Family Guy vs Simpsons

Some criticism is leveled to Family Guy for the fact that some concepts the show uses seems similar in nature to another popular cartoon in The Simpsons. The Simpsons crew went as far to accuse the show of this fact through animation, by making one of Homer’s clones Peter in an episode for Halloween. Family Guy soon fired back by adding Homer as a cameo to the opening of one of their newer episodes released this season. However, the possibility that Family Guy is copying off of the Simpsons is not a concept only recognized by the Simpsons creators and crews. Many viewers and people in the media feel that this is true as well. Both Peter and Homer are obese and lazy in their day to day activities. Both are married to good-looking wives who are sometimes angered by the lack of work the two do. Of course, these similarities are also shared by a classic cartoon in the Flintstones. So one has to wonder if there really is an argument for either show to say they are original.

More similarities can be found in the fact that each family has six similar members. As mentioned before, both Marge and Lois are stay-at-home moms who are smarter than their husbands and responsible for the up keeping of their families. Also mentioned before, however, is the fact that it is not uncommon to have a male head of the household modeled as Homer or Peter. In addition none of the children in the families bare resemblance to each other. It is important to acknowledge that the Simpsons itself may not be original, and it may be okay to copy the basic ideas behind the show.

Family Guy took another stab at the Simpsons show when they paid homage to the original television series the nation’s favorite animated family first appeared in. To mock how bad the animation was in the original Simpsons, the end of this episode ends with terrible animation and movement from the Griffens.

Don’t feel sorry for the creators of The Simpsons though. Matt Groening seems perfectly content to compete and trade blows with Family Guy and has compared the rivalry to past cartoon battles. In addition, Groening has been quoted as liking MacFarlene personally and respecting him as a colleague.