January 3, 1985: DC Comics Begins Publishing "Crisis On Infinite Earths"

Issue #7, featuring the death of Supergirl

January 3, 1985, 40 years ago: DC Comics celebrates its 50th Anniversary by rewriting its history, beginning its 12-part series Crisis On Infinite Earths, with an issue dated April 1985.

Essentially, it eliminates Earth-One (which features the current heroes) and Earth-Two (which features the heroes introduced before and during World War II), along with every other "alternate Earth" they'd ever depicted, and combines them into a single narrative.

This provides an explanation of why the WWII-era heroes can still be fighting for justice when they should be elderly -- in many cases, as mentors to the younger versions of their characters, i.e. Jay Garrick, the 1st Flash, doing so for Wally West, the 1st Kid Flash, who becomes the 3rd Flash after the 2nd, Barry Allen, sacrifices his life to save the universe in issue #8. (Barry would later be brought back to life in 2010's Blackest Night, DC's insane attempt at a zombie story.)

It also enables a reboot of the origin stories. Among the notable changes: Clark Kent was never Superboy, his parents Jonathan and Martha Kent are still alive as he begins his career as Superman, and, as Clark, he's not pretending to be the mild-mannered milquetoast he's usually seen as, making him seem more believable as a big-city reporter -- and, in hindsight, resembling George Reeves' 1950s TV Superman more than Christopher Reeve's then-current movie Superman.

Batman's origin is also slightly tweaked. Originally, his butler, Alfred Pennyworth, had worked at Wayne Manor for Thomas and Martha Wayne, then left before they were killed, with Bruce raised by an uncle and his housekeeper; and returned many years later to work for Bruce Wayne, who had already adopted Dick Grayson. He soon found out the hard way that Bruce was Batman and Dick was the 1st Robin.

In this new version, Alfred never left Wayne Manor, raising Bruce after his parents were killed, and assisting him in becoming, and then being, Batman every step of the way.

Not all the changes were popular: In addition to the death of my generation's Flash, Superman's cousin Supergirl, known as Kara Zor-El on Krypton and Linda Danvers on Earth, was killed in issue #7, producing a shocking and oft-imitated cover. And all the other Kryptonians were eliminated, making Superman truly "the Last Son of Krypton." This was dropped in DC's next reboot, the 1994 series Zero Hour.

In 2019, TV network The CW, having done several superhero shows in their "Arrowverse" series, crossed them all over, adapting Crisis On Infinite Earths. In this case, though, not only did Supergirl, now known as Kara Danvers, and the Barry Allen version of the Flash survive, but Barry proves pivotal in developing the final weapon, and Kara is the one who delivers it. In this version, the one who sacrifices himself for the greater good of the multiverse was Green Arrow, who, in order to do it, becomes that universe's version of the Spectre.

The original series was written by Marv Wolfman, and drawn by George Pérez. In the Arrowverse version, Wolfman makes a cameo appearance in the 5th and final episode. Pérez was dealing with serious health issues, and was unable to appear, so he was honored by the writers placing the final showdown with the Anti-Monitor takes place in Pérez Square.

In 2024, a 3-part animated film, Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, premiered, as part of the DC Animated Universe. It is yet another variation on the story, but it is closer to the original comic than to the Arrowverse version.)

Crisis On Infinite Yanks

Did you see last Winter's CW "Arrowverse" superhero crossover event, Crisis On Infinite Earths? Kevin Conroy, who had been the voice of Batman, a.k.a. Bruce Wayne, in animation for nearly 30 years, finally got to play the role in live-action.

On a parallel Earth from the shows' main action, his version of Batman was like the one from Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, except, instead of merely defeating Superman in Kryptonite-aided combat, he'd killed him. He even used TDKR's Batman's line about how Superman, a.k.a. Clark Kent, was too accepting of authority: "Clark always said yes to anyone with a badge, or a flag."

And, to Ruby Rose, playing the main Earth's version of his cousin Kate Kane, who has become Batwoman, he says the multiverse is not worth saving: "Yes, let it end, let it all end." As he dies, he says, "Kate, listen to me: There is no hope."

*

Tonight, the Yankees' season could end. And maybe it should end.

Because it was never going to end in glory.

I see people online tell me not to give up hope, because they've seen Yankee teams come back before.

But those Yankee teams were built by men like Ed Barrow, George Weiss, Gabe Paul, Al Rosen, Gene Michael and Bob Watson.

This Yankee team, which I have frequently called "gutless wonders" the last 3 seasons, has been built by Brian Cashman. And it is woefully incomplete and inadequate.

