The Big Picture: It Seems Today ...
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
I watch pre-cancelled Family Guy and found it okay. Post-cancellation Family Guy, especially the later season, got way too preachy for me, and I stopped watching entirely. It just seemed like a giant soapbox for whomever was writing that day, and the humor that did exist wasn't enough for me to slog through it. I still watch American Dad sometimes, as that somehow got less preachy as time went on (to me, anyway).
I watched some of Bob's Burgers, mostly because of the reference to it on the first season 4 Archer episode.
I watched some of Bob's Burgers, mostly because of the reference to it on the first season 4 Archer episode.
Actually, I don't think that message of the episode with douche and turd sandwich was about "every side of every issue is the same etc". Message there was much more obvious than that. It was simply about 2004 election and that choosing neither of the candidates was totally valid option.
I like family guy sometimes. its got some good stuff, some bad stuff, but overall its enjoyable to me. However it does annoy me that it constantly takes on issues and paints them in only one light. When it comes to political/social commentary it is the writers choice to talk about the issues that they agree or disagree with but I just wish it was a little more even handed or tried to tackle an issue from both sides rather then the liberal one thats so prevalent in the shows current form. Specifically we got great characters of both Bushs and especially Clinton, I would love to see a silly Obama character next but given the shows history it seems like that might be a sacred cow
Luckily South parks still out there and they have always been (and I pray will continue to be) equal opportunity offenders.
Luckily South parks still out there and they have always been (and I pray will continue to be) equal opportunity offenders.
I'm still irritated about that, too. Family Guy seasons 1-4 all worked pretty well for me, since then it has gotten downhill. At least it feels so for my brother and me and since then, again we both feel that way, American Dad has gotten better and the Cleveland show as well. Don't see the reason for that though.The Gentleman said:
Are we all too smart to see that there are a lot of jokes in Family Guy which need a quite broad general knowledge to understand? I would even say, blasphemy to some I know, it has more complex jokes than the Simpsons but then again the Simpsons are far better in criticising todays problems.
The point of shock comedy is creating a situation so vile and unbelievable the only possible reaction is to laugh. Sort of like when you see somebody accidentally hit an old lady with a shopping cart. It's terrible, but there's something sort of funny about it, too.pearcinator said:
So the goal of the joke wasn't so much to "make fun of aids" as it was to create a shock that would get people to laugh.
Wait what? Family guy is a hated show? since when? I though they are pretty much on par with The Simpsons and South Park in terns of fandom. Sort of a middleground between the two in terms of substance anyway.
Personally, i watch it more than The Simpsons.
You want to see a show that really tarted off with a blast and is now so deep underwater even titanic cant beat it? Robot Chicken.
Personally, i watch it more than The Simpsons.
You want to see a show that really tarted off with a blast and is now so deep underwater even titanic cant beat it? Robot Chicken.
I enjoyed the show for a great many years and don't begrudge anyone who still watches it. However, I gave up on it myself a year or more ago because it felt like a lot of the jokes and gags were time fillers. Sight gags or crude noises that would drag on for way longer than they should have.
A good example: The Conrad Twitty joke. Started simple with maybe a 5 second clip then the joke is over. Then they made the joke again, and again, until one episode they play an entire song... Where's the joke here? They just wasted 2 minutes of at best a 19 minute show. Then they did it again with as Peter calls it "The gayest music video ever" Dancing In The Street, and they play the entire video.
It all just seems like they are in fact short on ideas and a lot of humor is stretched to fill time. Maybe it's gotten better since I haven't watched it in a season or two and maybe people find this stuff funny. Personally it was enough to kill my interest in the series.
A good example: The Conrad Twitty joke. Started simple with maybe a 5 second clip then the joke is over. Then they made the joke again, and again, until one episode they play an entire song... Where's the joke here? They just wasted 2 minutes of at best a 19 minute show. Then they did it again with as Peter calls it "The gayest music video ever" Dancing In The Street, and they play the entire video.
It all just seems like they are in fact short on ideas and a lot of humor is stretched to fill time. Maybe it's gotten better since I haven't watched it in a season or two and maybe people find this stuff funny. Personally it was enough to kill my interest in the series.
