I didn’t mean to imply that it was - SHREK is truly awful, FAMILY GUY is a good show (but not classic).
The funniest bits of the show for me are Brian’s dry manner ("You know, Peter there’s, uhh… it-it’s just easier to call you stupid." or Stewie’s Victorian English tastes ("No, no, no! When you read FAUST you’re supposed to do Mefistofeles in a scary voice! Like this."
But the unceasing, unnessecary pop culture references never cease to bother me. They’re handled with little deft or subtlety and come across as the writers spitballing various random memories from their childhoods ("Hey, guys! Remember that film LOGAN’S RUN?.."
Originally Posted by Charles B FAMILY GUY lucked out with emerging when The Simpsons started to really suck, and people were crying out for a replacement.
This is based on what, really? I’m not attacking, I just don’t see the correllation between the two besides being cartoons based on families.
Pop culture references aren’t always bad. I don’t really give a crap if some kid 20 years from now doesn’t know what “Three’s Company” was. I know what it is, & it’s funny. Besides, often times, these references aren’t the jokes but merely used as props, such as when Peter is watching Three’s Company while Lois is getting sick in the bathroom; three’s company wasn’t the joke, Peter’s actions were. The culture references are just little nods to various things from our past, they’re not the heart of the show.
Family Guy has been so loved for so long, that people were waiting for something to rip him down for.
It happened to Kevin Smith. I thought Jersey Girl was a really nice movie but he was on top of fan cliques for so long, that people were ready to tear him down.
It happened to Tarantino in a smaller way after Jackie Brown.
People seem to be waiting for a person who reaches high levels of popularity to slip a little so they can tear him down.
American Dad was not the best pilot - it was not even close - but the level of hate that is being thrown at it seems a little overblown.
Were you guys watching the same show as me? I recently got all three seasons of Family Guy on DVD, and I’ve been watching them almost non stop. It’s actually quite obvious that this show has almost EXACTLY the same structure as Family Guy has. It hits the same notes, and goes for the same jokes. (many of which were probably written for Family Guy before it got cancelled) Its basically the same show.
What this means is that all the people who were recently lauding Family Guy and are now expressing their hatred for American Dad are fucking hipsters.
Originally Posted by Jacob Singer I love Family Guy (and it seems to be a fairly polarizing show)
I’d say the majority of its target audience love it - the DVD sold huge. It’s usually just me and Charles who keep saying “it’s not that great” (or “it sucks” in Charles’ case.)
The comparisons of Smith and McFarlane are apt, but criticism of both is justified. “American Dad” proves how unwilling McFarlane is to exit out of his comfort zone (either from fear of failure or lack of talent - I say the latter), just as Smith does with his films.
Originally Posted by Agent Back Smith What this means is that all the people who were recently lauding Family Guy and are now expressing their hatred for American Dad are fucking hipsters.
That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve read here in a while.
Family Guy was amusing while it was on, but I wasn’t clamoring for new episodes.
American Dad is like Family Guy without any subtlety or nuance. Not saying FG had a lot of that, but there was some of it there. It’s like a committee driven thing pretending to be like Family Guy. Every joke was obvious, every character was a retread, and the pacing and plotting are what we’ve seen a million times before. The goldfish was ridiculously stupid. So was the alien. The dad was an unlikeable, one-note character, so were the kids. The mom may as well not have existed. I can’t remember any of the characters’ names, that’s the kind of impression they left. There was no heart to this show, nothing at all to give it any meat. It was just lame jokes and crass attempts at shocking the audience. It’s the kind of humor that stupid people find subversive. It’s Hot Topic shit.
Originally Posted by Werbal_Kint The comparisons of Smith and McFarlane are apt, but criticism of both is justified. “American Dad” proves how unwilling McFarlane is to exit out of his comfort zone (either from fear of failure or lack of talent - I say the latter), just as Smith does with his films.
I think you make a good point.
If anyone’s interested, here’s a link to The Onion AV interview with Seth MacFarlane.
Originally Posted by Harry Mason I think I should save everyone a lot of time buy saying, “Really? Then I guess you haven’t seen (insert various shows here)”
You know, whether you love Family Guy or detest it, you have to admit that the show’s pacing and tone at least feel *original*. And that’s what makes American Dad so disappointing, because it’s so obviously pandering to Family Guy fans and doing such a terrible job of it. And the political humor is awful. Really, really bad. I mean, subtlety has never been McFarlane’s strong suit, but this was just ridiculously bad.
or Stewie’s Victorian English tastes ("No, no, no! When you read FAUST you’re supposed to do Mefistofeles in a scary voice! Like this."