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Film and TV

Donald Glover and 5 Other TV Crossovers, a Wish List

We were a little too excited to read that Community's Donald Glover will be making his way over to 30 Rock later this month. Glover was previously a writer for the Tina Fey sitcom, but his upcoming return to the show will be as an actor. Glover is slated to portray a young Tracy Morgan/Jordan in a live broadcast of the show. Glover apparently does a spot on Tracy Morgan/Jordan and has even contributed to his underground hit "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah."

We love the idea of TV actors making cameos on each other's television shows. It makes us feel like Hollywood is one big happy clique of friends that we are not a part of and that are there to make us feel uninvited and self-deprecating.

We hope that this starts a trend of TV stars crossing lines and playing younger (or older) versions of our favorite characters. Here's our top 5 wish list.

5. Kiernan Shipka (Sally Draper) as a Young Brita Perry (Community)

In the past two seasons of Mad Men, Kiernan Shipka has come into her own as a serious actress. She plays bratty/pretentious Sally Draper to a tee, but could she do comedy? There's already a tie-in between the two shows; Alison Brie is on both the sitcom and the AMC drama, so why not bring the little blond over to do her best Brita impersonation? Community never shies away from the outlandish; could they do an episode à la Muppet Babies where the study group sees what they would be like if they were teens together? We can totally see this episode happening with Kiernan Shipka as a prepubescent, proto-feminist, Brita rocking some early '90s grunge apparel. She probably wore a lot of bajas.

4. Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley) as an Old Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl)

Maggie Smith brilliantly plays Violet Crawley of the hit PBS show Downton Abbey with wit and bite. Her interests involve money, nobility and her family marrying into the two. Blair Waldorf, often called the "Queen B," has her sights set on similar skies. For a time she would not be seen in public with anyone from Brooklyn. As Violet Crawley, Maggie Smith has perfected the upper-echelon snobbery that Blair Waldorf lives for. We would also love to see Maggie Smith in a headband and a pair of Tory Burch flats.

3. Courteney Cox (Jules Cobb) as the "Mother" (How I Met Your Mother)

Does anyone care anymore how Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) even met his children's mother? After seven seasons of Ted sleeping around, proposing, breaking off proposals and leading the world on, it's about time he found his true love. But who would even have him at this point? The guy has to have diseases. We would assume that Ted is going to need an older woman who will put up with some young-dude crap and meddling best friends because of her own ghosts of relationships past. Courteney Cox's character on Cougar Town is just the matriarch for the job. The only worry we have about Cox taking on the role is that by the time the show stops dragging its feet for its big reveal, she might be too old to be anyone's mother.

2. Chris Pratt (Andy Dwyer) as Jake Parker (Two and a Half Men)

If you live in a house with your father and your swinging, womanizing uncle and one day out of nowhere your uncle dies, but is quickly replaced by some young stoner who you must now look up to, you will grow up to be crazy. Just how clinical Jake Parker will be in the future, we can only imagine. No matter how extremely nuts Jake may become, Chris Pratt will be able to handle the part. We don't know what type of childhood Chris Pratt's character on Parks and Recreation had, but given that his lot in life was to shine shoes, we'd guess it was lacking in parental guidance. We would love to see an episode set in the future with Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher in fake gray beards and Chris Pratt eating everything in their house.

1. Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) as Frank Reynolds (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

There is really no reason for this idea except 1) Peter Dinklage is an incredible actor and 2) Wouldn't you want to see him do a Danny DeVito impersonation?

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Abby Koenig
Contact: Abby Koenig