I didnt think Tosh.0 was that low viewed.
I dont mind family guy and i still tend to find myself tuning in if for nothing else than its the best show on at that time on sunday (when ink master isnt running), I just tend to think it all feels the same when you watch the three shows together and most of the episodes are enjoyable while watching but easily forgettable. I tend to come out of them switching the channel and five minutes later actively trying to remember what actually just happened in them. There's still gas in the tank but i dont think its going to try and take a run at the simpson's season record (like South park seems to be trying to now).
I dont mind family guy and i still tend to find myself tuning in if for nothing else than its the best show on at that time on sunday (when ink master isnt running), I just tend to think it all feels the same when you watch the three shows together and most of the episodes are enjoyable while watching but easily forgettable. I tend to come out of them switching the channel and five minutes later actively trying to remember what actually just happened in them. There's still gas in the tank but i dont think its going to try and take a run at the simpson's season record (like South park seems to be trying to now).
Yeah, liking Family Guy really wasn't something that earned someone scorn until Seth MacFarlene hosted the Oscars - he kind of invited all of the barrage of criticism he's gotten since then given he had an opening monologue that referenced George Cloony sleeping with a 9 year old.
I used to like Family Guy, but like a lot of other folks mentioned, there was just a point where it seemed like the show stopped trying. The jokes were rehashed or fell flat, the characters made even flatter, the humor got imbecilic, and the politics pushed got way to preachy. Toss in the fact that it seemingly got worse and worse with every passing season, and in spite of this, got two barely distinguishable spin offs and has episodes of each syndicated on at least four TV networks at any given moment, and a backlash was inevitable. It's telling that we've already seen Cleveland Show and American Dad canned and the backlash against Family Guy/MacFarlene is only growing stronger, given there are already calls to pull his sitcom from the air. The time between Ted and hosting the Oscars will likely prove the peak of MacFarlene's career.
Thing is, MacFarlene isn't without talent - one of my favorite cartoons as a kid, Johnny Bravo, had a heavy influence from him, and the early Family Guy stuff was utter brilliance. Problem was, once Family Guy got brought back, let alone become a billion dollar media franchise, he basically could do anything he wanted, and for lack of a better way of putting it, he got lazy. Maybe he's still got some brilliant work in him, but it's certainly not coming out in Family Guy.
I used to like Family Guy, but like a lot of other folks mentioned, there was just a point where it seemed like the show stopped trying. The jokes were rehashed or fell flat, the characters made even flatter, the humor got imbecilic, and the politics pushed got way to preachy. Toss in the fact that it seemingly got worse and worse with every passing season, and in spite of this, got two barely distinguishable spin offs and has episodes of each syndicated on at least four TV networks at any given moment, and a backlash was inevitable. It's telling that we've already seen Cleveland Show and American Dad canned and the backlash against Family Guy/MacFarlene is only growing stronger, given there are already calls to pull his sitcom from the air. The time between Ted and hosting the Oscars will likely prove the peak of MacFarlene's career.
Thing is, MacFarlene isn't without talent - one of my favorite cartoons as a kid, Johnny Bravo, had a heavy influence from him, and the early Family Guy stuff was utter brilliance. Problem was, once Family Guy got brought back, let alone become a billion dollar media franchise, he basically could do anything he wanted, and for lack of a better way of putting it, he got lazy. Maybe he's still got some brilliant work in him, but it's certainly not coming out in Family Guy.
I wouldn't avoid it on Bob's recommendation. I've seen a few eps, and they aren't awful. I got a few genuine chuckles out of it, but it certainly wasn't good enough for me to seek out more. I found it far more watchable than FG has been in the last 5 years. Do what you will, but you could be surprised if you keep your expectations low enough; Certainly lower than what Bob was trying to set us up for.templar1138a said:
In that case, my inclination has just been bumped up to "I'll watch it if someone else shows it to me."Signa said:
Good! That's exactly where I'm at with it too. Now that we've discussed this, I probably should go seek it out. I'm in a drought of good shows right now, and Bob's Burgers has a chance to fill that hole. It might be worth it just for H. Jon Benjamin, and pretending he's Archer with amnesia, like in that one Archer episode.templar1138a said:
