The way I describe THE FAMILY GUY is that it is sort of the Robin Williams of animation. It is so fast and so many jokes are thrown out that you feel that it is funnier than it is. If you actually take a second and really pay attention, you realize that most of the jokes aren't really that funny and it is just the attitude of the show that makes you think that it is better than it is.

I watched the show on Fox and never really liked it. I did pick up the DVDs though, and it isn't as bad as I remembered it. But it is no Simpsons.

Thank you for starting this thread. There is no way I could have have lived another moment without expressing my utter contempt for this show.

And yet, when it comes to defining exactly what irritates me about it, I'm at a loss.

Is it the endlessly recycled "jokes" that have a pedigree reaching to XIXth Century vaudeville all the way to the forced hilarity of "Laugh-In" by way of the souped-up canned laughter of "My Mother the Car"?

Is it the simpering idiocy of all the characters, somewhat balanced by the gratuitous and soul-destoying vileness of the precocious infant?

Is it the show's profoundly superficial "grasp" of everything mundane and ephemeral?

Is it the derivative premise that all the characters are basically worthless whores, who know the price of everything and the value of nothing, perpetually wearing a "for sale" sign around their necks and ready to turn against each other, with absolutely no redeeming human traits or "soul" but endlessly malleable through a typhoon of unnecessary cultural references that smell of stale urine, vomit and baby formula?

I have tried to encapsulate its very peculiar repulsiveness in the word "vulgar" but that didn't really work for me. After all, "Married with Children" was vulgar. "South Park" is vulgar. Both shows are extremely good. I guess "The Family Guy" is not bright enough to be vulgar. It's just something that happens to stick to your shoes on a sidewalk and that manages to be simultaneously dirty, unhygienic, annoying and colourful.

Is it the lack of reference to any world or cultural life beyond TV reality?

It is the lack of range of the grating voices as well as that of the characters? Their manic nasality?

Is it the lack of artistic style, flair and originality? The cheapo production values?

Is it because really meritorious shows like "Futurama" and "The Tick" got cancelled long before this abomination? That's a big part of it, yes!

But who really knows in the final analysis? I don't want to know. Do you really want to know?

Exactly. The humor between the two are not the same at all. A lot of people that don't like Family Guy aren't old enough to appreciate the 70s and 80s jokes.

The same can be said about South Park. I know of a lot of kids that are still in school that didn't find the Joseph Smith funny at all. On the other hand, older people with more experience in their lives, usually found the episode to be hilarious (including me).

I'm a fan of Family Guy, and while it is inpired by the Simpsons, I think it has merits of it's own.

I noticed the orginator of the thread posted that he "got all the jokes" -- I wonder if that is really true. There are *a lot* of obscure cultural reference jokes. I've watched episodes with friends who a younger than I am and they miss a lot (from Peter Griffin mimicing Bluto from Animal House to the Patrick Duffy ending of the nuclear war episode).

I wouldn't go as far as to say Family Guy is "thinking man's humor" but it does require some knowledge about pop culture that is more than 15 minutes old.

There was a reality show last year called Last Comic Standing, which showcased various comics (with differing styles) in an elimination competition. The comics I enjoyed most (Dave Mordell and Rich Voss) didn't make it to the final competition -- their comedy required too much thought-process, and they lost out to the comics that went for the lowest-common-denominator). I think Family Guy has the same problem.

For the record:

Simpsons (old): Really Like
Simpsons (new): Blase' - real hit or miss depending on the episode
Clerks: Really Like
Critic: Blase'
Futurama: Dislike (too mean spirited)
King of the Hill: Bored to tears
Dilbert: Wanted to like, but if you've seen one episode, you've seen them all...

I'm sorry, but that argument doesn't carry much weight. The people behind "The Simpsons" are much older than the people behind "The Family Guy," and a lot of the jokes skew older too.

I remember when "The Simpsons" did their parody of "The Prisoner" and all the teeny-boppers on the 'net were flipping out thinking that the writers had completely lost their minds and had filled the episode with random nonsense.

I'm getting real tired of the "If you didn't like it, you didn't get it" argument. I would hope that the discourse around here would be a bit more substantial than that.

You are right to assume that it's not "thinking man's humor," as the only thing pop culture knowledge proves is that you did nothing but watch TV in the 70s and 80s.

This is exactly why I don't care for Family Guy. Was what I was trying to explain in my first rambeling post about the 'characters'.

Groucho explains the difference between 'character' shows and 'joke' shows.

I can't say that one is better than the other. It's a matter of taste, and I'm always more attracted to 'character' shows. I like cartoons that tell a nice, self contained story. This is what The Simpsons (for the first six or seven years) and King of the Hill do exceedingly well.