The Yankees won Game 1 of their American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Petco Park. But Cashman -- the real manager of this team, with Aaron Boone serving as his errand boy and his press secretary, answering the hard questions so the coward Cashman doesn't have to -- insisted that Game 2 be started not by Masahiro Tanaka, but by Deivi Garcia, one of his beloved "prospects," going just 1 inning, and then having J.A. Happ take over. It was a disaster, and the Rays tied the series.

And then, last night, in Game 3, Tanaka, whose Playoff record is very mixed, had nothing. He only lasted 4 innings, allowing 5 runs. Chad Green was no better in the 5th. Luis Cessa added another run in the 6th. Not that it mattered, by Nick Nelson pitched a scoreless 7th, and Michael King a perfect 8th and 9th.

Giancarlo Stanton now has 6 home runs in the Yankees' 5 postseason games. Unlike in 2018 and '19, this time, he has shown up, big-time. Everybody else? Observe: 

* The Good: Stanton, 5-for-12; Aaron Hicks, 5-for-9; Clint Frazier, 2-for-6; Brett Gardner, 2-for-6; Kyle Higashioka, 2-for-7; DJ LeMahieu, 4-for-14.

* The Bad: Gleyber Torres, 2-for-10; Gio Urshela, 2-for-12; Aaron Judge, 2-for-14; Luke Voit, 1-for-11.

* The Ugly: Gary Sanchez, 0-for-4.

Hicks brought Gardner home with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the 3rd inning. But by the bottom of the 5th, it was 5-1 Rays. LeMahieu singled and Hicks doubled to make it 5-2. Then the Rays struck again in the 6th, and it was 8-2.

Stanton homered in the 8th with Voit aboard, but the next 6 Yankee batters either struck out or grounded out.

The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 1st and the 2nd. In the 3rd, they loaded the bases with 1 out, got just the 1 run, loaded the bases again with 2 out, and left them full. They left Torres on 1st with 2 out in the 4th, left Hicks on 2nd with 2 out in the 5th, wasted a leadoff single by Stanton in the 6th, and left Judge on 1st with 2 out in the 7th. They went down 1-2-3 after Stanton's homer in the 8th, and went down 1-2-3 in the 9th.

Rays 8, Yankees 4.

Tonight, the Yankees are pinning their hopes for extending the season beyond tonight on Jordan Montgomery, a 27-year-old lefthander from South Carolina who has pitched all of 75 1/3rd innings in the last 3 seasons, including this one.

On some parallel Earth, Montgomery is a middle reliever who has just watched Gerrit Cole, Domingo German and Luis Severino complete a 3-game sweep of the Rays, as the Yankee bats unloaded in all 3 games.

But on this Earth, we are living through Crisis On Infinite Yanks. And all signs point to the Yankees losing tonight, ending the season.

"Yes, let it end. Let it all end."

This is the team that Brian Cashman built. As the Arrowverse's Supergirl, played by Melissa Benoist, told Batwoman about her cousin, the Batman who'd admitted he'd become a monster, "This guy's not a paragon of anything."

*

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 1, tomorrow night at 7:00, away to arch-rival Old Bridge. They opened the season with a shocking, but wonderful, 41-0 win over Edison school J.P. Stevens. Who knows, maybe one of my teams will have a good year after all.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge football game: See the previous answer.

Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 2, on Saturday night at 6:00, away to Atlanta United.

Days until Arsenal play again: 9, a week from this Saturday, at 12:30 PM New York time, away to Manchester City.

Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 16, on Saturday, October 24, away to Michigan State University in East Lansing. The Big Ten Conference decided to play football in the Fall after all. I hope they know what they're doing, or else this could be the viral equivalent of a bloodbath.

Days until the Red Bulls play another "derby" game: 20, on Wednesday night, October 28, home to the New England Revolution.

Days until the 2020 Presidential election: 26, on Tuesday, November 3. Under 4 weeks. As the old saying goes, and it really is true this time, "This time, vote like your life depended on it."

Days until the next North London Derby: 58, on Saturday, December 5, at 10:00 AM New York time, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London. Under 2 months. This game will likely be moved, either to another time that day, or to the next day, or maybe to the Monday night, for TV and ratings purposes.

Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State football game: 58, on Saturday, December 5, just a week later than was planned, at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Days until the next U.S. national soccer team game: Unknown. Currently, neither the men's nor the women's team has any matches scheduled. Most likely, it won't be before the New Year, and January 1 is 85 days away.

Days until the New Jersey Devils play again: Unknown, as the NHL hasn't yet made out its 2020-21 season schedule. That's understandable, given all the uncertainty with trying to wrap up the 2019-20 season. The League is now calling about starting next season on or around January 1. If that is the date, then it's 85 days.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: Unknown, although it's unlikely that their 1st game of the season, or even their 1st home game, will be against a traditional rival.

Days until a new Congress convenes, hopefully fully Democratic: 88, on Monday, January 4, 2021. Under 4 months. Ordinarily, it would be January 3, but that's a Sunday next year.

