partially cuz of bush sr saying what he did also there was this culture of "cartoons being for kids" and so when the simpsons came around it changed everything and paved the way for all the cartoons on now and in the past meant for an older audience. also because it was on during prime time it made it at least more difficult for me to watch since growing up we only had 1 tv and when my dad came home from work that tv was his and only his. my dad liked the show (he wont admit it) so i was able to watch a few episodes with him. my mom thought it was ok but rather not have me watch it. they both never let me watch married w/ children ...in fact to this day i probably only seen 30 or so episodes of that show total the simpsons in comparison to the cartoons on the air now though is really tame. the simspsons though during the mid 90s still put out 1000x better comedy than any of the cartoons out there right now. in fact the only other comedy that probably made me laugh as much as the simpsons is Futurama. FG and South Park are funny but FG keeps using "retro gags" and SP is only good when they are making fun of current events or if its eric cartman centered episode if its just one of the "look at these kids cussing" episodes its not as good
At it's peak (seasons 1-3), Family Guy was funnier than the Simpsons ever was. But, since they came back form cancellation, Family has sucked. The Simpsons of the 90s although slightly overrated were far more consistent and clever than a significant majority of Family Guy's run
This. Depending on random cutaway gags that have absolutely nothing to do with the episode's plot is, well, LAME.
I've seen every episode of seasons 1-3 of Family Guy probably 20 times, I own them all on DVD and I think FG is on half the stations on cable now) and its ridiculously funny, but it is nowhere near as sound as the Simpsons stretch run, which I would classify as Seasons 3 through 9. Those episodes are genius. The plot structure is incredible. Most people can't pick out a funny moment from a Family Guy episode and even remember which episode it was from. That doesn't mean it isn't funny, I just don't think I would ever consider it "better" than The Simpsons Golden Age, even if it does produce more lulz.
I remember when my 1st grade teacher asked my mom what type of television I watched. When my mom told her Simpsons, my teacher was astound hahaha. "He watches the Simpsons?!"
South Park is by far the best at scathing satire, as was evident by them tearing FG a new cornhole in that one episode. As I recall they portrayed the Family Guy writers as nothing but whales swimming around in large tanks that would randomly select pop culture phrases to be put together. Hilarious.
Because all it talks about is sex. It's lazy, cheap writing that gets cheap laughs. You can either make yourself laugh a few times an ep or none at all. Fake humor in my book.
not necessarily crude, but definitely irreverent, which was pretty bold for a cartoon in prime-time. you had a 10 year old kid saying 'hell' and 'damn'. that was unheard of at the time. clever writing - satirically poked fun at politics and religion. not the typical fare in cartoons.
Not really. Nick and Disney certainly have their shortcomings, (in fact, I hate the Disney channel)... but overall they are kid-friendly. I say "overall" because, a while back, my kid wanted to watch a show on Nick called "Total Drama Island" and, after watching it for a short while, my wife and I had a few of those "whoa!" moments and had to change channels. Both Nick and Disney have music videos that have sexual undertones which aren't appropriate for a young child. Keep in mind - we haven't yet had the "sex" talk with our kids (the boy is 3, the girl is 9), so anything with any kind of sexual content or reference is out. Yeah, I know, she's reaching that age where it's about time to have that talk with her. We're working on it. Until then, we've gotta keep it kid-friendly.
I always thought it was the irreverence as well. While kids at the time were still taught to have a little respect for their parents, this cartoon was showing parents (more importantly a dad) who was pretty lazy and clueless most of the time. I think it was really more about the lack of respect shown by Bart and the fact that it was a cartoon. Cartoons hadn't been "adulterized" yet.
at this point family guy has sucked for longer than it was funny. i hated american dad at first, but its now the superior show. and cleveland is just a piece of garbage - they canceled king of the hill for this??? does seth mcfarlane have naked pics of rupert murdoch or something?
Seth MacFarlane can pretty much do anything he wants now. Family Guy going into syndication gave him ultimate power. Its the same reason The Simpsons are still on the air even though they've been so-so for a decade. I've never been into American Dad, maybe its an acquired taste... Hell I used to not think much of Futurama and King of the Hill until I watched a larger sample size.
Like Mario and Vince... like Yankees and the Red Sox... you just can't ever discuss the Simpsons without hearing about Family Guy.
I think that the points have been pretty well-covered. Also, as to the people saying that FG is better than Simpsons ever was, I think they're probably younger than 22. If you watched Simpsons while it was on and before South Park and Family Guy took over, it was the first of its kind and you appreciated the irreverence mixed in with the clever humor (and the human aspect - you gave a **** about the family). Kind of like trying to translate over basketball players from different eras; you can watch them in past games, and kind of see why the old-timers like it, but since you're younger, you're drawn to a different brand of ball (or cartoon comedy, in this case). EDIT: hey moes, you should get this if you're a Futurama fan: Spoiler
Well, it started, like that this ...the Simpsons were at one time looked at as being one of the most offensive and irreverent shows on television (the biggest thing was . . . it was a cartoon, which was rare at the time because people used to associate cartoons and animated features with kids). A guy choking his son . . . his son talking back . . .the word butt being mentioned . . . rear ends being seeing . . . making a mockery of Christian values (the Flanders) . . . and most of all, the Itchy and Scratchy show. I guess was to be too impressionable on kids. It turned alot heads for a few years. Then came Ren & Stimpy (Nickelodeon), Beavis & Butthead (MTV), South Park (Comedy Central), King of the Hill (Fox), Futurama (Fox), Family Guy (Fox/Cartoon Network), and a whole influx of Japanese cartoons.
