It was decent, not great. Both shows are pretty uneven these days.
Simpsons/Family Guy crossover
- Thread starter erastus25
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Haven't watched either show regularly in years...
Was ok. Not great. Not awful. Some good moments.
Did get a chuckle at the surprise cameo of the Judge
Was ok. Not great. Not awful. Some good moments.
Did get a chuckle at the surprise cameo of the Judge
Yes, exactly! It's like they were writing a Simpsons parody, only crossovers aren't really supposed to be parodies.
Between the car wash gag and the ridiculous insanity of the length of the Peter/Homer fight I got the impression that the writers had run out of ideas and rather than write some more substance into any of the plots, or even bookend the show with a resolution to Peter's comic gag, they just extended the no-dialogue scenes.
That's pretty standard for Family Guy. Seth and team love beating a good(?) joke into the ground, then stomping on it, then lighting it on fire, then putting that fire out by stomping on it, then lighting it on fire again, then putting it out with gasoline.
I loved the car wash scene and the chicken esq fight in particular.
Guess I'm in the minority. I haven't watched Family Guy in years and I catch the occasional Simpsons episode every now and then. I actually really enjoyed this crossover! There were almost no cutaway gags, which is part of the reason I stopped watching Family Guy. The animation felt a little weird because it wasn't the usual Simpsons crew working on it, but it did feel like they were in Springfield.
Have to say, though, the car wash bit was probably the least funny part of the episode for me. I loved the parts with Brian and Santa's Little Helper. I wondered how the Simpsons would react to a talking dog and the way Brian was standing there criticizing how SLH was eating was hilarious. I love how Brian acts human 90% of the time and then we're just reminded that he is a dog.
The Kool-Aid bit will never get old.
I think Family Guy did a fine job paying tribute to The Simpsons. It felt like there was a lot of respect there even though before this it felt like there was animosity between the two shows.
Have to say, though, the car wash bit was probably the least funny part of the episode for me. I loved the parts with Brian and Santa's Little Helper. I wondered how the Simpsons would react to a talking dog and the way Brian was standing there criticizing how SLH was eating was hilarious. I love how Brian acts human 90% of the time and then we're just reminded that he is a dog.
The Kool-Aid bit will never get old.
I think Family Guy did a fine job paying tribute to The Simpsons. It felt like there was a lot of respect there even though before this it felt like there was animosity between the two shows.
It wasn't bad, but it was very hit-or-miss and a mix of truly hilarious moments (the car wash, the courtroom sequence) and Groeningly (see what I did there? That alone was better than most of the writing during the run of The Cleveland Show, but I digress) awful bits that exposed just how disappointing both individual series can be at times.
I laughed and when I did I had a great time, but it could have been so much more. The cameo by American Dad!'s Roger was pretty sweet. Roger's always awesome.
I laughed and when I did I had a great time, but it could have been so much more. The cameo by American Dad!'s Roger was pretty sweet. Roger's always awesome.
It was Ok, like how it took pokes at each other and themselves.
Not sure if you've seen this bit?
The Voices In Hank's Head | FAMILY GUY
Not sure if you've seen this bit?
The Voices In Hank's Head | FAMILY GUY
I liked it quite a bit. I remember thinking that it was odd that the best episode of The Simpsons in years was a Family Guy episode.
I particularly liked the bit when Peter tried to set up the usual Family Guy cutaway gag and the Simpsons had no idea what he was doing.
I particularly liked the bit when Peter tried to set up the usual Family Guy cutaway gag and the Simpsons had no idea what he was doing.
"I'm a The Simpsons" really made me laugh for some reason.
Today's Simpsons was a mess.
It seemed like the writers wanted to say something about fantasy football but couldn't think of anything funny to say. Instead of looking for clever ways to demonstrate that fantasy football is random luck, they just do random crap then say it directly to the audience. Then the whole Relation Ship story seemed like one of the more ridiculous Simpsons' episodes only without the outlandishness to match the ridiculousness.
