How hath Family Guy ripped off The Simpsons, help me count the ways

Cafe Society
1

I assume you’ve heard the allegations that Seth McFarland might have stolen Stewie Griffin from Chris Ware’s *Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth * .

Maybe he thought he could get away with that, but when does someone call him on ripping off *The Simpsons * in such a flagrant way. It is in no way parody; rather, it is pure theft. Don’t get me wrong, I find *Family Guy * funny, Brian and Stewie are good characters, Chris, Cleveland and Quagmire have some great moments, but the show has nothing on seasons 4 through 8 of The Simpsons. I realize that in the history of sit-coms (which is really what these shows are derivatives of) such “borrowing” is par for the course. I am sure there are probably only a handful of core plots out there that subsequent generations riff on. Nonetheless, I find both the temporal proximity of *The Simpons * and Family Guy and the flagrancy of the theft worth noting, compiling, perhaps even condemning.

So here goes:

Peter = Homer, too easy
Lots of similarities between Lois and Marge (hypersexual pretty women in love with whales)
Size of the family unit (including pets), almost the same (no Snowball 2 equivalent in Pawtucket)
Cleveland/Quagmire = Lenny/Carl
Evening news program used for exposition
Poking at Adam West’s insanity (In The Simpsons, it’s done in “Mr. Plow,” Family Guy in almost every episode).
They both have a company softball episode with a “ringer” (I am sure this is in a lot of sit-coms, I am running dry)

This isn’t a long list, but several of these are peculiar to these two shows ONLY. What are some more?

2

What’s the difference? Ripping off particular jokes is what matters.

3

Puh-leez! I can draw similar parallels between The Simpsons and Night Court if I tried hard enough.

4

[QUOTE=whole bean]

So here goes:

Peter = Homer, too easy
Lots of similarities between Lois and Marge (hypersexual pretty women in love with whales)
Size of the family unit (including pets), almost the same (no Snowball 2 equivalent in Pawtucket)
Cleveland/Quagmire = Lenny/Carl
Evening news program used for exposition
Poking at Adam West’s insanity (In The Simpsons, it’s done in “Mr. Plow,” Family Guy in almost every episode).
They both have a company softball episode with a “ringer” (I am sure this is in a lot of sit-coms, I am running dry)

This isn’t a long list, but several of these are peculiar to these two shows ONLY. What are some more?
[/QUOTE]

Marge isn’t hypersexual - she’s occasionally randy, at best. She’s the dowdy housewife, with her disapproving manner, whereas Lois is as dumb as Peter in many ways, and just as prone to mischief. While the family sizes are similar, the dynamics are completely different - most notably because the Griffins’ pet and youngest child both speak, providing extra interaction.

The Cleveland/Quagmire issue is patently ridiculous. Every sitcom has wacky friends for the lead, most often the same gender as the lead. Are you crying conspiracy because one happens to be white and the other black? Their personalities and relationship to the lead are quite distinct from the Simpsons - and lest we forget, there’s also Joe. I suppose he’s like Barney for some reason?

The evening news program as exposition is a common sitcom device, again.

Family Guy makes fun of Adam West because they actually got Adam West as a recurring cast member. They didn’t rip that off from the Simpsons, I assure you.

If we want to talk ripoffs, and the evidence only has to meet these poor standards, then the most recent Simpsons episode with Homer joining the army is blatant plagiarism of the prior Family Guy episode with Brian and Stewie joining the army.

The only really solid hit is the Peter/Homer connection, which Family Guy has acknowledged on several occasions - and even then, how many dumb sitcom dads can one name?

5

You can say the first two, Peter/Homer and Lois/Marge, are ripoffs of Ralph and Alice Kramden.

6

I agree with RumMunkey. The similarities you’re listing are things that both The Simpsons and Family Guy have in common with pretty much every sitcom that’s centered around a family.

7

All of those are too general to make a compelling case. I think the only thing that counts, to me, is the jokes - the cutaways The Simpsons used to do, which make up so many of the jokes in Family Guy, and the general style.

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[QUOTE=CandidGamera]
The evening news program as exposition is a common sitcom device, again.
[/QUOTE]

Name five others.

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[QUOTE=D_Odds]
You can say the first two, Peter/Homer and Lois/Marge, are ripoffs of Ralph and Alice Kramden.
[/QUOTE]

No way. Homer would never threaten to hit Marge.

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[QUOTE=badbadrubberpiggy]
I agree with RumMunkey. The similarities you’re listing are things that both The Simpsons and Family Guy have in common with pretty much every sitcom that’s centered around a family.
[/QUOTE]

I agree. I keep hearing that Family Guy is just a ripoff of The Simpsons, and I simply don’t see it for the reasons above. Also, the type of humor is quite different, and even the cutaways–I don’t ever recall the Simpsons (over)using the gag to the extent that Family Guy does. I’ve watched through the bulk of both cartoons, and it has never occurred to me that FG is a Simpsons clone. Now, American Dad and Family Guy have a little more similarity…

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[QUOTE=pulykamell]
I agree. I keep hearing that Family Guy is just a ripoff of The Simpsons, and I simply don’t see it for the reasons above. Also, the type of humor is quite different, and even the cutaways–I don’t ever recall the Simpsons (over)using the gag to the extent that Family Guy does. I’ve watched through the bulk of both cartoons, and it has never occurred to me that FG is a Simpsons clone. Now, American Dad and Family Guy have a little more similarity…
[/QUOTE]

I never suggested they were clones. I was looking for examples of ripped off material/scenarios. I am still convincesd that the recurring use of the same newscaster, who is himself a character, for exposition is a rip.

