At Least It Doesn't Suck As Much As The Cleveland Show: FAMILY GUY!

[Reply #440 on:]

Sorry Beamer, but new Family Guy is on a level so much higher than new Simpsons that it's not even worth the comparison. And I don't even think new Family Guy is that good,  but new Simpsons is unbearably bad...even just watching clips from the new episodes makes me want to gouge my eyes out and shove dynamite in my ears.

I do agree that Family Guy's decline happened at season 5. I actually enjoyed most of season 4...in fact it might be my favorite season of the show overall, with some of my favorite episodes like Petarded and North By North Quahog. But it started going downhill shortly after that. That said, I feel like it degraded and then leveled out at mediocrity, unlike The Simpsons which has gotten progressively worse and is so uninspired and atrocious as to make it unwatchable.

[Reply #441 on:]

Sorry Beamer, but new Family Guy is on a level so much higher than new Simpsons that it's not even worth the comparison. And I don't even think new Family Guy is that good,  but new Simpsons is unbearably bad...even just watching clips from the new episodes makes me want to gouge my eyes out and shove dynamite in my ears.

I do agree that Family Guy's decline happened at season 5. I actually enjoyed most of season 4...in fact it might be my favorite season of the show overall, with some of my favorite episodes like Petarded and North By North Quahog. But it started going downhill shortly after that. That said, I feel like it degraded and then leveled out at mediocrity, unlike The Simpsons which has gotten progressively worse and is so uninspired and atrocious as to make it unwatchable.

Yeah, Family Guy might be much worse than it used to be, but it still gives me more laughs than almost all Modern Simpsons episodes. I'd say Family Guy's best season was Season 3, and it slowly went downhill after it returned with Season 4, but it's still easily watchable.

[Reply #442 on:]

I completely agree.

Family Guy is still good for one or two good laughs per episode, whereas The Simpsons rarely puts an episode out, these days, that doesn't actively anger me by being so atrociously awful.

And, on top of that, Family Guy still produce one or two genuinely very good episodes per season whereas The Simpsons seem to be producing one genuinely good episode every 10 years, at the minute.

[Reply #443 on:]

Seriously? I disagree with almost every point made since Beamer's comment.

Family Guy, has gotten really shitty since the return. I can admit when a show's going sour. Family Guy went sour around Season 4-5, and Simpsons went sour after Season 10. Now let me just mention that I actually love some episodes from Seasons 4-5. But I still could see a decline in quality during these seasons. I much prefer Classic Simpsons over Classic Family Guy. With that said, lets fast forward. New Simpsons, is really boring and bland with their storytelling. Not to mention the number of unfunny jokes that arise from lots of new episodes. I mean just to sum it up, it's really bad. But, some new episodes still turn out to be okay, in a ratio of about 1-2 episodes every 2-3 seasons. And then there's one genuinely good episode every like 6 years now. With this said, lets get to New Family Guy. New Family Guy, is much worse. Each new episode basically consists of 30% filler, 50% jokes (that fail in about every episode), and 20% storytelling. Family Guy just don't have ANY interesting stories to tell anymore. Not to mention that they have to reuse alot of jokes now. I sort of admire New Simpsons for at least TRYING to keep a good story/plot aspect to be in check with most of the new episodes. I mean they're all executed pretty badly, but it's alot better writing than New Family Guy can do. To me it seems like Family Guy just doesn't even try anymore. I haven't laughed at Family Guy in a while. Sure, a couple episodes a season give me a good chuckle. But the jokes are just fucking terrible. So are The Simpsons, which pretty much put them on a bad tie when it comes to jokes.

So I mean I'm not just blatantly saying that I prefer New Simpsons over New Family Guy, I have my reasons. And I know I may get alot of flack for this, but hey oh well, we all have different viewpoints of things.

[Reply #444 on:]

Nah, you explained yourself pretty well. I still disagree but I can see where you're coming from.

Neither are currently as good as Bob's Burgers or even South Park, though.

[Reply #445 on:]

Neither are currently as good as Bob's Burgers or even South Park, though.

