NBC/NetflixFive of the most mind-blowing TV fan theories
Shared universes, cross-series family ties, and entire plots occurring in characters' imaginations - just some of the more out-there fan theories about hit TV shows
For many TV addicts, it isn't enough to simply watch a show. They need to analyse it obsessively, and look for the tiny details that hint at bigger, deeper context, and history, for their beloved fictional universes.
Case in point is this little in-joke spotted this week by one gimlet-eyed fan of the cult US afterlife comedy series The Good Place.
Watching an episode of The Good Place, @ShinraAlpha noticed that the 'Celebrity Baby Plastic Surgery Disaster' magazine read by Kristen Bell's character, Eleanor, featured two adverts that directly referenced characters and jokes from another cult TV sitcom, Parks & Recreation.
The ads in question are for a champagne sold by Parks' obnoxious rich kid, Jean-Ralphio Saperstein, and an aftershave by Dennis Feinstein (played in Parks by actor Jason Mantzoukas, who - complicating the fan theory even further - also has a guest role in The Good Place, as Derek).
As it happens, both series were co-created by Mike Schur, who has yet to weigh in on whether there's a connection between his two televisual babies.
Needless to say, fans of both shows are adding their own thoughts on what this might mean for characters and plots.
As if that's not mind-melting enough, there's one more theory that connects Jean-Ralphio from Parks and Recreation to another hit show: Stranger Things.
Last year, a popular theory went viral that suggested Jean-Ralphio (played by Ben Schwartz) was actually the son of Steve Harrington (Joe Keery) from the '80s-set Stranger Things. Not only are the two shows set in the state of Indiana, both characters had striking physical and big-haired similarities.
The actors embraced the theory, with Schwartz appearing to confirm the lineage in a US chat show skit. The two then got together for a series of Instagram posts, starting with them 'discovering' the resemblance between them...
Then there was this 'father-son photoshoot'...
...as well as an adorable back-to-back family shot.
Since we're now deep down the fan theory rabbit hole, here's another one to consider: Homer Simpson has been in a coma for two decades and all the action of the The Simpsons happened in his head.
Stick with us. The theory stems from an October 1992 episode, Homer the Heretic, which featured a scene in which Homer talks to God. Homer asks God the meaning of life, to which God replies, "You'll find out when you die". Homer impatiently counters, "I can't wait that long", to which God says, "You can't wait six months?"
WELL. Six months later, in April 1993, an episode aired where, due to an exploding beer can and a falling vending machine, Homer ends up in a deep coma. Even though Homer seems to wake up at the end, the theory goes that this recovery was too sudden, and that, actually, Homer never woke from the coma.
According to this logic, everything in the show since then has taken place in Homer's mind - which would apparently explain why the characters never age. The show's frequent fantastical plots, topical jokes, and guest stars are explained away as a combination of Homer's subconscious being aware of the passage of time, and absorbing what visitors are talking about around him.
Such was the virality of this fan theory that Al Jean, one of The Simpsons' executive producers, felt the need to comment, calling it "intriguing but false".
Elsewhere in wacky telly speculation land, much bemusement has been expressed over Bryan Cranston's move from playing the goofy dad, Hal Wilkerson, in Malcolm In The Middle, to Breaking Bad's Walter White, one of the darkest characters in TV history.
But some fans think there's a connection. One line of thinking has it that Breaking Bad is a prequel to Malcolm, and that Walter White ends up going into the Witness Protection Programme, assuming the identity of 'Hal'.
That theory doesn't track particularly well with the final episode of Breaking Bad. Instead, a competing fan theory proposes that Breaking Bad is the sequel, and that Malcolm himself (played by Frankie Muniz in the sitcom, pictured below with Cranston) grew up to become Walter White.
IMDbThe explanation goes that Malcolm, like Walter, is a genius, with expertise in chemistry, and that both are "incredibly intelligent, stubborn and manipulative. They can both be violent and selfish but have some small supply of morality deep down".
But perhaps the grimmest TV fan theory of all - more of an alternate ending in this case - belongs to Friends. In 2015, one Twitter user proposed a different finale to the much-loved comedy series that would have been about as far from a happy ending as is imaginable.
GettyIn short, this ending would've revealed that all 10 seasons were the product of a homeless Phoebe's imagination, "projecting herself into the lives of the others. All she ever wanted was … Friends.”
When this was put to Friends co-creator, Martha Kauffman, she reacted with horror, telling an entertainment TV show: "That's a terrible theory. That's insane! That's, like, that's like crazy alt-television theory. Wow...I just think that someone needs a life."
Maybe, but then where would we get our bonkers fan theories from?
Which of these fan theories would you be most likely to believe? Rank them below.
This article was originally published on 8 February 2018
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