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Did Family Guy Really Rip Off the Simpsons
- Thread starter Andrew Korenchkin
- Start date
PHOENIXZERO
Member
The Simpsons pretty much lead to the revival of the "dumb husband" angle in sitcoms and it just kept escalating to where Family Guy came about and as Simpsons continued to ramp it up with Homer as well.
Starfish Hero
Member
Both are cartoons that satirize family sitcoms, which wasn't an original idea when the Simpsons premiered anyway. Family Guy was probably hella influenced by the Simpsons because how could it not be, but I wouldn't say it's a rip off.
I liked The Simpsons a lot in my younger days (10 to 18 probably) but what I watched since then is just terrible in every fucking way. It's basically its own parody.
And it's definitely not a good one at that. Even watching older episodes I just ask myself what I liked so much about it.
Family Guy and American Dad were both much better in my eyes.
And it's definitely not a good one at that. Even watching older episodes I just ask myself what I liked so much about it.
Family Guy and American Dad were both much better in my eyes.
I find this post shallow and pedantic.
ArgyleReptile
Banned
I agree, shallow and pedantic.
I wish Family Guy had more gifs out there, it'd be a fine time to highlight the good humor in the series.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
I fucking love Family Guy. Sorry!
Ewwww, that sounds terrible. So glad to be living in a country (Sweden) where we get all these shows subtitled rather than dubbed.
Ewwww, that sounds terrible. So glad to be living in a country (Sweden) where we get all these shows subtitled rather than dubbed.
Paracelsus
Member
The Simpsons : Family Guy = The Ghostbusters : The Ghostbusters 2016
I´ve been a long time Simpsons fan, well, I was back in the 90s and early 2000s. Recently my appreciation for the series got renewed by the brilliant Talking Simpsons podcast, with all these weird references and contexts of the time.
I never had any interest in Family Guy because the artstyle looked so basic and ugly to me, and I only knew of the "remember that time when..." cutback style.
I recently gave it a try when I was sick at home and actually really enjoyed it. It´s brash and often obnoxious, and the characters have way less depth to them than the Simpsons or King Of The Hill. But that honestly doesn´t matter - Family Guy seems like an inherently gag-based show, with single ideas strung together. Many times it doesn´t work, but sometimes it does.
I really enjoyed this one, for instance:
[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESPvqkW8b0Y]Stevie is afraid of Queen album[/URL]
Similarities to the Simpsons are only very surface level- suburban family, dad hanging out at a pub, stuff like that. But whereas early Simpsons was all about the characters and their warmth, Family Guy feels cold, abrasive and almost nihilistic. Nothing makes sense in that world. I only really like Stevie and Brian, because I love their voices.
But I sometimes appreciate it for its weird humor. Similar to how King Of The Hill and Beavis and Butthead are very different.
I never had any interest in Family Guy because the artstyle looked so basic and ugly to me, and I only knew of the "remember that time when..." cutback style.
I recently gave it a try when I was sick at home and actually really enjoyed it. It´s brash and often obnoxious, and the characters have way less depth to them than the Simpsons or King Of The Hill. But that honestly doesn´t matter - Family Guy seems like an inherently gag-based show, with single ideas strung together. Many times it doesn´t work, but sometimes it does.
I really enjoyed this one, for instance:
[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESPvqkW8b0Y]Stevie is afraid of Queen album[/URL]
Similarities to the Simpsons are only very surface level- suburban family, dad hanging out at a pub, stuff like that. But whereas early Simpsons was all about the characters and their warmth, Family Guy feels cold, abrasive and almost nihilistic. Nothing makes sense in that world. I only really like Stevie and Brian, because I love their voices.
But I sometimes appreciate it for its weird humor. Similar to how King Of The Hill and Beavis and Butthead are very different.
Skellig Gra
Member
Nah man, dumb husband/Dad is like the original trope. Its presence is ubiquitous.
ArgyleReptile
Banned
I love Meal Ticket as much as I love Chris and Stevie, but business is business.
bossmonkey
Member
I mean as South Park said years ago. Everything is a ripoff of the Simpson's. It's not anyone's fault it's just that they've been on the air so long they've done almost everything.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
I always thought Family Guys pacing and sense of humor owed a lot more to The Critic.