Days until the next Presidential Inauguration: 104, on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Under 15 weeks until Liberation Day.

Days until the Yankees' 2021 regular season begins: 175, on Thursday, April 1, home to the Toronto Blue Jays. Under 6 months. Yes, the 2021 schedule has been released. Of course, any schedule is subject to further COVID-19 restrictions. Hopefully, by then, we will either have a vaccine, or have the virus reduced to the point where live attendance at sporting events will no longer be seen as unintentional suicide.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 239, on Friday night, June 4, 2021, at Yankee Stadium II. 

Days until the COVID-delayed Euro 2020 opens in Paris: 246, on June 11, 2021. A little over 8 months.

Days until the COVID-delayed 2020 Olympics open in Tokyo, Japan: 288, on July 23, 2021. Under 10 months.

Days until Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz become eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame: 460, on January 11, 2022. A little over 15 months until we find out whether lying about having been caught taking steroids, as Big Papi did, is better than telling the truth about it, as A-Rod did.

Days until the next Winter Olympics open in Beijing, China: 484, on February 4, 2022. Under 16 months.

Days until the next World Cup opens in Qatar: 774, on November 21, 2022. Under 26 months.

Days until the next Women's World Cup opens, a joint hosting by Australia and New Zealand: 1,005, on July 10, 2023. A little over 33 months.

Welcome to Earth-2

Kobe Bryant wearing a Lakers "throwback" jersey, 2005...

Or is it the regular uniform of the Minneapolis Lakers on Earth-2?

In DC Comics, "The Golden Age of Superheroes" was from the 1938 debut of Superman until the 1950s. When a new version of The Flash debuted in 1956, that began "The Silver Age."

In September 1961 (the date on the cover, although it was printed and released perhaps 2 months earlier), Flash #123 was published with the story "The Flash of Two Worlds." The recently-introduced version of The Flash, a police forensic scientist named Barry Allen, who gained super-speed when a lightning bolt struck a shelf full of chemicals which then doused him, was shown meeting the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, a college student who inhaled "heavy water vapors" and gained super-speed as a result.

The story was written by Gardner Fox, who created the original Flash, Garrick, in 1940. Robert Kanigher created Allen in 1956, but had no role in this particular story, which explained that the Flashes lived in parallel worlds. Eventually, DC would name them "Earth-1" (or "Earth-One"), on which Allen lived; and "Earth-2" (or "Earth-Two"), on which Garrick lived.

The story was so successful, DC brought back the other Golden Age heroes, and put them on Earth-2, showing them as older, since they had debuted in the 1930s or '40s. But there were some differences, some bigger than others:

* Superman: On Earth-1, Clark Kent was born Kal-El on Krypton, and he was still trying to prevent his Daily Planet teammate, Lois Lane, from finding out his secret identity. On Earth-2, he was born Kal-L, and Lois knew, and they were married.

* Batman: On Earth-1, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, Catwoman, had a flirtatious relationship, as Catwoman played both sides, sometimes an anti-hero, sometimes a villain. (On the 1966-68 Batman TV series, she was only a villain, and yet, she and Batman had the never-resolved hots for each other.) On Earth-2, Bruce and Selina were married, and their daughter Helena Wayne became a superhero, the Huntress. She would marry Earth-2's Robin, Dick Grayson, who never became Nightwing (but did, on occasion, wear the Batman costume), while there were no other Robins (Jason Todd, Tim Drake, etc.).

* The Flash: The power in question was the same, but they didn't even live in the same city. On Earth-1, Barry Allen lived in Central City. On Earth-2, Jay Garrick lived in Keystone City. And neither man's city even existed on the other man's Earth.

* Green Lantern: On Earth-1, Hal Jordan was a test pilot who followed an alien ship's crash. The alien was a member of the Green Lantern Corps, and, as he died, handed Jordan his "power ring," telling him, "It tells me you are worthy," and Jordan becomes the Green Lantern assigned to protect the sector that includes Earth, and meets the other members of the Corps, frequently teaming up with them. His costume is green with black trim.

On Earth-2, there is only one Green Lantern, Alan Scott, a railroad engineer who finds a lantern whose backstory doesn't matter here, and he fashions a ring out of it, and his costume is multicolored. Also, Jordan wears his ring on his right hand, while Scott wears his on his left.

* The Atom: This was a huge difference, and an early 1980s story revealed that a man calling himself "the keeper of the cosmic balance" did just that by briefly switching the two men's powers. Both Atoms are, as you might guess (this was very common with both DC and Marvel heroes-to-be), scientists. The Atom of Earth-1 was Ray Palmer, a science professor who discovered a way to change his size, allowing him to shrink to subatomic size. Usually, he limited his shrinking to 6 inches, yet he could punch someone with the full force of his usual 180-pound body.

