Recently in FROM THE FRONT LINES OF THE CARTOON WARS Category

Still no word on a twenty-third season of The Simpsons... hmm.... [A.V. Club]

An animated television series based on the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite is currently in development at Fox, a network spokesperson has confirmed to FishbowlLA.

Since Fox only does cartoons on Sundays, and there's a limited number of timeslots, could this cartoon replace The Simpsons after it's cancelled next year?? And what of Bob's Burgers??? Developing... [FishbowlLA]

Family Guy: "It's like watching The Simpsons after three beers."

King of the Hill: "King of the Hill is like The Simpsons after... three strokes." [UGO]

On November 8th, The Simpsons will be replaced by an episode of Family Guy, which will then be followed by a 30-minute "variety special" starring Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and featuring integrated advertisements for the upcoming Windows 7 operating system. [Variety via A.V. Club]

Omagh councillor Ross Hussey, of Ireland or something, got told he looks like the dad from Family Guy and now he might run campaign posters highlighting this resemblance in a misguided attempt to win over young voters. Look at the picture, it is funny. [BBC]

Family Guy successfully received an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, becoming the first animated show to have done so since The Flintsones in 1961. The Simpsons had attempted, and failed, to do so in 1993 and 1994. [TV Guide]

Sit Down, Shut Up, the recently-premiered TV cartoon on the Fox Network created by the creator of Arrested Development and produced by one half of the former Josh Weinsten/Bill Oakley Simpsons showrunning superteam, was pretty much cancelled (TV channels never actually say the word "cancellation" because it is like saying Voldemort, basically) in order to make room for the upcoming Family Guy spin-off about the black guy, which was picked up for a second season even though it hasn't even aired yet. Yes, the first episode of Sit Down, Shut Up (or SitShut, as those in the 'biz call it) was real bad, but it was getting better, yes/maybe/kinda?? Anyway, doesn't Seth MacFarlane already have enough cartoon shows, and also the whole Spawn thing? "Simpsons Spinoff Showcase" is becoming true except for Family Guy because nobody in the world watches The Simpsons anymore, and even less people are watching the new shows [SFGate]

Simpsons creator Matt Groening has always enjoyed a favorable relationship with the press. Serving as a sort-of go-to cultural commentator, the head of Fox's billion-dollar cartoon franchise is often quoted on everything from animation to music to high school to Olympic mascots. These days, however, he is often asked to comment on Fox's other billion-dollar cartoon franchise, Family Guy. In a Wall Street Journal article about Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, MacFarlane's contemporary is relegated to a handful of sentences, including a paragraph which curiously reads like a line from a Fox press release:

Cartoonist Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons," says, "He's laid the groundwork with this smash hit show and now, with new media opening up and Seth's specific kind of rapid-fire visual humor, how to exploit it just depends on how ambitious he wants to be."

A critic at a Television Critics Association panel asked a panel of nine FOX animated show producers why they're so white:

A critic gets a laugh by starting a question with,"Here's a question for the women and people of color up there" (there are none) ... and asks about the lack of diversity in the genre.

[Family Guy creator Seth] MacFarlane: "There's something about the medium of animation that it's male dominated ... might also have something to do with the demographics of animation also skewing male."

Fox-owned IGN steps in to settle the fight nobody cares about anymore, Simpsons vs. Family Guy! I didn't read any of it, but if you want to look at a bunch of pictures of nerds and read their analyses of the two cartoon shows, then be my guest. [IGN]

Matt Groening doesn't think so:

"At the beginning, there was probably some competition going on" between "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy," he says. "But certainly not from me.

"I know how hard it is to do an animated TV show. ['Family Guy' creator] Seth MacFarlane is a good friend. And 'Family Guy' is funny. It's got its own style. The more the merrier. I want more cartoons on TV," Groening says.

MacFarlane had some nice things to say about The Simpsons, too:

"You could almost say 'The Honeymooners' or subsequently 'All in the Family' laid down the ground rules -- everything structurally -- for a live-action sitcom.

"And I think it's the same thing for 'The Simpsons' regarding subsequent animated shows. They reinvented the process. A lot of things worked. So of course you're gonna use that as a springboard."

Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane has declared that he will prolong the epic CARTOON WARS that are threatening the very fabric of our society with more shots at supposed rival show The Simpsons, after they semi-recently took a shot at Family Guy and American Dad. It's like the Cold War nuclear arms race except with cartoons and nerds [ToonZone]