The research and development process for automobiles takes years and years to work through. Payne Motors, the fictional company at the center of NBC's new sitcom American Auto, seems destined to find ways to make it more difficult for itself for no reason. In the first episode of the series, Payne scrapped the launch of their newest vehicle at the last minute -- but they still had to show off something and accidentally ended up designing a ride eerily familiar to fans of The Simpsons.

American Auto comes from Justin Spitzer, creator of the hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking Superstore. Rather than tacking big box stores that seem to proliferate and dominate the American economic landscape, his latest series uses the auto industry as its subject matter. It takes an unflinching and funny look at the business from the inside, using Payne Motors as a lens for satire.

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Sadie and Jack work on a new car

The initial episode focused on the first day for Katherine, the first CEO of the company who was not a member of the Payne family. She used to be an executive in the pharmaceutical business and knew nothing about cars. She didn't even have a driver's license. But Katherine's first big event at Payne Motors took a huge left turn when it was discovered that the Ponderosa, the company's self-driving car, was racist.

While that project was quickly scuttled, Payne still needed a new car to show to the press. Katherine and her team stole parts from a variety of cars, welded them together, and painted the monstrosity. Sadie, the company's Chief Creative Officer, tried to play it off as a modular car that people could customize. It didn't work and the reveal bombed in epic fashion -- more than a little reminiscent of The Simpsons' awkward moment when Herb Powell debuted The Homer.

In Season 2, Episode 15 of The Simpsons, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", Homer Simpson connected with a half-brother he never knew he had named Herb Powell. Herb had grown up to become an incredibly successful auto manufacturer voiced by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star and Batman Returns' Penguin himself, Danny DeVito. He ended up letting Homer design his own car -- a gracious act that ended with the creation of a horrifying vehicle called The Homer and the complete bankruptcy of Powell Motors.

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The Simpsons Homer car

(This wouldn't be the show's first Danny DeVito connection -- not only would the actor reprise the role of Herb in future episodes, but Homer later visited the bar from Cheers, including a cameo appearance by DeVito's wife Rhea Perlman in her role as Carla.)

The debut of Payne Motors' new car didn't lead to the utter destruction of the company, but it certainly didn't do them any favors. Their car didn't look much better than The Homer. The similarity of the scenes between the two sitcoms was only enhanced by the response of both crowds. In each case, the hushed horror of everyone in attendance was palpable. No one knew what to say about the abomination -- including the people who worked for the car company.

The American Auto scene was by no means a ripoff of The Simpsons. As South Park accurately pointed out, The Simpsons have pretty much done everything. But it's hard to deny how similar this American Auto scene was to one of the most classic moments in the longest-running animated series of all time.

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