Review: Family Guy “The Simpsons Guy”

Spoilers Below

When it was announced that the two would be sharing a cross over, I must say it was impossible for me not to be excited. Truthfully, a part of me was also worried because the two are so different in tone and animation style. Well, continue reading and I’ll give you all my thoughts on “The Simpsons Guy”.

When Peter angers the residents of Quahog, the family must leave town for a few days to let everything blow over. They make a stop at a gas station where their car is ultimately stolen. The Griffins then must go on a hunt for the thief, but end up in Springfield. The Griffins meet Homer at the Kwik-E-Mart, and the story unfolds from there.

Crossovers are an interesting thing. Unless the things that are crossing over have enough in common, it usually doesn’t work. This was certainly a case of it not working. As awesome as it was to see the Griffins visit Springfield, a lot of my worries about this hour special were validated. The episode was very self-aware, making a lot of jokes that acknowledge the cross over. There were also a lot of jokes that reflect the relationship between the two shows outside of this episode. That was all great to see, but other from those jokes, the two different styles of humor didn’t blend well. The type of comedy that The Simpsons brings is more about the personalities of the characters when put in specific situations. Family Guy echoes some of those values, but they are more about pop culture references, cut away gags, and saying what a lot of viewers are thinking.

I was disappointed with how the Griffins and Simpsons interacted. To me, it felt like the Simpson characters simply reacted to whatever a Griffin would say very generically. Of course they reacted much like you would expect them to, but the communication between the families never seemed genuine. The Simpson family didn’t contribute the way I wanted them to. The Griffins also steered away from the cut away gags. There were a couple, but not as many as you would traditionally have in a Family Guy episode. This forced them to really react to their new surroundings. A lot of reacting, not much communication. What I thought would be an insane blend of different types of comedy turned into a bunch of jokes that acknowledged the draw of the episode. Perhaps that isn’t a bad thing?

While the comedy didn’t come together like I wanted, maybe it wasn’t all bad? Perhaps they saw that there is no perfect way to fit a circle into a square? A lot of the jokes were definitely a fan service. If you know a lot about the history of each show, there are many jokes that will hit home with you. There are some references to the similarities of the shows, and the early days of The Simpsons. There were also some great cameos that you’ll probably enjoy. Obviously the biggest draw of this episode was the interaction between the Griffins and the Simpsons, and it was pretty fun to watch. It’s refreshing to see that these two giants can come together and have some fun. The over analyzing critic in me is saddened by this episode in a way, but I have to say the twelve year old me was smiling from start to finish.

Lisa and Meg’s relationship was probably my favorite, oddly enough. The way they interacted was believable, it was like watching two sisters. Meg struggles with her self-esteem and Lisa tries to convince her that she’s worth something. Pretty heartwarming stuff. However, what makes it hilarious is when Meg finally seems to be realizing her self-worth and Peter interjects in some way to

bring her back down. Those were some of the funniest parts of the episode, in my opinion. Also the conflict between Peter and Homer in the last twenty minutes of the episode came together well.

The relationship between Bart and Stewie wasn’t so great, sadly. The two are so vastly different, and the show sort of addresses this towards the end. I think many of us were excited to see these two together, but it didn’t come together well. They are a perfect example of two characters I didn’t think communicate well.

Overall, I’m satisfied. It’s not what I wanted it to be, but I don’t think what I wanted is entirely possible. They took two shows we love and tried to mash them together the best way possible. Was it a good idea? Absolutely. Not enough shows are willing to have this type of fun anymore, so I must say I respect the effort. As much as a lot of the comedy didn’t hit me the right way, I was still okay seeing it happen. There were also a fair amount of funny parts! It’s bound to get people talking and I imagine a lot of people tuned in to see what it was like. The casual viewer was probably very happy with what they saw, so that’s a good thing. Nothing like this will happen again in the future, so I imagine this special will be re-watched over and over by Simpson’s fans and Family Guy fans alike. Despite what I say, humor is completely subjective, so if you had a ton of fun with this crossover, I’m happy for you.

Obviously, I have mixed feelings about “The Simpsons Guy”, but what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? I’d really like to hear your opinions on it! Let us know! Have a good on, guys!