"It turns out that the characters in your favorite TV shows and the like are actually dead, dreaming, dying or don't exist."

I enjoyed this episode of Stuff You Should Know, "Some Nutso Fan Theories."

I was not previously aware of the Tommy Westphall Universe. Nor had I heard the detailed evidence that "The Flintstones" and "The Jetsons" actually take place at the same time. (Why do the Flintstones celebrate Christmas when Jesus was born after the Stone Age?)

And I was motivated to go in search of Dark Garfield and found "The Scariest Comic Of All Time Is A ‘Garfield’ Story From 1989." Did you know that story led some people to theorize that the comics character Garfield is alone and starving and all those strips about him being fat and eating lot were hallucinations*? For the record, the artist (Jim Davis) has laughed at the theory, but you could theorize that's exactly what he'd do if the theory were true and he wanted to keep it secret.

I love things like this, playing with theories without needing them to be true. It's like a game I invented for my sons when they were little, What If You Had To Argue. The point to be argued wasn't true. It was just fun to think of evidence and explain why it would support the proposition.

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* Reminds me of "The Little Match Girl."