I loved the first three seasons of Family Guy (starting in 1999) back when nobody was watching it. It was quite unlike the Simpsons, which had gone stale long before. Then it was cancelled.
When Family Guy was un-cancelled in 2005, it was completely different than season 1-3. The only thing that remained was its look. Incredible dip in writing quality, completely lost its edge, changes to the characters to make them more like the Simpsons but less likable, low brow humor. Basically, they turned it into a mass-produced product with mass appeal (aiming for lowest common denominator). They sucked its soul out. While I'm not a fan of modern Simpsons, Family Guy is so much worse. Post un-cancellation Peter is an awful, mean-spirited character, and the others aren't relatable, either.
When Family Guy was un-cancelled in 2005, it was completely different than season 1-3. The only thing that remained was its look. Incredible dip in writing quality, completely lost its edge, changes to the characters to make them more like the Simpsons but less likable, low brow humor. Basically, they turned it into a mass-produced product with mass appeal (aiming for lowest common denominator). They sucked its soul out. While I'm not a fan of modern Simpsons, Family Guy is so much worse. Post un-cancellation Peter is an awful, mean-spirited character, and the others aren't relatable, either.
Peterthumpa
Member
Why am I not surprised with the Family Guy hate around here. People trying to find meaningful characters with real souls and blah blah blah. The show is a comedy, it makes me laugh (just like The Simpsons, by the way). That's all I want (and often I get) when I watch it.
Seriously.
If it wasn't for the art style, there are cutaways in The Critic that would fit right into a Family Guy episode.
The Albatross
Member
Those cave drawings were a rip on my blood sacrifice body painting
Why do some people keep saying this? American Dad hasn't been good for over 3 years now. It is as trash as Family Guy is.
JordanN
Banned
there are some scenes here and there that i think they ripped off. most notably the episode where Brian bangs Ceebrees during a greyhound race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ups8nA0gtUY
I didn't understand this scene as a kid. I thought he was just riding on top of her.
Now I see what he's doing. 😂
Martinski43
Member
Didnt pretty much all sitcoms, cartoons and live action "rip-off" the Honeymooners anyway?
We even have a "swedish honeymooners" where the main character works as a tram driver.
We also have a swedish Married with Children called Svensson Svensson. Married with Children is pretty much based on The Honeymooners right?.
We even have a "swedish honeymooners" where the main character works as a tram driver.
We also have a swedish Married with Children called Svensson Svensson. Married with Children is pretty much based on The Honeymooners right?.
Andrew Korenchkin
Member
South Park imo was as close as we got, much to Trey and Matt's chagrin.
Man, the show's journey from cult show to dorm room mainstay was so weird.
during its first run Family Guy was essentially a riff on post season 10 Simpsons except it ran with the absurd off the wall stuff and it was actually kind of funny (at the time)
now it's its own thing, i guess, i don't really watch it anymore. but back in '99 or whenever it premiered even its biggest fans would admit it was a huge ripoff. and nobody really cared
now it's its own thing, i guess, i don't really watch it anymore. but back in '99 or whenever it premiered even its biggest fans would admit it was a huge ripoff. and nobody really cared
Alter_Fridge
Member
'Hi. George Clooney. Second worst Batman.'
'Peter Griffin. Second best Homer'
'Peter Griffin. Second best Homer'
DaytimeWhiskey
Banned
All the hate for American Dad in here tsk tsk. It's not better than peak Simpsons, but it's consistently better than whatever the Simpsons has become in the last 10+ years. It's also as good if not better than Family Guy on the whole.
Also, what Batman does Cloon-tang think he is better than?
Also, what Batman does Cloon-tang think he is better than?
Alter_Fridge
Member
You'll have to ask McFarlane I guess
PHOENIXZERO
Member
MWC didn't really start to pick up in popularity until after the Simpsons and Al while not very educated was never at the level of Homer and Peg was never considered too good for him like Marge. MWC did really push the dysfunctional family thing though, credit could probably be given to both except MWC ended and because Fox likes money the Simpsons are still going.
