Simpsons Did It

It's hard living in a Simpsons world for a cartoon, isn't it? Haven't they covered every story imaginable? The term "Simpsons Did It", coined in the writers room at "South Park" when story ideas were continually shot down because 'The Simpsons already did that', even spawned an entire "South Park" episode that paid homage to all that "The Simpsons" had covered. However, now that television is dominated by five prime-time cartoons, the originality struggle is impacting everyone, including "The Simpsons".

"The Simpson's" 399th episode "24 Minutes" helped advertise fellow Fox series "24" through a visually impressive half hour installment. But was it original? Less than two months ago "South Park's" episode "The Snuke" made the same lampoon on the action thriller.

The computer gaming industry is certainly enjoying their cartoon publicity, as "South Park", "American Dad", and "The Simpsons" have each aired episodes where their lead characters take on the role of the game's heroines. In October of 2006, "South Park" aired the first spoof, "Make Love, Not Warcraft" where the kids were visually transformed into the "World of Warcraft". Steve Smith joined the online gaming realm the following month in an "American Dad" episode "Dungeons and Wagons" that saw Steve and his friends become characters in "Dungeons and Dragons". Most recently "The Simpsons" placed Bart and Marge inside the interactive fantasy game "Earthland Realms". All three parodies within the span of one year!

Wallmart has become a ripe target for satire in recent years and again, the cartoon world was quick to take aim. In late 2004 "South Park" aired an episode "Something Wall-Mart this Way" where the boys (minus Cartman) attempt to shut down the supercenter that is bankrupting the South Park bussiness district. Both Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin have worked at Wallmart, even if the store name wasn't quite the same. In 2005 Homer worked as a greeter in "Sprawl-Mart" and in 2006 Peter took a job in "Superstore USA" shortly after campaigning to close the store down when Quahog's local stores were being priced out of the market.

Even "Family Guy" and "American Dad", both created by "Seth MacFarlane" have featured similar storyines within short intervals. Just months after George Bush joined the Smith family for dinner and explored the neibourhood with Stan Smith, Bill Clinton stopped by the Griffin house, before he and Peter took their antics to the streets of Quahog.

There is good reason why "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" are most often attacked for copying one another. Both shows have now aired episodes satirizing the over-censorship of the FCC, in "Family Guy's" 2005 "PTV", and more recently "The Simpsons" season 18 finale, "You Kent Always Say What you Want". Both Marge and Lois have gambing problems, and both Santa's Little Helper and Brian have run onto a dog race track to 'maul' a female dog - both incidents resulting in puppies.

So who copies who? It may appear on the surface that "South Park" has yet to copy anyone, but considering a "South Park" episode can be written and completed several months before any of their prime-time opponents, it is likely that "The Simpsons" and "American Dad" computer gaming spoofs were already in production before "South Park's" parody kicked off the trend.

It's also possible, (and the show's creators will certainly argue) that no one is intentionally copying anyone else. Perhaps there is just not enough material for five cartoons to air an entire season without a cartoon counterpart inadvertently writing a similar story. Whatever spin you'd like to believe, the 'similarities' have become more noticeable in recent years, and the battle to air 'the best story' may soon become the battle to air 'the best story first'.