The Atom of Earth-2 was Al Pratt, a college student who was called "The Atom" because he was only 5 feet tall. As an unexpected result of an experiment, he gained super-strength, but that was the extent of his powers.

The Earth-2 heroes had already had their own team, the Justice Society of America (JSA). The Earth-1 heroes developed a team, the Justice League of America (JLA). Occasionally, there would be crossover team-ups.

The JSA included some heroes who only existed on Earth-2, such as Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hourman, Starman, and the Star-Spangled Kid. In contrast, there weren't many heroes from Earth-1 that weren't also on Earth-2. J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, was one of the exceptions.

Eventually, other worlds were created. There was an Earth-3, in which the classic heroes we know were all villains: Superman was Ultraman, Batman was Owlman, his sidekick Robin was Talon, Wonder Woman was Superwoman (and her real name was Lois Lane, suggesting a relationship with Superman), Green Lantern was Power Ring, The Flash was Johnny Quick, and so on. And the villains were heroes.

DC bought Fawcett Comics, including Captain Marvel -- or, as his stories had to be titled, since Marvel won a court case over the right to that name, "Shazam!" -- and his stories were placed on "Earth-S," S for Shazam. DC bought Charlton Comics, including The Question, and those stories were put on Earth-4.

In 1979, to celebrate Batman's 40th Anniversary, a story was written in which the Phantom Stranger tells Batman and Robin that there is a parallel world where the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce's parents, is about to happen, and gives Batman, for once, a chance to prevent it, even sending Robin with him.

Robin discovers that there are not only no superheroes on this world, but no fictional heroes at all. No Sherlock Holmes, no Tarzan, no Zorro -- and in most versions of Batman's origin story, the movie the Waynes went to see right before it happened was a version of Zorro, a character Batman would come to resemble. Batman and Robin stop the murder -- and inspire little Bruce to become this world's first superhero. This world was later named Earth-5.

There were many others, until, in the early 1980s, DC executives realized how confusing it all was, so they decided to consolidate everything onto one world. Marv Wolfman wrote the story, and in 1985, the 12-part Crisis On Infinite Earths was released.

In Issue #7, Superman's cousin Supergirl sacrificed her life to stop the Anti-Monitor, the villain who wanted to destroy all the Earths. In Issue #8, Barry Allen, the Earth-1 Flash, sacrificed his life. Each of these was just a temporary reprieve. Finally, in Issue #12, the heroes of all the Earths triumphed, with the Superman of Earth-2, the first superhero, appropriately delivering the deathblow.

When it was over, there was one Earth. A retroactive continuity (or "retcon") revealed that the Earth-2 heroes, the JSA, were active in the 1940s, retired in the 1950s because the House Un-American Activities Committee suspected them of Communist ties since they wouldn't reveal their secret identities, and had been exposed to something that reduced their aging, so that they could still be alive and fighting crime into their 70s, their 80s, and beyond. (Most of them would now be around 100 years old.)

Most of the Earth-2 cities also appeared on the single Earth. One big difference between DC and Marvel is that Marvel put most of its heroes in New York, while DC had fictional cities, which resemble real cities that also exist on their world:

* Metropolis: The joke is that Superman's hometown is Manhattan north of 14th Street on a sunny Spring afternoon, while...

* Gotham City: Batman's hometown is Manhattan south of 14th Street, a few minutes after midnight, on a rainy night in November. A map showed them on opposite sides of Delaware Bay: Metropolis in Delaware, and Gotham in South Jersey. This makes sense, since Gotham is said to be built on marshlands, and this also gives it proximity to the gambling city of Atlantic City, thus aiding the city's reputation for organized crime.

In real life, a bridge to replace the Cape May-Lewes Ferry has been discussed, but never really planned. In DC Comics, there is sometimes said to be a bridge crossing the Bay between Metropolis and Gotham.

* Central City The Flash's hometown is much like Chicago. As for the original Flash's hometown...

* Keystone City: The name suggests Philadelphia, which is in Pennsylvania, the Keystone State.

* Coast City: Green Lantern's hometown is based on Los Angeles, without Hollywood. Or maybe it's San Diego, due to the military connection.

* Star City: Green Arrow's hometown is a little vague. There are some similarities to San Francisco. But because of the green factor, I've often associated it with Seattle.

* Ivy Town: The Atom's hometown might be an analogue to Boston, or perhaps adjoining Cambridge.

In 2007, after the events of their 52 series, DC decided to bring back the Multiverse, and made it seem like there really were infinite Earths. Every dopey "imaginary story" from their 1950s, '60s and '70s comics got their own world.

So did their spectacularly popular 1986 graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and its ridiculous sequels.

