BS: 'The Family Guy'???

Subject: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 06:51 PM

I recently became aware that there is some cartoon out there called "The Family Guy", about a very fat guy (named Peter?), his wife, a dog, and a vicious little midget of some kind named "Stewie". The short movies I have seen which deal with these characters are generally tasteless, gross, and unappealing...to me, anyway.

So, what's the story? Is it a competitor to "The Simpsons"? Is it a regular TV show? And what the hell is Stewie supposed to be, a kid or a very small and psychotic adult?

All I have seen of it is a few short videos on the Net.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: LilyFestre
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 07:00 PM

I have no idea. No cable and no satellite here. We have rabbit ears and can get 3 channels on a REALLY good day.

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 07:02 PM

You are very lucky people... (grin)

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 07:30 PM

"Family Guy" blows The Simpsons outa the water.. Especially the first couple of seasons... the newer stuff runs hot and cold....

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 07:49 PM

Okay, I've taken a look at the official website. (gag)

I think I now know more than I really ever needed to about "The Family Guy". I don't like the Simpsons either.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: John O'L
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 08:04 PM

I saw a few adverts for the show. Didn't raise a chuckle.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 08:07 PM

So if you don't like network animated sit-coms, why would you bother asking?

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 08:10 PM

Morbid curiosity.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 08:46 PM

I occasionally catch bits of it, while waiting for something else. (That's what life is really, too!) It's VERY 'hard biting obnoxious Yank humour', but occasionally there are some funny (and very satirical!) bits.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 09:15 PM

Morbid curiosity I grok all too well...

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Cluin
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 10:33 PM

The basic premise of the show isn't much.

It's the asides, the obscure references, the low-percentile jokes and jabs at pop culture that make the show, IMO. Either you get it or you don't. There's no middle ground with The Family Guy.

Yes, I find it very funny. Others don't.

I hate Cheese Whiz. Others don't.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Cluin
Date: 03 Mar 06 - 10:36 PM

Like this FG spoof of another cartoon.

They often take jabs at other old cartoons because several of the staff used to work for Hanna Barbera.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: John O'L
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 12:10 AM

Too subtle for me.

I like the kind of humour where guys get hit by pianos & safes falling from tall buildings or planes. Oooh, I'm getting all giggley just thinking about it.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Cluin
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 01:07 AM

They do that too. You never saw the battle with the giant chicken.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: John O'L
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 02:12 AM

Giant chicken? Ya got me! I'm in.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 03:05 AM

It started as a "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" spoof.....

Like a LOT of Family Guy humour

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Cluin
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 04:20 AM

They have a Star Wars reference in just about every episode too. It's almost tiresome.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 10:06 AM

The new stuff, ya...   Luckily I tend to be away for the TV sunday nights... SO I'll wait for DVD, borrow it off a chum and watch it then... if I like it (Or the eposodes I do like) I might copy it (Or eMule it) If I like 3/4ths of it, I'll buy it....

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Once Famous
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 10:26 AM

My 16 year old watches both Family Guy and The Simpsons. I have seen more than a few episodes of the Simpsons over the years. Think about how hard it is to keep any TV show fresh over what 12 or so years already? You are never going to have the greatest and best show every single episode, but over all the Simpsons has been a consistently well written fast paced show full of humor and a satirical view of pop culture in general.

Now what I have seen of the few episodes of Family Guy have been no where near the quality of the Simpsons. It's satire seems forced and shoved at you. The characters are pretty lousy and you simply don't care about them. The humor does not have the edge the Simpsons has maintained.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Little Hawk
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 10:55 AM

Both of those shows kind of give me the creeps, but the Family Guy more so. The trouble with that kind of satire, for me, is that it is itself part of the same cultural horror of modern America that it wants to satirize.

I don't identify with any of it. It's alien to me.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 11:01 AM

Lucky for you, there are other channels on TV eh...

Me, I wish they'd bring back the animated version of The Tick

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: ranger1
Date: 04 Mar 06 - 05:39 PM

I really enjoyed the earlier episodes (first two seasons), but the latest batch kind of creep me out. They're trying too hard at this point and it just falls flat.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 05:07 AM

Kind of Simpsons meet South Park, but not really. Each are edgy as far as I'm concerned but FG is completely without reverence for anything, any place, any time, any where, under any circumstance.....which endears it to me!

The episodes featuring Brian (the dog) and Stewie together are a fuckin' riot. Sorry Hawk.....but I didn't figure it was down your alley since you didn't like Cheech either!

BODE RULES!!!!!!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 08:23 AM

Clinton!

We finally have something in common!

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 05 Mar 06 - 12:33 PM

And that is?

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 12:16 PM

We have The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy on regularly here. I find them funny when I sit down to watch them, but don't care for them equally all of the time (South Park doesn't take much to really gross people out, but I figure that's part of the point of it). My 14-year-old watches them religiously. What I find interesting is that with all of the reading we have done together and good films we've made a point of watching, he regularly comes in to tell me about some funny thing they did and refers to the episode by the literary theme or references it contains. All of the programs do this.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Once Famous
Date: 06 Mar 06 - 09:24 PM

Actually, I would rather they just brought back Heckle and Jeckle. Now there you had a perfect friendship between a Brit and someone from the Bronx.

Besides that, they were wonderfully politically incorrect and hilarious.

Subject: RE: BS: 'The Family Guy'???
From: Scoville
Date: 07 Mar 06 - 10:09 AM

I like "The Simpsons". I sort of liked "Futurama" but they don't show it here any more. "The Family Guy" is way too crass for me. I've only seen one or two episodes of "South Park"--we don't have cable at home--and I don't like it at all, either. I like poking fun at pop culture, etc., but the Simpsons is a bit less mean.

I like "King of the Hill", too. They had the old Willie Nelson episode on last night--the one with Boomhauer and Bob Dylan mumbling at each other. Very clever.