The Simpsons Guy
"The Simpsons Guy" | |
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couch gag | |
Episode no. | Season 13 Episode 1 |
Directed by | Peter Shin |
Written by | Patrick Meighan[1] |
Featured music | "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard |
Production code | BACX22/BACX23 |
Original air date | September 28, 2014 |
Guest appearances | |
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"The Simpsons Guy" is the first episode of the
In the episode, The Griffins meet The Simpsons for the first time and decide to stay with them after the Griffin family's car is stolen just outside Springfield. After the Griffins get their car back, Peter is taken to court as a representative of the Pawtucket Patriot brewery, his employer, when it is discovered that its ale is an unauthorized copy of Duff Beer.
The idea for a crossover episode was suggested by Family Guy executive producer and former Simpsons writer Richard Appel, and the episode was announced by Fox in July 2013. Five of the six main members of the voice cast of The Simpsons—the exception being Harry Shearer—voiced their characters in the episode. "The Simpsons Guy" received mixed reviews from critics, who had differing opinions on how well the two shows combined.
Plot
The
The men celebrate at Moe's Tavern, but their relationships sour when Peter introduces Homer to Pawtucket Patriot Ale. The drink is revealed to be an imitation of Duff Beer with a new label. Duff, represented by the Blue Haired Lawyer, files a lawsuit against Pawtucket Brewery for patent infringement, with Peter forced to defend the brewery in court in front of similar characters from both shows and presiding judge Fred Flintstone to save Quahog. Despite declaring that both Pawtucket Patriot Ale and Duff Beer are imitations of Bud Rock, Fred rules in favor of Duff.
The Griffins prepare to return to Quahog, where Peter faces the prospect of finding a new job. Lisa gives Meg her saxophone, but Peter throws it away, claiming there is no room for more luggage. Stewie points out that he took revenge on all of Bart's enemies: Nelson,
Production
Development
The idea of a crossover with The Simpsons was first suggested while the thirteenth season of Family Guy was being planned out. Executive producer Richard Appel received Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's approval and input after brainstorming ideas. Appel then asked for permission from Simpsons executive producers Matt Groening, James L. Brooks and Al Jean to use their characters. This was approved; Appel was previously a writer-producer on The Simpsons for four seasons, and retained his former colleagues' trust.[1] Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, and Hank Azaria guest star as their Simpsons characters, but Harry Shearer, the final main cast member of The Simpsons, was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts. When asked about how he felt about the crossover, Shearer replied, "Matter and anti-matter."[3]
Family Guy writers pitched several storylines for the crossover, including one in which the Griffins stay with
Announcement and promotion
The episode was first announced by Fox in July 2013 to premiere in the fall of 2014.[4] In May 2014, the network presented two clips from the episode at their annual upfront presentation.[5] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly about the episode, MacFarlane stated that the key to a good crossover episode is "really about the character interaction. People want to see Peter interact with Homer. They want to see Bart interact with Stewie. In a way, the story in a crossover episode, while it has to be there, is never quite as important as how the characters interact with each other."[6] The Simpsons creator Groening added, "In this case, it's two really vivid shows and seeing what they can do together. You want to see them having a good time and you want to see Peter and Homer duke it out".[1]
"The Simpsons Guy" includes
Reception
The episode was watched by 8.45 million people. This was slightly more than the
Critical reception
"The Simpsons Guy" received mixed reviews. Writing in USA Today, Mike Foss gave the episode a positive review, but criticized how the episode was written by Family Guy staff and thus lacked elements of The Simpsons' humor.[10] Jason Hughes of TheWrap was also generally in praise of the episode, but felt that certain scenes—including both Peter and Homer's fight and an erotic car wash sequence—were "squeamish" and out of place for The Simpsons. He, however, acknowledged that Bart's disgust at Stewie's behavior was "a good statement" of the difference between the two shows.[11] Positive reviews of the crossover also came from IGN,[12] the International Business Times,[13] the Standard-Examiner,[14] and TVLine.[15]
Other critics responded negatively. Scott Meslow, of The Week, pointed out his disappointment that the episode parodied a scene in "Bart the Daredevil", as that episode dealt with Homer and Bart's relationship, but "The Simpsons Guy" used it as a joke in a violent sequence.[8] Emily VanDerWerff wrote on Vox that while she expected the episode to be mediocre, it actually ended up a "blight on humanity itself". She listed nine reasons for this statement, including her dissatisfaction with the car wash and fight scenes, and the use of sexist jokes which had lost their shock value.[16] After the episode aired in the United Kingdom in July 2015, Ellen E. Jones, of The Independent, criticized the episode's rape jokes and violence, and theorized that with the poor box-office performance of his latest film Ted 2, audiences were growing tired of MacFarlane's humor.[17] Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph, however, wrote that Family Guy's usual objectionable content was restrained in the episode, as if it had been "infected" by recent seasons of The Simpsons.[18]
The A.V. Club named the episode among "The worst TV of 2014" under "Worst crossover", writing that "for no real reason, Homer and Peter find themselves in an interminable 'sexy car wash' montage, sudsing and squirting each other in tied-off tees and denim cutoffs. Family Guy prides itself on cutaway gags, but the car-wash scene... is its most successful look-away gag".[19]
See also
- Night of the Hurricane – a cross-over of all of Seth MacFarlane's programs on Fox.
- List of The Simpsons episodes
References
- ^ a b c d e Snierson, Dan (September 12, 2014). "Best. Crossover. Ever". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
- ^ Coleman, Miriam (July 27, 2014). "Take an Early Peek at the 'Simpsons'-'Family Guy' Crossover Episode". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- Salon. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
- ^ "Scoop: Family Guy Crossover Will Introduce the Griffins to The Simpsons in Fall 2014!". TVLine. July 18, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ "'The Simpsons' and 'Family Guy' Crossover Episode Is Nearly Here". Mashable. May 12, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ "This week's cover: Inside the 'Simpsons'-'Family Guy' crossover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ a b "'Simpsons'-'Family Guy' Crossover: Watch 5 Minutes From the Episode". Variety. July 27, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Meslow, Scott. "How the Simpsons/Family Guy crossover revealed the worst of both shows". The Week. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'Resurrection' & 'Revenge' Adjusted Up; 'CSI' Adjusted Down". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ Foss, Mike (September 29, 2014). "'The Simpsons' and 'Family Guy' came together and it was awesome and sad". USA Today. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ Hughes, Jason (September 29, 2014). "'Family Guy'-'Simpsons' Crossover Is Everything Fans of Both Shows Love". TheWrap. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "Family Guy: "The Simpsons Guy" Review". IGN. September 26, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ "Family Guy-Simpsons Crossover Review: What Happened When Peter Met Homer, What The Deuce Vs Eat My Shorts, Twitter Reaction". International Business Times UK. September 29, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ Paul Barney. "REVIEW: Simpsons and Family Guy crossover episode". Standard-Examiner. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ "Family Guys's Simpsons Crossover – Best Moments From Season Premiere – TVLine". TVLine. September 29, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ^ "9 ways the Family Guy/Simpsons crossover was a blight on humanity". Vox. September 29, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- ^ Jones, Ellen E. (July 5, 2015). "Family Guy Simpsons crossover episode highlights gulf between the cartoons – review". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
- ^ Power, Ed (July 5, 2015). "Family Guy: The Simpsons Guy, review: 'the humour was forced throughout'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
- ^ Alston, Joshua (December 9, 2014). "The worst TV of 2014". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
External links
- "The Simpsons Guy" at IMDb