The Big Picture: It Seems Today ...

[nonl33t m4st3r]

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.

 

[Miroluck]

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.

 

[Gamer_152]

Good episode Bob. Personally I think Family Guy is a bit hit-and-miss. Jokes can feel forced, carry on for too long, or just be kind of gross, but it has its moments and there are absolutely a talented team of people behind the show.

 

[Windcaler]

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.

 

[Hieronymusgoa]

Wait, Family Guy hating is a thing?

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.
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.

 

[Lilani]

It is true that anything can be made funny...but there is mature and immature comedy. I have a feeling that if I farted in a microphone you would shit yourself laughing. Family Guy is mostly immature comedy...for people who don't have a keen sense of humour.

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.

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.

 

[gridsleep]

Don't care. Don't watch any of them.

 

[Strazdas]

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.

 

[AgentNein]

ZOMG I AGREE SO MUCH BOB.

I really thought the show was pretty weak when it started, and when it came back? It infected this family of stereotypes with this wonderful absurdity.

It had always been there, in these shy hints, but I don't think it ever fully reared it's head til the show's resuscitation.

To paraphrase someone somewhere, "I was cancelled before, and being cancelled don't scare me no more". To visit Mcfarlan's intentions, I think he came back to the show pretty fearless in where he was willing to take these stories. I for one enjoy it.

Although neither American Dad nor The Cleveland Show have grown on me for some reason. To me it feels like they got stuck with the B writing team. Not sure how it actually is but that's how I've felt.

I won't defend the celeveland show but for American Dad are you watching the old ones or the more modern ones. Because IMO the early ones were terrible but the later ones were pretty good.

Their Christmas specials are fantastic.

I might have to take you up on this, I watched the first season and haven't been back since.

 

[RavenTail]

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.

 

[glider4]

Seriously? that is your big thing? You like family guy? Big freaking deal. I don't understand what the big deal is.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Who knows?!

 

[emeraldrafael]

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).

 

[Korsgaard]

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.

 

[Signa]

Also, before watching this I was simply uninclined to watch Bob's Burgers. Now I'm going to try not to.

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]

Also, before watching this I was simply uninclined to watch Bob's Burgers. Now I'm going to try not to.

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.

In that case, my inclination has just been bumped up to "I'll watch it if someone else shows it to me."

 

[Signa]

Also, before watching this I was simply uninclined to watch Bob's Burgers. Now I'm going to try not to.

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.

In that case, my inclination has just been bumped up to "I'll watch it if someone else shows it to me."

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.

 

[MrRabbit]

couldent agree with you more Bob on family guy . and yes bobs burgers is great

 

[Lilani]

And I might be inclined to give the post-cancellation show a chance, except for several things.
1. Bob, you liked The Hangover. Hell, you loved The Hangover. When I saw it, it was definitely a set of the worst 90 minutes of my life and thinking about it still makes me bitter.
2. Your butt-hurting over Star Trek: Into Darkness and ignoring/insulting what made it good made me lose faith in your ability to objectively critique. I'm convinced that your opinions are ruled by your nostalgia.
3. All the traits of the director's works that you listed are unappealing or disgusting to me.

Also, before watching this I was simply uninclined to watch Bob's Burgers. Now I'm going to try not to.

I also love the post-cancellation shows a lot more than the first episodes, and for a lot of the reasons Bob listed. The characters feel more rounded and the humor they bring feels a lot more grounded in their characters. They aren't just sock puppets the jokes are acted through, their personalities and chemistries produce the comedy. And I find myself liking the show for more than just the humor. The Brian and Stewie episodes are my favorites just because I love the pair so much. The Road to Multiverse episode and Brian and Stewie from the latest season are definitely my favorite episodes. Brian and Stewie probably isn't the "funniest" episode, but Macfarlane made the episode sort of as an experiment to see if the two could hold an episode on their own. And they do, and I think it's interesting where things go.

Also, we have a lot in common as far as tastes. I also don't like the Hangover or comedies like it, I enjoyed Star Trek: Into Darkness[footnote]Though I'll say I agree with Bob in that pretty much the entire cast was just retreading the lessons learned from the previous movie, and there needed to be more Simon Pegg.[/footnote], and I don't remember any of the directors Bob listed in the video but I'm not one to get hung up on directors anyway (unless their names are Hayao Miyazaki or Peter Jackson).

 

[McMarbles]

Wouldn't say I hate family guy as I'm just sick of the whole animated sit-com thing. What the Flintstones and the Simpsons brought to animation has pretty much been done to death on both extremes. Kinda of on the level of non-animated sit-coms on their overplay (though animated ones are slightly more tolerable).

Now if you REALLY want to piss people off say you like the Big Bang Theory.

I... kinda like "The Big Bang Theory".

...ironically! I, uh, like it ironically! Yeah, that's it!

 

[CheckD3]

Whoa...hold on...Tosh.0 is hated? Huh, I find that enjoyable.

I like Family Guy in that it's something fun to watch. When I'm playing Skyrim or CoD and want to listen to actual music, I'll pop it on Netflix or whatever. I don't hate it, don't overly love it, but I do enjoy it. Maybe I'm away from the internet too much, cause I didn't realize it was that hated. The more you know.