Agree with this 1,000,000%.

[Reply #446 on:]

I actually haven't watched enough American Dad recently to confirm this, but based on the last episodes I have seen I'd bet on placing that higher as well.

[Reply #447 on:]

You'd be right to do so.

[Reply #448 on:]

Nah, you explained yourself pretty well. I still disagree but I can see where you're coming from.

Neither are currently as good as Bob's Burgers or even South Park, though.

I hugely choose South Park over both of these series right now. Bob's burgers, I don't know. It's actually a pretty okay show. I don't know where I'd place it, but maybe a few inches over both though. American Dad sits right behind South Park for me though.

[Reply #449 on:]

I find amusing how Family Guy is a topic right now, I (re?) watched the whole series in less of a month and ,ok isn't that bad as I thought or I remembered. If you forget the "ahhh The Simpsons did it!" feeling, the show is really enjoyable,even if I find the long jokes boring as hell.

Anyway, I like the way the touch topics as abortion and drugs ,is a lot better than The Simpsons actually that...ugh seems they only care about celebrities, neat animation and technology, I miss the times where they used to be "rebeld" I dunno, the series are so blend and insipid ,nothing interesting happens anymore.

But Family Guy still being gross and they do whatever they want so, yeah the past sunday's episode was a HUGE surprise, because personally I dont like Brian but, they managed to make me feel upset about his death too, also if I already knew....it's Family Guy.

But American Dad stills being better,but Family Guy is decent too and I can't believe that, The Simpsons are zombies now.

[Reply #450 on:]

Nah, you explained yourself pretty well. I still disagree but I can see where you're coming from.

Neither are currently as good as Bob's Burgers or even South Park, though.

I hugely choose South Park over both of these series right now. Bob's burgers, I don't know. It's actually a pretty okay show. I don't know where I'd place it, but maybe a few inches over both though. American Dad sits right behind South Park for me though.

Bob's Burgers is VERY character-focused in its comedy style. You have to watch a few episodes and get to learn all the characters' tics, personality traits, etc. before you really start to find it funny. Not to mention that significant portions are recorded in long takes with all the cast, so a large part of the show relies heavily on the chemistry of its fantastic cast and the way they play off one-another.

American Dad has less emphasis on story/character and more on humour (though granted, the show does care about story/character a LOT more than any of MacFarlane's other creations), and usually succeeds in that department. The show is certainly superior to Family Guy in every conceivable way.

Pretty sure everyone here knows how much I love South Park, though it has never been consistent in its quality (unlike BB and AD). I personally think it's having a damn good run at the moment though, but either way, it isn't a show I could see hitting a slump and never again recovering. And when it's great, it's fucking GREAT. Even the best episodes of Family Guy still don't hold a candle to the best episodes of any of these shows.

[Reply #451 on:]

When I first read "BB and AD" my mind honestly first jumped to Breaking Bad and Arrested Development before I was able to contextualize.

Anyway, animated show rankings for me currently:
1) Bob's Burgers
2) Archer
3) The Venture Bros.
4) South Park
5) American Dad
6) Futurama (last season)
7) Family Guy
8) The Simpsons

But for all time is a bit harder, let's see...
1) The Simpsons
2) Futurama
3) South Park
4) Archer
5) Bob's Burgers
6) The Venture Bros.
7) American Dad
8) Family Guy

[Reply #452 on:]

When I first read "BB and AD" my mind honestly first jumped to Breaking Bad and Arrested Development before I was able to contextualize.

Haha, sorry 'bout that! Though I guess the same comment could be applied to both of those shows, too.

Agreed on Archer and The Venture Bros, too (though the most recent season of the former was quite weak).

[Reply #453 on:]

I didn't think it was as much "weak" as it was just not quite up to par with the first three seasons, hence why I put it below Bob's Burgers which seems to only be getting better.

Hm...most of this discussion should probably be moved to the general TV thread, or maybe the animated shows thread (that exists, right?). My bad for getting us so off-topic.

