White Collar & Psych’s Crossover Is A Reminder Of Something That New TV Shows Should Be Doing Way More Often

During the 2000s, White Collar and Psych were both airing on USA at the same time, and as a result, the two shows had a crossover commercial to promote each other, which is a trend television should bring back today. Although network television is still up and running, the past decade has seen an intense surge in streaming. Now, platforms like Netflix and Hulu dominate the market with original series and massive franchises. While this definitely creates some loyalty to certain streaming services, companies like Netflix could be benefiting even more by doing crossovers.




White Collar and Psych are a perfect example. Both owned by USA, White Collar and Psych were somewhat similar series.White Collar followed criminal and con artist Neal Caffrey, who convinces the FBI to let him work for them in exchange for his freedom. Meanwhile, Psych centered on Shawn Spencer, an observant man who persuades the police that he is psychic so that he can help them solve crimes. Because of these similarities, it only made sense for the two shows to come together in a unique crossover commercial.


Why Crossovers Don’t Happen Anymore


After revisiting the White Collar and Psych crossover promo, it puts into stark relief the fact that audiences don’t get crossovers anymore. Or at the very least, they don’t happen nearly as much as they used to. In the days of White Collar and Psych, fans of the shows could see what was essentially new content between beloved characters in the middle of a commercial break. It was like a little treat for viewers, even if they weren’t familiar with both shows. Now though, these opportunities are occurring less and less.


The strange thing is, one might expect crossovers to happen now more than ever. With Netflix in charge of so many different IPs, it would make sense for them to come together in one spot to promote Netflix as a whole. Yet, this is not the case. The main reason for this is that Netflix doesn’t have commercials, and arguably, doesn’t need to promote itself. Unlike networks like USA, Netflix has far less opportunities to air advertisements, and even when it does, the company keeps all its shows compartmentalized. Commercials are made from preexisting content.

Commercials & Award Sketches Gave Us Some Amazing TV Show Crossovers Over The Years

Why More Crossovers Need To Happen In The 2020s

Notably, White Collar and Psych are not outliers. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, audiences got all kinds of crossovers during commercials, award shows, and even in-season. Psych had a similar commercial crossover with Monk, which also aired on USA. In 2011, Breaking Bad shared a sketch with The Office at the Emmy’s. As recently as 2016, Fox’s New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine had an entire crossover episode. All in all, these crossovers didn’t change the plot, but acted as much-needed fan service.


A collage featuring six of the best shows on Netflix in October 2024 - created by Tom Russell

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Ultimately, streaming services would benefit from using crossovers more, even with the lack of commercial space. Audiences love to see their favorite shows collide, and these types of collaborations do not need to be particularly extensive. Something as short as the White Collar and Psych commercial can hark back to a time of television that would feel nostalgic for viewers. So, Netflix needs to put together a Wednesday and Bridgerton collab as soon as possible.