Why Family Guy kicks ass

Mitsurugi CP · Post by **Mitsurugi CP** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 12:53 am

Side discussion continued from this thead.

So why is family guy great? It is comedy gold. Sure, you can try to knock family guy for using the same style of cutaway humor, but how is it any different from Chris Rock relying on racial jokes or Stephen Colbert relying on tongue-in-cheek political humor or Frasier relying on witty, biting, intellectual banter or Monty Python's use of surreal humour and British working class stereotypes? Family Guy fills a niche in the comedy world that no one has really been entirely successful at filling since "The Critic", which utilized this unpredictable, erratic style of humor minimally. It's funny because while we expect something to come out of nowhere, we don't know WHAT it is or WHERE it's going to come from. We just know that SOMETHING is coming.

So maybe you don't like the particular brand of humor that characterizes Family Guy. That's fine, but don't criticize them for relying on it too much, because nearly every comedy show or comedian has some kind of gimmick or style of humour or subject they are known for exploiting. So if you're going to criticize one show for this, you need to be consistent and criticize every other comedy troup and show for being guilty of the same reliance.

Brody · Post by **Brody** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 2:45 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C65G5mm-17M

This is one (of many) of my favorite excerpts. I think the body language Stewie gives in aggravation of the situation is something McFarlane pulls off really well. The little things in his reaction, not responding to any of the guesses and just diligently drawing more to try and resurrect the right guess, slamming his head on the table when time is up, and finally throwing his arm up into the air to shed his role in the entire experience coupled with his harsh verbal reaction- thats what strikes me down everytime.

That's just Stewie, the other characters each exhibit their own stereotypically uncharacteristic behavior that really sell the delivery of a self contained short lived joke. Back 938745 of these up back to back while loosely conjoining them with a liberal plot and you have FG gold.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 12:05 pm

To be honest, I've never really watched much of Family Guy, but from what I've seen, I can't at all make out why it's so popular.
It just seems to be a bunch of seemingly random gags that more often than not totally miss the humour mark as far as I'm concerned.

Endless-Rain · Post by **Endless-Rain** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:37 pm

It was alright until season 4 where it was just a collection of pop culture references.

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:42 pm

Never found it funny tbh, Futurama for me plz

Endless-Rain · Post by **Endless-Rain** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:46 pm

Calbrena wrote:Never found it funny tbh, Futurama for me plz

Agreed

Cant wait for new episodes tbh

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:42 pm

Trust me, there are many shows that fill the niche of random humor much more nicely.

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:57 pm

http://tvlinks.voodeedoo.org/index.html

Quality varies from rather good to quite iffy.

But it's my favorite site considering Bittorent hates me and I have no more HDD space.

Brody · Post by **Brody** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:02 pm

FG isnt in the business of doing things nicely.

tv.com
Look comedy is like wine, everyone has their own taste and preference. But just the same if someone were to say Brunello is shit, Ill be there to let them know their palette is off.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:17 pm

Yeah and Dat Phan won Last Comic Standing. You know what that makes me think? It's certainly not, "Hey maybe he actually is funny." More like "people are fucking morons."

Brody · Post by **Brody** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:28 pm

It makes me think "People on reality shows are oxygen thieves, much like the people who watch them."

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:47 pm

Hey! Some of the comedians on that show were actually funny (like two). I don't generally watch reality TV and in fact the only reason I even watched that show was because I was at home and it was already on. Bite me.

Brody · Post by **Brody** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:53 pm

exhibit b

shmack · Post by **shmack** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 10:30 pm

I don't like Family Guy. Why? Because I can't STAND Peter. He's just a stupid twat and I want to put him in an idiot village where he can't pass his idiocy on to the greater populace.

I don't care that they cross the lines- I love South Park, and they cross lines we didn't even know were there. It's the difference between a main character (or characters) who are ignorant and those who are just plain stupid. The South Park kids are naive and innocent (to a degree) while Peter is just a fucking idiot.

Ok, I'll stop ranting now.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 10:41 pm

Brody wrote:FG isnt in the business of doing things nicely.

tv.com
Look comedy is like wine, everyone has their own taste and preference.

Yes, but Wine from the shit bin is always shit.

shmack · Post by **shmack** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:46 pm

Exactly, this wine is so cheap, so old, and so fucking corked that it's useless even for vinegar.

Brody · Post by **Brody** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 3:35 am

In the meantime the Wine Spectator gives this cheap, old , fucking corked wine a 9.2 Best Buy Rating.

Lap · Post by **Lap** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 2:05 pm

shmack wrote:I don't like Family Guy. Why? Because I can't STAND Peter. He's just a stupid twat and I want to put him in an idiot village where he can't pass his idiocy on to the greater populace.

I don't care that they cross the lines- I love South Park, and they cross lines we didn't even know were there. It's the difference between a main character (or characters) who are ignorant and those who are just plain stupid. The South Park kids are naive and innocent (to a degree) while Peter is just a fucking idiot.

Ok, I'll stop ranting now.

Sort of what I wanted to say. I do find jokes in Family Guy funny, I even re-watch a few episodes because they are just so, but they are only a few episodes. Brian is fantastic but they really messed it up with Peter. For show such as Family Guy (especially with it being the title et al), you must be able to like the main character, and you can't in this. Peter's presence is annoying and I find myself wanting more of the side characters and Brian (every second he isn't there is a second wasted).

Why do people like The Simpsons? Why do I continue to like it even though it's gone downhill in recent seasons? Not because it's the funniest thing in the world, but because Homer is a motherfucking legend.

shmack · Post by **shmack** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 5:00 pm

Brody wrote:In the meantime the Wine Spectator gives this cheap, old , fucking corked wine a 9.2 Best Buy Rating.

People don't usually go out of their way to rate things they don't like. Not a very statsitcally sound rating system, frankly.

Anyway, people will always buy the cheap stuff because they can't invest in a decent year. They will always make screw-top wines for the white-trash among us.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:08 pm

I can no longer think of wine without thinking of the terrible wine we got from Tale of india a couple of months back

Brody · Post by **Brody** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:59 pm

shmack wrote:
Brody wrote:In the meantime the Wine Spectator gives this cheap, old , fucking corked wine a 9.2 Best Buy Rating.
People don't usually go out of their way to rate things they don't like. Not a very statsitcally sound rating system, frankly.

Anyway, people will always buy the cheap stuff because they can't invest in a decent year. They will always make screw-top wines for the white-trash among us.

People who are in the business of rating products do so to aid others in their decisions and bolster the fanbase. Most of the time the product is new and untested to the person rating it, so they don't know if they like it or not. And if ppl dont rate things they dont like we wouldnt be having this discussion right now, Id just be sitting here w/CP saying back and forth to eachother how much we like FG.

It is true that there will always be a market with the bottom dollar customer. However, screw-top wines are not white trash. Over 10% of wine production is lost to cork taint, causing many wineries and vineyards to switch to the screwcap. This alternative method fails about 0.5% compared to the latter. Prices do not lower from a wine that has switched its sealing process, and alot of the leading wineries are adopting this method. To think otherwise is like becoming the feces that is produced when shame eats stupidity.

Calbrena · Post by **Calbrena** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 12:39 am

I'm sure screwcaps would make little Char happy

Whisp · Post by **Whisp** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:42 am

ya gotta love Family guy, stewie is my favorite!!!!!

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:14 am

Everybody loves Family Guy...