At Least It Doesn't Suck As Much As The Cleveland Show: FAMILY GUY!

[Reply #560 on:]

Isn't that what The Simpsons writers said 10 years ago? Also, TOTPD.

[Reply #561 on:]

I could see it going to 15, but 20 seems a bit of a stretch since fox doesn't seem as interested in their animated shows as they were a few years ago

[Reply #562 on:]

Here's the footage from "The Simpsons Guy" they played at Comic Con.

It won't play if you're not in the US, but I was able to figure out a way of using proxies and such so I'm sure you can too.

It's very strange seeing them together like this. Just, plain weird. Some decent gags are in there, though. It certainly doesn't look like a disaster even if none of it looked amazing.

[Reply #563 on:]

For those who can't see it, here's a Youtube link of it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RP00jqTStTg Pretty decent clip. Most of the jokes were obvious crossover/comparison ones, but most of them still made me laugh (particularly the Cleveland one). Animation wise, I can't really tell whether its better or worse than HD Simpsons. Some parts like the Kwik-e-Mart and Bart's Room have the characters have the same still 3/4 angle shots like all of Macfarlanes shows, with no blinking and awkward movements at times, while other parts like the fight scene and Bart skateboarding look pretty damn good. They even seem to have more frames used for Simpson characters than the Griffin family at times. Also interesting to note how bloody and disfigured in the fight, while Homer never bleeds (maybe a shot at how FG is more violent and cartoony than The Simpsons?). Overall, definitely more psyched about the crossover than before, and should hopefully be a decent, fun episode.

[Reply #564 on:]

The animation is looking really neat.

[Reply #565 on:]

Yeah, it does look like they've gone out of their way to emulate the style of the show instead of just awkwardly cramming them into their world, which is cool - even if a few details like the static patrons in the background of Moe's give it away.

It's also nice to see some jokes that go beyond the basic "Haha we're different" set up. The jumping the Springfield gorge reference for example. My guess is that most of the more obvious jokes about the shows being different are going to be the types of clips they use to promote the episode, anyway.

Also, if that's the rape joke they were talking about, I don't have a problem with it at all. In fact, I think it's pretty funny. A lot of people have been acting like that was proof that the episode would suck and it's because rape jokes have been demonised quite ridiculously, lately. Comedy always comes down to the context and the context of that joke is that Stewie is a bad person that doesn't understand how to operate on a less offensive level like The Simpsons do.

It's going to be interesting to see what the storyline of the episode actually is. I mean, there must be some sort of conflict that needs resolving after a while of them hanging out together, surely? Any guesses?

[Reply #566 on:]

Well, the trailer definitely makes it look like the conflict will begin in the bar with the debate over the beer...which is clearly joking about how Family Guy has been called a rip-off of The Simpsons. Not quite sure how they'll run with it, though.

[Reply #567 on:]

I expect they'll get into a fight over that beer discussion and it'll last somewhere in the region of five minutes and then they'll be distracted by something and carry on being chummy. I can't imagine it'll be particularly relevant to the plot. I might be wrong, but it just seemed like they wanted to do a signature Family Guy chicken fight in Springfield.

[Reply #568 on:]

MARGE: Hey Quagmire, remember the time you raped me and murdered my entire family?

[Reply #569 on:]

I can't imagine it'll be particularly relevant to the plot.

I didn't necessarily mean that the beer discussion would be the catalyst of conflict all by itself, but that it might be the start of a string of arguments based around the same metaphorical concept.

[Reply #570 on:]

I laughed quite a bit in that Family Guy/Simpsons crossover trailer. I'm looking forward to it.

[Reply #571 on:]

MARGE: Hey Quagmire, remember the time you raped me and murdered my entire family?

Yeah that's all I can think about when I read the crossover news. So I'm unnecessarily uncomfortable with the episode and will probably skip it.

[Reply #572 on:]

That's a cutaway I don't need to see. They're not done with crossover rape jokes, either, it seems.

[Reply #573 on:]

I'm pretty sure its one of those cutaways where depending on what station you're watching the episode, I think it's when Adult Swim runs whatever episode that is, they will show that cutaway along with my other non-favorite one, "Horton Hears Domestic Abuse And Doesn't Do Anything About It".

I like to think I have a pretty dark sense of humor. But those two jokes absolutely disgust me.

[Reply #574 on:]

Hehe...domestic abuse.

[Reply #575 on:]

What takes a joke too far for me is either when it lingers on the suffering of the victim for aaaages, or when there's no conceivable punchline beyond 'heh, look at this person get brutally beaten/raped/murdered.

I'm not saying those jokes shouldn't exist, but I never find them funny.

[Reply #576 on:]

A bunch of new photos from "The Simpsons Guy", including 3 new Entertainment Weekly covers.

[Reply #577 on:]

Heh, like the touch of Seth Macfarlanes signature being under Matt's.

The Meg/Lisa and couch pictures looked kind of awkward, but still excited for the episode.

[Reply #578 on:]

I like the one with Brian and Santa's Little Helper.

[Reply #579 on:]

That one made me smile, as did the one with Chris and Maggie. Amusing that the children aren't paired by age.

[Reply #580 on:]

These are nice

[Reply #581 on:]

Interesting article on the crossover.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/09/22/simpsons-family-guy-crossover-episode-richard-appel/

Episode is written by Pat Meighan (Christmas Guy, Road to Germany, Peterotica) and features a 7 minute long chicken fight between Homer and Peter.

