The creators of South Park absolutely hate everything about Family Guy. There's no middle ground or nuance to their occasional ridicule of Family Guy. While they seem to have somewhat legitimate creative reasons why they dislike Seth MacFarlane and Family, there's no denying the success of the show that they're criticizing. This is something that Matt Groening and the creators of The Simpsons (arguably the most successful animated show of all time) totally understand. And they too have taken shots at Family Guy over the years. But unlike Family Guy and South Park, there seems to be some sort of love/hate relationship between the creators of The Simpsons and the residents of Quahog, Rhode Island.
Of course, The Simpsons and Family Guy had a very successful cross-over episode in 2014. While it wasn't the type of iconic adult animated fair that fans saw in "Marge V.S. The Monorail" it certainly was well-received. And around that time, publications started to dig deeper into the true dynamic between the team behind Family Guy and the team behind The Simpsons; most importantly, Seth MacFarlane and Matt Groening respectfully. Here's how the two really feel about each other and their beloved series.
How The Simpsons Made Family Guy What It Is
Early on in an Entertainment Weekly interview with Seth MacFarlane and Matt Groening for their crossover episode, the interviewer asked each of them about the very first time they watched each other's work. Of course, Seth answered first since he has been quite vocal about how important The Simpsons has been to the creation of Family Guy and the television landscape as a whole.
"[Matt's] show redirected the course of where I wanted my professional life to go. I wanted to be a Disney animator, and then The Simpsons came out, and in every way—writing-wise, production-wise, timing-wise, animation-wise—it just rewrote the rulebook. Suddenly I was laughing out loud at cartoons," Seth explained. "We all love the Bugs Bunny cartoons and the Road Runner cartoons, and you acknowledge how great they are and how hilarious they are, but how often are you really laughing? The Simpsons made me laugh. I was doing stand-up at the time and I loved it, and I thought, 'It’s too bad there isn’t a way to do adult humor in cartoons.' And they just opened that door for everybody. That show came out and I remember thinking, 'Oh my God, this is what I want to do.' It’s like All in the Family. It’s that degree of altering the landscape."
How Matt Groening Honestly Feels About Family Guy
Matt has credited All In The Family for the success of The Simpsons. After all, the animated show was both a satire of American culture and of the television tropes that had come before it. All In The Family just happened to be the most important.
"Here’s the thing: You understand that there are shows that come in your footsteps, right? But generally, they’re on a competitive network," Matt said of watching Family Guy for the first time. "First of all, I thought if The Simpsons hit—and I thought it would be a hit—my worry was that adults wouldn’t watch because it’s a cartoon and there were no good cartoons on for adults. When that hit, I knew there would be new shows following, and ultimately there are all these shows out there now that are creator-driven—that is, they’re a vision of somebody who can draw. It’s amazing what’s happening in animation now… But getting to Seth, my first take was: 'Oh my God, we got competition. And they’re outflanking us. This show is wilder and harsher and nastier. We used to get in trouble. We used to be the cause of the downfall of the United States.'"
Matt went on to address the accusations that Seth was copying The Simpsons and said that he felt that their styles were completely different. But, at a certain point, Matt was actually worried that he may be copying Family Guy due to their growing success.
In the interview, both Matt and Seth agreed that while they both deeply respect what the other does, competition is natural and important to the success of both of their shows. But the completion that exists between the two creators and their writers is one filled with respect. It's friendly. If it wasn't, there would just be no way that they would have ever done a crossover episode. But that doesn't mean there haven't been a few nasty shots taken.
In some Family Guy commentary, Seth claimed that Fox once contacted him about a couple of harsh jokes he made about The Simpsons. Even though The Simpsons have taken shots at Family Guy without repercussions, Seth was going to get punished for "crossing the line" with Fox's other hit comedy. Seth claimed that he believes it had nothing to do with Matt Groening and everything to do with the fact Fox was afraid of the other Simpsons creator, James L. Brooks. Given that this took place prior to the crossover episode, it seems as though the issue was resolved.
Throughout the course of both Family Guy and The Simpsons' run, the two have poked fun at one another on the shows. Sometimes, things were a bit too personal. However, both Matt and Seth understand that they work in the realm of satire and that means feelings are going to get hurt. But it really seems as though the two are totally fine with that and even kind of like when the other gets in a good dig about them.
Why?
Because it's funny.
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