Family Guy -- Why The Hate?

TELEVISION Specific Shows
1

Not my question…but one I think deserves to be answered by a larger range of opinions than those traipsing the (non-shill) Family Guy thread.

The original post:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jcassady So there’s another television thread regarding which is the better show, the Simpsons or Futurama. Someone brought up Family Guy and promptly got shouted down as if he said Tim Tuffle was the reason the '86 Mets won the World Series. Posters stated that Family Guy was not in the same league as Futurama and the Simpsons. While they didn’t give reasons, (which was understandable as the thread wasn’t about Family Guy) I’m curious why Family Guy is not viewed as a great show. Now granted, as a matter of preference, I’d rather watch Family Guy than Futurama or the Simpsons. However, that’s a matter of pure subjectivity and personal preference. So to those who believe that Family Guy isn’t in their league, why not? I’M NOT SAYING THAT IT IS OR IT ISN’T, BUT I WANT TO KNOW WHY SOME BELIEVE IT DEFINITELY ISN’T. Hopefully this question won’t be followed by, “Because it just is,” and I apologize for the CAPS, but all it takes is for someone to read the question wrong and the thread goes off on an unintended tangent.

And I answer:

I watch and love all three shows. While the primary aim of all three shows is laughter, no one can say Family Guy’s humor is anything less than non-sequitur. It relies on absurdity, skits out of left field, flashbacks…in a word: easy humor. Regardless of that, it is still funny as hell.

However, it’s still cheap. There’s no beating heart with Family Guy. There’s nothing under the surface. There’s no enjoyment to be earned, nothing that aspires to be more than a good belly laugh on a Sunday night. And it’s a little tragic because it could. There’s an episode in season 3 where Brian takes care of an elderly woman who turns out to be a former opera singer. I won’t run through the entire story, but it ends on two shockingly poetic moments. A poetic moment they interrupt in the most callous way imaginable.

And that’s a prime example of why Family Guy isn’t in the same league. It settles for being easy and obvious, even when the opportunities are there to be more. The characters are more like vessels for different types of humor rather than characters to actually care for. To its credit, though, it frees the show up to do some truly absurd humor.

The Simpsons (at its best) and Futurama, on the other hand, laid the foundation early for characters and worlds that would endure. The laughs that come from those two shows primarily come from them alone, not from the culture outside the show. The laughs that don’t are less, and especially on Futurama, which uses its pop culture references far more intelligently, and without defying the boundaries of the show. They work because of what they did with the reference, not because they used the reference.

In short, while there are more laughs to be found on Family Guy, the ones that come on The Simpsons and Futurama are far more satisfying. When you’renot laughing at something on Family Guy, the show’s dead space. When you’re not laughing at something on Futurama, chances are, it’s integral to where the show’s going. More often than not, that place turns out to be something wonderful.

Family Guy can’t touch that level of involvement, doesn’t want to, and that’s fine. But it is keeping the show from being something more than what it is.

But that’s just me. Post away, Merrill–er, Chewers.

2

I think it’s over exposure. Fans of adult swim saw it every damn night when there weren’t that many episodes in rotation to begin with. That and everyone quotes the shit out of it. Plus, it’s no longer underground so you got those people pissed off. I still think it’s a damned funny show.

3

It’s just not that good or funny. It’s pop culture gag after pop culture gag, and most of them miss. The characters are completely paper thin, and the plots are just excuses for more pop culture gags.

4

A lot of what you’re saying is correct Crow but the fact that “Family Guy” is just going for laughs is what I like about it. Maybe I see it that way because there are a lot of current live action TV shows that provide me with strong storylines and interesting characters so that isn’t something I really look for out of a half hour animated comedy.

I’ll state again what I said in the “Family Guy” thread and goes along with what Soy is saying about how “Family Guy’s” resurgance has hurt the show with those who hate anything that is mainstream. When it was first on people would always gripe about how FOX was screwing with it and then when it was cancelled its cult audience was even more angry. But now that its back, is watched by more people than ever, and has a mini-“Simpsons” merchandise boon it has probably turned some of the original fans away who were happier when they could claim it as an underdog show.

5

You’re calling out Family Guy for not being something it never even remotely pretended to be. Skewering the poetic moment with the inappropriate? That’s Family Guy.

6

No, I’m calling it out for not being funny.

7

I believe he was talking to Crow.

8

Oh. I’m sick. Cut me some slack. I can’t be expected to follow the threads of conversations.

9

Humor is subjective. What is entirely unfunny to one person is easily the funniest thing another person has ever seen.

That said, I think Family Guy is an entertaining show, but it’s most definitely not on the same “level” as either Simpsons, when it was at its peak, or Futurama - but few shows are. No doubt Family Guy’s primary, and sometimes seemingly only, objective is to get laughs, and I’m okay with that. The episodes lose a great deal of their edge, however, upon repeat viewings, where as Futurama holds enough poignant and poetic moments to still be enjoyable on repeat viewings, and good episodes of Simpsons are as well, thanks to solid writing and a world that was just simply fun to see.

