too dang funny.

I hate Family Guy.

So funny.

Did you ever notice how most of the shows that anger the Fox News "family values" ilk the most are on Fox? It's almost like it was planned this way...

I hate Family Guy too, but... I got a good laugh from that.

"Did you ever notice how most of the shows that anger the Fox News "family values" ilk the most are on Fox?"

Fox News itself has put up some pretty trashy images and run some pretty salacious stories. It's as if their audience likes the feeling of being outraged at one thing or another. It's like exploitation films or the Jerry Springer show--a very moralistic condemning point of view which nevertheless titilates the audience. You get to feel superior while at the same time participating in and viewing all the naughtiness. Fox News was outraged that a teacher would send her student a provacative video of herself, so Fox News proceeded to show it on air for all the other 13 year olds in the world to see over and over. Dick Morris, Bill O'Reilly, Ken Starr and Geraldo Rivera are perfect at this kind of thing.

I hate Family Guy because it's a generic-brand Simpsons for people who need a boilerplate version of smart topical jokes.

"I hate you too" I'm still picking myself off the floor.

I LOVE FAMILY GUY.

Not picking on you FritzHead, this is more a generic statement because I have repeatedly heard similar comments to yours over recent years.

I hate holier than thou Simpsons fans who constantly berate the Family Guy for being a cheap knockoff, or whatever disparaging statement they come up with.

Yes yes yes, the Simpsons is great, the Simpsons is wonderful, blah blah blah. I've watched the Simpsons and enjoyed it. But things get old. The Simpsons, in my view, has gotten old. And while not boring per se, it does not draw me to it the way Family Guy does. I'd rather watch MASH reruns that I have seen dozens of times than watch more Simpsons.

Family Guy is hardly generic-brand Simpsons. It is its own beast. It is absurd in ways the Simpsons is only during the Halloween specials. It pushes the envelope more than the Simpsons has in a long time. This is partly due to the fact that the edge has actually moved since the Simpsons started, while the Simpsons stayed in largely the same place. But still, the fact remains.

Simpsons tries to present itself as a realistic cartoon world, living & breathing, and with continuity. Family Guy is more fantastical. It is more like a daydream where anything is possible and story arcs fly around like fireworks and continuity is less than important.

We can also describe it in this way: Simpsons is to Pearl Jam; as Family Guy is to Stone Temple Pilots. Many people like Pearl Jam, are snobbish about it, say STP is a weak imitator, etc.
What they fail to realize is that STP is just a different band playing a similar sound of music. STP is more fantastical also, has a better sense of humor, and rocks more.

All intellectual discourse aside, quite frankly, I can't remember the last time I had a good belly laugh from the Simpsons.
As for the Family Guy? It is usually good at least once an episode. Laughter is the best thing to keep one sane in this retarded world we live.

So, let's get off the Simpsons high horse, stop bashing Family Guy, and see what we can do about getting Arrested Development back on the air.

I hate you too.:)

Family Guy > Simpsons

Well said Ryan. The only things I don't like about Family Guy are two of the characters. The Mayor, and the old horny guy. They just don't make me laugh.

The mayor is Adam West, I assume you do know who he is? It's kind of an in-joke that he does his own voice too. There's so many in-jokes in Family Guy that I don't think anybody gets them all. Even more than in the Simpsons.

By the way, why is it sometimes I have to wait for the administrator to approve my message, and sometimes I don't?

I tried to post a comment yesterday, but I don't know why it got sent for review instead. Probably it's not going in, don't know why.

What I said was that Family guy is nothing like the Simpsons. People who complain about the flashbacks seem to want it to be like the Simpsons.

In fact, the flahsbacks are often the most hilarious bits. Just go to youtube, and search for "family guy" plus "evolution", then plus "einstein" and then "bugs bunny" for some classic examples. The Einstein one had me rolling, especially when later in the episode he makes another totally absurd hilarious appearance.

I tried to post the links before, but I guess that's why it went for review.

By the way, Pearl Jam and STP... spot on! Blast from 1995.

If you ever need a good comparison or analogy, just let me know. I'm usually rather quite adequate at them. :)

To appreciate Family Guy as fully as possible, it helps to have watched grand amounts of tv in your life (perhaps too much), yet have kept up with current events throughout the past 30 years and also know your history. Hell, to an extent, you should just be an damned ombudsman to one degree or other.

But what really helps more than anything else? Understand and appreciate the absurd.

Absurdity is Golden! Enjoy the movie.

You just reminded me... sometimes I do have to google some names in order to get the jokes I don't. I had to google, for instance, Ameila Earhart (I'm not from the U.S. originally), and right after, the hilarious bit kick into place. I am a geek like that.