"Family Guy" - What Works and What Doesn't

[J. B. Warner]

It's the topic of much heated debate, both here and elsewhere, and since I've been studying the show a lot lately (both pre-cancellation and post-renewal), I think it's time for me to collect my thoughts in one thread.

First of all, nobody can deny that "Family Guy" in 2005 was a different show compared to "Family Guy" in 2002. The writing style became decidedly different after the revival, focusing less on plot and character and more on longer sequences and cutaways that were tangential to the main story at best. It became a hodge-podge sort of show, where people are bound to remember individual parts more than they remember the whole. The plots themselves held less weight after the revival, with very little regard for characterization. If the script calls for it, characters can become much more harsh and severely different, only to revert to their usual selves moments later. This development has led to many fans becoming disenchanted with the show, and I know that I watched the early Season 4 episodes wondering why I was expected to remain interested in each episode for 30 minutes if the plot wasn't going to be resolved and the characters weren't going to be used to the best of their ability.

For an example, let's use 4ACX19 "The Courtship of Stewie's Father", an episode that I actually have a personal attachment to - I own the first draft of its script, personally autographed by Seth MacFarlane himself. And it should be noted that the episode's second act changed significantly between first draft and air time. Originally, the bonding between Peter and Stewie was much more natural; there was a scene where the two of them exact revenge on a bullying child's father at the playground by smashing the father's car together, something they both enjoyed. In the final episode, however, the two grow closer by pulling pranks on Lois, which range from throwing a jar of pickles at her head to spraying her with the garden hose while she's on the toilet to locking her in the trunk of the car and dumping the car in a lake. Now, it's perfectly understandable to me that Stewie would enjoy these things, since it's within his character - he's been trying to kill Lois since the very first episode, so why shouldn't he enjoy seeing her suffer? But there's really no reason for Peter to get a kick out of any of this. After all, this is his wife we're talking about. Peter has been known to be inconsiderate, but never to this extreme. Certainly, the writers thought it would be unexpected by the audience and therefore funny, but instead, it just comes across as cruel and out of character for Peter, and it makes the plot feel forced and contrived.

Then there's the problem of long, drawn-out scenes that wear out their welcome. These exist both as cutaways and as regular scenes, and one can usually suspect that they exist to pad out the story when there isn't enough content to fill the 22-minute requirement, but they generally become the scenes that people remember the most from any given episode, for better or for worse. Again, I can use 4ACX19 as an example, comparing it against the first draft - the extended sequence where Brian does the "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" dance does not appear in the original script. Given its complete lack of significance to the plot and the extended length of it, it is perhaps a good assumption that it was added to lengthen the show. Admittedly, this is not the worst offender in this field, as numerous other scenes from the post-renewal episodes are even longer. Observe the reprise of the Peter vs. Chicken fight from 4ACX04 "Blind Ambition", the "You Have AIDS" song from 4ACX08 "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire", Stewie's two "You gonna finish your novel?" runs from 4ACX10 "Brian the Bachelor", the ipecac sequence from 4ACX11 "8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter", Stewie punching Will Ferrell from 4ACX16 "Jungle Love", and - perhaps most notorious - the three-minute Osama Bin Laden/Naked Gun filler opening from 4ACX17 "PTV", which MacFarlane openly admits exists only because the episode ran short. If the shows are coming in three to four minutes under length, someone in the writers' room isn't doing their job.

That sums up the plotting problems, but what about the characters? Most of them have become pale imitations of their pre-cancellation selves. Peter originally existed as a father who didn't have a clue but still wanted to do the right thing, as evidenced by his actions in episodes like 1ACX04 "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" and 2ACX04 "Let's Go To the Hop". Now, he has become a one-dimensional fool who cares only for himself and never learns a lesson from his behavior. Stewie was once an evil genius who would stop at nothing to enact his plans, and held a strong matricidal vendetta against Lois. Now, except for a few isolated incidents, these malicious tendencies have all but been eradicated, as Stewie mostly exists for thinly-veiled gay jokes. And indeed, the matricidal part of Stewie's personality seems to have been eliminated completely in the aftermath of 5ACX17 "Stewie Kills Lois"/5ACX18 "Lois Kills Stewie". And of course, we cannot forget Meg, the family's eternal punching bag, who exists in this manner purely because the writers don't know how to write for teenage girls. There was once a time when at least Lois would stand up for her and offer her the respect she asks for, as seen in 3ACX05 "A Fish Out Of Water" or 2ACX22 "And The Wiener Is...", but now she's just as openly hateful towards her daughter as Peter has become. This running gag has surpassed the point of dark humor and now just reads as pointless cruelty aimed at a character who doesn't deserve it. If anything, the characters on this show are puppets, who are made to do anything that the writers darn well please, even if it doesn't match who the writers have already established that they are.

