Two animated comedies that are always pitted against one another are Family Guy and The Simpsons. The latter turned FOX into must-see television on Sunday nights, leading the way for the creation of the network’s “Animation Domination” animated block of programming. Family Guy, created by Seth MacFarlane, is arguably the second biggest animated hit for FOX behind The Simpsons. So naturally, both shows like to take not-so-subtle jabs at each other, though one such occurrence has been censored by the FX Network for a controversial scene.
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The Family Guy scene in question comes from Episode 2 in Season 6, titled “Movin’ Out (Brian’s Song).” It begins with Peter, Lois and Brian together in the family living room. Lois is chastising Brian for using a woman only for sex, and believing he is above that type of behavior. As this speech is taking place, a banner appears at the bottom of the screen promoting “The Simpsons Sundays on FOX” with a miniature Marge Simpson waving to the audience. Okay, nothing out of the ordinary so far. However, Quagmire quickly returns and tackles Marge from behind. Quagmire then proceeds to kiss all over Marge’s face while she tries to push him off of her, eventually pummeling him with her fists.
At one point during their struggle, Quagmire unbuckled his pants. This gives Marge just enough of an opening to kick him away, allowing her to run off while Quagmire trots after her with his pants around his ankles. Keep in mind Peter, Lois and Brian are still holding a conversation in the background, but at this point, no one is paying attention to their dialogue as all eyes follow Marge and Quagmire. Once they run off-camera, the banner for The Simpsons disappears and we hear Brian mention how he’ll invite Gillian to move in with him. Now Marge and Quagmire re-enter, with the Family Guy trio now noticing them at the bottom of the screen. Apparently, Quagmire was successful in his sexual pursuit of Marge, and they walk off together to pick up Round 2 at The Simpsons’ residence.
The FX censorship cut out the entire Simpsons and FOX logo graphic at the bottom of the screen, including the Marge/Quagmire altercation. Those watching on FX miss out on Round 2, where Homer walks in on the two of them in bed together (off-camera). We only see the outside of the Simpsons house, as Quagmire uses a gun to murder Homer, Bart, Lisa and even Baby Maggie when they each walk into the bedroom.
Comedy was at a much different place in September 2007, which is when “Movin’ Out (Brian’s Song)” originally aired. Television shows could get away with including sexual misconduct for laughs, but with the #MeToo movement and women stepping forward to call out sexual predators, it doesn’t make sense for FX to air that segment of the episode as-is. Examples of networks and streaming services pulling other controversial content includes Netflix removing episodes and scenes from Community and The Office that included blackface.
When it comes to Family Guy and The Simpsons, which series is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.
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