Fandom Crossovers Have Lost The Magic
Once, fandom crossovers were fairly standard. If you liked one TV show, then it was very likely you liked one or two other shows other fans enjoyed and were part of the overarching fandom that included all three of the series. One of the best examples of a popular fandom crossover is SuperWhoLock–the combination of hit shows Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock.
Not The Same As A Series Crossover
Crossover is a bit of a misnomer in this case, as it wasn’t the characters crossing over from their world into one of the other two series. Instead, it was the fans that were crossing over. If someone was a fan of Sherlock, then they were likely to enjoy Supernatural and Doctor Who as well, despite the pretty different storylines, cast, country of origin, and plot.
Since this fandom crossover died down, there haven’t been many that could compete with this trio. With so many differences, it’s hard to say exactly what made this trio so unique to have an epic fandom crossover. The three series were drastically different in length and storytelling, and there wasn’t much in the way of cast crossover.
Where Did Supernatural Come In?
In some ways, Sherlock and Doctor Who made a little sense. They were both British TV shows and for a while had the same director, Stephen Moffat. However, where and how Supernatural entered into the fray is much harder to determine.
I think there are some qualifications, though, to form a large fandom crossover. For one, the show has to go on for a long time. Sure, Sherlock only had a couple of rather short seasons, but they were drawn out over several years, and the hype for the next season was always high. Supernatural had 15 seasons originally, and Doctor Who is still going with a new doctor and companion duo.
Social Media
Social media may have also played a huge part. Around the time that SuperWhoLock became a big deal, Tumblr was an incredibly popular social media platform. There weren’t really algorithms for finding posts that you would like, so if you followed someone, you saw all of their posts, which included all of their fandoms and not only the one you were in.
Therefore, if your online friend liked Supernatural and Sherlock, you would see posts about both. If you got curious about the show you hadn’t seen before, you’d likely go and watch a few episodes, find out you liked it too, and join the fandom crossover.
Most social media is more muted now, or the algorithms work a little too well. While it’s nice to only see things you are expressly interested in, such as with TikTok, you often lose out on some of the potential fandom crossovers that could form
OurGoodShadows
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been attempts. One of the more recent fandom crossovers that had the potential to be as big was called OurGoodShadows. This was a mix of Our Flag Means Death, Good Omens, and What We Do in the Shadows.
Initially, this trio had a good chance of growing into a big crossover, but there are some reasons it didn’t ever get quite as big. One of the biggest is the lack of material. While What We Do in the Shadows has six seasons, Our Flag Means Death was canceled after only two, and Good Omens will finish at three. This is drastically different from Supernatural’s 15 seasons or Doctor Who’s 13 seasons.
Also, there isn’t as much discussion about the three shows as a whole. I, for example, love Good Omens and Our Flag Means Death, but I didn’t hear about What We Do in the Shadows until recently, whereas in a few months of getting into the Supernatural fandom, I learned about the other two shows.
Will It Ever Return?
Overall, with short and canceled series becoming more common, and a lack of such a vocal social media following, it seems unlikely that these large fandom crossovers will happen again, and it’s a bit sad, as if some of the magic of great TV shows is missing.
