The Simpsons delivered one of its biggest surprises in years with the season 38 episode “Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening,” in which a mysterious figure suffers unintentional yet utterly humiliating deaths at the hands of Springfield’s citizens and decides to take revenge. That figure turns out to be none other than Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, and it’s a comeback laced with plenty of meaning: Apu had been pushed to the background of The Simpsons since 2020, following the 2017 release of the documentary The Problem with Apu, in which comedian Hari Kondabolu unpacks negative stereotypes of people with Indian and South Asian heritage, citing Apu as an example.Many viewers will also notice that Apu sounds different. Instead of Hank Azaria, who voiced the character from 1989 to 2017, Sunil Malhotra now voices the Kwik-E-Mart’s stalwart owner. It’s a welcome change, since an actor of South Asian descent will actually be voicing a South Asian character. This isn’t the first time that a long-running animated series has made a casting change for the better, as The Simpsons longtime network mate and perceived imitator Family Guy actually already did it. cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});For years, many people have compared Family Guy and The Simpsons, and it’s not hard to see why. Both series center on a middle-class family with a beer-loving patriarch who gets into misadventures along with his way-out-of-his-league wife and their three children. Family Guy did take steps to differentiate itself from its predecessor. The Griffins’ youngest family member, Stewie, has a genius-level intellect and homicidal urges toward his mother Lois, while the family dog Brian can actually talk. Eventually, both shows would crossover in Family Guy’s season 13 premiere, “The Simpsons Guy,” finally putting the matter to rest.But what does Family Guy have to do with The Simpsons’ recasting of Apu? The answer lies with Peter’s neighbor Cleveland Brown. Known for his signature mustache, jolly demeanor, and being one of two Family Guy characters to get his own spinoff (Stewie’s set to lead his own series on Fox and Hulu next year), Cleveland was a Black character voiced by a white actor — specifically Mike Henry, who served as a producer and writer on Family Guy. Henry would eventually step down from the role in 2020, saying that “persons of color should play characters of color.” Henry wasn’t the only actor to make this change, as Kristen Bell and Jenny Slate were both recast on Big Mouth and Central Park, respectively, since their characters were meant to be biracial.Cleveland eventually gained a new voice in Arif Zahir, who is a Black man. Ironically, Zahir previously gained internet fame for his pitch-perfect replication of Cleveland’s voice on his YouTube channel, making him a perfect fit for the mustachioed mailman. Meanwhile, Sunil Malhotra also has voiceover experience from projects such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Legend of Korra, and The Legend of Vox Machina.In a season 14 episode of Family Guy, a drunken Peter Griffin mutters, “We act like we didn’t take a lot from The Simpsons, but we took a lot from The Simpsons.” In the case of recasting Apu, the shoe was on the other foot for once.The post The Simpsons Pulled a Page from Family Guy’s Book For its Big Comeback appeared first on Den of Geek.