Family Guy vs. The Simpsons: The Simpsons Guy

Family Guy vs. The Simpsons: The Simpsons Guy

I haven't really watched much of Family Guy or The Simpsons recently, but I had to watch this crossover. For years, there have been major attacks against each show on their own shows. At one point, FOX had to step in and tell them to stop taking so many pop shots. I remember Seth talking about it on a commentary track. This crossover is clearly a peace treaty between the two shows.

And, I really dug the episode a lot.

Yeah, this is a Family Guy episode with The Simpsons universe. You can tell the cleaner jokes were Simpsons and the edgier things were FG jokes. Overall the two shows' styles worked well together.

I actually liked the episode a lot and loved the hour long crossover because it deserved it. Heck they even mention the fact the episode was a hour long. Most of the jokes worked with exception of the payoff of Santa's Helper. Has that dog been on the show that much?

I also like the not-too-subtle jabs at the Internet community and the hyper-sensitive aspects of said medium. I guess they knew their rape joke wasn't going to go over that well. And, I also like the swipes toward the state of the newspaper comic section now. Kind of meta, huh?

Speaking of meta, the show closes its second act with a lawsuit over beer branding, but it is clearly talking about the similarities between the two shows. Yes, Family Guy is influenced by the Simpsons, but the episode displays the differences between the shows.

I should also mention how amazing the animation is in this episode. It is smooth and bright and shows the differences in animation styles between the two. It does seem the animation turns up a notch with the major (Man of Steel) fight and the car wash scene. From what I read, both series did work on the animation for this episode (along with the Korean animators I guess). It just seems a lot more effort was put into the animation for this episode.

Does the crossover live up to the hype? Yes, with a few missteps. Maybe The Simpsons should have had an episode connected to this one to flesh out some of the left out portions of the story. I loved the final battle and the various jabs to each show. Will this get me to watch either show again? Probably not on a regular basis, but it was a fun one hour romp.

-Reddit mentioned: I really liked that call out, because this was discussed on reddit.

-Over 20 years: They mentioned the strange continuity in animated shows.

-Car Wash Montage: I didn't need to see that, but it was certainly a reference to all those car wash movies with those topless montages.

-Bob's Burgers cameo: I've never seen this show, but I loved the reference.

-James Woods and James Woods: I forgot he's been on both shows.

-Fred Flintstone as the judge: Well, yeah both characters are based on him and Fred was strongly based on The Honeymooners.

-American Dad cameo: I was surprised to see this cameo.

-Why do I get the feeling there's more to Harry Shearer  not showing up to do voices on this crossover? I know people say he was busy.

-Lisa and Meg: This episode does show us how much of a good person Lisa really is overall.  

Grade: B+