When The War of the Roses hit theaters in ‘89, audiences were treated to a cartoon prior to the feature, starring some family called “the Simpsons.” The short, “Family Therapy” found the dysfunctional unit visiting a therapist. In The Orlando Sentinel’s review of the The War of the Roses, the paper referenced the short starring “the quarrelsome cartoon family created by artist Matt Groening,” but also noted that the Simpsons characters “aren’t nearly as brilliant as Groening’s wonderful comic strip, Life in Hell, which is syndicated in 185 newspapers.” They did admit that “Family Therapy” is “one of the better of the episodes,” and pointed out that “it does echo the family-as-battleground premise of The War of the Roses.” And with the TV series debuting so soon after the film, it stands to reason that The War of the Roses helped set the stage for the show’s success.
Author: JM McNab
Published at: 2025-08-30 20:00:00
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