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jbwarner86 — Just Like That Time When...
Published: 2009-01-31 18:04:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 73844; Favourites: 1134; Downloads: 432
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As of January 31, 2009, it's been ten years since "Family Guy" made its debut on FOX. And oh boy, what a difference a decade makes.I won't try to pretend that I'm still entertained by this show, because I'm not. I won't even try to paint a picture of the first three seasons as the perfect example of what the show could be, because that's not true either (even the so-called "glory years" tended to be mediocre at best). But at least in the spirit of Seth MacFarlane's trademark cutaways to things that are only tangentially related to what's going on, I can remember the time, way back in 1999, when these characters showed promise.
What'll the next ten years bring? I'm not sure I want to think about that...
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Comments: 441
I'm with you. Fanily guy was almost as good as the sipmsons but now it's jokes aren't as good anymore. Now all they do is make jokes about Meg, Stewie being gay, and peter farting. I'm sick and tried of family guy now. They should either make family funny again or just cancell it.
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I AGREE!!! I agreed the minute I saw the first show.
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I agree.
As time passed, the family dynamic grew weaker and weaker, the episodes more random, and the political jokes more and more common.
Hell, they even compared McCain and Palin to the Nazis in a episode released during the campaign season.
Now THAT'S not funny or decent.
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It's a horrible shame that they use so many pop culture jokes and not enough originality like on the first and second season. You do prove a very good point about this show. Bravo, my friend.
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Yeah! I hate it when the show makes Stewie look gay.
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Truer words have never been said. I just wish that I didn't have to pretend to like Family Guy in order to keep some of my friends happy.
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I still enjoy this show... Between Family Guy & Futurama, I can't choose..
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What worries me here is that the same thing could happen to American Dad. As it is now, AD is a pretty character-driven show, and I'd hate to see it devolve into THIS lump.
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Unfortunately, with "American Dad" taking the 7:00 Time Slot of Death this year, I doubt it'll be lasting much longer anyway.
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Alt text for Brian:
Remember when I wasn't a an author avatar for ham-fisted polemics and didn't voraciously pursue human woman as an insight into the unfulfilled fantasies of my creator?
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Heh, "Remember that time when" is the statement that lets family guy fans know that something they are supposed to laugh at is coming soon. Without that phrase, they'd be lost.
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As a Macfarlane loyalist to the end, I found it very true.
But you should've had Brian said "Remember when I wasn't so preachy? with you saying "Remember when it was worth watching?"
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I love the irony of this because I ask those same questions now that I watch them. I don't know which is worse mediocre Family Guy or Spongebob Squarepants and both have 10 years on their plates!
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At least Spongebob had more originality than Family Guy, but I agree that show has gone downhill too. I was always impressed with cartoons like Spongebob and Invader ZIM when they first started cause not only were their ideas completely original but in all the episodes I've watched there are little to no pop-culture references at all, and a lot of the humor just comes out of the characters and the shows themselves. What makes Family Guy an annoying show to me is that they use so much pop-culture humor for everything out of things you've already seen before that eventually it gets to a point where you wonder why you should even care. It doesn't say anything about the characters themselves, it's just there for the sake of knowing it.
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I know sometimes I wonder why I get hooked on it because even in the old days of FG it was still mediocre but it had some REALLY funny moments.
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I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. TV shows like Family Guy are meant to be watched, simply for their humor and wit. Something that is dying out thanks to Live Action bullcrap.
It's a cartoon. It's a mature cartoon. I believe that by being nit-picky about such shows, just goes to show that you waste your time picking apart what you dislike about a good show, and ruin it for yourself. Instead of simply watching it, and enjoying it, you pick it apart like a surgeon does. Pointless when it comes right down to it.
You're not in an operating room. Just enjoy the show, and stop trying to pick out all the little things that bug you. Don't like the show ? Simple Solution:
DON'T WATCH IT.
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Actually, I don't watch "Family Guy", because it's not my kind of humor. I still like the characters, though, and I see a lot that could be done with them if they were handled a little differently.
