On FAMILY GUY's utter suckitude

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 12:42pm

From Salon.com:

Lately, the only way "Family Guy" excels is proving how much better "South Park" is at incendiary humor. While Matt Stone and Trey Parker's dirty little sociopaths have managed to freak out an entire network – while winning such unlikely fans as Bill O'Reilly – for taking on religious taboos and putting the prophet Muhammad in a bear suit, Seth MacFarlane's comedy limps along, whipping up controversy with lame jokes about Down Syndrome kids. And on Sunday, the show inexplicably made light of the men who died in Vietnam.

On a trip to the nation's capitol, patriarch Peter Griffin spies a pair of veterans at the memorial wall, where a Vietnamese man is "giving the business" to them by referring to the names on the monument as a "Scoreboard! Scoreboard!" He then points to one name on the wall and says, "Aw, what happen to your friend? Hey, I know that guy – I kill him! He cry like a bitch!" Rimshot!

Oh, for God's sake. How does a show get cynical enough to drum up attention with gags like that?

There's no subject matter inherently taboo in humor – you can take the conceit of Hitler's last days in the bunker and make it entertaining. "South Park" doesn't always hit the jackpot, but the show reliably finds the lighter side of abortion, cannibalism and religious fanaticism. And "The Simpsons" has, in fact, spent two decades getting laughs out of Principal Skinner's traumatic stint in 'Nam.

Why then does "Family Guy" so often fall so flat? Because if history is written by the winners, comedy is written by the losers. The brilliance of something like "The Daily Show" comes from its little guy outrage, not from arrogantly mocking the handicapped or the people who died in a war. Maybe MacFarlane, the highest paid man on television, just doesn't understand that putting down people who are already down isn't simply offensive. It's bad comedy.

Whole article with clip here

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 12:55pm

On a recent Larry King Live, Seth MacFarlane was asked why he mocked certain things, i.e. his "Terry Schiavo The Musical" sketch.

MacFarlane basically said that if something is in the public eye it is fair game. He said he had no regrets about doing it.

Family Guy makes South Park and The Simpsons look like Shakespeare. And I think that is the whole point of the show - LCD comedy (Lowest Common Denominator).

Set in blue collar Quahog, Rhode Island the show knows who it is aimed at and succeeds. My son thinks it's hysterical. But then he also likes Andrew Dice Clay and Howard Stern, "champions" of free speech. And I guess he never outgrew bathroom humor.

While I have found Family Guy amusing on occasion, most times it falls flat. But then, I'm not its intended audience, because I can see no reason in hell to do a parody of Terry Schiavo.

Updated On: 5/17/10 at 12:55 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 3:22pm

I threw up my hands when Family Guy made a joke about Matthew Broderick's car accident in Ireland. I believe that there are jokes that can be made about just about any subject. But context and source are important. Deliberate cruelty is unforgiveable. I don't really watch the show anymore.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:00pm

I do still enjoy the show, but pretty much only the reruns. I can't remember the last time a first-run episode was funny.

Matters of taste aside, three of us watched last night's episode and cracked nary a smile.

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 4:11pm

The show is now practically unwatchable.

Just like The Simpsons, what started as everyday simple situations that turn hilarious, the plots are now full of ridiculous and unnecessary twists, making the humor fall flat. However, The Simpsons took a lot longer to end up there.

Last night was the first time I had to change the channel and never wish to watch the show again. Lame.

[jasonf]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 6:34pm

Have to say though, last night's Simpsons was pretty funny. Family Guy -- not so much.

[Gobstopper]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 7:22pm

When people claim that Family Guy is in any way superior to The Simpsons, I immediately discount their opinion on all future matters.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 7:31pm

You can discount mine right away, then.

I haven't been able to watch "The Simpsons" for a good five years.

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 8:31pm

The "Tik Tok" opening from last week (or week before last?) was hysterical! It had my in tears.

I'd watch a Brian/Stewy show. The adults get on my nerves.

[singtopher]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 8:44pm

It's been a sloppy season. The season premiere, however, is one of my all times favorites.

[danmag]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 9:03pm

I agree that there have been problems with this season...but I watch the reruns all the time....and they seem to show them CONSTANTLY!

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 9:11pm

It's kind of sad how The Cleveland Show is funnier that Family Guy.

[singtopher]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 9:21pm

I've only seen a few episodes of The Cleveland Show, but I'd mostly agree with that ^^.