So did their 1996 graphic novel Kingdom Come, with older, more jaded superheroes, resulting in Superman (who had lost Lois and his Daily Planet friends) and Wonder Woman marrying and having a child.

So did their 2003 graphic novel Superman: Red Son, which asked and answered the question, "What if baby Kal-El's rocket landed in the Soviet Union instead of America?"

*

TV network The CW, which produces the series Arrow, Supergirl, Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow (and, coming soon, Stargirl), recently adapted Crisis On Infinite Earths for a 5-part television series. Spoiler alert: It actually went farther: While the comics' Anti-Monitor destroyed every Earth but one, the TV version destroyed all of them, and only 7 "Paragons" were saved, put in "a place beyond space and time," and managed to restart the multiverse, but with a few changes that only they noticed.

It looked at various moments like Supergirl and Barry Allen might have to sacrifice themselves to do it, but that didn't happen. Instead, it was this continuity's first costumed crimefighter to debut, Green Arrow, who became The Spectre, and sacrificed his life to do it. His death makes him the founding hero of this new Earth's Justice League.

The other hero to sacrifice himself was the Flash of Earth-90, the Barry Allen played by John Wesley Shipp on the 1990-91 CBS series The Flash, telling Grant Gustin's Barry, "The prophecy said the Flash had to die. It didn't say which Flash." Shipp also plays Jay Garrick and Barry's father, Henry Allen.

If you ever need a reason to decide which is better, DC or Marvel, know this:

* In their movies, the Marvel heroes had to restore half the life in the universe, and did.

* In their TV shows, the DC heroes had to restore all the life in all the universes, and had to do it without any Supermen, Batmen or Wonder Women (albeit with a Supergirl and a Batwoman), and did.

DC > Marvel. All day. Every day.

Anyway, in "The Arrowverse," Earth-2 was one of the worlds brought back, with the Justice Society and their descendants fighting for truth, justice, and the American way.

*

If there really were an Earth-2, what would it be like? Hopefully, better:

* Maybe the world of The West Wing is Earth-2, with Richard Nixon properly punished, the Bartlet Administration having prevented that world's version of the 9/11 attacks (a plot to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, not just because of the physical and economic upheavals that would have resulted, but because it's anchored on a U.S. military base, the Presidio), better Presidents, better Supreme Court Justices, better policies.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants get new ballparks. Los Angeles and San Francisco get expansion teams. Sandy Koufax becomes a great pitcher for his home-Borough Dodgers, not out in L.A. There's still a "miracle" World Series for New York in 1969, but it's the Giants who win the National League Eastern Division over the Chicago Cubs, beat the Atlanta Braves (or maybe the San Francisco team that takes the Mets' 1962 expansion place) in the NL Championship Series, and then the Baltimore Orioles in the most orange World Series ever.

* Likewise, the Montreal Expos get a new ballpark, so they never move, and it's the Florida Marlins who become the Washington Nationals.

* The Raiders never leave Oakland, the Colts never leave Baltimore, the Rams never leave Los Angeles, there is no hiatus for the Browns in Cleveland, the Chargers never leave San Diego, the North Stars never leave Minnesota, and the Nordiques never leave Quebec City.

* Minneapolis also never loses the Lakers, so L.A. gets some other team that doesn't win as much.

(The Houston Oilers' move to Tennessee to become the Titans, and their replacement by the Houston Texans, worked out pretty well for both cities, so I'm leaving it.)

* Wilt Chamberlain stays with the Philadelphia 76ers, and their disastrous run between their 1967 title and their 1977-83 run with Julius Erving never happens. With the L.A. team not such a great option, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar goes to his hometown, and, with Bernard King filling the Magic Johnson role, the Knicks win 5 NBA Championships in the 1980s.

* Patrick Ewing goes to the weak Chicago Bulls, and he and Michael Jordan win Championships together in the 1990s.

* Magic leads the Minneapolis Lakers to titles, and Kobe Bryant learns the value of giving Winter coats to the destitute. Also, he goes to the Mayo Clinic in nearby Rochester, Minnesota, not that hospital in Colorado, and what happened there on our world doesn't happen, removing the black mark on his life.

* Jose Canseco has a bad reaction to his first steroid shot, never takes another, and doesn't introduce it to Mark McGwire. Baseball's Steroid Era never happens. Roger Maris at 61 and Hank Aaron at 755 are still the records. Barry Bonds still makes it to 600 home runs, and makes the Hall of Fame. Roger Clemens also makes the Hall. McGwire retires due to injury in 1996. Sammy Sosa and David Ortiz finish their careers with about 350 home runs each, and neither ever wins a Pennant.

