Family Guy

[Cortez]

Oh god where do I begin with Family Guy.

I have a love hate relationship with Family Guy, on one hand it can make me giggle until I wee myself (EVEN MORE SO IF WEED IS INVOLVED BUT WE'LL SAVE THAT FOR ANOTHER THREAD) but on the other hand it's poorly written garbage that is Seth MacFarlene's rage vent and is shit without interchangeable gags that have little relevance to what little plot is going on.

Family Guy isn't good or funny without flashbacks or digs at pop culture, you only need to watch any of the original series or the episode 'Brian and Stewie' from season 8 to realise this. Regardless, I still find myself watching Family Guy most nights and enjoying it, though if there's one thing I've realised it's that having little to no character development ever doesn't do the show any favours, if Family Guy got axed (AGAIN LOL) I wouldn't care just because I don't give a shit about any of the one dimensional characters with completely inconsistant personalities, especially when all of them are just Seth MacFarlene under a cartoon persona.

It also irritates me that Family Guy has spawned two other shows, neither of which do anything Family Guy couldn't do or wasn't already doing. American Dad is Family Guy without flashbacks (although alot of the jokes are spoken flashbacks without the flashback itself, making the joke impossible to understand if you don't know the celebrity they're poking fun at) and can be somewhat funny at times but only because Roger is the only well written character in the entire show. The Cleveland Show is just black Family Guy, there's nothing more I can say about it.

I do like Family Guy, but when I can name about 20 (fucking awesome) cartoons from Cartoon Network with more clever jokes then you know somethings seriously wrong, especially since Family Guy is aimed at adults.

So, how does SSMB feel about Family Guy? Do you love it, hate it, or are you just totally indifferent to it?

[Ferno]

Family guy's two children murdered King of the hill, as there was no longer any space in FOX's line up for it. :/ Sunday night really HAS become "The Seth McFarlane variety hour featuring the Simpsons. "

But I have to admit that the show makes me laugh from time to time. *Don't shoot* ._.

Though I'm a Simpson's fan more than anything else, and the little Simpsons fan in me will always think that Family Guy's a Simpsons rip-off in a sense.

[Teoleulbogo]

Like you, I see Family Guy as a stupid show that gets its audience only because of the pop-culture jokes and occasional moments that make you chuckle, but I still find myself watching it. It really isn't outstanding or even original, seeing as how South Park already makes all of the pop-culture jokes(and they do it right)I still don't get how it spawned 2 other shows that lasted more than 1 season, especially since their just lesser versions of Family Guy anyway. In the end, I'll stick to just watching that Steve & Larry short, after all it seems to be a more intelligent version of Family Guy(ironic given that it's marketed to children).

[Edit] One thing I forgot to mention, the song numbers are awful. I'll admit Seth McFarland sings pretty well, but these songs are just stupid. They don't advance the plot, in fact they take up time that could have been used advancing the plot or atleast telling a bad joke. They're deffinently my least favorite part of the show.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Teoleulbogo

[Tornado]

The pre-revival seasons of Family Guy are some of the funniest and (oddly enough) most clever things on TV, and were an absolutely lovely breath of fresh air at the time when The Simpsons went through the millennial slump caused by diverting attention towards Futurama. It wasn't early-Simpsons good, and it for damn sure wasn't Futurama good, but it wasn't that far off. Since it was revived (with a handful of exceptions in the first couple post-revival seasons), in what can only be one of the most obvious examples of editor protection ever encountered, the show has become basically "What Dated Pop-Culture Reference/Political Viewpoint Interests Seth McFarlane This Week," and other than callbacks to running gags that lost all comedy pretty much the first time they were reused, it basically is like an entirely new show. Indeed, all of the characters basically became incredibly exaggerated to unhilarity almost immediately, and only Chris is recognizable compared to the original seasons.

It is quite a shame that a show that was originally very good, if a bit intentionally heavy handed, at satirizing various things (the episode about smoking being the perfect example. It even managed to use the cutaway gags very well with the overall episode plot, which is the defining difference between current seasons, which don't bother doing so, and the original ones, which usually tried) has become "cutaway gag that frequently isn't funny -> overused running gag that may never have been funny -> Republicans Suck joke that is usually just mean rather than funny -> obnoxious music reference that isn't funny even when you recognize it."

American Dad, oddly enough, has become pretty decent in recent years, though the two episodes I watched of The Cleveland Show were only notable in the complete lack of any jokes that they had.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Tornado

[novelty]

As my posts are short and sweet, Family Guy is just a bunch of meat

A laugh here, a chuckle there, and sometimes gets you on your feet

Sing a song, play a tune, recite the theme, without knowing who

Listen to Peter, Stewie, Brian, Lois, and the like

while your parents just bear to find its right.

