SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Family Guy responds to criticism by being less funny?

Posted: Oct 10 2008 10:49 am

One of the common criticisms of Family Guy, even before the South Park episode, was that all of best jokes were in the non sequitur "cut-away" scenes. The FG writers seem to have responded by drastically cutting down the number of cut-away scenes in the first two episodes of the new season. The result, unfortunately, is that the critics were right; the FG writers can't write a compelling narrative that fills a 22 minute time period.

And the cut-away scenes they have done have been fairly awful. Another Marlee Matlin joke? Really?

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

I rarely watch FG anymore. After it came back from cancellation only the first few episodes were good. Now it seems tired and old. I miss the first season with evil Stewie, not like it is now with gay for Brian Stewie.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Clearly Cattivo... you haven't heard.

THE BIRD IS THE WORD!!!

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Lol, I actually saw some of that ep while the Sunday Night Football game was on commercials.

There's another criticism, the use of repetition to get laughs taken to an absurd extreme. Every ep doesn't need a "Peter gets hit in the shin and spends ten minutes agonizing over the pain" joke. This time, it looked like the entire first act was solely Peter saying that. Not funny. Annoying.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Cattivo wrote:

Lol, I actually saw some of that ep while the Sunday Night Football game was on commercials.

There's another criticism, the use of repetition to get laughs taken to an absurd extreme. Every ep doesn't need a "Peter gets hit in the shin and spends ten minutes agonizing over the pain" joke. This time, it looked like the entire first act was solely Peter saying that. Not funny. Annoying.

I agree... I hated that one. The worst thing is that they bring it back a couple of times.

Posted: Oct 10 2008 05:11 pm

The show just have stayed cancelled and done specials like it did with the Star Wars one which wasn't great a but funny and entertaining premise .It's too bad Futurama tried that same thing but turned out horrible.

Overall the Simpsons and SouthPark are better shows. The Simpsons had a shitty season 15-17 and came back with a fairly strong 18 and weaker 19. The Simpsons doesnt get as old because it can dip into its huge pool of characters and find some sort of wacky premise even if it is a hit or miss, their is always going to be at least one good joke. Family Guy gets tiring when its Peter and Stewie all the time with Brian's fascination with Lois that has gotten way tiring, they even managed to make the old pervert dude into something annoying when he great when he was underused.

I love South Park but the Kyle vs Cartman sorta gets old at times. Trey and Matt are still genius's of pop culture and manage to find some undertone of society and make it into something hilarious.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

I actually really liked the first Futurama dvd movie. I thought the second one was horrible though, and the third one coming up doesn't look much better.

I've said it a million times here by now, but Simpsons hasn't been funny in a decade. They've simply run out of ideas, in spite of a large reservoir of characters. They've done marriage crisis storylines and Homer & Lisa learning to identify with each more stories to death.

South Park though, is just phenomenal. I hope you guys saw the premiere the other night with the fear of China and Spielberg & Lucas raping Indiana Jones. Hilarious.

Ermac wrote:

I love South Park but the Kyle vs Cartman sorta gets old at times.

They've been concentrating more on the Cartman/Butters dynamic lately, but even that is getting old at this point.

Yet, there's still plenty of social commentary for them to continue for a while, since current events keep on providing more and more opportunities for social satire.

Posted: Oct 10 2008 06:24 pm

Cattivo wrote:

They've been concentrating more on the Cartman/Butters dynamic lately, but even that is getting old at this point.

Yeah, but it seems they started doing that a few seasons ago with the Awesomo story and the penis in the mouth episode. The last episode of last season where their in Pioneer Village was a funny show, but it kinda made me not like Butter's for the first time because of his more than usual whining and being a flat out pussy in that episode, It actually made me side with Cartman a large bit, when I am normally chanting for Butters. Butter's character seems to be more annoying now than charming.

Joined: Aug 05 2008 Location: CA Posts: 867

I never liked Family Guy. The cut away scenes annoy the crap out of me. Some of them seem to be specifically designed just to fill time at the expense of humor. Specifically scenes where a character will repeat a line over and over again for long period of time only interrupted by awkward silence.

One of my old roommates tried sitting me down to watch a season of Family guy on DVD one day, after about 4 episodes I felt like I had developed ADHD.

I actually went to the same High school that Peter Shin attended, the current director of the show. Peter Shin, a guy named Brendan Legossi and I did a mural in the art department of Cupertino High School that is there to this day. Smile

Before he worked on Family Guy he did animation for a show called Duckman and briefly worked on The Simpsons. I have a signed picture from him of Millhouse at my parents house in Cali.