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I just don't think that picking apart a shows' flaws is the way to go. I mean, it's been running for 7 seasons, so there's apparently been a good reason for it.
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I'm going to have to agree with Brian. I remember when he wasn't so liberal, it was annoying.
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Yes! I couldn't agree more. And you expressed in the best way to further stick it to the show. Kudos.
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I knew it suck cause the other 2/3 of u.s.a kids like It... so that set it up for failure and one thing that shocks me most of the so called "ranters and critics"
on youtube don't ever go on shows like that but take a whack at kid shows and recycle the same song and dance.
None the less Family guy is over rated and over mechanized....all Seth MacFarlane really does is fined something "political" or "something in" and mess with that for a few....then next day come up with another dumb plot and you are right the dog is his mouth piece and if you have to make a whole episode bashing on christian religion....then you have nothing to be proud of....but who cares he is making fox mad money with all the family guy crap that gets sold and there so-called evil stewie t-shirt which now there sad punch in the face memory. None the less it will never until Seth MacFarlane dies or people get sick it..and if Seth dies is the case it will go to another joker so err...well don't matter what i think i don't work at adult swim "which was cartoon network being a little whore" If I did there would be some shows off the air and as for furturama It a good show can't punch holes in it and i do the criticizing for spare time and well.... I can't say anything bad about it. Now that's rare.
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I still like Family Guy...probably because I don't watch it as a series. Just random episodes when they're on
But your picture speaks to me. I like both evil and sexuality-confused Stewie. He rocks.
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"Seth MacFarlane's trademark cutaways to things that are only tangentially related to what's going on" = more padding than the insides of a preteen's training bra
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I don't think I've been able to find the earlier episodes, but if it's ANYTHING like the change Simpsons had, then I can totally agree. When shows come out, they're awesome...but usually, someone else takes over, and then it becomes nothing but just...JUNK. In a way, it's a little like Disney. Remember when Disney came out with GOOD cartoons and not some desperate attempts to make some money? (example, that one kids show with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Professor...and their dumbed down for kids routine...)
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Disney was coming out with good cartoons as recently as seven years ago - Lilo and Stitch and "Kim Possible" still rank among the most entertaining stuff they've done. And everyone says "Phineas and Ferb" is hilarious, so I wouldn't count them out completely yet.
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True, those are good cartoons, but what about that short they made in 1995? Runaway Brain? It was a HORRIBLE short, in my opinion. I hated the entire thing...it was completely not Mickey Mouse!
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On the contrary, I think it was one of Mickey's all-time greatest films. It breathed new life into a character who'd transformed into a personality-deprived corporate logo, and I thought it was great that Disney actually let its artists use their squeaky-clean mascot as the star of a 1950s-style sci-fi horror short. It's that sort of experimentation that you rarely see from established studios these days.
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Seriously?!? Where was I when Stewie made the transition from a lovable evil, plotting little deviant that hated his mother to a sexually confused ninny??? Where was I?!?!?
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Ohhh, come ON now, man...
I agree, the show aint what it used to be...but they hit the mark from time to time (hell, that 'Star Wars' ep they did was WONDERFUL!)...
I will still tune in from time to time, as I hate to be pessimistic (sp?)...I still think Brian RULES (he's my all time fave toon animal) and Stewie is FUNNY...but they COULD use some help with the writing...
Don't give up on FG...it's still watchable...and you are FAR too talented to be so JADED!...
K
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Brian's basically turning into naught but a mouthpiece for Seth MacFarlane's extremely leftist political views (I consider myself a Democrat, but even I get annoyed with some of what this guy says), and the writers don't know what to do with Stewie anymore - sometimes he's evil, sometimes he's gay, sometimes he's neither of these things, etc.
I dunno, the show's track record is too uneven for me to have faith in it. I don't like to tune into a show every week and have to cross my fingers while saying "Please let this one be good." It's why I stopped watching "The Simpsons". (Thanks for the compliment, though!)
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Definitely agree with you on MacFarlane's bias. When South Park makes fun of views held by the left or the right, they do it in an intelligent manner and actually pay some respect to the opposing opinions before making fun of them. MacFarlane just comes off as hateful.