[Reply #454 on:]

"Weak" by its own standards, I mean. A lack of direction in the running story arcs (namely undoing all of the plot twists from the previous season's finale very early on, for ultimately no reason), too much reliance on the repetition/rehashing of old material and a general lack of laughs compared to the first 3 seasons (1 and 3 especially... This show seems to have a thing with its odd/even-numbered seasons). It was still better than most of the other shows currently on tv, but I'm hoping it picks up again next year.

[Reply #455 on:]

Interesting comment about 1 and 3...season 2 is my personal favorite. Although that may simply be because it has some of my all-time favorite episodes and not due to the season's overall quality. El Secuestro and Placebo Effect are respectively my top two episodes of the series, with Stage Two and White Nights also being high on my list.

[Reply #456 on:]

The cancer story arc is quite possibly the most brilliant thing the show's done to date, and I also loved everything with the wee baby Seamus, but overall I felt the quantity of truly memorable episodes was lacking in comparison to 1 and 3. The quality wasn't significantly different, but I'd prefer a season that's consistently great the whole way through over an inconsistent season with a few stand-outs. Season 3 is my personal favourite (though again, it's pretty close in general as far as the first 3 go).

[Reply #457 on:]

See I thought season 3 of Archer was pretty weak in that there were no stand out episodes or really moments that made me laugh as hard as the first two seasons. (I agree completely about the cancer arc, "Well I thought, you know, kids get cancer" "Oh! Kids do get cancer" made me drop to the ground laughing). I'm a season behind though since I started watching all of them on Netflix so I eagerly await season 4 in the next few months.

Getting back on topic with Solid Snake, I agree wholeheartedly that New Simpsons is just boring, no really offensively stupid or bad just not interesting or funny whereas New Family Guy has no standards for anything. What's annoying is Family Guy's lack of understanding in how to tackle a serious issue and turn a comedic spin on it. The best example I can think of is this cutaway gag that I think is sometimes included when aired (depending on the network) where Stewie picks up a book called "Horton Hears Domestic Violence in the Apartment Next Door and Doesn't Do Anything About It" and then it shows that scenario. I absolutely hate that because it wasn't a joke, it was frighteningly accurate and incredibly uncomfortable. That was the turning point for me and in hindsight, knowing how much better American Dad is in every conceivable way, it just shows how ugly and sloppily made Family Guy is and was for a long time. 

They use celebrities uselessly (there's an episode with Sean Bean and Tom Hiddleston that have no purpose for them whatsoever). That can be said for The Simpsons as well as it seems that every celebrity goes through the revolving door as of later seasons often voicing characters that didn't need a celebrity to voice them.

As far as Bob's Burgers goes, it seems like Early Simpsons-Lite. I have only seen a few episodes but I do enjoy it although as far as Jon Benjamin roles go I'd rank Bob after Archer and Coach McGurken.

[Reply #458 on:]

"Early Simpsons-Lite" is a good way to describe Bob's Burgers. The tone the show tries to cultivate for itself is very similar to The Simpsons circa seasons 1-4.

[Reply #459 on:]

Show spoiler

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/12/family-guy-alert-brian-the-dog-is-coming-back/

[Reply #460 on:]

Show spoiler

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/12/family-guy-alert-brian-the-dog-is-coming-back/

Very unsurprising.

[Reply #461 on:]

Not surprising in the least. I always knew

Show spoiler

Brian would be back.

Show spoiler

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month, one of the writers let slip that there's going to be an upcoming episode where Brian falls for a female jogger played by Maya Rudolph and pretends to be a jogger himself to impress her.

So there you have it. Brian will be back.

[Reply #462 on:]

How will he be back though? I mean it's kind of tough to come back from the dead.

[Reply #463 on:]

Show spoiler

Stewie will use his time machine to bring him back to the present alive, probably.

[Reply #464 on:]

How will he be back though? I mean it's kind of tough to come back from the dead.

Kenny's made that possible.