Posted: Oct 10 2008 06:58 pm

Probable Muppet wrote:

Before he worked on Family Guy he did animation for a show called Duckman

Great,often forgotten show. I can't point out what made it good, but it was an entertaining show.

Joined: Sep 17 2007 Location: The Opium Trail Posts: 3475

GPFontaine wrote:

Cattivo wrote:

Lol, I actually saw some of that ep while the Sunday Night Football game was on commercials.

There's another criticism, the use of repetition to get laughs taken to an absurd extreme. Every ep doesn't need a "Peter gets hit in the shin and spends ten minutes agonizing over the pain" joke. This time, it looked like the entire first act was solely Peter saying that. Not funny. Annoying.

I agree... I hated that one. The worst thing is that they bring it back a couple of times.

That was absolutely the worst Family Guy gag. And I'll think just about anything from Family Guy is funny.

Family Guy's first 3 seasons > anything Matt Stone and Trey Parker have done except for the South Park movie.

South Park was washed up already when they did "Cartoon Wars". It was so douchechilling and lame, it was like watching Gene Simmons calling Lars Ulrich a shitty musician.

Posted: Oct 11 2008 07:59 pm

Cattivo wrote:

South Park though, is just phenomenal. I hope you guys saw the premiere the other night with the fear of China and Spielberg & Lucas raping Indiana Jones. Hilarious.

Really, you were that impressed by a storyline they already did a few years ago? I mean, I agree that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull raped the Indiana Jones series but was it really necessary to write another whole episode where the joke is "Haw-haw! Spielberg and Lucas sure did mess that up somethin' funny! Hur-hur-hur!"? And the B story of Cartman and Butters just didn't make much sense to me; Cartman sees the Olympic opening ceremonies and arbitrarily decides that the Chinese are taking over? Ok...

Personally, I love Family Guy, don't see why the cut-away jokes are a problem and even though I'll admit parts of it can wear thin or only be funny the first time, it's still way better than most of the South Park episodes in the past few years.

Posted: Oct 11 2008 08:33 pm

I like cut-away jokes as well. It just seems like Family Guy is running out of premises for episodes really quickly. On the other hand, American Dad has actually be fairly exceptional these season. Last week's episode with Roger playing the cheesy Jimmy Stewart character was fantastic. I don't like how they've changed the AD theme song though.

As for Lucas and Speilberg, they keep making themselves targets, so another attack on them was well-warranted. I'm willing to forgive Lucas to an extent, because even though Episodes 1-3 were sloppily executed, there was a compelling story underneath all the grandiose confusion. Spielberg, on the other hand, has increasingly demonstrated that he has lot any semblance of the talent he once had. The last good movie he made was what, Saving Private Ryan? Ten fucking years ago? Spielberg reminds of John Frankenheimer, the once-esteemed director who gave us Birdman of Alcatraz and the original Manchurian Candidate movie. He ended his career directing what? MOTHERFUCKING REINDEER GAMES.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Family Guy's cutaways were funny in the first three seasons, because they would feature a joke in them. Now, they just make some 80's pop culture reference and expect the reference to be funny. What it's lost is its original pacing of the jokes. They used to just toss in one joke after another, whether it was a cut-away, a malapropism from Peter, a highbrow insult from Stewie, or another character-related joke. This has been replaced by long-ass boring conversations that are meant to be funny because they're long and awkward, with no jokes, so they just end up being long and boring and wrecking anything that could be a joke. Other problems include

Characters have changed:
Peter went from a well-intentioned idiot, to a total asshole. Quagmire went from a low-class ladies man to sexual pervert. Stewie went from high-brow evil Rex Harrison, to like this baby/fratboy mix. Everyone just treats Meg like an asshole. Overall, it doesn't have that same "happy" mood that made the original seasons so appealing.

Over-using jokes that were funny once or never funny:
That gay guy was funny once when he did that Spider-Man routine from the episode with Stewie's party. Then they decided to make him do long-ass boring speeches that had no jokes, but just depended on awkwardness for laughs. Ollie was funny once because it was unexpected yet with context, now anytime you see Tom and Diane, you're guaranteed to see Ollie in a few seconds, removing the surprise.

I really do miss the first few seasons, as I could really laugh at them, unlike 99% of what's on TV, I guess that's why I'm maybe over-analyzing this.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Black Zarak wrote:

Really, you were that impressed by a storyline they already did a few years ago?

BZ, we all know your bias against SP and for FG, so we don't expect you to like it. Wink

But like Syd said, when Lucas & Spielberg keep on doing stuff like that, they make themselves relevant enough to lampoon again.

Greg described what happened to FG pretty well, I thought.

