Family Guy

Don't get me wrong, Family Guy has had it's moments but overall the show is effing retarded. It may have to do with the fact that the creator, Seth, was trying to make another Simpsons. It's unoriginal. So the plot and main characters are basically the same. He takes a lot of classic scenes and jokes and makes them dumber. And it's so obvious! When ever one of his characters refer to a past event or moment(w/e) they just cutaway to from the main plot to a whole scene from an old episode or something stupid and random. Like they do in every episode. They do it all the time just to fill up the episode. It isn't clever like the Simpsons Ex: In an older episode Homer was looking through his closet and found his Mr. Plow jacket while searching for something else. Why do they do the same thing in every episode? Because that's what makes up the episodes. They add a crappy plot and 15 minutes of cutaway jokes. I know some fanboys are going to get all defensive over their favorite show. I am not attacking Family Guy, I'm just expressing my opinions and why I don't like the show. They try to do outrageous and ridiculous things like the stuff in the Simpsons but fail. They're characters are the same and don't vary like everyone in the Simpsons. Every episode= Same jokes and similar plots to previous. Not clever, smart or original. Not classic material. Yes, I know it's one of the most popular shows on today, doesn't mean it's good. Many people watch it because they don't have to think about the jokes, they are in your face. You have have to be smart to get the jokes in the Simpsons, not saying like a genius or anything like that. I'm not saying Family Guy hasn't made me laugh every once in a while.

I was bored and felt like ranting. Feel free to share your opinions on Family Guy and my rant. If this is in the wrong section please let me know.

It is like they took South Park and the Simpsons and blended them into a glorious thing that combines the worst of both.

Exactly.

On the comparison to The Simpsons: it was never intended to copy it. In fact, Peter is based off of Ralph Kramden from The Honeymooners and the original shorts (where Peter is named Larry and is shorter and thinner) are nothing like The Simpsons (they also show that Mac Farlane can in fact draw).

You have to admit that the similarities really can't be ignored.

edited 2nd May '11 11:15:14 PM by FallenLegend

INB 4 Electivirus

Also, I agree with the OP. Though the show doesn't offend me personally, it very much insults my intelligence as a viewer.

Regarding OP's question: yes.

I am one of the few on TV Tropes who still enjoys Family Guy.

Probably because I grew up with Family Guy and identify more with it then The Simpsons, but hey, your opinion is absolute, amirite?

I think they're more hit and miss, where the funny stuff is REALLY hilarious and the unfunny is excruciating.

I say Buzz Killington needs to have his own spinoff instead of The Cleveland Show. He would live next door to Phineas and Barnaby, and they would all have old timey adventures and occasionally go up against Peter's evil twin Thaddeus Griffin.

Now I can tell why it's supposedly been difficult for me to enjoy it, especially after coming across an entry on the Troper Tales page for Fan Hater that reads, "Woe betide anyone who likes Family Guy. According to the haters, it's nothing more than a poorly made ripoff of The Simpsons with random jokes written by manatees." Pardon me if I'm sounding judgmental, but I often tend to think those people might've been brainwashed by the "Cartoon Wars" episode of South Park and happen to prefer that over Family Guy, although I've gained interest in the former a few years after the latter.

I don't see how it's really a Simpsons ripoff. It were like The Simpsons, maybe it would be good...

Old Simpsons or New Simpsons?

Because New Simpsons is arguably worse.

Family guy isn't even a good show to begin with, Seth can't even draw for entertainment and he just does this show just for profits. When Family Guy started out, similarites to The Simpsons arise due to similar writing in the episodes. There was a video on youtube that had compared certain scenes from The Simpsons to Family Guy. Although your going to need a whole lot of luck finding it(provided if its still on youtube). Seth isn't even a cartoonist in my book, he's dirt and will forever remain as dirt.

Money, Dear Boy is on him very heavily, and it isn't hard to figure out that it is. Since he's done the same thing three times. This guy just wants to screw up the animation industry more that what it has been going through for TV. Hell if actually sticked with Larry and Steve without the uncalled for pop culture, swearing, and musical numbers you would probably get a decent cup of tea compared to this crap. Seth is just leaving good cartoonists(Ralph Bakshi, John Kricfalusi, among others) out of work because the studios don't want good animation. They just want shitty animation like Seth's crap.