Not really, I guess the proper trope name is "bumbling dad" but while the Simpsons wasn't the source of it the Simpsons huge popularity really was a big reason for it being everywhere in the 90s and on.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BumblingDad
Grizzlyjin
Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I vaguely remember running across Wait Till Your Father Gets Home on Cartoon Network and thinking it felt like a weird 70s Family Guy.
Animation is built on plagiarism! If it werent for someone plagiarizing the Honeymooners we wouldnt have the Flintstones. If someone hadnt ripped off Sergeant Bilko, thered be no Top Cat. Huckleberry Hound, Chief Wiggum, Yogi Bear? Hah! Andy Griffith, Edward G. Robinson, Art Carney. Your honor, you take away our right to steal ideas, where are they gonna come from?
Andrew Korenchkin
Member
Well that certainly brought back a lot of memories.
I don't know if I''d say it's better than classic Simpsons, but AD does have some GOAT episodes. Especially the ones where they try different things and have the cast play different characters.
Tearjerker
Lost in Space
Rapture's Delight (might be the best animated sitcom episode ever made)
Blood Cryeth Unto Heaven
Actually writing it down...American Dad really might be better than The Simpsons!
Nerdkiller
Membeur
Last time I try to impress a 4 year old.
Actually it's more accurate to say that Simpsons wasn't always like it is now. Simpsons had a solid 8-9 season run that was pretty great, with probably like 4-5 seasons being above a significant amount of shows in terms of quality and consistency. American Dad is not always super consistent but I find it lumped in with Family Guy way too often as it is a significantly better show.
I like King of the Hill the best though.
Honestly all four of those shows are so different from each other that you might as well be comparing The Wire to Wheel of Fortune. Some share some common themes, but they're still pretty different. American Dad/Family Guy/Simpsons are easier to compare as they have a lot in common in terms of setting and style of humor (nowadays).
How about Ghost Mutt?
Disagree on your final point but I have to say American Dad has a ton of great episodes and notably missing from your list is "Hot Water"
Terrific episode
Are these supposed to look similar? Because they don't, at all
Correct but modern AD is better than modern Simpsons. Best American Dad is probably better than anything after the golden era of Simpsons too.
Professor Beef
Banned
I don't think they completely ripped them off, but the Family Guy writers sure as hell went overboard when the Simpsons writers made some friendly jabs at Family Guy for doing so, culminating in a scene where Quagmire sexually assaults Marge and she ends up enjoying it.
I didn't see that scene until Adult Swim aired that episode. It was pretty horrendous. And I think Quagmire ends up also murdering the family too.
Yeah, they all walk in on Quagmire and Marge having sex one by one and he shoots them, then her, and then Maggie for no real reason. I'm surprised Fox let that scene be made, to be honest, because it was pretty rough even by FG standards. They cut it from the main airing, though.
FOH
I will not listen to this blasphemy, early to middle Simpsons is a top 5 sitcom, early family guy was good too(although I'll concede I was a teenager at the time).
perfectchaos007
Member
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also Rick's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realise that they're not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Rick & Morty truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the humour in Rick's existential catchphrase "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub," which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenev's Russian epic Fathers and Sons. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Dan Harmon's genius wit unfolds itself on their television screens. What fools.. how I pity them.
And yes, by the way, i DO have a Rick & Morty tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand. Nothin personnel kid
/copypasta
American Dad was fantastic up until they switched over to TBS.
It's still better than Family Guy though.
I think TBS AD has been fantastic, especially the season that just aired.
The argument is that 1972's "Wait Till your Father Gets Home" created the formula for adult animated TV family shows.
1. The lazy, older son who's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. (Chris Griffin, Bart Simpson, Bobby Hill)
2. The younger child who is smarter than all of the adults. (Stewie Griffin and arguably Maggie Simpson)
2. A wife with a whiney, nagging voice, who acts as the voice of reason. (Lois Griffin, Marge Simpson, Peggy Hill)
3. The overweight or balding father (Peter Griffin, Homer Simpson)
4. The weirdo neighbor. (Glenn Quagmire, Dale Gribble, Ned Flanders)
5. The unattractive but intelligent daughter. (Meg Griffin)
There's been multiple articles written about this over the years.
https://www.retroist.com/2014/07/25/is-family-guy-a-remake-of-wait-till-your-father-gets-home/