I'm sure not if this topic quite belongs here, as it's not about Back to the Future specifically. Although, to make my point, I'll be using the BTTF trilogy as an example.

Do you think it's possible that, maybe in another universe, Doc and Marty really do exist - and all that other stuff? Like, for example, I wrote stories crossing over the BTTF Universe and the Family Ties Universe. Family Ties is a TV series in the BTTF Universe, which BTTF is a movie trilogy in the Family Ties Universe. I also did stories about Michael J Fox from the "real world" entering the BTTF Universe - and I even did a one-shot story where Michael J Fox met both Marty McFly and Alex P Keaton in a countryside.

Various things should probably be different between the BTTF Universe and the movie trilogy, though. I think Marty would look as young as he did in Part One, and so would Marty Jr and Marlene. Also, Jennier would look like Claudia Wells. Any contradictions between the first movies and the sequels I end to default to the first movie - with the possible exception of how Doc briefly pauses, after Marty askes if he and Jennifer become assholes. That's simply because there was probably a reason for why the Bobs added that in for the beginning of the second movie.

Anyway, any minor goofs that are present in the movie wouldn't be present in the BTTF Universe. Things like Marvin Berry's guitar and the particular Honeymooners episode would be a little harder to explain away.

I also don't think phone numbers would really start with 555 in the BTTF Universe. They would have regular phone numbers there, as we do here.

I agree that Marty, Marty Jr, and Marlene look as young as Marty does in Part I, and that Jennifer looks like Claudia Wells. I think that George, both young and old, would look more like Crispin Glover.

I don't think you ever really saw Jeffery Weissman in the sequels, at least not him looking like his natural self. They deliberately masked his appearance and made him look like Crispin Glover - which pissed Crispin off. They didn't bother to mask the appearance of Elisabeth Shue, as it would be impractical.

They probably thought that Elizabeth Shue and Claudia Wells looked alike enough to pass. They had similarities, but they don't look alike enough to pass.

I think Back to the Future was the only film Claudia Wells was in - so she maybe never got discovered in the BTTF Universe. I know Part II had a tiny clip of Family Ties playing one of the television sets in the Cafe '80s - so we know Family Ties is a TV series in the BTTF Universe. However, that doesn't completely rule out the possibility of Back to the Future as a movie trilogy in the Family Ties Universe. I mean, it was just such a tiny and subtle scene - it would could easily be replaced with a clip from another '80s sitcom, maybe even with whatever replaced Family Ties in the Family Ties Universe, without changing the trilogy's plot in any form. Now, if the question was Back to the Future existing as a trilogy in The Honeymooners Universe - I'd have to say "no", as that '50s sitcom did play a rather important plot device in Part One.

Maybe Michael J Fox starred in a different blockbuster movie trilogy in the BTTF Universe, while Michael J Fox starred in a different sitcom in the Family Ties Universe. I guess Christopher Lloyd fans wouldn't like the idea too much, and it would be too freaky to feature all of the BTTF actors in the replacement film. Christopher Lloyd has already long been a star by BTTF, though - while Back to the Future was what had established MJF as a movie star. Family Ties was what had established Michael J Fox as a TV star.

What sitcom did MJF star in the Family Ties Universe?

Jamie Takes Change, which is a spin-off of Leo and Me - where Jamie Romano moves to California is takes care of some little kids.

In the Back to the Future Universe, it's Mind Warped. The basic premise there is that two characters, both played by Michael J Fox, end up switching universes. I haven't really thought of what the sequels would contain. I don't have the same screenwriting brilliance as the Bobs do.

Did you make up Jamie Takes Charge and Mind Warped?

Oh, yeah, I made those two up. I'm sure Michael J Fox was never even mentioned in Family Ties. Instead of making up an entirely new sitcom to replace Family Ties in the Family Ties Universe, I just made it a spin-off of something MJF had previously appeared in.

Was Leo and Me a Canadian sitcom? I don't think the show ever aired in America. A lot of Canadian shows did, though.

Right, that's a Canadian sitcom. :)

So what are your thoughts about Michael J Fox co-existing with Marty McFly in the Back to the Future Universe - or Michael J Fox co-existing with Alex P Keaton in the Family Ties Universe. Actually, Alex P Keaton and Mike Flaherty co-exist - so, in Mike's Goodbye, it was suggested that Family Ties and Spin City exist in the same universe.

I bet Marty and Alex often get told that they look like Michael J. Fox.

Yeah, I'm sure they do. In A Very Colourful Christmas, where Linda McFly and Mallory Keaton meet - they both comment about how Michael J Fox is overrated, and they're both really angry with Marty and Alex.