It's funny to watch people go on about how the Family Guy is a cheap knock off of the Simpsons, when the Simpsons is just a carbon copy of The Fintstones when you get right down to it.

Correction. "The Simpsons" may have been sold to the idiotic suits from the network on the basis of its superficial resemblance to "The Flintstones", but it never cultivated this resemblance and its basic soul is eons removed from it and embedded in Groening's originality as a brilliant comic strip artist, thinker and creator.

I can't stand "Family Guy." The few times I have attempted to sit through an episode, the jokes were cheap, juvenile, and sometimes offensive. Most of all, they weren't funny. The animation didn't help.

I love "The Simpsons" and "Futurama." "King of the Hill" is OK, but it rarely makes me laugh out loud. "Family Guy" just makes me want to change the channel.

Yeah. But wasn't The Flintstones just a cheap knock off of The Honeymooners?

I am surprised to see that there are this many people that don't like Family Guy. I was completely unaware, I thought I was alone.

I tried catching this show when it was on TV and just could not get into it at all. When the DVDs were released a coworker bought the set so I borrowed it from him. I couldnt even get through one disc. The jokes are very weak IMO, occassionally they would get a funny one out, and when they did I will admit it was usually pretty good. But like it has been said earlier in this thread, the hit/miss ratio is high. From what I can remember there was maybe 1 big laugh an episode (if even that) for me.

Family Guy - I really like. Jokes are offensive, but I like having subtle, implied humor. Unlike just pure offensive such as South Park.

Simpsons - Pretty funny, recently episodes haven't been funny tho, I suppose the train is close to running on fumes by now.

Futurama - Okay I guess, I never really followed it. Trying to get into it with the season sets.

King of the Hill - Horrible, Seems like bad animation and everytime I see it I want to throttle Hank's wife.

That's the word I was looking for: offensive! Too many people are afraid to admit that they are offended when they are. "The Family Guy" is offensive because it supposes that the viewers are just as much a bunch of worthless desperate media-whores as the characters on the show and willing to sit through any humiliation in order to be "entertained".

I agree w/ you, & definitely feel like I am VERY MUCH in the minority. All of my friends think the show is amazing.

The one thing that really annoys me about the people in this forum, is that all the time you see posts that say how "smart" Family Guy is, & how it was "too smart" for the average audience, that's why the show failed on TV. However, I agree with you, andromedas, the show is actually quite stupid. It's just 25 minutes of 1 old TV inside joke after another. I was raised not be allowed to watch TV & I still watch no TV outside of sports & Simpsons & Alias (only on DVD), so I don't get half of the in jokes. And it's not b/c I'm stupid & they are over my head, it's b/c I played outside as a kid & actually read rather than watche TV.

Also, every episode of Family guy is the exact same thing, no plots, literally every line by a character is a joke. The brilliance of the Simpsons is the heart of the show, the commentary on society, current events, family values. While I don't hate the Family Guy, I do think it's horribly overrated here & I would definitely consider creatively a very dumb show.

Watching "The Family Guy" and liking it is a bit like living one's life in pajamas. It usually means you have given up on the outside world, you're an infant or you have a terminal disease. Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course.

Have you seen both shows? "When you get right down to it" Homer Simpson very strongly resembles the Fred Flintstone character. Further comparisons, would inevitably break down, as The Simpsons is about a single family unit/members of the community they live in, while The Flintstones is about two married couples (see The Honeymooners, recently Yes Dear).

That series' weakest moment, interestingly enough, indirectly knocks Family Guy.

I never got into this show myself. Watched a handful of episodes and they all seemed forced and unfunny to me. On the other hand, I love "The Simpsons."

One thing that always bugged me about "Family Guy" is the voice acting. Aside from Stewie, they're all pretty irritating, esp. Seth Green.

"Family Guy" gives me a few laughs, which is good. What keeps it from greatness, though, is that the characters are so bland that you never care what happens to them or even about the story. They're just punchline-spewing machines. Again, that's not exactly terrible (the laughs are there, sometimes), but it's what keeps "Family Guy" from being anything truly memorable.

Man, there's some pretty harsh criticism here. I'm surprised some of you can even stand watching TV at all.

I'm sure those that loathe this show will be amused to find out that the DVD sales have been so strong that, for the first time in history, the show is being un-cancelled and new episodes will be made based on the sales.

I was personally appalled by the rumors of new productions.

Actually they're no longer rumors. New episodes are slated to air starting next January. This along with Seth McFarlane's new animated show American Dad.

I was personally thrilled by the rumors of new productions.

And I'm downright ecstatic to hear that those rumors are now fact.

Rob