If Seth was a singer with his own band I would have given him more of a chance, he looks like he would have been better off as a singer. Hell Audio Erotica sums him up perfectly.

Family Guy USED to be good.

It USED to be funny.

Then Seth Let his writers insert their political and Anti-Religious bullshit into the show for some ungodly asinine reason.

And now you have the abomination that is modern Family Guy.

Like a few others, I'm under the assumption that Seth is letting Family Guy waste away and fail so he can focus on American Dad, so I don't think he's talentless. Besides having some similar elements, his three shows are still pretty distinct in terms writing. He just wants to move on from Family Guy. Or I could be wrong and it could be the each show's other writers and not Seth himself causing most of this.

Anyway, yeah, Family Guy is pretty bad now. The old episodes were better.

edited 3rd May '11 6:35:12 AM by StarOutlaw

Pretty much this, yeah.

It's not that there are so many similarities to The Simpsons or South Park. In fact, the humor is very different from The Simpsons. A lot of those complaints have died down.

But it's just that lately the show has assumed that very harsh, cruel things are funny, as if it's trying to pick a fight with the viewer!

Case in point: just this past Sunday, FOX aired the rerun of the episode where Brian gets his novel published and Stewie becomes his publicist. What in the HECK were they thinking, thinking that story was supposed to be funny?!? Peter was only in one scene and had two lines. Okay, Brian's horrible at writing. We get it. It's a one-note joke. Don't try to spend an entire episode humiliating him into something he right out stated in the beginning that he didn't want to do (publish a book when he clearly understands no one likes him), and then have some other character convince him to do it within seconds! Has he no pride?! Does he learn anything!? Nevermind now how Brian used to be my favorite character! No, no, I WANT to see him crash and burn in front of live-action hosts for 3 minutes and just let the status quo revert to the way it was... just like every single ending of the previous episodes! Brian just up and becomes a selfish celebrity without any foreshadowing that it was going to happen, and fires Stewie. How is that funny?!! This story won't appeal to anyone except authors who haven't published a book!

edited 3rd May '11 7:38:18 AM by kyun

I think the opening of It's A Trap summed the situation up pretty well: "Look, just do me a huge favor and lower your expectations, okay?"

Wow, looks like people who are deeply attached with their knowledge of the Seven Deadly Sins want to lampshade them whenever they notice others possibly committing at least one of them, amirite?

edited 6th May '11 12:16:23 PM by fungal88

I don't get the complaint of family guy ripping off simpsons when both of them have the same formula of your standard sitcom.

The first couple of series of Family Guy were good, but it's gone majorly downhill. The last time I saw it, it was as bad as South Park.

(For the record, I haven't seen "Cartoon Wars").

The show is definitely hit or miss. I mean, it has its moments. To me, I mostly find the cutaway gags and vague pop culture references the best part of the show. Most of them are pretty clever as standalone gags. The plots, on the other hand could use some work. They seem to be trying too hard to cross the line into controversial territory. Also, the fact that the characters have gone through much flanderization hasn't helped either.

That's pretty much how I feel about it. Although some people might expect me to go fanboyish to an extent where I might end up saying He Panned It, Now He Sucks!, I can't. I'm too nice. Even if I do feel shocked whenever I come across any negative comments on anything I like, I hardly ever go butthurt over it. I just simply respect how they feel about it, remain calm, and move on.

edited 3rd May '11 5:42:49 PM by fungal88

I actually think the flashbacks, overly long gags, pop culture references and cut aways are the worst parts of the show, just because of how lazy the writing is.

I think Family Guy is one of those shows that I really liked untill I heard fynd out it had a very vocal hatedom that actually makes some good points.

But it also made me laugh hysteracially at one point, I can never completley hate a show that made me laugh like that.

So yeah... still kinda like it.

American Dad is miles better though.