Would Family Guy work better as an animated sketch show?

[GrantM]

I've been thinking, since people have been saying that Family Guy is not as good as it once was, and the only thing in it people still enjoy are the cutaway gags and random jokes. I was wondering if Family Guy took would work better if they just did the cutaway gags as sketches and made a show out of it

[Scythemantis]

No matter how nonsensical the gag, I think the setup in the main storyline is crucial. A bunch of random nonsense strewn together already exists, and it is called "Robot Chicken"...one of the unfunniest shows on television.

[DarthGonzo]

Oh comon guys, you just know the inclusion of TMS as an animation house would greatly improve Family Guy and make it just as good as Tiny Toon Adventures.

:p

Sorry, I won't do that again. Actually, maybe just one episode that was completely random and just had a bunch of short sketches might be pretty cool. But I wouldnt want to see the whole series that way.

[Ultra Mike]

Scythemantis has a good point: If FG ended up being just nonsenical gags we'd have another Robot Chicken on our hands, and no one wants that. (Besides the obviously large fanbase of the show that got it the second season). However, the plots for the latest season in general have been very, very, very weak. I look at Season 1-3 episodes and the plot, although small is usually solid. Now the plot's are even weaker then ones found in recent Simpsons episodes and barley support the show at all. Maybe the writing team is too busy making the American Dad plots solid, I don't know, but it's not really working for me just as a family comedy anymore. Allthough the main problem still resides in the overlong gags that the writers love doing and are easier to make then the quickie jokes so you know we'll be stuck with those jokes.

[Classic Speedy]

Oh comon guys, you just know the inclusion of TMS as an animation house would greatly improve Family Guy and make it just as good as Tiny Toon Adventures.

Sorry, I won't do that again. Good. Mocking fellow TZ users is against the rules. Doing this any further could result in a warning.

Anyway, a show needs a strong, coherent plot and atleast DECENT characterization to also be funny. American Dad is proof of that, and that's why it's the far superior of the two Seth shows right now.

[judyindisguise]

I thought it WAS an animated sketch show.

[judyindisguise]

No matter how nonsensical the gag, I think the setup in the main storyline is crucial. A bunch of random nonsense strewn together already exists, and it is called "Robot Chicken"...one of the unfunniest shows on television.

The only skit on that show that made me laugh was the Smurfs skit. In it Smurfs barfed and cussed and one of them got murdered. I mean come on, what's not funny about that? Well, okay, but whoever did the voice of Brainy Smurf did a good job. And when Brainy looked at Jokey Smurf and said "What the $%#!! is the matter with you?" that was pretty funny.

[SirLemming]

I agree; one episode like that would be cool, but it's kind of a weird question because it just wouldn't be Family Guy anymore. FG's basic formula is to have a really fundamental plot -- it usually doesn't really matter how cliched it is or if it has great structure -- and then do lots of funny stuff with it. The plot isn't crucial, like it is on The Simpsons or American Dad, but it is the foundation for the humor. In other words, you've got to have something to cut away from.

[GagaMan]

One things for sure: In 50-100 years time people looking back at this won't get it due to all the cult references. It's a sketch show with some plot thrown in each episode. I just hope the animated feature films stop trying to be like it.

[Zorak Masaki]

I'm not sure that it wont be understood in 50 yrs,,most of their refs are more timeless stuff as opposed to stuff like harry potter (im looking at YOU simpsons) and pokemon (and heres looking at YOU south park, even though i enjoyed that ep) which were more or less fads.

[Leviathan]

Anyway, a show needs a strong, coherent plot and atleast DECENT characterization to also be funny. American Dad is proof of that, and that's why it's the far superior of the two Seth shows right now.

I wouldn't go as far as saying it's superior to Family Guy Round 2, they're more or less of the same caliber.

That said, I would say that Family Guy wouldn't cut it as a sketch comedy, simply because the sketches of the newest season (s) seem more forced, and aren't as good as earlier ones.

Plus I couldn't see a animated Sketch comedy unless vit had a cast of recurring characters (unlike Robot Cihcken)

[rmarti3926]

I've been thinking, since people have been saying that Family Guy is not as good as it once was, and the only thing in it people still enjoy are the cutaway gags and random jokes. I was wondering if Family Guy took would work better if they just did the cutaway gags as sketches and made a show out of it

Well... Um...

[TheMecca]

In my opinion, Family Guy is as good if not better than it once was. But hey, that's my opinion.
However, as a sketch show? Wouldn't work. Robot Chicken did that wonderfully, and Family Guy has to have a plot for it to work.

Useless cutaways strung together would be a waste of everyone's time.

EDIT: Oh, and judyindisguise, that Smurfs skit was a shot by shot "homage" to the movie Se7en. Just sayin'.

[SirLemming]

I'm not sure that it wont be understood in 50 yrs,,most of their refs are more timeless stuff as opposed to stuff like harry potter (im looking at YOU simpsons) and pokemon (and heres looking at YOU south park, even though i enjoyed that ep) which were more or less fads.
Harry Potter and Pokemon are both much more likely to be remembered 50 years from now than a LOT of the stuff FG has referenced.

[Leviathan]

Harry Potter and Pokemon are both much more likely to be remembered 50 years from now than a LOT of the stuff FG has referenced.

I could see Harry Potter being remembered for its literary roots, but Pokemon? i could see it as being remmebered as some nostalgic commodity, but so would much of the stuff referenced in FG

[Nin-Nin69]

I could see Harry Potter being remembered for its literary roots, but Pokemon? i could see it as being remmebered as some nostalgic commodity, but so would much of the stuff referenced in FG
Well if Pokemon remains strong like the majority of Nintendo properties, then it's gonna last a long time.

Oh and since S4 FG is already a clip show. They just throw in half assed plots to make FOX believe there is a point to each episode.

[Scythemantis]

Good. Mocking fellow TZ users is against the rules. Doing this any further could result in a warning.

Eh? Where did he mock someone? Who's TMS?

[straw_hat]

It's to late for them to turn the show into an animated SNL when there's already 4 seasons and an entire fanbase that tunes in to see what the Griffin Family is up to.

[SirLemming]

Eh? Where did he mock someone? Who's TMS?
TMS is an animation studio, and PC-Famicom-somethingorother is a Toon Zone member who posts an awful lot about how Family Guy would be better if TMS animated it.

[Dee]

Keep it on topic please.

[Golgo13]

What? It's not a sketch show already?

[SirLemming]

Keep it on topic please.
Sorry. I wouldn't have said anything if not for Scythe's question. I don't like harping on that kind of stuff either.


What? It's not a sketch show already?
Well... no. That's kind of the point of the question, though. I suppose your answer is Yes?

[Fan of Sponge]

In my opinion, if you destory the original foundations for what Family Guy was standing for and replace it with new fresh material that was different like a sketch show, fans will tune out by the mass. If this happened, Family Guy would follow the same footsteps the Smurfs did with traveling to different places in their final "doomed" season. There is no way I would watch a family collapse along with the show collapse with various sketch shows. Family Guy does have a point at the end, sketches just quicken the matter and not make the show anymore exciting.