Often, fictitious worlds feel relatively insular, shielded by the lore of their relative creators; but every so often planets align and worlds collide. Fictional universe “crossovers” has always excited me. Be it the Rugrats meet the Wild Thornberrys, Freddy meets Jason, the Jeffersons meet the Fresh Prince; there is something weird and wonderful about the characters and universes we are so used to being brought together, even though somewhat vicariously. So I was very excited to hear from some excited students on campus this week of the upcoming Simpsons and Family Guy crossover.
Here’s my list of Family Guy/Simpsons crossover ‘Easter eggs’ hidden throughout episodes of televisions most popular animated families:
5. Episode—“Missionary: Impossible”.
In a lowbrow jab at Family Guy’s equally lowbrow sense of humour, Betty White (guest star) advisers viewers to help keep “crude, low-brow programming” on the air, whilst brazen across the television screen next to her reads “Family Guy”.
4. Episode—“Treehouse of Horror XIII”:
This episode involved Homer cloning himself to assist him in menial tasks and chores. The clones resemble him almost exactly, only, their dumber—a real feat in degenerative discourse. Peter Griffin is one of these clones, another jab at Seth McFarlen’s idiotic character.
3. Episode—“The Italian Bob”:
In this episode, swipes are taken at both Family Guy and American Dad (Seth MacFarlene’s other show). When the Simpsons are trying to identify Sideshow Bob in Italian police mug shots, viewers might notice a portrait of Peter Griffen. Hawkeyed watchers will find that Peter Griffen has been accused of “plagiarismo”—implying Family Guy is a Simpson’s rip-off. When an image of Stan Smith (American Dad protagonist) is found in the same deck of images, he is accused of “plagiarism de plagiarism”, or, the Plagiarism of Plagiarism, making American Dad a Family Guy ripoff, which in turn, is a Simpsons clone.
2. Episode—“Homerland”:
Perhaps the most startling juxtaposition yet in any Family Guy or Simpsons episode, the families from various Fox shows can be seen congregating on the Simpsons iconic couch, including the main casts from Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show.
1. Episode—“PTV”:
This episode contains a reaction of reality television show Police Squad were Homer Simpsons is being chased down by Stewie’s iconic red tricycle. Stewie shouts, “Who the Hell is that?” as he runs over Homer’s body.
“The Simpsons Guy” airs on the first episode of Family Guy’s thirteenth season (date–TBA).