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The Family Guy Topic

Jono

TS Member
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Hey everyone!

As the name explains, anything to do with the American TV comedy show Family Guy!

I absolutely LOVE Family guy! There is not one show in the whole world that has been like it and will ever be like it (Apart from The Cleveland Show and American Dad but thats with the same makers ;) )

Im sure there is at least one person on this forum that doesnt like Family Guy, but from my perspective, I dont see why you cannot like it. Ok, I must admit, the story plots for some of the episodes are @#$% but, Hey! Its a cartoon right?!

A great example is the episode "And then there were fewer" (S09E01) in which all the characters that we know from Family guy are trapped in a mansion at night, but there's a catch. One person continues to murder the population of the mansion. The plot isnt THAT bad, but there is alot of ways around the answers at the end that you're left wondering "Why didnt Seth Macfarlane make it less obvious that this and this happened." But when you think about it, thats why Family Guy is so popular! Its randomly funny!

In almost every episode a character dies, but a second later they are in a bar talking with their mates having a beer, acting as if nothing happened!

So, what are your views on Family Guy? Do you think its funny? Do you think its stupid and the jokes are dull and dated? Or do you prefer its television brothers: American Dad and The Cleveland Show?

Discuss away!

cool_boy_jon
 
cool_boy_jon said:
There is not one show in the whole world that has been like it and will ever be like it

Apart from the Simpsons and South Park which it blatantly rips-off.
 
Sam said:
cool_boy_jon said:
There is not one show in the whole world that has been like it and will ever be like it

Apart from the Simpsons and South Park which it blatantly rips-off.

I find that South Park is too rude and most if the jokes are not funny.

The Simpsons focuses on a younger audience, so the jokes are very different from Family Guy.
 
Family Guy has got to be one of the most overrated shows on television. It's amusing at times, but it relies too much on random cut-scenes which play no part to the plot (if that's what you call it?). If anything, it's just stupid rather than funny.
 
Family Guy is bloody hilarious. I own the vast majority of the seasons on DVD and I can watch most of them over and over. Some people hate the cutaways, hate how so much makes no sense and think its gone downhill of late. I just enjoy it for making me laugh.
 
mrbrightside said:
Family Guy is bloody hilarious. I own the vast majority of the seasons on DVD and I can watch most of them over and over. Some people hate the cutaways, hate how so much makes no sense and think its gone downhill of late. I just enjoy it for making me laugh.

Thank You! It just adds to the randomness of the show!
 
cool_boy_jon said:
The Simpsons focuses on a younger audience, so the jokes are very different from Family Guy.

I'll bite.

I find the exact opposite. Family Guy to me is dumb. Just because it takes the piss out of people with AIDS or women or whatever, doesn't make it adult or grown-up. It just makes it stupid.

The Simpsons (golden era episodes) is so clever because it works on so many levels. It simultaneously appeals to young kids, teenagers and adults. I've re-watched as an adult and 'got' jokes that I never noticed before because they referred to some work of literature or obscure historical figure.

Good Simpsons episodes are really clever, and often bitingly satirical. Also, they're quite often genuinely moving and heartwarming, which Family Guy never is. You get the feeling that Matt Groening has respect for his characters, whereas Seth McFarlane would kill them all off for the sake of a gag. It's so cheap.
 
Sam said:
This topic reminds me of the time Ronald Reagan ate a Chorizo sausage.

*cutaway*
And that is the kind of thing I would genuinely laugh at were it a FG cutaway gag. Ever thought of cartoon screenwriting? :p

It's probably just my piss-poor sense of humour, but inane and pointless things often make me laugh.
 
They're are programmes that were once great but have decline in quality over the years (Simpsons), Those rare examples of programmes that haven't changed much whether for the good since they first aired (American Dad, South Park (That's just me), Futurama) and the even more rare are the shows that have gotten better (Can't think of any). But then there's Family Guy, Which has remained crap since the first episode since the first one aired in 1999. The Older episodes are boring and the newer ones are just generally rubbish. I do hate the random cutaway gags and it's just something to fit into 22 Mins. It makes Seth Macfarlane look like he has no ideas

I honestly prefer Simpsons, American Dad, South Park and Futurama; All for different reasons. The Simpsons uses very interesting story lines in its older episodes. American Dad makes the use of its jokes without cutaway gags unlike its sister show. South Park takes the Mick out of current events in the funniest way possible. And Futurama is just generally funny

However, At least it's not The Cleveland Show, That is just dire!
 
Sam said:
You get the feeling that Matt Groening has respect for his characters, whereas Seth McFarlane would kill them all off for the sake of a gag.

I guess the fact that Groening based the show and the characters on where he grew up. He did an interview not long ago about it all. By the way, he's Bart. :p

Anyway, I find Family Guy to be like a bad fart joke. Fart jokes are bad all the time, (unless you're below the age of 6 or so) but Family Guy just isn't funny. At all. The jokes on that show are about as funny as getting punched in the face. The randomness provided the odd smirk in the first couple of episodes, but it quickly became tedious.
 
cool_boy_jon said:
I find that South Park is too rude and most if the jokes are not funny.
And I'll bite too.

