The Big Picture: It Seems Today ...

[Jumplion]

I'm sort of half and half on Family Guy. I fell out of watching it a while ago, it was decent enough for me early on but it just got way too juvenile and violent for me. Not to say I can't handle my fair share of violence and fart jokes, it's just that it got a bit much for me and just made me roll my eyes at how predictable and crass it was.

I dunno, I think I dislike it for the same reasons you like it. Over and over again, Stewie is "lol, gay", Meg transcends being a doormat to being a literal punching bag, Lois is "lol, cray cray", Peter is "lol, retard", and Chris is Chris. It's extremely repetitive and boring, and after a while it just grinds on me. Basically, [img=http://static.fjcdn.com/large/pictures/fe/0d/fe0dc9_799124.jpg]this image[/img] sums up to an extent my feelings on Family Guy.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Wait, people compare this to Jersey Shore? Seriously? I mean, Family Guy is nothing special and I lost interest in it years ago, but Jersey Shore?
Come on, at least Family Guy has real writers working for it. Nothing with real writers could possibly be as bad as Jersey Shore.

 

[Shjade]

[I do, unless he says stay tuned after the show for a special announcement (like he did a few weeks ago on Escape to the movies) and it turns ou to be the same fucking promo I'd been seeing for the past to weeks here.

Yeah, that caught me the first time. After that, though, I realized if it were REALLY a "special announcement" of the sort that he knows his audience really wants to hear, that's usually the kind of thing he puts before the show rather than after.

 

[MaxwellMouse]

I do not like Family Guy but think Brain is a well done character although he feels out of place with the rest of the show.

 

[Link Satonaka]

I recently just watched all of family guy in reverse order. It started out as, I couldn't be bothered to figure out which episodes I had seen tireless reruns of so I just started at the latest... then I had nothing better to do and went down to episode one.

The show was definitely worse at the beginning- I love the newer episodes- hilarious and entertaining. At some point around season 3 I only kept watching for the sake completion. I will say that I dislike Brian's new persona to the extent that I might think his bland "father knows best" persona of season one was preferable, however I can't deny that the best episodes tend to be the ones centered around he and stewie. So I guess I just dislike episodes *about* brian (finding love, going to college, etc), but think he makes a fantastic team with stewie.

Regarding Futurama, it definitely isn't a holy grail of any kind. Let it be known that I really love the show- it's intelligent, funny, and very subtle. Its appeal isn't something that would be immediately perceptible. At least that was true of the earlier seasons- I don't catalog in which season I think each show starts to decline, but I can tell you that the decline is largely related to the huge change in Bender's character. I can't really describe what he used to be, but now he's just a generic jerk with predictable, unfunny commentary, only occasionally remembering that he has some half assed emotional development when it's built into the ep's plot.

Last season definitely had *something* wrong with it even if I can't articulate what it was. The inconsistency of Fry and Leela's relationship is particularly annoying though- it's as if the writers are trying to have their cake and eat it too. While they're technically "together", one of two things happens in each episode: 1) Leela is on the verge of breaking up with Fry and treating him like she treated him when they weren't an item. 2) The episode plays out with no reference to their relationship at all, as if they weren't dating. At least two of my friends think that "futurama isn't as good now that Fry and Leela are together, like what happened with The Office". Except for all intents and purposes, they aren't even together. Seems like the writers are trying to please two different crowds and failing at both.

This final season isn't *bad* so far, but it feels like tribute after tribute to all the memes the show has generated (self aware in a bad way), and I wouldn't recommend any of the episodes to someone just getting into the show. A good time to end I think.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

But Bob's Burgers? Does it somehow magically turn into not shit after the first season? I just don't see the appeal there. The only source of humour seems to be people talking loudly at the same time.

Pretty much yeah. There is an episode where he drives a cab in the first season and the style of humour seems to click. If you can track down that episode and watch it. It will give a good idea of why people like it. I mean there is still people shouting but it has gotten far less obnoxious. If I was showing it to anyone for the first time. I would just skip right to that episode.

 

[Kingjackl]

This is appropriate, since I've actually just gotten back into Family Guy recently. A lot of it's really dumb comedy, but that's still funny and perfect for when you don't really have any head in you to watch something smart and just want to relax and kill some time. My favourite episodes are the Brian and Stewie high concept episodes like the 'Road to...' specials or things like 'Yug Ylimaf' and 'Back to the Pilot'.

Also, apart from a few select turds like 'Not All Dogs Go to Heaven', it's not that bad as far as left-wing soapboxing goes. These days Brian is portrayed just as pathetically as the rest of the families, only with an extra dosage of arrogant pretentiousness.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

You still like Family Guy? Hey, it's your opinion and I respect that. (I still think Peter Griffin is a complete and utter asshole, though...)

As you might have guessed, I have a bit of a... complex relationship with Family Guy. I liked the pre-cancellation episodes and some of the post-cancellation episodes... but then they started using gross-out humor and mean-spirited jokes that turned me sour on the whole thing.

I do confess I love the Star Wars parodies, and some of the "Road to..." episodes (the best of which is without a doubt "Road to the Pilot", which is a funny sendoff of the very first episode - plus I love their take on the whole cutaway gag thing - plus a surprisingly ( though possibly unintentional) dilemma.

...Not sure how the Simpsons/Family Guy crossover is going to work out, though...

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

MovieBob takes us into one of his favorite television shows.

Just wanted to give you a little support on this one, Bob.

The Simpsons wore on me. So did South Park (even though I enjoy watching new episodes of South Park, and I love the Coon episodes).

Family Guy... doesn't. I enjoy it's snark and parody - particularly the self reflection and self parody that it gets into.

And I quite agree that seeing the characters go off the rails is one of its best aspects. Dial M for Meg putting her into a place of power is absolutely wonderful and hilarious.

I haven't given much look at the spin-offs. American Dad just... didn't click for me. However, after your comments this episode, I believe I'd like to dive into the Cleveland Show and see what that cast has to offer.

Thanks!

 

[scw55]

I enjoy family guy. I don't go out of my way to watch it... but if a friend is watching it on a device near me, or it's on TV when I am watching TV; I watch it.

 

[VulakAerr]

Struggle to understand the backlash against FG. Since coming back it's been frequently hilarious. SM has always said it's just about making people laugh. If you don't like the cut-aways then it's not the show for you but I for one find that the randomness makes me laugh way more easily than a standard sitcom would.

And, like him or loathe him, MacFarlane is just ridiculously talented. It's criminal how much talent he has for writing, animation, singing, voices, business management. The list just goes on. It's insane.

 

[Darth_Payn]

I actually don't like much of it past Season 3, but that's just me. I think Family Guy dropped off about the same time that American Dad started to pick up oddly enough. Though I wonder, what're your thoughts on Venture Bros.? Have you ever had the chance to see it? Despite being a pseudo cult hit, many people (myself included) consider it the current kingpin of western animation.

I'm pretty sure he likes it. He's used screenshots from the show from time to time in episodes of The Big Picture.

 

[walsfeo]

I'll try not to judge you Bob. It's hard, but I'll try.

What makes me chafe about the family guy is how every episode I've suffered through has been lowest common denominator crap. Yeah, there might be an amusing moment, but I've never seen one episode that I'd considered really good. Or rather the first episode I saw I thought was not horrible, but then the second episode had the same non sequitur crap. If it were the exception, and not the rule, it would be much more amusing.

Mostly though, I find the characters really irritating.

 

[WWmelb]

For my money Archer is the best animated series we have right now. Everything Adam Reed does just gets better and better with each passing season. Plus the ambiguous time period the show plays with is the perfect mix of good ol' fashion Cold War spy game with a dose of modern technology thrown in. The characters are amazing. I can't wait for the next season for some more Pam Poovey, I.S.I.S. agent of badass.

I second this notion. I see far less love for Archer on the interwebs than i thought i would. If peoples haven't seen it, i recommend it.


and on another note:

awww shitsnacks.

 

[Clankenbeard]

Mention of Bob's burgers, which is a great show, but no mention of Archer? Man I adore Archer. I can't get enough of it.

Seconded! The Archer/Bob's Burgers crossover in the Archer season opener was amazeballs. Who doesn't love <link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6YIP2pXtzI>McGuirk's voice? And let us not forget the three 2011 episodes of Archer episode with H. John Benjamin AND Patrick Warburton (as Rip Ripley) in the same conversations!

 

[SnakeoilSage]

I've always felt that this show serves us best by bringing forward something lesser known or often misunderstood and giving us a perspective that helps us to better appreciate it. That being said Family Guy has not gotten better as time has gone on, it has only ripened as a medium through which we see a quirky TV family gradually growing more and more cynical, dysfunctional and heartless, which is pretty much the same reaction people would have if they were forced to put up with Peter Griffin's shit every day. Perhaps unsurprisingly this is the same reaction many nurses feel having to live with aggressively difficult special needs patients.

So forgive me for saying so but jumping on your soapbox now, five years after it would have mattered to tout how much the show has somehow matured into something worth watching every week, seems really weak. I never loved the show, I've stopped hating it, and I've stopped caring about it or anything MacFarlane puts out, and at best I want these characters suffer horribly because I'm sick of them getting away with grotesque acts that they deserve to be punished for, but don't because that kind of unaccountability is supposed to be a punchline we laugh at instead of a painful truth that desperately needs addressing in the real world. And no, Peter punching Lois in the face and her just taking it are not satirical and poignant looks at the deploring realities of domestic violence, that's Seth saying "Now play a Tiny Turner song so we can remember how Ike hit her! It'll be hilarious!" Turning around and making an episode about the men killing an abusive husband only demonstrates that those kind of issues aren't funny and don't belong on an animated TV show.

If you want to bring this kind of thing to "The Big Picture" maybe it would be better to choose shows that have a place in the current zeitgeist. Family Guy is too recent to be nostalgic and too old to be relevant. Instead of poking fun at how Adventure Time or Futurama are these "untouchable" shows even as you pretend to be brave for admitting you like a show people have long since stopped caring about--like calling yourself a Pokemon fan a year after its original fanbase became adults--you can stand up and say "Fuck it, Futurama needed work and I'm sick of Adventure Time being called deep and philosophical when really it's just a laundry list of dramatic cliches stolen from shows like The Walking Dead but given to us through the non-offensive medium of a squiggly cartoon show."

 

[Reeve]

I've never watched an episode of Family Guy. I've only ever seen clips on YouTube that people have shown me. And Bob thinks his confession is controversial...

 

[MrMixelPixel]

Start... watching Bob's Burgers? Is that a joke? Is that some kind awful... sick... twisted joke? I can't believe he said that to me. I can't ,fucking, believe he said that to me.

Edit: One episode was enough to turn me off of the show. Perhaps my opinion isn't valid according to some. Oh well.