I think Family Guy is derivative, often too lowbrow for it’s own good, and I can’t watch an episode more than a handful of times before I start to get bored with it, but it’s still a good show, and funny.

10

It’s a bunch of easy shots and poor humour, and like Brad said, simply isn’t very funny. Which is why it’s NOWHERE near the league of The Simpsons, Futurama, or even Doug.

11

Man.. don’t fucking bring Doug into this.

12

I’m a non-fan. i’ve watched a few episodes and always walked away wondering why I did. There’s no satisfaction for me. If I chuckle it’s because the humor is so random as to catch you off guard.

The thing is, it’s a TV show about TV. Not about the TV industry or people who watch a lot of TV- it’s just a big wacky collection of everything that’s been on TV in the last 20 years through recycled plots, uninspired characters and those goddamned pop culture references. I don’t mind pop culture references usually, but the show relies on them so heavily that most of the running time simply wouldn’t exist without them.

I mean, if people are cracking up every time a transformers character shows up for no reason or Peter flashes back to a movie from the 80’s, then it’s no wonder other tired shit like the phrase “Houston, we have a problem” are still getting a laugh.

13

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14

“He’s running into the James Woods!”

Brilliant.

15

I always compare Family Guy vs. Futurama to Shrek vs. Toy Story. Shrek was a decent movie the first time you saw it b/c the jokes were fresh and funny and you enjoyed seeing what fairy tale was referenced next. However, when you watched the movie a 2nd or 3rd time, the jokes had been worn out and you were left with a movie with a boring story and old jokes. I enjoy Family Guy. I watch it most Sundays and enjoy it. However, if I watch it over and over again, the jokes grow old and the stories are boring and merely set holders for the jokes. Futurama (or Simpsons or even Arrested Development for that matter) doesn’t have the bizzar humor, but it tells a great story and I can watch an episode repeatedly and still enjoy the story as well as the jokes. It’s that kind of love that the creators put into a show that makes me miss it when it’s gone rather then the “oh well, it had a good run” feeling I got when Family Guy was taken off.

16

All the references are 10 years old. Why make a Grizzly Adams joke in the 21st century?

17

Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf All the references are 10 years old. Why make a Grizzly Adams joke in the 21st century?

It’s the knee jerk nastalga reference laugh. It’s the reason why if you make a “Legends of the Hidden Temple” reference or “Captain N”, most teens will laugh automatically and say “ha I remember that. Jeez, it’s been like 10 years since I’ve seen that show”.

18

I will say this, at times the jokes are just imitations of what occured before.

For example that episode where Stewie works (becomes a slave) for Disney. It has a bit where they reference Temple of Doom and its just point blank what occured in Temple of Doom, its not funny, its just Stewie dressed like the Asian kid from the movie with a character from the movie chasing them in a cart.

Now there was a episode where Chris goes to an island, they make their escape via Raiders of the Ark (the bit where Indy says to get the plane ready and jumps in before being arrowed to death). Instead of just using that they also add a joke about about how Meg didn’t make it.

You can’t just imitate something you got to do something with it.

19

I agree with most of the points that have been made about the show, but I particularly applaud the comment that it has little rewatch value. That’s the bottom line for me. I can watch Futurama’s Luck of the Fryish repeatedly and enjoy it every time, because there are actual characters moving through a real story. A typical Family Guy episode might be hilarious once, but once you’ve seen it, there’s no chance of shock value or left-field surprise, so the jokes simply don’t work again. There must always be new episodes for it to continue to be effective.

Plus, a talking baby OR a talking dog would be desperate comedy, but I could live with it. Both? That’s really desperate.

20

I can watch Family Guy episodes (and I do) over and over again. I love the show and it ranks as one of my favorite shows on TV today.

I really like Futurama too. I think it is a very smart, funny show - but it is completely different than Family Guy. You really can’t compare the two because they are completely different shows (except for the animation). I really hope it is brought back.

Simpsons. It has it’s moments. Classic Simpson episodes were great. I can see comparing it to Futurama because of the creative team.

If I rank them, I would go

  1. Family Guy - just because I love it so much. People say it is not funny, but I laugh out loud at Family Guy a lot more than I do any other show on TV. It is very funny to me.
  2. Futurama - It is just so smart and creative. Whenever I catch it on, I watch it. I have not bought the DVDs yet, so I do not watch it as much as Family Guy (as I own all three sets and the movie on DVD).
  3. Simpsons - It is just not as good as it used to be. Sorry.

Just as a point of referance, I also like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Harvey Birdman as well. I guess I like my pop culture references (Family Guy and Birdman) and random humor (Family Guy and ATHF). I just like to laugh a lot and Futurama is not a show that makes me laugh a lot, although it does impress me a great deal with it’s stories.

All three of the shows are good though.