Simpsons at its best manages to be human and ridiculous at the same time. Current Simpsons manages to be so unambitious and directionless in its attempts to be ridiculous it repels all that is human.
It seemed like the writers wanted to say something about fantasy football but couldn't think of anything funny to say. Instead of looking for clever ways to demonstrate that fantasy football is random luck, they just do random crap then say it directly to the audience. Then the whole Relation Ship story seemed like one of the more ridiculous Simpsons' episodes only without the outlandishness to match the ridiculousness.
Simpsons at its best manages to be human and ridiculous at the same time. Current Simpsons manages to be so unambitious and directionless in its attempts to be ridiculous it repels all that is human.
The problem isn't the aspect of the relationship it showed, it was the ridiculous way they went about solving it. If you stretch that far for plot you need to make sure your jokes are actually funny.
Also it seemed to me that the problem with the Homer/Bart relationship was Homer's refusal to be a strong parent and take a strong disciplinary stand. Which, by the way, is EXACTLY the way they addressed the same problem in the Itchy & Scratchy Movie episode. The writers in the early seasons understood that The Simpsons is cultural satire and the madcap antics are just how they express this. So they addressed Bart's lack of respect for authority as a failure of discipline of modern parents. Bart refuses to eat his broccoli and instead of disciplining him, he engages this sitting contest which is basically handing Bart all the power and leverage. They solve this not by having Homer man up and actually punish him, but by contriving an absurd and unfunny situation where Bart has authority over Homer.
Also it seemed to me that the problem with the Homer/Bart relationship was Homer's refusal to be a strong parent and take a strong disciplinary stand. Which, by the way, is EXACTLY the way they addressed the same problem in the Itchy & Scratchy Movie episode. The writers in the early seasons understood that The Simpsons is cultural satire and the madcap antics are just how they express this. So they addressed Bart's lack of respect for authority as a failure of discipline of modern parents. Bart refuses to eat his broccoli and instead of disciplining him, he engages this sitting contest which is basically handing Bart all the power and leverage. They solve this not by having Homer man up and actually punish him, but by contriving an absurd and unfunny situation where Bart has authority over Homer.
The glory years of The Simpsons are clearly way in the series' past but it's still an enjoyable show and one of the sharpest animated series on the air (although these days - even as heavyhanded as Matt and Trey deliberately make it for overblown comedy effect - South Park usually has wittier, more topical and consistently funnier writing). The fact that anybody would even want to see a Family Guy or Futurama crossover with the show after a quarter-century on the air says a lot about the staying power of the series even after its best scripts and story ideas are well back in the distance.
Like I said above, it wasn't bad. It just could have been better - but then so can both individual shows.
Like I said above, it wasn't bad. It just could have been better - but then so can both individual shows.
when it comes to being topical it's probably the one advantage the production methods for South Park has. I think their episode turn around time is around 2 weeks as opposed to 6 months for The Simpson et al.
That said I haven't watched South Park in years (though found the Coon and Friends trilogy online to watch). Think it was the episode with a headless Brithney Spears that turned me off it completely.
Sometimes they guys at South Park can get dialogue into a new episode just a week after a news event happens (looping and re-recording character dialogue takes little time these days and can be dropped into some shows pretty quickly), but yeah the show is produced on computers here in the States and there are no longer hand-drawn, cut and painted animation cels produced by domestic or even overseas animators in, say, South Korea, so Parker and Stone can probably have most new episodes ready to go in about two weeks tops if that long.
There have been at least two times when some news event has happened that very day, and they were able to include it in that night's episode. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
I didn't realize they'd changed content just a few hours before airtime. That's impressive. I know there've been election results and celebrity scandals and deaths and a week (or even less) later the new episode makes mention of those events or even incorporates them into the plot. They've mastered the art of topical animation, at least when it comes to the televised format.
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