12

[QUOTE=pulykamell]
even the cutaways–I don’t ever recall the Simpsons (over)using the gag to the extent that Family Guy does.
[/QUOTE]

Or the same way. the Family Guy cutaways are almost always things that are supposed to be really happening, or have actually happened in the Family Guy world.

The Simpsons cutaways were glimpses into the mental state of the characters. Bart imagining everybody accusing him in the Thanksgiving episode where he destroyed Lisa’s centerpiece, or Sara Gilbert’s character ripping out his heart in the episode where he had the crush on her.

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[QUOTE=Tengu]
Or the same way. the Family Guy cutaways are almost always things that are supposed to be really happening, or have actually happened in the Family Guy world.

The Simpsons cutaways were glimpses into the mental state of the characters. Bart imagining everybody accusing him in the Thanksgiving episode where he destroyed Lisa’s centerpiece, or Sara Gilbert’s character ripping out his heart in the episode where he had the crush on her.
[/QUOTE]

Good point. I actually can’t recall the Simpsons ever using a cutaway as a Flashback. Not that that means they haven’t done it, but certainly they haven’t done it memorably.

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[QUOTE=whole bean]
Name five others.
[/QUOTE]

Which do you mean, five other sitcoms that use the device, five other sitcom devices, or five other people who trump up the vaguest of similarities into charges of plagiarism?

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[QUOTE=CandidGamera]
Good point. I actually can’t recall the Simpsons ever using a cutaway as a Flashback. Not that that means they haven’t done it, but certainly they haven’t done it memorably.
[/QUOTE]

I just thought of a couple, actually…Skinner occasionally has flashbacks to when he was in Viet Nam - but that’s more a ‘Skinner’s Nam Flashbacks’ running gag than a running gag of cutaways like the Family Guy gags or the mental state cutaways Simpsons did.

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[QUOTE=CandidGamera]
Which do you mean, five other sitcoms that use the device, five other sitcom devices, or five other people who trump up the vaguest of similarities into charges of plagiarism?
[/QUOTE]

OK, fess up. You’re a writer for Family Guy, aren’t ya? Aren’t ya? Cause you’re funny! Tell me you’re not letting that stinging wit go to waste dribbled from your keyboard onto a messageboard like so much misspent youth.

Anyway, since you’re clearly too hip to let the opportunity to wow us with snappy retort pass you by, let me give you another chance to answer the question.

Name five other sitcoms that use the “common sitcom device” of a recurring news program for exposition (obvioulsy, any news shows, e.g. NewsRadio, WKRP, Murphy Brown, are excluded).

17

another plot shell, nabbed:

MArge in Chains and the Family Guy ep where Lois is arrsted for shoplifting. In both, the glue that holds the family together is taken away and the family falls apart only to have the mother redeem herself inthe end. Obviously the particulars of the story were tweaked, but it seems to me that the premise comes from The Simpsons ep. I am willing concede this one if someone can point to an earlier episode of another sitcom that used this same set up,

To quote Krusty – If this is anyone but Steve Allen, you’re stealing my bit.

18

[QUOTE=whole bean]
Name five others.
[/QUOTE]

I’ve got two off the top of my head:
M.A.S.H. used it a few times.
Married with Children used it often

[QUOTE=whole bean]
No way. Homer would never threaten to hit Marge.
[/QUOTE]

If you weren’t being facetious (which I suspect you were), it’s just a sign of the changing times. It does fall under the ‘pretty women in love with whales’ category, though Alice fails, even by the time periods measures, to be hypersexual.

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[QUOTE=whole bean]
They both have a company softball episode with a “ringer” (I am sure this is in a lot of sit-coms, I am running dry)

This isn’t a long list, but several of these are peculiar to these two shows ONLY. What are some more?
[/QUOTE]

Seinfeld had a memorable softball episode, “The Understudy.” While it didn’t involve a ringer, Jerry’s girlfriend in the episode is the understudy to Bette Midler in a musical, Rochelle, Rochelle. George and Jerry are accused of injuring Midler, giving Jerry’s g/f a chance to perform the lead role. This episode is reminiscent of the Tonya Harding - Nancy Kerrigan incident in the 1994 Winter Olympics.

20

[QUOTE=whole bean]
OK, fess up. You’re a writer for Family Guy, aren’t ya? Aren’t ya? Cause you’re funny! Tell me you’re not letting that stinging wit go to waste dribbled from your keyboard onto a messageboard like so much misspent youth.

Anyway, since you’re clearly too hip to let the opportunity to wow us with snappy retort pass you by, let me give you another chance to answer the question.

Name five other sitcoms that use the “common sitcom device” of a recurring news program for exposition (obvioulsy, any news shows, e.g. NewsRadio, WKRP, Murphy Brown, are excluded).
[/QUOTE]

Ahh, and your bias against the show stands revealed. It appears, sir, you have a severe case of “agenda”. You may wish to schedule an anal stickectomy.

You’ll have to pardon me for not reading your mind when you put forth the delightfully nonspecific ‘name five others’.

But, as requested, here you go - though I never said the sitcom had to use it as a recurring device, so I’m ignoring that just-added part of your request. I’ll even stick mainly to animated sitcoms. (Which isn’t hard, as all the sitcoms I watch are animated, almost.)

South Park.
Arrested Development.
Drawn Together.
Futurama.
American Dad.

I know, I know. “All these debuted after the Simpsons!”

News programs in sitcoms tend to serve a certain screwball sensibility that’s just a lot more common on television these days. The execution is different in each case. The device is also used memorably in movies - such as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’s hilarious cameo by Jon Stewart, or in Pre-Simpsons days, the Kentucky Fried Movie.