10 TV Shows That MOCKED Their Rivals

First things first—of course Family Guy is a Simpsons rip off.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Seth MacFarlane’s un-cancellable cartoon mega hit has borrowed more than just its “an animated family get into weekly scrapes” structure from TV’s most beloved yellow brood, and it’s inevitable that any adult animation series would end up taking inspiration from Homer’s idiocy, Marge’s long-boredom as an under-employed housewife, and Lisa’s not-so-subtle tendency to be used as a precocious mouthpiece for the writer’s views (cough cough Brian Griffin, who is literally voiced by Seth MacFarlane’s unaltered speaking voice).

But this hasn’t stopped the show from specifically targeting The Simpsons with its satire, particularly in the episode PTV which features villainous infant Stewie running down the Simpson family’s instantly-recognizable patriarch Homer in a scene which simultaneously parodies the iconic opening of The Simpsons whilst paying homage to Police Squad’s opening sequence, which is in itself a parody TV show—complicated enough yet?

This light-hearted spoof didn’t stop the two shows from pulling off an ambitious crossover episode a few years later, and the two series have continued taking pot shots at one another both before and since this instance.