Posted: Oct 12 2008 10:11 pm

Black Zarak wrote:

Cattivo wrote:

South Park though, is just phenomenal. I hope you guys saw the premiere the other night with the fear of China and Spielberg & Lucas raping Indiana Jones. Hilarious.

Really, you were that impressed by a storyline they already did a few years ago? I mean, I agree that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull raped the Indiana Jones series but was it really necessary to write another whole episode where the joke is "Haw-haw! Spielberg and Lucas sure did mess that up somethin' funny! Hur-hur-hur!"? And the B story of Cartman and Butters just didn't make much sense to me; Cartman sees the Olympic opening ceremonies and arbitrarily decides that the Chinese are taking over? Ok...

Personally, I love Family Guy, don't see why the cut-away jokes are a problem and even though I'll admit parts of it can wear thin or only be funny the first time, it's still way better than most of the South Park episodes in the past few years.

What the fuck? Didn't you JUST say I was an idiot for not thinking that episode was great? I did give it another shot and thought it was funnier, but I still don't like that they complete reused that plot.

On topic, I honestly think American Dad has been MUCH funnier than Family Guy this season. I always liked American Dad, which I think puts me in the minority, but the episodes this season have been really good.

Posted: Oct 13 2008 12:14 am

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Black Zarak wrote:

Cattivo wrote:

South Park though, is just phenomenal. I hope you guys saw the premiere the other night with the fear of China and Spielberg & Lucas raping Indiana Jones. Hilarious.

Really, you were that impressed by a storyline they already did a few years ago? I mean, I agree that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull raped the Indiana Jones series but was it really necessary to write another whole episode where the joke is "Haw-haw! Spielberg and Lucas sure did mess that up somethin' funny! Hur-hur-hur!"? And the B story of Cartman and Butters just didn't make much sense to me; Cartman sees the Olympic opening ceremonies and arbitrarily decides that the Chinese are taking over? Ok...

Personally, I love Family Guy, don't see why the cut-away jokes are a problem and even though I'll admit parts of it can wear thin or only be funny the first time, it's still way better than most of the South Park episodes in the past few years.

What the fuck? Didn't you JUST say I was an idiot for not thinking that episode was great? I did give it another shot and thought it was funnier, but I still don't like that they complete reused that plot.

On topic, I honestly think American Dad has been MUCH funnier than Family Guy this season. I always liked American Dad, which I think puts me in the minority, but the episodes this season have been really good.

Uh, no actually I didn't because the last time I had talked to you, I had not seen the episode yet so it was in fact impossible for me to have called you an idiot for not liking something I had not actually seen.

Posted: Oct 13 2008 03:09 am

Aye. American Dad is a great show and it's getting better.
Family Guy was good for the first three seasons on Adult Swim. I was the right age and mind set and it wasn't over done. Now... I watch it when I see it. It's ok. I don't laugh but I am entertained to the point that I don't change the channel.
South Park though... I haven't liked for seasons. And every time I bring up the fact, I always get bashed for "not understanding the social commentary" or "not getting the jokes within jokes" or "being gay." I can't narrow down a season but it was probably within the first few episodes of Butters being important that I started to really dislike the show. Don't get me wrong, out of all the Kenny replacements, I like Butters the best. And my interest in the show had been decreasing since the movie. I can get my social commentaries in better places. Places with out poop jokes. I guess I just grew out of South Park's teenage appeal. Sorry.
As for the Simpsons.... I like the show and the characters but not enough to actively watch it. Yes the characters are old and the stories are weak. And yes they have to resort to cameos every few weeks. And no, it's hardly funny anymore. But the show is entertaining... sort of.
As for Futurama? TV show was great. First movie? Great. Animation was sloppy but the movie was great. Second movie? Weak, but not bad. It was enjoyable to watch once, maybe twice (for all the hidden goodies) but nowhere near as good as the first movie and would have made a decent episode (or a couple "To be continued"s.
Duckman sucked as a kid. But I found some old Duckman comics at the store the other day... Not bad. Not bad...