* Without the culture of cheating, the Red Sox still haven't won the World Series since 1918. The Yankees win the World Series in 2004 and 2006, in addition to the 27 titles we know. The Cleveland Indians end their World Series drought in 2007. The Detroit Tigers win the 2013 World Series. The Red Sox don't hire Alex Cora in 2018, so the Washington Nationals end the Houston Astros' bid for 3 straight World Series wins in 2019.

* The Astros' cheating scandal is thus so shocking that MLB does strip them of their titles, leaving them vacant.

* There was no NHL lockout in the 2004-05 season. The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Minnesota North Stars for the Stanley Cup. This was a rematch of the 1999 Finals, when the Stars won the Cup for Minnesota by beating the Sabres.

* Mo Lewis misses his tackle, and Drew Bledsoe remains the New England Patriots' quarterback through the 2006 season.

* Super Bowls are won by the following: XVIII, the Oakland Raiders over the Washington Redskins; XXXIV, the Los Angeles Rams over the Tennessee Titans; XXXVI, the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Rams; XXXVIII, the Baltimore Colts (led by Peyton Manning) over the Carolina Panthers; XXXIX, the Philadelphia Eagles over the New York Jets, as Terrell Owens blazes past Ray Mickens' shockingly bad coverage in the final minute.

XLI, the Baltimore Colts over the Chicago Bears; XLII, the New York Giants over the San Diego Chargers; XLIV, the New Orleans Saints over the Baltimore Colts; XLVI, the Giants over the Cleveland Browns; XLVII, the Browns over the San Francisco 49ers; XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks making it back-to-back titles by beating the Baltimore Colts; LI, the Steelers are the beneficiaries of the tremendous choke by the Atlanta Falcons; LII, the Eagles beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, but still let Nick Foles go, just not to the Jags; and LIII, the Kansas City Chiefs over the Rams.

* Because George W. Bush and Donald Trump were never President, there is proper prosecution of police brutality cases, and no National Anthem protests. Therefore, Super Bowl LIV will still have the Chiefs facing the 49ers, but the 49ers will be quarterbacked by Colin Kaepernick.

Earth-2 sounds like a better place, doesn't it?

Programming On Infinite Earths

Last week, TV network The CW finished Crisis On Infinite Earths, its 5-part series where its various superhero TV shows had a "crossover event" that mirrored -- but, thankfully, didn't match -- the 1985 DC Comics event created by comic book writer Marv Wolfman, who made a guest appearance in the 5th and last episode.

This is not the 1st time that characters from one TV show have appeared on another. In fact, it's quite common. And we can even give names to the "worlds" or "fictional universes" in which it's happened.

Earth-A: All In the Family and its spinoffs take place on this world. AITF spun off Maude, which spun off Good Times. AITF also spun off The Jeffersons, which spun off Checking In.

Bea Arthur played Maude Findlay, and she also played Dorothy Zbornack on The Golden Girls. Rue McClanahan played Vivian Harmon on Maude, and she also played Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls. That show spun off Empty Nest, which spun off Nurses, all taking place in Miami, and there were crossovers.

I'd like to believe it took place on the same world as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which had Betty White as Sue Ann Nivens, because Betty also played Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. Lou Grant was a spinoff of The MTMS, so they definitely took place on the same world.

One thing is for certain: Murphy Brown, in her show of the same name, had a magazine cover with Archie Bunker on it framed on the wall of her office, so her show and Norman Lear's AITF franchise do not take place on the same world.

Maybe we can say that, barring evidence to the contrary, all TV shows not otherwise mentioned take place on this world.

Earth-B: B for Brooklyn. Welcome Back, Kotter was set in Brooklyn, at fictional James Buchanan High School in the 1970s. Head of the Class was set in Brooklyn, at fictional Millard Fillmore High School, also named for a pre-Civil War President, in the 1980s. Granted, that doesn't mean they took place on the same world. But the parallels are uncanny, including the unconventional teacher, the cynical principal, and the misfit kids -- remedial ones in the former, advanced-placement geniuses in the latter.

Another 1970s-'80s ABC sitcom, Barney Miller, would have fit right in, taking place across the East River in Manhattan, at the fictional 12th Precinct. However, in the final episode, "The One-Two" was closed down, as the show's fictional version of the New York Police Department redrew its precinct lines. This rules out the 2010s cop show Castle taking place on the same world: Their world's 12th Precinct was still in use, albeit in a different building.

One thing I've noticed: Castle (set at the fictional 12th), NYPD Blue (set at the fictional 15th), and The Mysteries of Laura (set at the fictional 2nd, and the only one of these not on ABC, rather on NBC) all used the same location for their exterior shots: The 9th Precinct, at 321 East 5th Street, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. (That's it, in the photo.)

