The War of Art (The Simpsons) competence without any major missteps will have to suffice." He added that despite one of a number of criticisms of recent Simpsons being "the cast’s perceived disinterest", in this episode it was clear Smith was giving 100% to Lisa in her obsession over the guinea pigs. Tony Sokol of "Den of Geek" gave the episode 4 stars out of 5, and wrote "I’ve said before and will say again that The Simpsons towers over all current TV sitcoms. That the worst episode of "The Simpsons" will still have more laughs per minute than the best episode of, say "Modern Family"..."The
The Simpsons Guy Appel then asked for permission from "Simpsons" executive producers Matt Groening, James L. Brooks and Al Jean to use their characters. This was approved; Appel was previously a writer-producer on "The Simpsons" for four seasons, and retained his former colleagues' trust. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria guest star as their "Simpsons" characters, but Harry Shearer, the final main cast member of "The Simpsons", was unavailable. Asked how he felt about the crossover, Shearer replied, "Matter and anti-matter." "Family Guy" writers pitched several storylines for the crossover, including one in which the Griffins stay with