Posted: Oct 13 2008 04:19 am

Lottel wrote:

Aye. American Dad is a great show and it's getting better.
Family Guy was good for the first three seasons on Adult Swim. I was the right age and mind set and it wasn't over done. Now... I watch it when I see it. It's ok. I don't laugh but I am entertained to the point that I don't change the channel.
South Park though... I haven't liked for seasons. And every time I bring up the fact, I always get bashed for "not understanding the social commentary" or "not getting the jokes within jokes" or "being gay." I can't narrow down a season but it was probably within the first few episodes of Butters being important that I started to really dislike the show. Don't get me wrong, out of all the Kenny replacements, I like Butters the best. And my interest in the show had been decreasing since the movie. I can get my social commentaries in better places. Places with out poop jokes. I guess I just grew out of South Park's teenage appeal. Sorry.
As for the Simpsons.... I like the show and the characters but not enough to actively watch it. Yes the characters are old and the stories are weak. And yes they have to resort to cameos every few weeks. And no, it's hardly funny anymore. But the show is entertaining... sort of.
As for Futurama? TV show was great. First movie? Great. Animation was sloppy but the movie was great. Second movie? Weak, but not bad. It was enjoyable to watch once, maybe twice (for all the hidden goodies) but nowhere near as good as the first movie and would have made a decent episode (or a couple "To be continued"s.
Duckman sucked as a kid. But I found some old Duckman comics at the store the other day... Not bad. Not bad...

I agree, South Park sucks. Only thing worse is seeing a SpongeBob (sp?) tattoo on some hot chick you'd like to nail. Can't do the SpongeBob...

Posted: Oct 13 2008 08:02 am

Lottel wrote:

Aye. American Dad is a great show and it's getting better.
Family Guy was good for the first three seasons on Adult Swim. I was the right age and mind set and it wasn't over done. Now... I watch it when I see it. It's ok. I don't laugh but I am entertained to the point that I don't change the channel.
South Park though... I haven't liked for seasons. And every time I bring up the fact, I always get bashed for "not understanding the social commentary" or "not getting the jokes within jokes" or "being gay." I can't narrow down a season but it was probably within the first few episodes of Butters being important that I started to really dislike the show. Don't get me wrong, out of all the Kenny replacements, I like Butters the best. And my interest in the show had been decreasing since the movie. I can get my social commentaries in better places. Places with out poop jokes. I guess I just grew out of South Park's teenage appeal. Sorry.
As for the Simpsons.... I like the show and the characters but not enough to actively watch it. Yes the characters are old and the stories are weak. And yes they have to resort to cameos every few weeks. And no, it's hardly funny anymore. But the show is entertaining... sort of.
As for Futurama? TV show was great. First movie? Great. Animation was sloppy but the movie was great. Second movie? Weak, but not bad. It was enjoyable to watch once, maybe twice (for all the hidden goodies) but nowhere near as good as the first movie and would have made a decent episode (or a couple "To be continued"s.
Duckman sucked as a kid. But I found some old Duckman comics at the store the other day... Not bad. Not bad...

I'm surprised by this. Duckman sucked as a kid? Of course, if you caught the first 3 seasons of Family Guy on Adult Swim, not Fox, I'm guessing you're significantly younger than I am, so when Duckman first aired you might have been like 5 or something, at which point yeah it would have sucked. Duckman is a great cartoon though, and a lot of the humour in it is surprisingly high brow considering it's a fairly raunchy show.

Posted: Oct 13 2008 08:44 am

Yes. I caught Family Guy on Fox but I was too young to understand much of it.
I'm 19 so I wasn't too young but... Jokes were wasted on me.

And yeah. I like Duckman now and I tried to like it then but I just couldn't get into it. *shrugs* Liked watching the Brak show too much. Wink

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

I feel old as balls because I remember watching the first episode of Duckman. There were alot of cool USA shows, especially Weird Science. There was also a Weekly World News show. Seriously.

Posted: Oct 13 2008 11:42 am

joshwoodzell wrote:

I feel old as balls because I remember watching the first episode of Duckman. There were alot of cool USA shows, especially Weird Science. There was also a Weekly World News show. Seriously.

Amen to that; Duckman was awesome. Weird Science used to be on right after it.

As far as the SP/FG comparison, there is none. They're so completely different in every way save for the fact they're both animated.

FG's whole routine is that there's zero plot and they throw non-sequitors in there...THOSE are supposed to be the funny parts. Without the cutaways, FG just isn't that funny. Add to that the fact that the premises of some of the characters have changed (most noticeably Stewie, going from "hilariously evil" to "cringeworthingly gay") and it's just not funny anymore.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Your right, and the sad thing is, when a show get's as popular as Family Guy is, they air the same 12 episodes over and over again in syndication to the point of nausea, and it makes you really not want to see those episodes ever again. I'm still amused by some newer episodes, but the older ones I just don't have the desire to watch ever again. Eventually they will all be like that, and it's a sad thing to happen to a series.

Posted: Oct 16 2008 05:48 pm

I don't mind South Park, but I haven't seen any of the new ones this season. It's kind of a turn off when the only time I hear about it is from some idiots saying "DID YOU SEE THE NEW SOUTH PARK DUR HURR HURR!!!"