Family Guy, The Simpsons, And Bob's Burgers Collide In New Scene From Crossover Episode

Fox's Sunday night animation lineup is about to collide, if only for a moment. In a clip from this week's episode of "Family Guy," which was just released by Entertainment Weekly, Peter Griffin (Seth MacFarlane) ends up at Bob's Burgers restaurant, where he pulls up a stool alongside Homer Simpson. It's less a major crossover moment than a quick gag, but "Bob's Burgers" star H. John Benjamin does make a voiceover guest appearance as the chef we know and love from the ever-underrated wharf restaurant.

The scene, which you can watch now below or on the Animation Domination YouTube channel, starts with Peter Griffin instantly trying to find a way to extricate himself from the situation when his wife, Lois (Alex Borstein) starts describing a dream she had the night before. "Eh-heh," he says while backing away, first out of the house and then down the street before eventually backing up "all the way into the show before us." It turns out, he's not the only one, as Homer (who stays silent — was Dan Castellaneta not available?) is seen munching on a burger nearby.

This isn't the first time these characters have ended up in the same place. Back in 2014, "Family Guy" aired a crossover episode called "The Simpsons Guy." That episode also featured a quick appearance by Bob Belcher and joked about how Peter and Homer had to carry him so he didn't crash and burn like Cleveland (Mike Henry, later replaced by Arif Zahir). At the time, it was a joke about how "The Cleveland Show" was cancelled and "Bob's Burgers" was still getting its sea legs in its early seasons. Now, though, the power dynamic has changed, and the new clip features a joke about a special Emmy-winners discount, which "Family Guy" wouldn't be able to claim if we're looking at the Outstanding Animated Program category (which the other two shows have won).

"Family Guy" has fun at its own expense here, but I'm glad this crossover seems to be a short cutaway gag. These three shows have distinctly different comedy styles that don't blend well together: the 2014 episode in particular felt out-of-character for the Simpsons family. Similarly, it's ironic that this clip hinges on Peter not wanting to listen to his wife talk, when Bob and Linda Belcher have one of the cutest marriages on TV – one that involves an awful lot of each of them being patient with one another's rambling.

"Family Guy" co-showrunner Richard Appel tells EW that no more crossovers are planned, but that "we reserve the right to change our minds if a new Fox animated show premieres and is a huge hit and we feel that shoehorning one of its characters into our show could bring us even the slightest bit of reflected glory." At least they're honest!

"Family Guy" airs Sundays on Fox at 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT.