Image Credit: Isabella Vosmikova/Fox
As we await the February-sweeps Grey’s Anatomy “What If?” episode, in which we learn what would’ve happened if Derek had stayed with Addison and Meredith’s mother was alive and well, we can’t help but think of other “What If?” scenarios we’d love to see imagined on other shows — past and present (showrunners, take note!). Here are some of our picks, now tell us yours. Seconding is not only allowed, it’s encouraged. Bonus points if you give a line suggesting how it would play out. For spoiler-phobes, please put the name of the series first, so they can choose whether or not to risk reading further.
Current shows:
Bones: “What if Zack hadn’t gotten mixed up with Gormogon? We never would have had rotating squinterns, which led to both Booth and Brennan hooking up (after Mr. Nigel-Murray’s death) and Angela and Hodgins getting back together (when she thought she could be pregnant with Wendell’s child, Hodgins stepped up as her guy).” — Mandi Bierly
Supernatural: “They’ve done a ‘What If’ episode before, imagining what life would have been like had their mom never died. But I’d be interested to see an episode on what life would be like if John hadn’t died at the beginning of season 2.” — Sandra Gonzalez
The Office: “What if Tobey and Pam got together?” — Kate Ward
“What if Pam had married Roy?” — Sandra Gonzalez
Dexter: “What if Rita had survived on Dexter? ” or “What if Dexter had not been raised to become a vigilante, and instead became a full-blown terrible serial killer?” — Kate Ward
Mad Men: “What if Don and Betty hadn’t divorced?” — Adam B. Vary
The Good Wife: “What if Alicia and Will hadn’t gotten horizontal?” — Adam B. Vary
Game of Thrones: “What if Ned Stark hadn’t died?” — Adam B. Vary
Parks and Recreation: “What if Lesley and Ben hadn’t chosen to get back together?” — Mandi Bierly
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: “What if Dee really had given birth to her own baby?” — Mandi Bierly
Past shows:
Laverne & Shirley: “What if Randy the firefighter (guest star Ted Danson) hadn’t died in that fire?” — Mandi Bierly
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “What if Angel had never left Sunnydale?” and “What if Buffy had stayed dead after season 5?” — Adam B. Vary
My So-Called Life: “I wonder what would have happened if Angela Chase had chosen Brian Krakow (besides really bad sex, like, five years after they started dating). There were hints that she was questioning her choice even as she got into the car with Jordan Catalano.” — Lanford Beard
Beverly Hills, 90210 (the original!): “What if Brandon and Andrea had actually gotten together? Just once? For me?” — Laura Hertzfeld
Sex and the City: “What if Carrie hadn’t cheated on Aidan with Big? Maybe we could have avoided that whole Sex and the City 2: Casbah Boogaloo atrocity altogether.” — Lanford Beard
“What if Trey didn’t have problems in the bedroom?” — Kate Ward
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “What if Picard remained a Borg?” — Adam B. Vary
The West Wing: “What if the west wing had had as much staff turnover as real life White House west wings always do?” — Adam B. Vary
Will & Grace: “What if they had gone through with having the baby?” — Lanford Beard
The O.C.: “What if Marissa Cooper survived that car accident? I was annoyed with her character, and honestly, kind of glad to see her go. (Even though I bawled like a baby when she died in Ryan’s arms.) But the show’s fourth season was all kinds of crazy/bizarre after that. And then, of course, The O.C. joined Marissa in TV heaven. If they hadn’t killed off her character, I wonder if there would have been a few more seasons of the show. Or maybe the group going off to college would have ruined it anyway…. I don’t know. But I always wonder.” — Breia Brissey
“What if Seth stuck with Anna over Summer on The O.C.? That was the only time in a triangle on TV I didn’t know who to ‘root’ for.” — Erin Strecker
Lost: “What if producers killed off Jack in the first episode, like they had originally planned to do?” — Kate Ward
Charmed: “What if Phoebe had never met Balthazar?” — Kate Ward
Friends: “What if Chandler had ended up with Janice?” — Kate Ward
“They just showed this episode and it actually got me thinking: Remember when Chandler learns that Monica had intended to sleep with Joey in London? And they did a quick flash of what life would have been like had Monica hooked up with Joey? I always wanted that to be an entire episode. So this is sort of like a ‘show me more of this!’” — Sandra Gonzalez
Cheers: “What if Coach had never died?” – Jeff Labrecque
Heroes: “I dunno if this is relevant, but I always wished Heroes would have ended after Nathan flies up in the sky and explodes in the last episode of season 1. Just — BOOM. Game f—ing over. No ‘Did Sylar die?’ teaser, no ‘End of Volume 1′ card, no weeks and weeks of season 2 mired in feudal Japan. One killer season, end of show, and we all still love Tim Kring.”
Go!
