I cant speak to the simpsons but im a big fan of family guy and while there are lots of literary references throughout the series, one of the nifty things they do there is to take literature and movies and re-tell the story. just recently saw the episode where they did huck finn, the great Gatsby and of mice and men.
they've also done the Shawshank redemption, misery and stand by me.
they had one episode where they told whatever the story was according to three different famous directors' styles.
the star wars episodes are fantastic.
and one of the best episodes was when their car got stolen and they ended up in springfield, staying with the simpsons!