Unless, your Mom and/or Dad is impressed,

Family guy is just a hooker in a dress,

Without all pop culture and stupid mayhem

I find it gay and lame of Family Guy and the stupid cartoon creation.

Edited June 10, 2010 by Squirtle

[Saint Nathan]

I do like Family Guy, but when I can name about 20 (fucking awesome) cartoons from Cartoon Network with more clever jokes then you know somethings seriously wrong, especially since Family Guy is aimed at adults.

I can name twenty of my pubic hairs that are funnier than Family Guy most of the time. The show has a few good ones, yes, but overall it's just trying to have 7th grade humor and then failing at it. I actually kinda like American Dad more, which is odd because it's family guy but the talking dog is now an alien but eh.

futurama is the best thing ever on tv ever anyways.

[Ferno]

American Dad, oddly enough, has become pretty decent in recent years,

I agree with this, I find myself laughing a whole lot more to American Dad then Family Guy, more people should check it out.

[Noir]

I can name twenty of my pubic hairs that are funnier than Family Guy most of the time.

>I can name twenty of my pubic hairs that are funnier than Family Guy most of the time.

>I can name twenty of my pubic hairs

>I name my pubic hairs

whatthefuckamireading.jpg

Family Guy is a really horrible show, sure there are some enjoyable jokes, but that doesn't make a good show. No character development, hell, instead the characters' personalities jump all around, and rarely an interesting plot. I watch it occasionally for a laugh but I've gotten bored of the jokes for the most part.

Best episode is the one where Peter goes to Meg's school to prevent toad licking. It was actually funny and dare I say somewhat heartwarming at the same time.

This topic reminds me, when's the new Futurama season coming out?

[JezMM]

It's a really stupid show but it does make me laugh. Only times I dislike it is when it occasionally crosses the line twice (like that one overly-long/violent fight scene in one episode where Stewie utterly beats up Brian), but those are few and far between.

Oh, and it's really obvious when they couldn't think of a joke so replaced it with a lack of joke in an attempt to be funny. Those rarely work with me for some reason.

But yeah, other than that it's funny enough for me to sit down when it's on, but I don't make an effort to seek it out and watch it.

[Meow]

I think its funny, the humour is dumb and its just a good way to kill time. I'm not looking for super meaningful, clever, or whatever jokes - I just want to watch something dumb and entertaining

[Nepenthe]

The Brian and Stewie fight is fuck awesome, as well as Brian's retaliation.

Anyways, while I recognize it isn't a quality show in terms of writing, enough of the jokes still make me laugh to where I can sit down and watch it if it's on. The animation can also be amusing too, specifically during slapstick moments where things are thrown or characters fall in ragdoll positions at two frames a second. All in all, enough of the crap in each episode makes me laugh enough to where I don't really begrudge the quality dip.

Then there's the fact that I only got into King of the Hill when Adult Swim starting airing it, so I didn't have the pleasure of raging when it was cancelled because of Family Guy. <3

Edited June 7, 2010 by Nepenthe

[Octarine]

I don't watch it regularly, but even though it's not particularly good, Family Guy can usually get a guilty laugh or two out of me. Maybe that's because I don't watch it regularly, actually... I find the cutaway gags pretty irritating already, but I imagine someone who watches the show all the time would have a much bigger problem with them.

I dunno; I don't feel too strongly about it either way, even if it is pretty bad. That it managed to be spun off twice (and with reasonable success) is pretty baffling to me, though. What other shows have managed that? Star Trek? Doctor Who?

[Saint Nathan]

>I can name twenty of my pubic hairs that are funnier than Family Guy most of the time.

>I can name twenty of my pubic hairs

>I name my pubic hairs

whatthefuckamireading.jpg

no, but i will go out of my way to name them just to make a point if that's what you want.

this one is jeeeeeff

this one is keeeiith

ect.

ect.

but I don't want to stoop to that.

[SuperStingray]

I think Family Guy's made a turn up as of late. They've stopped making it so message-heavy and most of the segues have gotten better. I'm not sure if I like it for its humor so much as its... color. It just feels like a cartoon WarioWare, just shooting out strange and random jokes along side a plot like a sketch comedy blended with a sitcom.

On the humor itself though, I can't tell whether or not the show wants to be taken seriously, so I really stop caring about the plot when the jokes are good or stop caring about the jokes when the plot is good. That's why I really hate the gags that last over two minutes or one's that aren't cutaways but still come out of nowhere, so you can imagine how much I hate the chicken fights. But I will say that they've completely mastered idle conversation, I don't care what anyone says.

And I do think American Dad is a lot funnier than it used to be, but the Cleveland Show- I don't see the point. It just feels like a cheap way they can use jokes that didn't make the cut for Family Guy.

Edited June 7, 2010 by SuperStingray

[Tornado]

This topic reminds me, when's the new Futurama season coming out?

I believe the 28th of this month.