[Pippin]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 10:10pm

The Simpsons has changed and it's not what it used to be (blah blah blah), that's what everyone says. I'm sorry but I've watched the past few episodes in a row after a long hiatus, and the writing is still leaps and bounds better than most "comedies" on tv today. It's brilliant satire, and while not at the pinnacle of thier game, (even though the defintion of pinnacle is the very top, so why do people even complain that it's not what it used to be in those days? It may not be at the top anymore, but the quality has not diminished so much that it's suffering.) A "so-so" episode of The Simpsons is still better than the majority of TV shows' "Great" episodes.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 11:58pm

There've only been two Simpsons episodes I haven't liked very much this year.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 11:52am

The Cleveland Show is funny because it deals with racial issues, which have rarely been dealt with on Family Guy.

For instance, a couple of weeks ago, Cleveland got into a fight with his redneck neighbor, and confronted him about the Confederate flage ont he front of his house. The neighbor answered, "That? That's my Dukes of Hazard flag - autographed by Boss Hogg!" He then admits he has no idea of the significance of the flag.

[clever name]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 2:30pm

I love Family Guy. I think it's hiarious. However, I haven't seen any of this season because of Celebrity Apprentice. I was looking forward to catching them this summer.. now you got me all bummed out.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 3:00pm

Family Guy is hilarious and disgusting at the same time. I LOVE IT!

And I agree that the best episodes feature Stewie!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 4:31pm

I loved the first two or three seasons of South Park, but only watched it intermittently since then. I thought the satire was great, but the novelty of it sort of wore off for me. With Family Guy, it happened even faster. I found it shockingly funny a few times and then just tiresome. Last year, I struggled to get through an episode and eventually gave up. The shock value outweighs the satire and it just nosedives into empty crudeness. Once I got past the "Did they just say that?" phase of watching episodes, I realized it had very little to say otherwise.

Unfortunately, I somehow missed the boat on The Simpsons and when trying to catch up on the phenomenon, it just didn't click for me. But I may try again. It wasn't until just a couple of years ago that I finally sat down to old reruns of All in the Family and could truly appreciate its genius. A friend of mine of similar age just remarked the exact same thing happened to him. For years, we didn't enjoy the show, but there was something about our age and the current political climate that turned on a switch and now I watch two episodes a day, every day and never fail to LOL at least once (except when Edith was sexually assaulted). Saw what you want about Sally Struthers now, but as Gloria, she was perfection.

[Parks]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 4:53pm

I still enjoy Family Guy. I'm in the middle of watching Sunday's episode now... it's ok so far. I don't get why people are hating on it so much lately.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 4:57pm

I think Sally's still great. And I think the episode where Edith goes through "the change" is a master class from Carroll O'Connor, who manages to act differently on both sides of his face simultaneously.

Please tell me you saw the John Waters episode of The Simpson's, Matt, "Homer's Phobia"? I think it's my favorite all time.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 5:49pm

If going back to catch up on The Simpsons I highly suggest just starting out with Season 4 and working up to Season 8-10. Those were the best years for the show without a doubt.

I don't remember where I heard it, but somewhere it was said that if The Simpsons keeps running it could return to that quality of those seasons, as now people who grew up on those seasons are of the age where they could start writing for the show and return it to that tone that they remember.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 11:07pm

Yes, that must be what the magic key will be. Because the geniuses who currently work on the show and the creators and producers who have been there for a decade and a half have absolutely no memories of those years at all and they are just waiting for kids to grow up who can remind them. Because those episodes are not available for them to look at anymore. It's just in the memory banks of the young people.

[Plum]

Posted: 5/20/10 at 6:13am

There can be definite downsides to fanboys running the shows they watched as children. Just ask any Doctor Who fan.

As for Family Guy...there's just no "there" there. And if you live around enough hipsters who think that racist T-shirts are funny because they're "ironic" - well, Family Guy humor is hardly shocking, novel, or particularly funny.

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 5/20/10 at 7:49am

Back in the day, All in the Family was so controversial, it was all anyone was talking about.

It's held its own, due to great writing and an amazing cast.

Carroll O'Connor, not unlike James Gandolfini, seems so natural like he isn't acting at all.

Edith Bunker was originally supposed to be just a mindless ditherhead cipher, but Jean Stapleton elevated her to one of TV's most endearing characters.

Sally Struthers held her own as Gloria, which considering the rest of the cast was no easy feat. Rob Reiner's Mike was an absolute perfect foil to Archie.

Watching the show now in re-runs it hasn't aged badly considering it relied so much on current, topical humor. That's a big testament to Norman Lear.