This building opened in 2007, having been built on the site of a previous precinct house that stood from 1912 to 2002. It was the 15th until 1929, when it was renamed the 9th, and the number 15 was carved into the sidewalk pediment, inspiring the precinct number on NYPD Blue. This older building was used for exterior shots of Kojak (set at the fictional 11th Precinct), Cagney & Lacey, and NYPD Blue; the others used the new one.

Life On Mars was set at the fictional 125th, but, unlike any show using the 9th, their precinct house was on a corner, so it's not the same one.

Cagney & Lacey was set at the 14th Precinct, which does exist in real life, but is usually called "Midtown South," a name that was referenced on Barney Miller several times; but their neighborhood was called "Alphabet City" because of Avenues A, B, C and D, and that same subset of the Lower East Side was patrolled by the 15th squad of NYPD Blue, and we've got, to use a New York expression, a bit of a kerfuffle.

So none of these shows -- Kojak, Barney Miller, Cagney & Lacey, NYPD Blue, Life On Mars, Castle or The Mysteries of Laura -- takes place on the same world as any of the others. But that doesn't mean one of these cop shows can't share a world with another show.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine takes place in the fictional 99th Precinct, and had a crossover with New Girl. Might these shows take place on the same world as WBK, HOTC and Barney Miller? What about other Brooklyn-based shows? How about The Honeymooners? Or The Patty Duke Show? Or Living Single? The Cosby Show was set in Brooklyn, and A Different World was a spinoff of it. And The King of Queens and Long Island-based Everybody Loves Raymond had a crossover.

Earth-D. The Dick Van Dyke Show starred Dick Van Dyke as Rob Petrie, a writer for a TV variety show named The Alan Brady Show. That show existed on the same world as Mad About You, but about 30 years earlier. Not only was The ABS mentioned on a 1995 episode of MAY, but Carl Reiner played Brady on it. And Helen Hunt played both Jamie Buchman in the present and her mother, Theresa Stemple (then using her maiden name, Terry Cooper) in a flashback scene of The ABS.

And MAY was on the same world as Seinfeld and Friends. (And a now-forgotten sitcom titled The Single Guy.) We know this because Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld (Michael Richards) appeared on MAY, and Ursula the waitress on MAY turned out to be the twin sister of Phoebe Buffay on Friends
(both played by Lisa Kudrow, and confusing the hell out of MAY's Jamie and Leila Kenzle as Fran Devanow when they dropped by Central Perk).

However, Mary Tyler Moore's presence as Laura Petrie on The DVDS does not necessarily put that show on the same world as The MTMS.

Earth-F: For for Friday. ABC's "TGIF" sitcoms were all linked. Perfect Strangers spun off Family Matters, whose character Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) made guest appearances on Full House and Step By Step. The actions of Salem the cat (voiced by Nick Bakay) on Sabrina the Teenage Witch affected Teen Angel, You Wish, Boy Meets World, and, retroactively, BMW's successor series Girl Meets World.

Earth-G: It's been established that the ABC soap operas General Hospital, its spinoff Port Charles, and One Live to Live take place on the same world. It is safe to presume that another ABC soap, All My Children, also does so.

Earth-H: H for Hooterville. CBS "rural" comedies The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and Petticoat Junction had crossovers in the 1960s.

Earth-I: I for The Incredible Hulk. The Bill Bixby & Lou Ferrigno CBS version of 1977-82 was very different from the comics' version of the Hulk. The human form was still a scientist who made a mistake with radiation, but the method and his motivation were different, and so was his name: The Robert Bruce Banner of the comics (sometimes "Bob" but usually "Bruce") became David Bruce Banner (always "David," and, to hide his identity, using last names starting with B, such as Brown and Baxter).

In 1988, '89 and '90, The Incredible Hulk had return movies that featured versions of Thor and Daredevil that weren't much like either the comics or the MCU, and bombed so badly that neither got the show that these "backdoor pilots" were trying to establish. While there were no other crossovers, it's likely that this world also includes the bad Spider-Man, Captain America and Doctor Strange TV-movies of the late 1970s.

Earth-L: L for Los Angeles. Jack Webb first produced, directed, frequently wrote, and starred as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday on, the police drama Dragnet from 1951 to 1959, using one of many lines from the show that entered the public consciousness: "This is the city: Los Angeles, California."

With his production company, Mark VII Limited, he revived it from 1967 to 1970, but he didn't stop there. He also produced the police drama Adam-12 and the medical drama Emergency! And he had characters cross over between the 3 series, all on NBC.

Emergency! was created by Harry Jack Bloom, who also created Hec Ramsey, a combination Western and police drama set in 1901 Oklahoma, starring Richard Boone, who had previously played the cultured gunman-for-hire Paladin on Have Gun -- Will Travel. On an episode of that show, which was on CBS, Paladin cites a familiarity with the career of Marshal Matt Dillon, the lead character of the defining CBS Western, Gunsmoke, suggesting that they took place on the same world.