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Brian's basically turning into naught but a mouthpiece for Seth MacFarlane's extremely leftist political views (I consider myself a Democrat, but even I get annoyed with some of what this guy says)
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Hmmm...interesting!
I would be forced to agree with you concerning the far left aspect...but I have yet to hear a joke I didn't laugh at, tho I am more light left' than anything...
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and the writers don't know what to do with Stewie anymore - sometimes he's evil, sometimes he's gay, sometimes he's neither of these things, etc
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But that's just part of the silliness...
Still, Stewie IS funny, IMO...but again, I have to agree with your points, I just don't consider them enough reason to stop watching the show, I guess...;0
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I dunno, the show's track record is too uneven for me to have faith in it. I don't like to tune into a show every week and have to cross my fingers while saying "Please let this one be good." It's why I stopped watching "The Simpsons". (Thanks for the compliment, though!)
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Hey, your work warranted it...you do great stuff!
I guess the end result is that you have a more 'critical' perspective...and I just love to laugh (and I admit, tend to laugh EASILY, so says my wife...
K
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A lot of episodes of the second era are okay, but these current ones are just atrocious! I thought the 420 episode would be cool. It was so bad, I stopped smoking pot for life!
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From what I've heard about recent episodes, it seems like Brian should be asking "Remember When I wasn't a depository for left-wing propoganda?"
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Family Guy was worth watching?
When was this?
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Aaa famly guy. The more I think of the stuped show the more I love this picure. Will you nowe what they say if it looks like crap, smells like crap, and taste like crap, it is crap. And thats what famly guy is *crap*. good job gdwarner86. good job
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you know what I find ironic about Stewie becoming a "depository for simple homosexual humor"? Earlier in the series, they were making fun of the prospect of over-using such a device via Peter's vision of Pawtucket Pat.
"If I go through you, does that mean we've done it?"
"Gee, what's with you and all the gay jokes?"
Anyway, while I can agree that Meg's abuse has gone a tad too far, I actually enjoyed it at first. See, if there's one thing I hate in American sitcoms, it's the archetypical teen-age daughter character. Judging from a good few that I've seen, they tend to be self-centered, one-dimensional cunts whose entire purpose in life revolves around extremely trivial matters like fretting over how they think they're "uncool" or whatever, and Meg's really no exception. So, when they started picking on her and, in what was quite possibly a fourth-wall breaking nod to the real life fandom, noted that she was the least popular character, I was very much applauding. ^^
It's just too bad that she would delve further and further into being the butt of many jokes rather than actually improving on the character. One thing I will credit the newer seasons for is that episode where Meg got a job at Wal-Mart (or some parody of Wal-Mart with a similar name, I forget). That one actually had a pretty decent character-defining moment for her.
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I don't totally HATE Family Guy,but sometimes I really miss Stewie's evil-ness...
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I specifically remember ignoring Family Guy when it first came out because I thought it was going to steal Futurama's thunder. I didn't begin watching it until much later when it was in reruns on Adult Swim. I'm obviously more fond of American Dad and I wish people would stop criticizing it so much (It must be hard living in the shadow of something as terrible as Family Guy).
You also managed to make Brian look cuter than he already is.
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i think the show is funny... i mean... its not THAT bad.
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I still enjoy Family Guy, even though I have to admit the latest season has not been that great.
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Maybe this is why Seth is pushing American Dad which I actually like a lot more.
The family doesn't waste time with irrelevant flashbacks and brutal fist-fights with a giant chicken.
The daughter is still unappreciated but she has her well-earned moments.
Francine's much nicer than Lois despite being mostly a trophy wife.
Stan is meant to lampoon annoying right-wingers and he always gets his comeuppance.
Steve is goofy like Chris but in more nerdy sort of way, and he gets hit on by older women instead of some creepy old guy.
And don't get me started on Roger and Claus.
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I like how you drew the characters in a way that is easily recognizable, but added your own style to their design.
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I remember! ...because they rarely show newer episodes here T^T
And boy I hate Stewie, all his "remember when...?" and "future" scenes suck X-(
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