Top 10 Reasons Why The Simpsons is Better than Family Guy
If you've ever watched The Simpsons and then flipped over to Family Guy, chances are you've felt it. That quiet sense of "yeah, this isn't quite the same." You're not alone. For everyone who sees Family Guy as the copycat with a shorter attention span and a louder voice, this list is your validation.
This isn't about nostalgia goggles or clinging to the past. It's about sharp writing, smart satire, and characters who actually feel like they've lived a life instead of just throwing out punchlines. The Simpsons built the playbook. Family Guy mostly just borrowed it and doodled in the margins.
So what are the reasons why The Simpsons is better than Family Guy? Vote for the reasons that speak loudest to you, just like others already have. Whether it's the writing, the heart, or the yellow-skinned legend himself, your votes help settle the debate.
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Family Guy was based on The Simpsons
Peter is just Homer, but they tweaked him and made him a terrible person. I do like Family Guy, but The Simpsons is way better. Family Guy is just based on The Simpsons, but with some tweaks to go with it.
Family Guy is great, but I assume The Simpsons is better, even though I have yet to see it. Peter is sort of like a clone of Homer gone horribly wrong.
And it says "who positively can do" in the theme song. That's not entirely true because there is a lot of offensive humor. I get offended sometimes, so not always positively.
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The Simpsons is actually funny
Family Guy isn't what I would call a comedy sitcom. It's just another show that destroys brain cells and relies heavily on memes to keep it alive.
The Simpsons, however, is a brilliant and witty show for people with an actual, good sense of humor!
Lots of jokes on Family Guy are used at the wrong moment. When Peter saw the news that two planes crashed into the Twin Towers, he says, "must have been a woman pilot." That's offensive in two ways.
People believe Family Guy is better because they think being offensive is funny. The Simpsons actually try to make jokes.
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The characters in The Simpsons are more complex
Oh my god, so I'm not the only one with this opinion. For a minute there, I thought I was wrong for liking The Simpsons characters better, but I'm not!
I always thought I saw something in most of The Simpsons characters that wasn't there in Family Guy's. Let's face it, I wasn't the only one who saw it. We all did when we watched anything from seasons 1-8 (or more like 2-8... whatever). Back in the day, The Simpsons characters weren't just funny, but also flawed, likable (though annoying to a more shallow or biased person), and most notably, kind of relatable.
Since I think of The Simpsons as only being made up of the older seasons and not the newer ones, I believe I have the right to say that the characters are probably what make it better than its ripoff. While I must sadly confess that Family Guy is pretty funny, its characters are one of many reasons why it sucks. None of them have the depth of those in The Simpsons, and because of this, Family Guy is weaker. Way weaker.
To me, characters are the most important part of the story, especially in The Simpsons. I will always enjoy seeing Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, Ned, Mr. Burns, Apu, and almost all the rest of Springfield's people in any situation they were in back in the old days. I love them and know what they'll do but so badly want to see it. In Family Guy, I could care less. All I liked was Stewie and Brian, and they weren't even that great.
Family Guy lacks the heart of The Simpsons, and that heart comes from character. So yeah, sorry if this was long, but I hope that even if you disagree with me, you learned a little today.
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The Simpsons support and love each other despite their flaws, whereas the Griffins treat each other badly and constantly do horrible things to each other
This one scene from "The Simpsons Guy" summarizes the different mentalities of each family:
Meg Griffin: Look at all these trophies! There must be, like, 20 of them!
Lisa Simpson: 23. But I'm sure you have a lot of trophies of your own.
Meg: No. I'm not good at anything.
Lisa: Oh, Meg, I'm sure you're good at something. We just have to find out what it is. After all, Nelson Mandela said it's our obligation to shine.
Meg: You mean like my oily face and back?
Lisa: No. Maybe don't sit on my bedspread, please. But I mean the light within you that makes you an individual. Meg, you need to know that you matter.
Meg: Really? No one's ever told me I mattered before.
Lisa: That's why you have to say it. So say it.
Meg: I matter.
Lisa: Louder!
Meg: I matter!
Peter Griffin: (from off-screen) Shut up, Meg! You don't matter!
Meg: (slumps over feeling defeated)
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The Simpsons is appropriate for kids
The episode "Natural Born Kissers," or something like that, is the one where Homer and Marge get into that old golf course shelter where they used to hang out. Then the Flanders family shows up, and one of the kids' golf balls gets stuck in the shelter where Homer and Marge are. The whole town comes to get the ball, but Homer and Marge are inside having sex. As people reach in, touching them, someone says, "Hmm, there's a bunch of meat in there!"
Homer and Marge quickly run away, but the police see them, so they have to hide. They end up in a hot air balloon and start flying away. However, Homer trips and falls, but he manages to grab a rope and just swings there. When Marge tries to get down, they land naked in an AFL stadium. Homer shouts, "Yeah, yeah, take pictures, idiots!" and everyone starts taking photos. They get home only to find themselves on the newsletter, with a picture of them naked, and that's how the episode ends.
Phew, my fingers are tired from typing! Thanks for reading!