So in the wake of all this show's problems, what good can be said about it? Well, the voice acting is certainly among the finest on TV today. Seth MacFarlane, regardless of his writing abilities, is an absolutely brilliant voice actor with a greatly impressive range - a casual fan might not even know that he fills the roles of both Peter, Brian, Stewie, and Quagmire, and let's not forget that the man can really sing. Alex Borstein's voice for Lois comes off as annoying at first, but her range of emotions are impressive - it's too bad that the scripts generally require her to remain at the "outraged" level. Seth Green brings a certain likable dopiness to Chris, while Mila Kunis accurately portrays the levels of stress and exasperation that play such a large role in Meg's life (if anything positive can be said about this aspect of the writing, that is). On a technical level, the animation on the show has improved significantly since the renewal, as little digital and CGI touches show up in every episode that at least make the show fun to look at, even if it's not entertaining to watch (if that makes sense). It's a great improvement over the lower-quality animation of the first three seasons, wherein the line quality would occasionally become rough and digitized during still moments.

It's an uneven balance, to be sure. The vocal and animation talents on the show perhaps deserve to be put to better use on more solid scripts that make us care about the characters and their situations. I've only scratched the surface here - there are underlying issues to the show that lead to even deeper discussion. What are your thoughts?

[R-Taco]

I enjoy the parts of the show that play around with the quirks of everyday speech & conversation ("Let's do soft tacos tonight!"), but the Meg bashing is just lame and the pathetic political jokes ("Look! Let's laugh at how wrong conservatives are!") come off as cheap and from someone with minimal knowledge on the subject.

[Mad Mod 49]

I enjoy the parts of the show that play around with the quirks of everyday speech & conversation ("Let's do soft tacos tonight!"), but the Meg bashing is just lame and the pathetic political jokes ("Look! Let's laugh at how wrong conservatives are!") come off as cheap and from someone with minimal knowledge on the subject.


Agreed. To expand upon this, the Meg bashing is lame because Meg rarely does anything to deserve it but exist. Honestly, it's gotten to the point where whenever Meg walks onscreen I think "OK, what form of bashing is the poor girl gonna recieve this time?" And JMO, I think alot of political jokes out there are bad period, mainly because, as you state, people can't seem to get over their bias and think deeper (Honestly, there's good stuff in conservatism and liberalism. Whichever you prefer is up to you, but good lord, stereotyping one as 100% bad and 100% good is just plain close-mindedness. :yawn: ) These jokes are made worse if Brian is the one delivering them, since it really takes a toll on his likeability as a character, which used to be one of the highest on the show.

I too wish Family Guy could go back to how it used to be, but at this point, it seems like "anything for a cheap laugh" is how it's gonna be for the rest of it's run.

[Dr. Daedalus]

J.B., have you seen "Stewie Loves Lois"? That's one of the better post-revival episodes- the plot stays pretty focused throughout and it's well-directed from a comedy standpoint (I swear, I laugh hard every time Dr. Hartman french kisses the judge). And... because you brought it up: I don't recall any Meg bashing at all. Its only downside is some pretty thin threads for a few cutaways, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Sulu.

[RonDrakenfan17]

I have noticed these changes sadly. I wish Seth wouldn't make newer shows and just try to fix his old show :sad:

[Infusions]

When in doubt, switch to American Dad.

EDIT: I actually can't relate to most of you because I haven't liked Family Guy since day 1, in fact, I still don't like it very much today. I'll watch re-runs when it's on, but I wouldn't be able to get as in-deep as most fans would about how different the show is and such like I would be able to do with South Park, where I can notice the obvious differences in Season 3 compared to Season 8.

[Jazman]

First of all, nobody can deny that "Family Guy" in 2005 was a different show compared to "Family Guy" in 2002. The writing style became decidedly different after the revival, focusing less on plot and character and more on longer sequences and cutaways that were tangential to the main story at best. It became a hodge-podge sort of show, where people are bound to remember individual parts more than they remember the whole. The plots themselves held less weight after the revival, with very little regard for characterization. If the script calls for it, characters can become much more harsh and severely different, only to revert to their usual selves moments later. This development has led to many fans becoming disenchanted with the show, and I know that I watched the early Season 4 episodes wondering why I was expected to remain interested in each episode for 30 minutes if the plot wasn't going to be resolved and the characters weren't going to be used to the best of their ability.