[Reply #465 on:]

Show spoiler

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/12/family-guy-alert-brian-the-dog-is-coming-back/

That's just the same theories and observations everybody else has made. I thought it was going to be an actual announcement.

look, you made idiots who didn't actually read the article think it was official. Look at stum, he's all like "I always knew!", dancing around, so pleased with himself. Don't you just want to cut his throat?

[Reply #466 on:]

It's hilarious that even a petition was created to bring him back when he would be brought back already.

[Reply #467 on:]

 Really? It's stupid how idiotic people get over little things.

[Reply #468 on:]

How you you feel if someone killed YOUR dog?

[Reply #469 on:]

I find it hilarious how this was national news in the U.S.

[Reply #470 on:]

That's just the same theories and observations everybody else has made. I thought it was going to be an actual announcement.

Apologies - It was on a mainstream news site and I stopped reading partway down because I didn't want to risk exposing myself to further spoilers.

[Reply #471 on:]

Imagine ESPN talking about this:

"P1. Last night in a Family Guy episode, "America's Dog" Brian was killed in a car crash. Many fans are outraged by it.

P2. You know who likes to kill dogs? Michael Vick."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...oh.. .that wasn't even close to hilarious .

[Reply #472 on:]

I find it hilarious how this was national news in the U.S.

  It was the "top story," for a pretty long time. Talk about a knee slapper ....wait? 

[Reply #473 on:]

Well this Sunday marks the first episode of probably seven until we get to see Brian again.

Who here thought Brian was gone for good?

[Reply #474 on:]

How will he be back though? I mean it's kind of tough to come back from the dead.

Kenny's made that possible.

Kenny is magical; Brian is not.

[Reply #475 on:]

look, you made idiots who didn't actually read the article think it was official. Look at stum, he's all like "I always knew!", dancing around, so pleased with himself. Don't you just want to cut his throat?

So, you want to cut my throat just because I found out from an official interview that Brian is coming back before any of you did?

[Reply #476 on:]

look, you made idiots who didn't actually read the article think it was official. Look at stum, he's all like "I always knew!", dancing around, so pleased with himself. Don't you just want to cut his throat?

This needs repeating - this is the most disgusting, awful, pathetic thing I've ever heard anyone say. If you don't get banned for this then I've lost all hope for the forum.

[Reply #477 on:]

look, you made idiots who didn't actually read the article think it was official. Look at stum, he's all like "I always knew!", dancing around, so pleased with himself. Don't you just want to cut his throat?

This needs repeating - this is the most disgusting, awful, pathetic thing I've ever heard anyone say. If you don't get banned for this then I've lost all hope for the forum.

Just yesterday you told a new member you would like to cut his/her throat, so how are you gonna talk? I think you need to stop it. Notice how there was never this much arguing before you came?

[Reply #478 on:]

look, you made idiots who didn't actually read the article think it was official. Look at stum, he's all like "I always knew!", dancing around, so pleased with himself. Don't you just want to cut his throat?

This needs repeating - this is the most disgusting, awful, pathetic thing I've ever heard anyone say. If you don't get banned for this then I've lost all hope for the forum.

Just yesterday you told a new member you would like to cut his/her throat, so how are you gonna talk? I think you need to stop it. Notice how there was never this much arguing before you came?

Well it's stum.
He acts like a complete idiot some of the times.
Wait, all of the time.

[Reply #479 on:]

Well this Sunday marks the first episode of probably seven until we get to see Brian again.

Who here thought Brian was gone for good?

I thought he was really gone .

look, you made idiots who didn't actually read the article think it was official. Look at stum, he's all like "I always knew!", dancing around, so pleased with himself. Don't you just want to cut his throat?

This needs repeating - this is the most disgusting, awful, pathetic thing I've ever heard anyone say. If you don't get banned for this then I've lost all hope for the forum.

Just yesterday you told a new member you would like to cut his/her throat, so how are you gonna talk? I think you need to stop it. Notice how there was never this much arguing before you came?

Really, how much worse can you get stum. The worst part was, he was an innocent new comer and didn't even know stum until he comes along and says he wants to cut his throat.

 Well you know what, we want to cut your throat. Mwahahaha