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There are more characters to work off of in The Simpsons
And much more beloved than crappy Family Guy. Family Guy should be cancelled!
Family Guy is filled with such awful characters like Quagmire and Brian.
The Simpsons has more interesting characters than Family Guy.
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Family Guy can be really annoying sometimes
What happened to the guy who made Family Guy? He wrote kids' shows that everyone who loves the 90s mentions: Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, and I Am Weasel.
But then he made his own adult shows, and suddenly it's like a dumbed-down version of The Simpsons. It's like a friend who everyone calls boring has his own show.
This baby in Family Guy, it was like, "Good morning! Good morning! To you!" And it kept on going. After a while, the baby came when he finished and said, "Good morning! Good morni - oh, I thought we continued, so bye."
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Family Guy relies almost entirely on high shock value
Shock factor is funny... for grade school kids. These kinds of jokes have no real base and are just meant to be as ridiculous as possible.
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The Simpsons appeals to a wider audience than Family Guy
Family Guy is designed to appeal to frat boys and immature teens. The Simpsons can appeal to a wide range of groups. A ten-year-old and a seventy-year-old alike could watch an episode of The Simpsons and find different things about the episode that appeal to them.
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The Simpsons has seniority
The Simpsons is classic. Family Guy is not classic. It's rather a nuisance and trash.
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The Simpsons don't kill their main characters
Except for poor little Snowball 2.
But Lisa, at the end, gets a cat thrown at her by Crazy Cat Lady that looks exactly like Snowball 2 and names her Snowball 2.
People that got offended on social media on a future non-canon episode of Marge's death.
Unless a death happens in the last episode ever.
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There is no reason for Family Guy to continue
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The Simpsons is timeless, whereas Family Guy is not
The Simpsons will be remembered forever. Family Guy will be forgotten a year or two after it ends.
They'll never stop The Simpsons. Look at some of the oldest kids' shows still around: Sooty, Blue Peter, Newsround, Sesame Street, Noddy.
I prefer timeless stories. The characters aging ruins the plot sometimes.
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Family Guy relies on the stupid Meg-hating gag
Only one joke with that gag ever slightly worked with me. I could compare this with Bart being strangled a lot, but he's always fine right after and doesn't act as though it is tearing his life apart, like a lot of the Family Guy gags led to.
Ah yes, the infamous Meg-hating gag is one of the biggest problems I have with the earlier seasons of Family Guy. It's only gotten worse in later seasons.
There's no reason to hate Meg. She doesn't really look ugly. Lisa is hated for being so smart.
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The Simpsons has a feature movie
I KNOW! Family Guy just put three episodes together and called it a feature movie, which proves my "Family Guy Copies off The Simpsons" theory true.
Even though it's been a long time since I've seen that movie, it's still pretty darn good.
Family Guy would be cancelled before they ever have a shot at having a movie.
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Family Guy is too mean-spirited
Agreed, especially because of the stupid Meg-hating gag! Poor Meg has to deal with bullying at home and at school. This is why Peter and Lois are probably the worst parents ever in cartoon history!
Especially when Meg was being bullied a lot.
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Brian gave Stewie herpes and didn't even care
I'm sure it was justified. It was probably karma from all those years of Stewie trying to kill Lois.
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Family Guy tends to go overboard a lot, whereas The Simpsons rarely does
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The Simpsons has better storylines
Yes, this is very true. The Simpsons has dozens and dozens of well-thought-out and nearly perfect episodes that cover almost everything a real family goes through. They are heartwarming and funny.
Family Guy has none of the above.
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The Simpsons has never been cancelled
The Simpsons will never end! Family Guy may get cancelled, and it would be a great joy for y'all.
This show started in the 1990s and it will never end!
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The Simpsons has better parodies
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The Simpsons doesn't have 5-minute Conway Twitty jokes
I like Family Guy better, but even I'll admit, those were annoying!
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Family Guy fails at being heartfelt
As Jim Brooks said, an original producer of The Simpsons, "Do not be afraid to show emotion in the characters." This is an important factor in any show.
A show that doesn't have any regard for the people in it won't be well received. Family Guy is an example of that.
The Simpsons is well-meaning and great. Long live The Simpsons!
Family Guy isn't well-made, and it's rather pathetic. Cancel Family Guy!
Life of Brian was the closest Family Guy got, and they still managed to screw it up.
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The Simpsons' Halloween specials are great
The newest one had a lot of horror movie references.
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The worst episodes of Family Guy are worse than the worst episodes of The Simpsons
The worst Simpsons episodes can still have good gags, even if you hate the episode.
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Lois Griffin is a horrible mother
Yeah! Marge is probably one of the best mothers in cartoon history while Lois is one of the worst mothers ever in my opinion. Lois doesn't even know how to do her job right.
Marge Simpson is better than Lois Griffin. Lois Griffin is a horrendous ripoff of Marge Simpson, a great character (the glue that keeps the family together). Cancel Family Guy!
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None of the kids in The Simpsons are sex-crazed, in comparison to Family Guy
Family Guy is a horrendous abomination! Cancel Family Guy!
Bart and Lisa are 10 and 8. Chris and Meg are teenagers.