I think myself, and most of the shows fans have moved on from that. During season 4, a whole lot of complaining from people on just this subject that the show needed to return to it's old self. I think by the time season 5 rolled out, those who didn't like Family Guy 2.0 moved on, while a larger and younger audience replaced them. As much as most complaints on the show have merit, as long as the bucks roll in, and the viewers remain, the show runners as well as FOX will assume that this is the Family Guy people want, and thus continue to make it the same. I mean, I myself wish it was still 2002, sadly not so. I've watched from then on forgetting all of that and have stuck to one principal. Did this week make me laugh? If it did, job done. Family Guy has become a show that is unable to analyze. You try, but in the end, most people look at you, and ask...So?

One thing that works, no matter what kind of grab bag you get week after week, there is most always a joke, or a gag, that people can't stop talking about, no matter how crappy the episode as a whole was that week. That is what gets people to come back week after week.


So in the wake of all this show's problems, what good can be said about it? Well, the voice acting is certainly among the finest on TV today. Seth MacFarlane, regardless of his writing abilities, is an absolutely brilliant voice actor with a greatly impressive range - a casual fan might not even know that he fills the roles of both Peter, Brian, Stewie, and Quagmire, and let's not forget that the man can really sing. Alex Borstein's voice for Lois comes off as annoying at first, but her range of emotions are impressive - it's too bad that the scripts generally require her to remain at the "outraged" level. Seth Green brings a certain likable dopiness to Chris, while Mila Kunis accurately portrays the levels of stress and exasperation that play such a large role in Meg's life (if anything positive can be said about this aspect of the writing, that is). On a technical level, the animation on the show has improved significantly since the renewal, as little digital and CGI touches show up in every episode that at least make the show fun to look at, even if it's not entertaining to watch (if that makes sense). It's a great improvement over the lower-quality animation of the first three seasons, wherein the line quality would occasionally become rough and digitized during still moments.

Agreed.

However, saying all that, I was still disapointed with the last season, as short as it was. Other than the Star Wars episode, and the Stewie Kills Lois arc, I don't remember anything from last season worth mentioning (IMO). I know some of that is the fault of the strike, but there were 4 or 5 at the end that Seth took control back, and still nothing. I hope that next season with a break fixes all that and we return to the hit and miss of Family Guy 2.0.

[PositronShooter]

It's an uneven balance, to be sure. The vocal and animation talents on the show perhaps deserve to be put to better use on more solid scripts that make us care about the characters and their situations.

Try American Dad. It even has a bunch of the original Family Guy writers.

Some close-minded zealots have become overly-defensive of this show, which was understandable back when FOX had a fix on cancelling their good shows (except when it concerned shallow comparisons to The Simpsons). But nowadays, there's no excuse. All it's doing is endorsing the lazy calamity this has devolved into. In fact, one of the worst episodes, "The Former Life of Brian" features an incredibly stupid joke where Stewie wonders how Brian's all-human son is already a teenager if Brian himself is still only 7 years old: "If you don't like it, go on the Internet and complain".

Family Guy usually has it where even the weakest episodes has a particularly funny moment, like the Doggy Hell cutaway in "Peter's Daughter". It is because of that, and because of our attachment to the pre-cancellation episodes that the zealots simply saying things along the of "Don't like it, don't watch it" doesn't work.

[tb4000]

Slightly off topic, but what is the name of Meg's blonde friend, the one with the light colored lips? Did they even name her?

[Starbro]

Slightly off topic, but what is the name of Meg's blonde friend, the one with the light colored lips? Did they even name her?

In "Fifteen Minutes of Shame", Stewie calls her Beth, but I don't recall her being called by any name in any of her subsequent appearances.

[MegaJ]

Great post, OP.

To me, while Family Guy is an entirely different show that it was in the beginning, I think the change was necessary in order to appease the new audience the show keeps bringing in. The loose continuity in the show is bothersome, but continuity has never been the show's strong point (Meg being a complete friendless loser one episode and then having a group of friends the next for example).

As for the characters, Stewie's transformation, IMO, was needed because it would just get old after awhile. This Stewie is just as funny. Meg definitively needs work besides just making her the show's punching bag because that schtick has gotten old and I feel like they're wasting Mila Kunis's time with a direction-less character.

[Racattack!Force]

Meg definitively needs work besides just making her the show's punching bag because that schtick has gotten old and I feel like they're wasting Mila Kunis's time with a direction-less character.
I remember hearing that she only goes in for four hours every three months or so for her lines.

[Dudley]

To repeat what Jazman said, the reason Family Guy is popular now, because it probably attracted an entire new fanbase that replaced the old fans of pre-cancelation Family Guy.
For me, I still find some humor in the show, despite how horrible the plots or the cutscenes get, I still find some humor in the show. Though ever since I watched the South Park episode, "Cartoon Wars" the show's faults have gotten harder to ignore.

