On tonight’s South Park episode was the one where Butters keeps thinking of possible evil deeds only to be mocked by General Disarray about how “Simpsons did it!” I’ve also seen The Simpsons dig at South Park when Bart and Milhouse were watching what was obviously South Park only to have Marge turn off the TV.
When and why did this start? Who fired the first shots? What level is this feud on and how far will it go? Speculation welcome.
I don’t think it’s really a feud. Both shows make so many pop-culture references it would be more improbable that they never mention each other.
If the Simpsons have a feud with anyone it’s Rupert Murdoch, billionare tyrant.
I think South Park was paying tribute to The Simpsons, if anything. I think the “Simpsons did it” ep was first, and then The Simpsons returned the favor. There ARE some similarities between the shows, after all (Simpsons has Itchy and Scratchy, South Park has Terence and Philip, that kind of thing).
I dunno, what about this?
The Simpsons has also referenced Family Guy a number of times. I really don’t think that type of stuff indicates a feud. I think it’s just a shout-out deal.
Until someone can come up with concrete proof of bad feelings (National Enquirer, anyone?) could the quips between these two programs be best treated with the same gravity as the feud between W. C. Fields and Charlie McCarthy?
Well, one of the “Family Guy” references was a character saying (for a faux Fox “pledge drive”); “So, if you don’t want to see our network’s programming taken over by pandering, lowbrow material-” …as the character turns off a TV set that is displaying the “Family Guy” title screen.
Sour grapes, if you ask me.
In one the Halloween episodes there’s a scene where hundreds of Homer clones are standing in a field. Among the clones were Homers drawn as he was in the early seasons, the Tracy Ulman show, and there was one Peter Griffin.
Marc
I just thought they were payful digs at each other- or acknowledgements of worthy contemporaries. South Park did their’s first- then the Simpson’s did theirs, which surprised me.
Fox networks- now they take a well deserved beating from the Simpsons writers. 
I saw that South Park as nothing but a tribute to The Simpsons.
If “South Park” was bashing anyone last night, it was the people who make and market “Sea Monkeys”…
I thought the Simpsons dig on South Park was a little mean, while the opposite one was clearly just a recognition that every possible story line has already been done on the Simpsons.
I thought it was more of a dig at the jerks who dismiss SOuth Park by saying “THe Simpsons did it”…
Sour grapes how? Condescending, yes. But The Simpsons is a huge property and Family Guy is a cancelled, cult phenomenon. What does Family Guy have that the Simpsons wishes it did?
I also thought of “The Simpsons Already Did It” as an homage, and not the beginning of a feud. It didn’t seem all that serious…more like a joke. And since they are both animated shows that rely on pop culture references, that are mainly targeted at adults, and have both put a mostly lowbrow sex-based network on the map…it stands to reason they’d be compared/contrasted.
I only remember the South Park reference on “The Simpsons” vaguely. What was mean about it, SmackFu?
No pop culture group or reference is off limits to the Simpsons, so I certainly would not take anything they put on the show personally. That is actually part of the appeal of the show. In the end, it can prove a point without really taking a side on any issue. It is remarkable how they have taken some of the most contentious issues of the day, provide a very even handed view of both sides of the argument and somehow still produce funny, insightful, thought provoking shows.
“They sell brine shrimp and market it to kids? That’s not Right man!(Pulls out some of his hair) I PULLED OUT MY HAIR! AGHHHHHHH!”-Tweak
Remember when Barbara Streisand was on South Park? Saddam Hussein? Gary Condit? If South Park were trying to start a feud with the Simpsons, there’d be absolutely no question about it. Last night’s episode was a big sloppy blowjob for the Simpsons, at least by South Park standards.
Take that sequence in the context of the show as a whole. As you say, the idea was that by supporting FOX, viewers are supporting lowbrow TV. That’s a dig at FOX’s content, famous for intellectual gems like World’s Scariest Police Chases and When Animals Attack. Also, I think that episode ran at a time when Family Guy was off the air again for whatever reason. Lastly, it’s true. Family Guy was low-brow much of the time. So what? “Lowbrow” is something lots of people have said about The Simpsons over the years. I really don’t see anything but professional respect or admiration between any of these shows.