Family Guy

[Dacey]

This is a very...different sounding project:

http://www.deadline.com/2010/10/mark-wa ... ing-debut/

[EricJ]

Now I know you're joking, Ben!
Repeat me after -- cremation. That's what they did to Walt after he died.
Cryogenics is one of the biggest scams being played now on the dearly departed.

Speaking of "scam", Ward Kimball made it up:
The animators agreed to respect Walt's family privacy, and not give away personal memorial details to the press--The "Toot, Whistle, Plunk & Boom" director, however, characteristically steered press away a little more...entertainingly. In his own particular, um, idiom.

(Sorry I didn't get six "important" paragraphs out of that, I'm just repeating what I heard on a Disneyland tour.)

[ShyViolet]

I wasn't sure if it was a new ep or not, but did anyone see the Family Guy Christmas special that aired yesterday? (Brian and Stewie have to fill in for Santa.) It was just SO funny. The songs were amazing too (especially the North Pole one )!

Stewie: That was...a.... DISASTER!

LOL!

[Dacey]

I enjoyed most of it, but it was always hard to tell where it's heart was, so to speak, or if it had it in the right place or not.

The storyline and animation were top notch, and many of the gags were good. But some of it--and this remains FG's biggest weakness--was mean-spirited for the sake of being so, not for the sake of being funny. I hate it when the writers come up with a gag, say to themselves "this is really going to shock people," and then forget to double-check to see if anyone other than them will actually be laughing.

I know that everyone has different standards when it comes to humor...heck, many people would probably be wondering why I was giggling as hard as I was during the scene where Stewie & Brian were seen as burglars when they were just trying to save Christmas--, but I just don't see the comedy that's to be found in an extended gag involving a child with cancer. In a weird way, stuff like that almost makes me feel guilty for enjoying the show in the first place.

And then after all the stuff that was clearly meant to go against the usual holiday special rules, they throw in a message--a surprisingly effective one--at the end. But was it a sincere one, or one that they just threw in? Again, it's hard to know what Family Guy is trying to do sometimes, because it's so all over the place in tone.

Having said all that, I did enjoy it, largely because I really think that Stewie is funny, and I love his relationship with Brian.

Brian: "Look, Stewie, you're puting me in a heck of a position, but I have no choice. You're not going to kill Santa Claus because...he doesn't exist."

Stewie: "Oh, interesting theory, Brian. What's next? You're going to tell me that Elmo's not real? Huh? What about SpongeBob? Is he not real, Brian? Is SpongeBob not there at the bottom of the ocean giving Squidward the business, hmm? And what about Curious George? Is Curious George not really making hats out of newspapers that he should be delivering? Educate yourself, you fool!"

[EricJ]

The storyline and animation were top notch, and many of the gags were good. But some of it--and this remains FG's biggest weakness--was mean-spirited for the sake of being so, not for the sake of being funny. I hate it when the writers come up with a gag, say to themselves "this is really going to shock people," and then forget to double-check to see if anyone other than them will actually be laughing.

And then after all the stuff that was clearly meant to go against the usual holiday special rules, they throw in a message--a surprisingly effective one--at the end. But was it a sincere one, or one that they just threw in? Again, it's hard to know what Family Guy is trying to do sometimes, because it's so all over the place in tone.

Again, it gets back to the earlier "Life with ADD" analysis of Seth MacFarlane and FG:
In addition to the random-brain-fiiring pop-culture non-sequtirs, the motormouth-staccato "human fly" delivery of the dialogue, the obsession with overexposed 70's-80's cultural lore, and the quick violent gag to cap off a long boring scene of conversation, ADD's have a fear of social interaction and a general hostility towards the talking world in general--
Which usually results in either a desire to sling insults at it, or to "shock" it at every opportunity: To those who don't get out much, making a gag out of someone gagging and falling over with a stroke is "shocking the teacher"--in addition to the thrill of shocking the network--and the urge to "punish the world" quickly goes on to a shopping list of everything else you would imagine (again, if you didn't get out much) that the world considers sacred, good, and holy. And pretty much with the same robotic scratching off of a checklist as buying cat food at the grocery store.

This is one of the reasons that elusive element called "Wit" is in such short supply among Edgy Animated Comedies: As the old saying goes, nothing kills the joke so much as the bloodthirsty personal desire to tell it.
But as with the Simpsons, the network, the structure of A-B episode screenwriting, and the general rules of comedy require some "Hey, but I kid, we all get along" backsliding of a huggy upbeat positive message at the end, to avoid actual hostility from the audience. (Like the South Park episode that piles twenty minutes of StoneParker athie gags, and then has Kyle at the last minute preach, "But, it's still important that we believe in something...")
But the attempt at group-hug is still about as sincere and genuine as a Christmas card from Will Smith.

[ShyViolet]

I enjoyed most of it, but it was always hard to tell where it's heart was, so to speak, or if it had it in the right place or not.

Yeah, I also don't like the gross/mean-spirited jokes the often have, but I just try to ignore that and enjoy the show for what it is. I also love the Stewie/Brian relationship, that's one of the main reasons I watch it! (One of my other fave episodes is Road to Rupert.)

[Dacey]

...except that I was really, really laughing at the two gross-out gags involving the narrator. Which I really shouldn't have. I have such a weird sense of humor.

And Eric, sometimes I literally don't understand a word you say.

[EricJ]

And Eric, sometimes I literally don't understand a word you say.

Just saying that if Seth's quest for the Next Shock seems a little "mean-spirited", it's only out of boredom--
He's always looking for that next adrenaline rush against society, which is...every few seconds or so. That's the general timespan of thinking for most of the episodes.

[Dacey]

Funnily enough, Eric, most of the episodes I've seen have actually been pretty well plotted. Granted, I've only seen a handful of episodes, so I'm hardly an "expert," but the storyline on the Christmas special especially was really quite strong.

Obviously, the cut away gags are there, and tend to be hit-and-miss, but they are often quite funny, and part of the tone of the show.

Not that I'm really trying to become a "Family Guy" defender per se. As I said earlier, I feel that some of the humor just goes too far, and isn't even that funny. Besides, the show's quality absolutely pales in comparison to "American Dad!", which somehow feels less mean-spirited than FG overall despite having its fair share of tasteless gags. Maybe it's because that even though it's often trying to say something, it at least knows what it's trying to say, and is very, very funny when saying it. Compare the episode where Stan takes Hayley to a gun amusement park to the FG one where Brian became obsessed with Rush Limbaugh and you'll see what I mean.

[droosan]

Apparently, Seth MacFarlane himself thinks Family Guy should've ended its television run, by now.

[Ben]

Well...he doesn't quite mean it in that way, like the quality is suffering, and it's good to hear he's still involved in the day to day production, since I had heard differently. You shouldn't stop a show just because you think seven seasons is the right number, they should stop when the creativity starts ro wane or he gets really bored with it. Sounds like he's getting close to that but not there quite yet...

[droosan]

Well...he doesn't quite mean it in that way

Hence, my use of ..

But that didn't stop NBC from running with that quote as the 'headline' of the article.

[Ben]

Ahh, gotcha. Thought you were using that either in agreement or against those "plans"!

Yeah, trust 'em to go with the sensationist headline as opposed to "we're not like the Simpsons, we're all friends"!

[Dacey]

I love how that article claims that "American Dad" (which is now in its SEVENTH season, not its eigth) suffer with critics because of the lack of Seth MacFarlene...when it's currently by the far the best reviewed of the three shows that he has on television!

[ShyViolet]

Brian not dead after all: (spoilers)

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/turns-fam ... EA4M3QtDMD