans of New Girl here at the Nine-Nine, and we’re excited to see our characters interact and to work with their incredible writers and producers. And also to see what their craft services are like, compared to ours."

Elizabeth Meriwether, producer of New Girl, delivered similarly non-serious comments.

"The crossover episode has historically been the artistic high point of any show that has dared to attempt it," she said. "Maybe you remember ‘Blackout Thursday’ on NBC, or even further back the infamous Alf/Gilligan’s Island crossover of the late 1980s. New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine will proudly and humbly go where few shows have gone since the 1990s. We know we have big shoes to fill, and we look forward to disappointing everyone. There’s a fifty percent chance Alf will also be in both episodes. But there’s also a fifty percent chance that is a lie."

The fact that both executive producers felt the need to mock the artistic validity of crossover episodes does not bode well for the eventual quality of their own effort in the genre. We'll find out, though, on October 11 when the crossover episode airs.