South Park isn't about being rude. In fact, the reason it is rude is to make it accessible to the sort of simple minded people Family Guy attracts. It uses simple shock humour and vulgarity to mask and often strengthen its points, therefore rewarding people who pay attention and think about what they're watching, and the speed they can produce episodes makes it far more relevant when it comes to discussing issues and pop culture.

South Park is incredibly deep, relevant, smart, intelligent and funny. Sometimes even emotional. Occasionally all of these (watch the episode 'You're Getting Old'. Do it. Do it now.). It does have episodes, particularly very early episodes which have little or no point and are random and crude, but even most of these episodes still make some sort of commentary or send up a part of pop culture.

To say it's rude or offensive is plain stupid, as it's quite clear it's not to be taken at face value, especially characters like Cartman. It's obvious we're supposed to laugh at him, not with him. This is what a lot of people don't get. They think because he's a main character the creators are advocating racism, anti-Semitism or whatever it is this episode, but the point of him is to ridicule those views. The 'I've learnt something today' speeches make it quite clear that South Park isn't just some puerile, simple cartoon, but a masterpiece of social commentary, satire, parody and comedy.

Christ, even American Dad is far superior to Family Guy.
 
I like family guy BECUASE it's stupid and pointless. I laugh at it because it's pointless! :p
 
In fact, speaking of South Park, their episode where they discover how Family Guy write their jokes. I bet you it genuinely is like that.

I fully believe the cutaways are made by manatees.
 
Just as a wee point, has anyone here seen Ted yet? It's basically Family Guy in human form (with an animated bear) on screen as Seth McFarlane and Mila Kunis star, whilst cameo appearances from Patrick Warburton (Joe Swanson) and the recurring cutaway character of the foreign blonde guy who doesn't get English phrases are also there...

My point is that Seth directed it and is actually an example of him doing his usual Family Guy humour (yes, there's a couple of cutaways and spoof moments) but intertwining it with a story that was actually surprisingly heartwarming in places.
 
After seeing South Park for the first time a year or two ago, i didnt like it from the first episode.

To me, i didnt understand what was happening at all. I found the jokes boring and all the episodes were slow, and it seemed that nothing at all was happening apart from a few interesting parts. I also find the way the show is animated adds to the boringness of the show, the characters seem stiff. South park is either set outside, in school, or at home. I would like them to move around more.

The thing i love about Family Guy is that you dont know what to expect. When someone eventually dies, Death comes along and takes them away. I didnt expect that. When someones in court and having a battle, a cool aid jug smashes through the window and yells "Oh Yeah!" You cant help but chuckle or laugh at that.

I must admit, I do really like The Simpsons, but there's something about Family Guy that just makes it better than these shows. :-\
 
cool_boy_jon said:
South park is either set outside, in school, or at home. I would like them to move around more.

And Family Guy Isn't? EVERY Family Guy episode has them in Spooner Street or has them at the Drunken Clam. South Park is set "Outside, in school or at Home" Because that's what the plot is about. There's loads of South Park episodes that are set in different places. One example is the episode "Medicinal Fried Chicken", Which where half the episode takes place outside the Former KFC store, Or Cartman at a mansion running a Fried Chicken business (Paraday of Scarface)

I do think you need to watch more episodes before saying it has limited settings, You'd be surprised ::)
 
cool_boy_jon said:
After seeing South Park for the first time a year or two ago, i didnt like it from the first episode.

To me, i didnt understand what was happening at all. I found the jokes boring and all the episodes were slow, and it seemed that nothing at all was happening apart from a few interesting parts. I also find the way the show is animated adds to the boringness of the show, the characters seem stiff. South park is either set outside, in school, or at home. I would like them to move around more.

The thing i love about Family Guy is that you dont know what to expect. When someone eventually dies, Death comes along and takes them away. I didnt expect that. When someones in court and having a battle, a cool aid jug smashes through the window and yells "Oh Yeah!" You cant help but chuckle or laugh at that.

I must admit, I do really like The Simpsons, but there's something about Family Guy that just makes it better than these shows. :-\
You really need to watch more South Park. Really. The term "swing and-a miss" comes to mind.

As for Family Guy, if that is what happens, then it is expected. You know that death will appear when someone dies. As for Kool Aid, what's the point? It doesn't work as a cutaway, and it doesn't add to the narrative. Even more than the cutouts, Kool Aid, the chicken fights and that sort of stuff all says "We ran out of ideas for this scene, let's do something stupid and hope no one notices". Going back to your first post you suggest Family Guy is original, then say how people can die in an episode then be back to normal as if nothing happened, but how is that not stolen from South Park and Kenny?

In the words of Parker and Stone, "we just don't respect it in terms of writing".

To be fair, I once upon a time went through a brief period of enjoying Family Guy before I grew up and realised South Park is a peerless masterpiece.
 
On the point of limited scenarios for characters to appear in... Every TV show, cartoon or not does this. It provides familiarity and normality for the viewer and in the case of cartoons, surely saves on animation costs as backdrops don't need to be regularly redrawn.

Any television series drama, sitcom, cartoon or whatever will always feature three or four key locations which appear in nearly every episode.
 
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