From: mxg77@po.cwru.edu   
      
   So there's our season premiere night Simpsons/Family Guy crossover (officially   
   a Family Guy thing). A little self-aware and pointless in parts but not too   
   bad in others. Oddly, though I've grown a little weary of them overall, the   
   "chicken fight" scene/   
   finale was perhaps the most fun on a level of just seeing the two leads   
   together with a selection of references/observations. Stewie and Bart was neat   
   too, though we've seen the other side of that coin somewhat in the "Cartoon   
   Wars" episodes on South    
   Park. Lisa and Meg, Lois and Marge, Chris/Brian/SLH, etc. felt a little more   
   like necessity/filler but were fine.   
      
   Notably absent from the Simpsons universe was Harry Shearer. It slowly dawned   
   on me that none of his characters had shown up yet, and then as they did but   
   remained silent I figured it out. I guess he abstained or objected. Then it   
   became like a drinking    
   game, waiting to spot characters of his shown prominently but not speaking.   
   Lenny had a single "eh" but I guess that was someone on the Family Guy team   
   doing an utterance that could pass closely enough. (Other major characters or   
   recurring guests such as    
   Jimbo, Fat Tony, Sideshow Bob, Milhouse, Crazy Cat Lady, Martin, Sherri and   
   Terri, etc. appeared here and there but said nothing; that may have been for   
   simplicity).   
      
   Other thoughts:   
      
   The title is "The Simpsons Guy", perhaps to reflect the way there's a "The" in   
   only one show name, which seems especially notable because there's already an   
   often-used "Single-word Guy" pattern that could make it "Simpsons Guy" with no   
   problem.   
      
   Copping to the premise of the crossover at the very start: done in 2F31   
   (Simpsons/Critic).   
      
   Subtle what-state-is-Springfield-in: sleep-driving to Springfield and not   
   knowing where they are. Less subtle: asking what state it's in and not being   
   allowed to say.   
      
   "Policeman's ball" joke: you probably couldn't do that on The Simpsons! Not a   
   lot of the edgier sort overall, though. Stewie's prank call, I guess...   
      
   Mmm, donut. Prank call for Lee Ki Bum.   
      
   Peter has trouble setting up a cutaway. Bob's Burgers and The Cleveland Show   
   can't "fly" on their own (though a nice way to combine those things, since the   
   cutaway on its own wasn't that great). No no no no noooo.   
      
   Nelson has been bullying Bart for "about 24 years", which sounds funny since   
   we just started (air) season 26. This might have made more sense, and been   
   closer to 24 by rounding, if the crossover were aired in May.   
      
   Homer's sucking down gas like the gasohol in 9F14.   
      
   Dr. Colossus (2F20) shows up in the background (he was voiced by Hank Azaria   
   though so it wasn't one of those silent cameos).   
      
   A 113 license plate.   
      
   Lots of bits about who's ripping off whom, tastes between the two shows (and   
   the dinosaur status of The Simpsons), etc. Peter says d'oh.   
      
   Peter's cranky in the second half because they "usually only do these things   
   for half an hour", but they have plenty of two-part episodes (that air in a   
   one-hour format); The Simpsons has only one two-parter and the two parts aired   
   very separately.   
      
   Fred Flintstone presides over the trial. Shades of the gallery of ripoffs in   
   3F16 (where it was even noted that Fred himself is a ripoff). Simpsons James   
   Woods (1F10) and Family Guy James Woods. Matt Groening standing in the back,   
   with who might be Seth    
   MacFarlane next to him.   
      
   Oh no, oh no, oh no... Kool-Aid man in wrong Springfield.   
      
   Marge implies that Lois doesn't wear a bra, though we know she does; it seems   
   out of the two that Marge may not (though we may have seen one a time or two).   
   Maybe the joke was just that Lois is more well-endowed and Marge got the wrong   
   impression.   
      
   Chicken fight. Strangle animation on Peter (and calling that behavior out).   
   Does Family Guy really have no Emmys? Homer in FG style and Peter in yellow.   
   Wilhelm scream. Roger Smith. Gorge jump (7F06 and so many more). Homer says   
   Roadhouse. Maude Flanders/   
   Muriel Goldman.   
      
   Peter wants to make people laugh and cry because he's a family guy. Homer's a   
   The Simpsons. Stay half an hour apart from each other, with garbage in   
   between. (Welcome to Sunday nights, Brooklyn Nine-Nine!) Worst chicken fight   
   ever (though I rather    
   disagree).   
      
   Duff can't enforce the ruling because they're not coming up to RI.   
      
   Bart sounds like a girl. Stewie has a blackboard gag. Oddly downer ending.   
   Gracie Films logo (before the credits, where it never appears).   
      
   Apart from season 5 James Woods, just the 5 main Simpsons cast who aren't   
   Harry Shearer (and they all appear on one screen). Special thanks to David   
   Silverman (did he help with animation/special poses on Homer?), and to James   
   L. Brooks/Matt Groening/Al    
   Jean (current showrunners minus Sam Simon).   
      
   Lots of credits for "(Part 1 only)". None for Part 2 only. Since 23 is an   
   unusually high episode number for Family Guy, maybe the episode was extended   
   to a two-parter later on, and a bunch of people were going to be leaving the   
   show after production    
   season 11 (BACX) and didn't do any work on part 2 somehow?   
      
   Oh, and Peter's comic strip that was insulting to women has some interesting   
   timing. Just yesterday (9/27), I noticed an oddly misogynist installment of   
   the strip "Grin and Bear It" in the paper: a little house being constructed   
   with a lady yelling at    
   some workers in the background, while another worker comments to his colleage,   
   "She's a bossy chick for someone who wants to build a love nest." This   
   employs, but not in the service of breaking it down, the double standard that   
   men are take-charge and    
   get what they want and that's good but similar actions from women just make   
   them bossy. And it goes further by suggesting that this quality is mutually   
   exclusive with being romantic or in love with someone. (The husband or whoever   
   may be among those    
   getting yelled at, but even so...)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)