The Tommy Westphall Universe

The Tommy Westphall Universe (1951- ), or TWU, is that strange, alternate universe that most US television shows take place in. Some British television shows and Hollywood films also take place there.

For example, you cannot buy real Morley cigarettes in the US. But they have been appearing on television shows since 1961, like “The Twilight Zone”, “Seinfeld”, “Friends”, “The Walking Dead”, and “The X-Files”.

Or: The character Detective John Munch shows up not just on “Homicide: Life on the Street”, but also “The Beat”, “Law & Order”, “The Wire”,  “30 Rock” – and “The X-Files”.

Or: Yoyodyne made a bus station in “The John Laroquette Show”, set in the 1990s. By the 2300s they are making starships on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. They have an office right on the promenade in “Deep Space Nine”.

and so do “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, “Caroline in the City”, “Frasier”, “Cheers”, “St Elsewhere”, “Homicide: Life in the Street” and more than 400 others.

Or:

• “The Alan Brady Show” was a fictional television show on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” – and on “Mad About You”.
• Kramer from “Seinfeld” appeared on “Mad About You” as did Ursula from “Friends”.
• Chandler from “Friends” appeared on “Caroline in the City” as did Daphne from “Frasier”.
• Frasier went to the bar on “Cheers” as did characters from “St Elsewhere”.
• Alfre Woodard’s character on “St Elsewhere” was on “Homicide: Life on the Streets” – as was Detective Munch!

And on and on and on, connecting over 400 shows:

A chart of known television show crossovers, as of 2016. Click to enlarge.

Some TWU shows:

• 1950s: I Love Lucy, Dragnet, Superman, Honeymooners, As the World Turns, Leave it to Beaver, Donna Reed.
• 1960s: Dick Van Dyke, Mister Ed, Beverly Hillbillies, Doctor Who, Addams Family, Munsters, Gillligan’s Island, Bewitched, Batman, Star Trek, Flying Nun, Brady Bunch.
• 1970s: Mary Tyler Moore, All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Good Times, Happy Days, Diff’rent Strokes.
• 1980s: Hill Street Blues, Degrassi, St. Elsewhere, Cheers, Family Ties, Miami Vice, The Cosby Show, Murder She Wrote, Moonlighting, The Simpsons.
• 1990s: Twin Peaks, Fresh Prince, Seinfeld, Law & Order, X-Files, NYPD Blue, ER, Friends, Moesha, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The 70s Show, Angel.
• 2000s: The Office, Girlfriends, CSI, The Wire, The L Word, Lost, Breaking Bad, Community, Glee.
• 2010s: Luther, The Walking Dead, Orange is the New Black, Sleepy Hollow, The Flash.

Tommy Westphall was the autistic son of Dr Donald Westphall, the head
doctor of St Eligius hospital on “St Elsewhere”(1982-1988). Tommy only
appeared every now and then. On May 25th 1988, in the last scene of
the last episode, he is looking at a snow globe. His father comes home
– only he is not a doctor at all but a construction worker! He says to
his father:

“I don’t understand this autism thing, Papa. Here’s my son, I talk to him, I don’t even know if he can hear me. He sits there, all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. What’s he thinking about?”

And in the snow globe we see St Eligius hospital – the whole show was
just in his imagination! According to the Tommy Westphall Universe Hypothesis so are all the other TWU shows.

Television is not just fake – it is fake within fake.

– Abagond, 2018.

See also:

• The TWU wiki
• TWU:
  • The Cosby Show
  • The Wire
  • Breaking Bad
  • ER – Jeanie Boulet
  • Star Trek
  • Doctor Who
  • Law & Order: UK
• not TWU
  • Roseanne
• Transatlantic accent
• Alfre Woodard

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