[BakingBluePotatoe]

I think the show is stupid (unless it's about Brian and/or Stewie)

"WHERE'S MY MONEY!?"

Really though, I seem to feel wierd in the brain most of the time after watching it.. >.>

Edited June 7, 2010 by Baking Blue Potatoe

[-Mark-]

I've never once seen an episode of Family Guy. Like, ever. Not exactly a conscious decision not to, just can't ever really be bothered/ it never grabed my attention enough for me to check it out.

[CapnCloudchaser]

I share similar views. Was pretty funny and fresh when it first appeared, now it seems pretty stale, but it makes for good zombie TV, something that can be mildly entertaining late at night when I can't be arsed to do anything else and it just happens to be on.

But to be honest, I feel the exact same way about The Simpsons. Mildly entertaining, not really any 'laugh out loud' moments, would only watch it if it was on at the time.

I love Futurama though, excited for the new series!

[Tori Himemiya]

I think the show is stupid (unless it's about Brian and/or Stewie)

"WHERE'S MY MONEY!?"

Really though, I seem to feel wierd in the brain most of the time after watching it.. >.>

Family Guy is a form of mental retardation brainwashing.

I don't get what's so funny about it majority of the time. They throw in pop culture stuff that your supposed to know to even be funny. But most of the time its like watching a retarded kid on crack. And since Seth MacFarlane thinks its so funny he keeps trying the same thing. Seriously look at TV Tropes page on expy to know what I mean.

The Cleveland Show gets worst...

[azoo]

Family Guy is pretty crap. I mean, yes, some scenes are outright hilarious, but not really anything to keep you watching. Basically, everybody in the show is a cartoon version of Seth McFarlane with a slightly different personality. And really, without pop culture references it really wouldn't be that funny at all (besides spare moments where Stewie is involved or Peter's stupidity, which is really just a ripoff of Homer Simpson's stupidity). American Dad and the Cleveland Show are really crappy as well, basically being the same show, except Cleveland Show still has flashbacks but no humor whatsoever, and American Dad has no flashbacks and some humor; making it probably the best of the three (which isn't saying much).

Oh yeah, and since the show's run by Seth McFarlane and all, they can't have one episode where he doesn't spend three seconds running in with a "I HATE RELIGION BLAH BLAH CHRISTIANITY SUCKS ATHEISM YEAAAAHHHHHHHH". It may not bother you if you aren't a Christian or aren't religious, but it really irritates me that he can't just leave it alone.

[Vertekins]

I personally am not a big fan of explicit comedy. And I am also not a fan of shows whose brand of comedy involves being unable to go 5 minutes without bringing in some cutaway gag, of which has no actual relevance to the episode's plot. I also don't like shows that need to take the piss out of the disabled or need to even plagiarise other show's writing and/or jokes.

Basically said, I am not a fan of Family Guy.

[Doctor MK]

I enjoy watching Family Guy from time to time, usually if it's on BBC3 at night I'll stick it on in the background have a bit of a laugh at it. It's by no means my favourite show and at some times it is indeed downright stupid, but as a bit of light entertainment every now and again I quite like it.

Brian and Stewie are easily the best characters.

And The Cleveland Show? No. Just no.

[AdventChild]

FG was good before the revival, but now it just seem like crappy due to bad writing. Now, the show heavily relies on cutaway gags as filler to extent the show, and takes the offensive to be funny route but ends up unfunny because of said bad writing. Besides, I'm more of a Simpsons fan than a FG fan.

I'm surprised it hasn't been called Seth MacFarlane's Propaganda Show as almost every episode has his beliefs and values hammered into them. I mean it is like he is trying to say, "Hey, look! I'm an Atheist and a Dem Liberal on a conservative channel!" and/or "I hate religion and Christianity sucks! Atheism rocks! I'm going to shove that message down your throats in about every episode!" As a Christian, it really gets on my nerves, even if it doesn't bother those who doesn't believe.

Edited June 7, 2010 by AdventChild

[Cortez]

This commentary from the South Park creators on the episode Cartoon Wars pretty much sums up Family Guy for me, its worth listening to as they make some really good points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4ABTOTW7aY

Couldn't find the clip where it's revealed that Family Guy is written by Manatees but this will do xD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPjqmVUt380

That's not to say EVERYTHING Seth MacFarlane creates is terrible, Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy is quite good, but then its basically just a series of Family Guy flashbacks without the Family Guy part.

[Tornado]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPjqmVUt380

I cry a little every time I see that. Not only did Robot Chicken do basically that same joke first and better, but the Family Guy version basically revolved entirely around the premise of how wacky it would be if Peach didn't want to kiss Mario rather than attempting to make an actual joke. Seth McFarlane is the same guy who made the second best episode of Johnny Bravo, for crying out loud!

Edited June 7, 2010 by Tornado