Hmm.

[Reply #582 on:]

Some clips from Simpsons Guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV4QiJ5M1qQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrm_QreQUjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc4jGiTTick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04DYjrOuobQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4uPu8Y5Gnw

Some cute jokes I guess, but...something about Homer drinking gasoline, Bart about to be molested at a camp, and Marge being a bitch to Brian feels a bit...off. Still have to remind myself this is a Family Guy episode though, but I still hope they don't go too far away from the characterizations and style for the Simpson characters.

[Reply #583 on:]

I hear Stewie makes a rape joke! It's a Family Guy episode alright. (Gonna pass on this one).

[Reply #584 on:]

Stewie making a rape joke is fine, actually fitted in a comparison joke between how tame The Simpsons is to Family Guy. It's when Homer and Marge act like Peter and Lois 2.0 that the special starts turning me off.

[Reply #585 on:]

Stewie making a rape joke is fine, actually fitted in a comparison joke between how tame The Simpsons is to Family Guy. It's when Homer and Marge act like Peter and Lois 2.0 that the special starts turning me off.

I've watched every clip released from the special so far, and that's my biggest problem with it also. Instead of drawing some funny comparisons between the characters, they just seemed to have transformed the Simpsons characters into versions of the Family Guy cast. It's incredibly off-putting (and I'm not just talking about that awful car wash scene). Call me out if I'm wrong, but I don't think Homer has ever done anything more stupid than drinking gasoline until he's almost about to vomit.

[Reply #586 on:]

Yeah, I can't say those new clips instill me with much confidence.

The Simpsons all seem quite out of character, which was to be expected, but the first 5-minute clip seemed to have them surprisingly in character, so I got my hopes up. None of the big gags there worked for me, though a few of the smaller lines were still amusing. I hope that the clips just felt largely stilted due to being out of context.

As for the rape joke, there's nothing wrong with it at all. It's not "shocking" or condoning rape or anything like that. It's a joke about how The Simpsons is tame by Family Guy's standards, but also that Stewie is, you know, not a very nice person and completely missing the point of Bart's pranks.
And you know what? It's genuinely pretty funny. If the whole special was that sort of thing, I'd be happy.

[Reply #587 on:]

I agree about the rape joke, it's offensive but the joke has purpose and makes sense. I also agree that in most of those clips, The Simpsons characters feel very stilted and awkward, while the Family Guy characters are their normal selves. For some reason I expected the Family Guy writers to maybe even have a better handle on the characters than the current Simpsons writers do, but clearly that was misguided.

Still, "And then when we find it, we'll actually charge the guy" felt like a pretty decent Simpsons-style joke, even if the rest of the clip sucked.

I expect the crossover to be entertaining and bothersome in equal measure.

[Reply #588 on:]

So there was a lot of stuff I liked, a lot of stuff I didn't like at all, and a lot that was just meh in the crossover. But overall, I thought it justified its existence...it was entertaining enough that the bad parts didn't make me wish it never happened.

The courtroom scene where they were comparing similar characters was probably my favorite part.

[Reply #589 on:]

It's sad that fg can pretty much do Simpsons better than the Simpsons at this point

[Reply #590 on:]

Just like the same show:

[Reply #591 on:]

I really really enjoyed the crappy recorder version of the Harry Potter theme. I'm not sure why that was so funny to me but it was.

[Reply #592 on:]

I liked the obvious comparisons between the two shows, and the fight scene had some really nice animation. The Roger cameo was also cool. Not sure how I felt about the Nelson torture scene, it seemed really, really weird. I got a big laugh from Peter being run over by Grandpa almost immediately after being run over by Hans Moleman.

[Reply #593 on:]

There was some good jokes, not much to say about plot. Difference of animation between two shows is very noticeable, it turns out. While I don't like the crossover stuff anyway, I can't say it was overall enjoyable experience either.

[Reply #594 on:]

I thought it was good. It wasn't any sort of masterpiece, but it was a solid episode of Family Guy with an enjoyable gimmick and it was nice to see The Simpsons actually being funny for a change.

My favourite joke was probably the interaction between the two James Woods.

[Reply #595 on:]

Well, that was dumb

[Reply #596 on:]

I liked the Crossover.
The whole story seemed like a loose frame for various character cameos and jokes, resembling rather a collection of 3-4 panel Sunday newspaper cartoons, than the usual sitcom format. Characters more walzed in, delivered their catchphrase and did feast upon/collect their cult status. (As that cult status had to be established over the years, nothing wrong with taking a rest on the laurels).
The comparison jokes were usually all right, I especially enjoyed the Bart/Stewie contrast.
The car wash and "Chicken fight" were imhO a tad overdone, especially when having such a huge pantheon of characters ready and lining up a huge queue to make their appearance.

[Reply #597 on:]

In case anyone hadn't noticed, Harry Shearer did not lend his voice to the episode. I read that Lenny was voiced by someone imitating Shearer's voice.

[Reply #598 on:]

General consensus seems to be that it was Dan Castellaneta.

[Reply #599 on:]

Chicken fight and car wash were both pretty awful, I must say. Trim those two bits and it was a pretty fun crossover.