# How hath Family Guy ripped off The Simpsons, help me count the ways **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543 "2006-11-15T16:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/21 "2006-11-15T19:44:41Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] 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. [/QUOTE] That’s not much of a difference, The Simpsons just had some restraint and writers who could make jokes without spoofing old TV shows. 😉 I think the problem with the newscaster thing is the way **whole bean** phrased it. A better comparison of Kent Brockman and Tom Tucker might be “self-important, frequently incorrect newscasters whose personal flaws are frequently displayed on air.” There may be tons of similar newscasters in sitcom history, but as a younger TV viewer I couldn’t name one off the top of my head. The exposition thing doesn’t seem novel to me. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/22 "2006-11-15T19:46:45Z")
[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] I think he was looking for five other sitcoms that use a newscaster as a regular character who provides exposition. I have dibs on _Dinosaurs_. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/23 "2006-11-15T19:48:25Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] I think he was looking for five other sitcoms that use a newscaster as a regular character who provides exposition. I have dibs on _Dinosaurs_. [/QUOTE] Another show accused of plagiarizing The Simpsons… by The Simpsons. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/24 "2006-11-15T19:53:41Z")
not exactly the same, but Seinfeld uses news programs quite a bit - when George was mistaken for the white supremacist at MSG, when Kramer was accused of murder in LA, when Kramer was Steve Gundason’s driver (reminiscent of AJ Cowlings & OJ Simpson), and in the finale, where their trial was covered by Geraldo. Granted, they aren’t recurring characters. I enjoy both The Simpsons and Family Guy, and I wouldn’t draw a lot of parallels between the shows. Besides the dumb dad stereotype. Both the kids in FG, for instance, are sort of losers. Bart and Lisa can be argued to be heroic characters for the most part. Marge and Lois couldn’t be more different. Marge is pretty much to the straight and narrow, while Lois maintains that facade but is all too willing to lapse into morally murky areas (smoking pot, giving her number to a successful monkey, bragging about sleeping with a Black man, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/25 "2006-11-15T19:54:24Z")
[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. [/QUOTE] …I have never gotten the impression that any of those cutaways are supposed to represent reality in the FG universe. I think they are intended to be gags and that’s it. I think that’s a fundamental difference in the Simpsons and Family Guy. Simpsons is about the jokes service the plot. FG is the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/26 "2006-11-15T20:13:38Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] I think he was looking for five other sitcoms that use a newscaster as a regular character who provides exposition. I have dibs on _Dinosaurs_. [/QUOTE] Anyone with more than a passing familiarity with either show would know that I was. “Recurring” was implied by the context, not specifically stated, and as has been mentioned, that was a problem in my phrasing. That doesn’t change the fact that anyone who watches either show with any frequency would have known what I was referring to (i.e. Tom Tucker=Kent Brockman). The Dinosaurs comment cements this for me, as that was also a rip off of The Simpsons. **CandidGamera** ,your being obtuse and it’s annoying. First, “name five others” was offered in response the following text quoted from you, " The evening news program as exposition is a common sitcom device." You clearly have some familiarity with the shows and should know that recurring was implied. If you didn’t then, you do now, and your examples are no longer relevant. Again, name five (please don’t make me spell out five “what”). Can’t? Didn’t think so. As for the hostility to you perceive in me, let me assure you, your perception is flawed. I enjoy Family Guy. I think it’s got some strong elements. I was just acknowledging the rip offs. Would you stand to defend the Flintstones if someone had the audacity to accuse the show of ripping of the Honeymooners? After all, Fred didn’t drive a bus, he operated a dinosaur. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/27 "2006-11-15T20:29:33Z")
[QUOTE=whole bean] Anyone with more than a passing familiarity with either show would know that I was. “Recurring” was implied by the context, not specifically stated, and as has been mentioned, that was a problem in my phrasing. That doesn’t change the fact that anyone who watches either show with any frequency would have known what I was referring to (i.e. Tom Tucker=Kent Brockman). The Dinosaurs comment cements this for me, as that was also a rip off of The Simpsons. [/quote] My honest initial reading of the ‘name five others’ was ‘name five other common sitcom devices’, so, stick that in your pipe and smoke it. “Recurring” is not an essential characteristic here - the number of times something occurs is irrelevant to its nature. The two shows use the news device differently - the joke in Family Guy is not Tom Tucker’s cowardice and willingness to jump to conclusions, as it is with Kent Brockman, but his often contentious interactions with his co-anchor. I suppose it would shock you to learn that Kent Brockman doesn’t have a co-anchor. Or a news team of any sort, apart from the traffic reporter, Arnie. > [@](#): > > **CandidGamera** ,your being obtuse and it’s annoying. First, “name five others” was offered in response the following text quoted from you, " The evening news program as exposition is a common sitcom device." You clearly have some familiarity with the shows and should know that recurring was implied. If you didn’t then, you do now, and your examples are no longer relevant. Again, name five (please don’t make me spell out five “what”). Can’t? Didn’t think so. Of the ones I listed, I would consider the device ‘recurring’ in all but Drawn Together. We can add in Married With Children, and MASH thanks to D\_Odds, and hey, why not throw in The Flintstones, since they’ve been mentioned? > [@](#): > > As for the hostility to you perceive in me, let me assure you, your perception is flawed. I enjoy Family Guy. I think it’s got some strong elements. I was just acknowledging the rip offs. Would you stand to defend the Flintstones if someone had the audacity to accuse the show of ripping of the Honeymooners? After all, Fred didn’t drive a bus, he operated a dinosaur. Would you stand to defend the Simpsons if someone had the audacity to accuse the show of ripping off the Flintstones? As has been repeatedly acknowledged by the Simpsons writers? The Simpsons and Family Guy have no more similarities than two sitcoms would be expected to have. As for your denial of hostility towards the show - I think your initial snide response to me puts the lie to that. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/28 "2006-11-15T20:47:44Z")
