Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson Met At Comic-Con

In what can only be described as an adult cartoon viewer's fantasy, Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin will meet on September 28. In the trailer unveiled on Saturday at Comic-Con, the two were seen palling around, arguing about beer, and fighting like flying mini-Hulks. Peter learns that his beloved Pawtucket is really a Duff ripoff, while Homer welcomes the Griffins to Springfield will a partially-eaten box of donuts. It seems that the rest of the families will pair off according to age and gender: Brian and Stewie make prank calls with Bart, and Lisa and Meg will probably have some sort of relationship, Although Fox announced the Simpsons/Family Guy crossover last year, they kept the details of the episode close to the fest until the Comic-Con premiere, making this the first time when I can ask whether this was a good idea to begin with. Having seen the trailer, I now know that it isn't.

In theory, a crossover of two of the most successful adult-humor cartoons could be hilarious. However, with two cartoons with jokes as tired as recent seasons of Family Guy and The Simpsons, it plays like a cheap PR stunt, probably because it is a cheap PR stunt. Much like the attempts to kill off Brian and Homer on their respective shows, this is yet another ploy to boost viewership without improving on any of the central problems of the show. And instead of the wacky cut scenes and dumb-funny catchphrases that define the respective series, this crossover delivers stale bro-bonding and a few meta-jokes about this instance being "a one-off." Perhaps Peter and Homer should have stayed in their respective universes, because this multiverse isn't helping either of them.

Image: FOX