Watching Simpsons

As has been noted elsewhere on this blog, and in the 451 Network, there’ s been an ongoing feud between The Family Guy and The Simpsons. Quite often, this comes in the form of pointed barbs that make it onto the show. In one Treehouse of Horror episode, for example, there’s veritable sea of Homer clones, and in the middle of all of them, the writers and animators stuck Peter. Of course, The Family Guy has had it’s share of references too. On the surface, it might appear that creators Matt Groening and Seth McFarlane have it in for each other. However, if one is looking for a hip-hop style “beef” feud, one will likely be disappointed. Sure, the two and their creative teams quite often rib each other, but it’s not much different than they way that friendly comedians like to publicly poke each other – as in Comedy Central’s Roasts, for example.

So, it’s no surprise that when Groening and McFarlane show up to a Television Critics Association function, the verbal jabs fly, but beneath it, there’s a sense of mutual respect. Care of the Vancouver Sun:

“Wow,” Groening said, with a straight face. “Wow. You know, we love Seth. If we weren’t so rich, we would be very depressed.”
“Matt and I get along very well,” MacFarlane said. “People want us to hate each other. We get along extremely well. He’s a wonderful guy. Seriously.”
“Seth and me, on the other hand,” Jean quipped, “not so much.”
The mutual admiration is genuine: MacFarlane is quick to cite The Simpsons as an early inspiration for Family Guy.
“I wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for The Simpsons,” MacFarlane said.
“It’s so rare that something comes along that completely catches you off-guard. When you think back, The Flintstones was the last really big successful prime time animated show. And then The Simpsons came along and single-handedly reopened that door. I was instantly taken with that show, and still am. It doesn’t hold a candle to any live-action comedy that’s on the air - or is it the reverse?”
“Wait a minute,” Groening dove in. “You just snuck that in there. What he’s saying, that’s how I felt about Huckleberry Hound.”

Even if McFarlane wasn’t being genuine, he’d still have to concede to the pioneering history of The Simpsons. I would also throw in South Park, which wasn’t mentioned. South Park has brought fierce, daring satire to cable television, going much farther then The Simpsons ever would. The Family Guy has benefited from that predecessor too. Sometimes, Peter strikes me as a mixture between equal parts Homer and equal parts Cartman.

The Simpsons, The Family Guy, South Park, Cartman, Matt Groening, Seth McFarlane, Homer, Homer Simpson, Cartoons, Animation

For some, The Simpsons has been dying a slow death by becoming a mere shadow of what it once was. For others, myself included, that’s a load of bull. I tend to think that some people – my parents included – go through a Simpsons “phase” they watch the show for a couple of seasons, and then for whatever reason, they just stop watching. Somehow, the show has either stopped appealing to them, or they’ve outgrown it. On the other hand, faithful viewers see the same rich characters week in and week out in new social situations. The characters, after all, make the show, but then again, as with a lot of satire, the level of relevance also depends on what’s happening in society. I think that’s what’s kept the show around for so long – it continually adapts it’s satire.

I write this because one wonders – for a show that’s been around for nearly twenty years, will it ever come to an end? The answer to that came recently at Comic-Con, where Matt Groening and Al Jean made an appearance and addresses the state of Springfield. Alynda Wheat, of the Pop Watch Blog, writes:

Groening fans were also given two nuggets of info: First, the team has “no intention” of wrapping up The Simpsons anytime soon — certainly not as long as “the ratings keep up,” added Jean, “and they have.” Also, Groening was asked if he’d ever considered turning his newspaper comic strip Life in Hell into an animated series. Not really, he said, before launching into a castigation of the San Diego Reader, which no longer carries the strip, noting that he needles the paper every time he comes to Comic-Con.

That’s a shame about Life In Hell. Wheat, in her blog, also has a few other good nuggets of information. The mostly have to deal with who is slated to do guest spots on the show:

Upcoming guests include Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Joe Mantegna, and Robert Forster — all of them are in the season opener alone. In the second episode, Homer finds guest Denis Leary’s cell phone, and starts dialing. One of the calls goes to Leary’s agent, setting up Leary to star in Everybody Poops: The Movie. For Seth Rogen fans, your wait will be a little longer — his guest spot isn’t slated to air till 2009.

As for Julia-Louis Dreyfus, I hope she’s in character, and her appearance has nothing to do with Seinfeld – that show is so old news by now, and she’s gone on to great things herself. The Denis Leary episode sounds absolutely hilarious. Sounds like a good change of pace for Leary, and an interesting, albeit short, break from Rescue Me.

Matt Groening, The Simpsons, Homer Simpson, Comic-Con, Rescue Me, Denis Leary