When Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy first hit the airwaves, critics immediately drew parallels with The Simpsons. Matt Groening’s groundbreaking adult-oriented cartoon marked a watershed moment in TV history and inspired such subsequent series as King of the Hill and South Park.
But whereas those shows carved out their own niche with a unique premise and a new cast of characters, Family Guy resembles its inspiration much more closely. There’s very little that separates the characterization of Family Guy’s lead, Peter Griffin, from his predecessor Homer Simpson.
They Both Have Three Kids
One of the most obvious things that MacFarlane borrowed from The Simpsons was the number of kids: a boy, a girl, and a baby. But the kids of each show are characterized differently.
Bart is a popular troublemaker, whereas Chris is dim-witted and unpopular. Lisa is a genius who talks down to her parents, whereas Meg is bullied by hers. Both Maggie and Stewie are killers (or attempted killers), but only Stewie can articulate himself verbally.
They’re Both Negligent Fathers
In both The Simpsons and Family Guy, the mothers have to do the lion’s share of the parenting because the fathers are mostly useless.
It’s not that competent fathers can’t be funny – King of the Hill’s sensible, mild-mannered patriarch Hank Hill is a prime example of that – but The Simpsons and Family Guy use an incompetent father to satirize the fragility of the so-called “nuclear family.”
They Both Spend A Lot Of Time In Front Of The TV
Homer and Peter spend huge chunks of time sitting in front of their TV sets. Homer watches Kent Brockman’s news reports; Peter watches Tom Tucker’s news reports. They’ve also both contributed to the television landscape themselves: Homer hosted the political talk show Gut Check with Homer Simpson, while Peter hosted the kids’ show Petey’s Playhouse and the news segment What Really Grinds My Gears, and co-created the animated series Handi-Quacks.
In both cases, the characters’ penchant for watching television is used for cutaway gags satirizing the media. Eye on Springfield, for example, is a pitch-perfect parody of entertainment news shows.
They’re Not Very Smart
Neither Homer nor Peter is particularly bright. Homer got both of his arms trapped in vending machines. He got his head stuck in a closing drawbridge. He designed a hideous car that bankrupted his long-lost brother.
Peter frequently gets into fights with his own reflection. He tried to make a waterslide on the stairs. He attached razor blades to a fan in the hopes of speeding up his morning routine (and, of course, ended up cutting off his own face). Both of these characters’ lack of intelligence is a danger to themselves.
They Both Have A Short Temper
Both Homer and Peter have a short fuse. While Peter is known for unprovoked outbursts, Homer is undoubtedly the angrier of the two. After failing to construct his barbecue in a way that matches the picture on the box, Homer screams, “WHY DOESN’T MINE LOOK LIKE THAT!?” and starts kicking it.
Homer’s temper provided the inspiration for Bart’s comic book Angry Dad, which was later adapted into an animated web series and then a movie (which was then cut down to a short film).
They Both Spend Their Evenings At A Local Bar
Homer and Peter are both heavy drinkers who spend all their free time at a local bar with their friends, enjoying a fictional brand of beer. Homer drinks Duff at Moe’s with Barney, Lenny, and Carl; Peter drinks Pawtucket Patriot at the Drunken Clam with Cleveland, Joe, and Quagmire.
The only real difference between Homer’s drinking and Peter’s drinking is that Homer sits at the bar at Moe’s, whereas Peter sits in a booth at the Clam.
They’re Both Recklessly Impulsive
Both Homer and Peter are recklessly impulsive. When Homer finds a crashed sugar truck at the side of the road, he makes a snap decision to steal the sugar and sell it door-to-door. When Lois sends Peter out to get groceries, he ends up buying a horse at auction in Louisville.
The writers of The Simpsons even made a self-aware reference to this in the movie when Homer said, “Hey, Marge, isn’t it great being married to somebody who’s recklessly impulsive?” With hilariously dry delivery by Julie Kavner, Marge replies, “Actually, it’s aged me horribly.”
They’ve Both Fought World Leaders
Homer and Peter both have a penchant for getting into fights. Homer got into a fight with Bart’s “Big Brother” and ended up breaking his back on a fire hydrant; Peter gets into a five-minute non-sequitur scuffle with a giant chicken every few episodes. In the Simpsons/Family Guy crossover, they even fought each other.
They’ve also both engaged in fisticuffs with world leaders. Homer fought George H.W. Bush in the episode “Two Bad Neighbors,” while Peter fought Vladimir Putin in “Petey IV” and Donald Trump in “Trump Guy.”
They Both Have Blue-Collar Jobs (& Countless Other Jobs)
The Simpson and Griffin patriarchs both have blue-collar jobs – Homer works at a nuclear power plant and Peter works at a brewery (originally a toy factory) – but they’ve also held countless other jobs on top of their main careers.
Homer and Peter have both been in successful bands and ran their own companies. Homer has a new job in almost every episode; sometimes, Peter gets a whole new career just for the purposes of a cutaway.
They Only Have A Good Relationship With One Of Their Kids
Both Homer and Peter only have a strong relationship with one of their three kids. Homer has too short a fuse to effectively parent Bart and he often forgets that Maggie even exists, but he’s consistently tried to connect with Lisa throughout the show’s run.
Peter is arguably an even worse parent than Homer – at least Homer tries, even if it’s the bare minimum effort – but he became close to Stewie in the season 4 episode “The Courtship of Stewie’s Father.”