[QUOTE=CandidGamera] My honest initial reading of the ‘name five others’ was ‘name five other common sitcom devices’, so, stick that in your pipe and smoke it. [/QUOTE] You’re killing me. That reads, “I don’t understand things easily, so screw you!” [QUOTE=CandidGamera] “Recurring” is not an essential characteristic here - the number of times something occurs is irrelevant to its nature. The two shows use the news device differently - the joke in Family Guy is not Tom Tucker’s cowardice and willingness to jump to conclusions, as it is with Kent Brockman, but his often contentious interactions with his co-anchor. I suppose it would shock you to learn that Kent Brockman doesn’t have a co-anchor. Or a news team of any sort, apart from the traffic reporter, Arnie. [/QUOTE] You know, at first, I thought you were being “intentionally” obtuse, but maybe not. Of course the fact that Brockman and Tucker are named characters who are continually used to move and often partcipate in the story matters. It IS the similarity. There are to many examples to list of single or minor uses of news porgrams as exposition. Seriously man? [QUOTE=CandidGamera] Would you stand to defend the Simpsons if someone had the audacity to accuse the show of ripping off the Flintstones? As has been repeatedly acknowledged by the Simpsons writers? [/QUOTE] No, as I mention in the OP (the damn OP), I am aware that there is a tradittion of borrowing. I would acknowledge it. [QUOTE=CandidGamera] The Simpsons and Family Guy have no more similarities than two sitcoms would be expected to have. [/QUOTE] Heh, just heh. [QUOTE=CandidGamera] As for your denial of hostility towards the show - I think your initial snide response to me puts the lie to that. [/QUOTE] Dude, my “intial snide response” was to you, not the show. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/29 "2006-11-15T20:53:01Z")
[QUOTE=Push You Down] …I have never gotten the impression that any of those cutaways are supposed to represent reality in the FG universe. [/QUOTE] actually, I think they are. They’re generally introduced with lines like "like the time I . . . " or “I know how it feels to be surprised, I’ve been surprised before . . . .” ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/30 "2006-11-15T20:56:06Z")
**whole bean** , are you [this guy?](http://www.theonion.com/content/columnists/view/groznic) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/31 "2006-11-15T20:59:09Z")
Didn’t South Park cover the part about with nearly 400 Simpsons episodes, that they have done every possible cartoon plot there is, multiple times over, and that any cartoon after it by default will be doing a plot the Simpsons did? ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/32 "2006-11-15T21:00:22Z")
Simpsons did it! ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/33 "2006-11-15T21:03:48Z")
And as for the family similarties- other than Peter/Homer, there are none. Marge is nothing like Lois, Bart is a brat, Chris is a nebbish, Lisa a brain, Meg a wallflower, Stewie talks, Maggie doesn’t, and no wino dog on the Simpsons, also, no honry neighbor, papraplegic neighbor, or black neighbor. Burns is a tyrant, Mr. Weed is not, etc, etc. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/34 "2006-11-15T21:06:56Z")
_Married with Children_ did use news as exposition often enough to be noticable, and late in their run added a recurring newscaster, Miranda Veracruz de la Jolla Cardinal. While I haven’t seen all that many episodes of the serie’s episodes, I also recall _Coach_ using news and, of course, sports talk shows regularly. Can’t recall if the sports talk show hosts were recurring characters or not. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/35 "2006-11-15T21:20:11Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Marge is nothing like Lois [/QUOTE] both married to fat drunk guy to whom they have inordinate sexual attraction given his fat drunkeness. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/36 "2006-11-15T21:22:49Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] _Married with Children_ did use news as exposition often enough to be noticable, and late in their run added a recurring newscaster, Miranda Veracruz de la Jolla Cardinal. [/QUOTE] This is a good catch, riffed on by Family Guy with its “asian correspondent” Tricia Tokanawa ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/37 "2006-11-15T21:25:09Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Burns is a tyrant, Mr. Weed is not, etc, etc. [/QUOTE] Nor is Angela, Peter’s current boss at the Pawtucket brewery. More non-matches: Nobody at the SNPP resembles Opie, Peter’s officemate - not even Homer at his worst. Family Guy lacks the ultra-religious neighbour, and has no regular preacher/priest. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/38 "2006-11-15T21:25:50Z")
[QUOTE=PoorYorick] **whole bean** , are you [this guy?](http://www.theonion.com/content/columnists/view/groznic) 🙂 [/QUOTE] drat . . . my cover is blown. Let it not go unsaid that Family Guy is, without a doubt, the worst ripoff ever. Rest assured, I will be on the internet, registering my disgust throughout the world. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/39 "2006-11-15T21:30:43Z")
So, the evidence that _Family Guy_ has ripped off _The Simpsons_ amounts to “Dad is fat and stupid,” and “There’s a wacky newscaster.” Wow. I’m surprised Matt Groenig hasn’t sued. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543/40 "2006-11-15T21:35:01Z")
[QUOTE=Tengu] Nor is Angela, Peter’s current boss at the Pawtucket brewery. More non-matches: Nobody at the SNPP resembles Opie, Peter’s officemate - not even Homer at his worst. Family Guy lacks the ultra-religious neighbour, and has no regular preacher/priest. [/QUOTE] . . . and Homer’s pants are blue and Peters are green. Green!!! Quit looking for “non-matches” as they are irrelevant. I’ve never said the shows were clones of one another and even if they were, at heart, differences would still be easy to find. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-hath-family-guy-ripped-off-the-simpsons-help-me-count-the-ways/380543.md?page=3)