Boone described Hec Ramsey as "Paladin, but fatter." And, clearly, older. So those 3 shows can be said to have taken place on the same world. Was it the same world as Dragnet, Adam-12 and Emergency, 70 or so years later?

What about Bonanza, on NBC, set in 1860s Virginia City, Nevada? As far as I know, there is no link between it and any other show, unless you want to count the later movies based on it, and the prequel show Ponderosa, which changed several details.

What about other L.A.-set crime-related shows of the 1970s? Columbo? The Rockford Files? CHiPs? Quincy, M.E.? I know of nothing that would rule those shows out. Starsky & Hutch took place in fictional Bay City, a name which would suggest San Francisco, but the city was said to be in Southern California, and was clearly filmed in L.A.

Worth noting: ABC's Modern Family takes place in Los Angeles, but, on their world, Game of Thrones does not exist. Instead, there is an analogue show of which Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell) and his brother-in-law Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) are fans, to the point of cosplaying at a convention.

Earth-M: M for Mayberry. The Danny Thomas Show spun off The Andy Griffith Show, which spun off Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Given Mayberry's rural setting, it's tempting to say that it takes place on the same world as the Hooterville shows.

Earth-N: N for Navy. All the NCIS shows, their base show JAG, and the recent CBS reboots of Hawaii Five-O, Magnum, P.I. and MacGyver have been established as taking place on the same world.

The original Magnum had a crossover with Murder, She Wrote. But, as far as I know, they can't be linked with any other show, including the original Hawaii Five-O (whose last episode aired on April 5, 1980, 8 months before Magnum debuted in Hawaii on CBS) or the original MacGyver.

Earth-P: P for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Mr. Rogers made a guest appearance on Sesame Street, and that show's Grover made one on The Electric Company. And Spider-Man appeared on The Electric Company. But this was a very different Spidey than has appeared in comic books and any movie thus far seen, so it's not Tom Holland's version from the current Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Earth-R: R for Rhimes. All of Shonda Rhimes' "Shondaland" shows are linked, including Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, How to Get Away With Murder, Station 19, and Scandal. Too bad, because Scandal shows things to be truly screwed-up. Seriously: Would you want to live in a world where the choices for President are Fitz Grant and Sally Langston?

Earth-S: S for Star Trek. The world we've known from 1990 or so onward doesn't match the "Star Trek Timeline." No, we haven't gotten out of our solar system by the dawn of the 2020s. But we also avoided the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s. All of the Trek shows and movies take place in that timeline.

These include the past sequence of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), the past sequence of Star Trek: First Contact (2063), Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-61), Star Trek: Discovery (2256), Star Trek (a.k.a. "The Original Series," 2266-69), Star Trek: The Animated Series (2270), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2273), Star Trek II, III, IV and V (2285-86), Star Trek VI and the early part of Star Trek: Generations (2293), Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-70), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-75), Star Trek: Voyager (2371-77), the TNG movies (2371-79), and, debuting this week, Star Trek: Picard (which begins in 2399).

And it includes all trips back in time on the various shows, including (but not limited to) Earth in 1893, 1930, 1944, 1947, 1957, 1968, 1969, 1996, 2004 and 2024. (The Bell Riots are just 4 years and 7 months away now, and it's not hard to imagine Donald Trump making things bad enough for that to happen.)

The J.J. Abrams movies with the Star Trek label? As Captain Kirk (the only one, played by William Shatner) would say, "Go to the Devil!"

While The Orville shares many similarities with Star Trek, and especially appears to be an homage to The Next Generation, it clearly does not take place in the same universe.

Earth-T: This is "the Tommy Westphal Universe," inspired by the last scene of the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere, which aired in 1988. Based on characters that appeared on that show, and characters from that show that appeared on others, and other references dropped, we know that this world includes The White Shadow, Cheers, Frasier, Homicide: Life On the Street, The X-Files and its spinoff The Lone Gunmen, Millennium, every Law & Order show, and every show in NBC's current One Chicago franchise.

UPDATE: A character from Chicago P.D., Detective Hailey Upton, played by Tracy Spiridakos, has since appeared on an episode of FBI, despite that show being on CBS, because it has the same producers. So that series, and its spinoff FBI: Most Wanted, also exist on this planet.

Earth-W: As far as I know, The West Wing (NBC, 1999-2006) has never crossed over with another show. But it did the "fictional President" thing better than any show ever has, so I'm giving it its own world.

The Peanuts specials and The Beverly Hillbillies were mentioned on The West Wing, ruling them out as taking place on the same world.

Do you know of any others? I'm not doing any Simpsons-related crossovers. You want those, write your own blog.