For as long as "Family Guy" has been around people have been comparing it to "The Simpsons", mostly through the accusations of it being a blatant rip-off of the latter. It's still grown to have its own major audience, and in later years they've been more or less equal, with the new animated sitcoms like "Bob's Burgers" now being cast as the new rip-offs. But there's never been a major crossover between the two shows, although they've both lived through some of the biggest crossover eras in recent television history. That all changed this past weekend, when the Griffins finally visited Springfield in the season premiere of the 13th season premiere of "Family Guy".
The premise for the episode is simple enough. The Griffins are fleeing Quahog after Peter's latest job as a comic strip creator renders him the most hated man in town. When they stop at a semi-isolated gas station their car is stolen and they're left stranded on the outskirts of Springfield. The remainder of the hour-long special takes place all across town, making sure to feature as many "The Simpsons" characters and running gags as they possible can, all leading up to a show-off between all the similar characters from both shows.
The best, and arguably only good, part of this episode is the art. Despite "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" both having their own distinct art styles this episode manages to blend them convincingly. Making it actually seem like they're all part of the same world, and not just two different shows thrown in a blender. Of course there are some moments when the "Family Guy" aspect shines through more brightly than "The Simpsons", but considering it is actually an episode of "Family Guy" that is to be expected.
The narrative of the episode is however just mindless dribble. The empty-headed self-references get old fast, and when there's a whole forty six minutes of them you end up just waiting for it all to blow over. It is in the nature of crossover shows, of course, to compare the two shows and be nothing more than fan service, but that doesn't mean they're good. There's a reason most people don't like crossover shows, they end up feeling like neither show. Instead they're end up as a weird mix of ideas and characters that end up being remembered as nothing more than "that one time that guy from that one show was on that other show". It's a neat idea to want to see your favourite characters together, but it's not a good one.
The last half hour or so of the show is probably some of the worst scenes in the history of either show. It's more or less just Homer and Peter fighting across Springfield, making sure to stop by any iconic set and get one-liners from the characters that have the time to say anything earlier on. Despite there being constant action you end up looking at the clock, wondering how much time there is left until the credits finally start to roll. It's just not fun anymore. It never was.
Overall this just wasn't good. Although you'll get a few cheap laughs here and there at the expense of one show or the other, there's nothing more meaningful to it, nothing that really keeps you interested. This is a crossover that's been in people's heads for so long that is just can't live up to what they've already imagined. This is an idea that Fox should've killed the moment it showed its head, but instead we're left with an episode that will scar both shows for as long as they remain relevant.
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