But recently, I've been enjoying American Dad a lot more. No cutscenes left room for actual plots and gags related to the story.

[Swag Jenkins]

The only negative things that come to mind about the newer FG episodes are the Meg bashing(although some funny scenes have come about this) and the longer cutaway gags. Some work and some don't. For example, the episode where Chris and the video store clerk talk about scenes from movies. If the gag had been cut in half the time, it would have been better. Instead, it just kept going on and on with no end in sight. And when it did end, you're just left with that "Well, that was...interesting." feeling.

Aside from that though, I still like the Season 4-onwards episodes of FG. Like one poster said, every episode has had a least one joke that made me laugh out loud. Even if the episode wasn't that good, I was still able to get some enjoyment out of it. Very few shows can do that with me.

As for plot, well, FG was never one for big plot continuity. It's not Venture Bros. or Futurama, and it probably won't be. And I'm fine with that. I do agree that seasons 1-3 were more plot-oriented than season 4-onward. Part of the reason is due to the fact that Seth is also working on American Dad(that and some of the old FG writers work on the show). That show is more plot-oriented than FG and it works. You don't want the show to be a clone of FG. American Dad is basically Seth MacFarlane's Futurama.

So, while post-cancellation Family Guy is different from previous seasons, I still think its a good show that consistently makes me laugh. That's good enough for me.

[HomeMoviesFan]

I've said it many times before. The best part of pre-revival FG is that the cutaways would be less frequent and much, much faster. Almost all never lasted beyond 15-20 seconds, and it worked. The plots were also much more focused, and so was the parody and the randomness. Now it's just plot point, cutaway, dialouge, cutaway, plot point, cutaway, rinse, repeat. There's no extremely fast cutaways or just off-the-wall randomness (that's actually funny) anymore. Basically, it all came down to the pacing, which is horrid nowadays.

The other significant bit was its charm, and that had a lot to do with the characterization, as J.B. said, it's incredibly far from three-dimensional in these new episodes. At one point I thought it was the nostalgia, but I popped in a disc and was constantly cracking up, much more than post-revival episodes. Of course, much of that charm seems to exist in American Dad, and seeing how pre-revival FG writers dominate the staff, it's not shocking...

[MagicBox]

I agree with pretty much everything that J. B. Warner said. He pretty much hit the nail on the head. Sure, I still watch the show, and the episodes still do a decent job of entertaining, but I just have too many problems with it to fully enjoy it.

What annoys me the most is how incredibly unlikeable the characters have gotten since the show returned. I'd be able to handle the increasingly lazy plots and numerous, mostly unfunny cutaways if the writers would just stay true to the frikkin' characters. They've all turned into complete jerks with hardly any redeeming qualities anymore, even (perhaps especially) the "nice" characters like Lois and Brian. They'll start out normal, then turn on a dime and do something incredibly mean and out-of-character for the sake of a cheap laugh, and then go back to their normal selves. I feel like I don't even know who the characters are anymore; heck, the only one I even like anymore is Meg, and that's just because I feel so sorry for her all the time.

It's the main flaw in the show right now; I don't care about the characters at all anymore. They don't even care about each other. Now, I know Family Guy has never cared much for character development or "touching family moments," but at least seasons 1-3 had enough of those things to make the characters feel like a real family and be likeable.

When have we had any of that since the show returned from cancellation? I think the sweetest moment between the characters since season four onward was the Back to the Future parody episode, and that was only because they were doing a spoof on the "sweet" scene from the movie itself. When the most touching scene in your show is only there for a joke, that's a problem.

Continuity has never been really important to me with comedy shows, but they shouldn't make the characters so drastically different from scene to scene just for the "lolz" of it. Personalities didn't need to be destroyed just to "appeal to a new generation of fans." I wish the writers would realize that.

[HellCat]

I'm gonna agree with most of what's been said. A big issue for me is how lazy the writing has gotten, especially their attitude to going to cutaways. The one with the joke about Japanese women loving tiny things was a good joke in of itself. But how do they set it up? Peter is watching TV and we hear the announcer say "We now return to Japanese Women Think Tiny Versions Of Things Are Really Cute". It's basically the problem South Park attacked them for- the cutaways are basically a ton of random jokes that they don't even really try to justify. Another good one- "Peter, this is strange" "No more strange than when Darth Vader was a meter maid" ....What? When the show first started, the cutaways were great. It was amazing to see a show so openly take a swing at the rest of TV and added a nice surrealist edge because before you learned the formula you didn't see it coming. Now...the cutaways are "Hey, you grew up with and remember this, right? So laugh!" It's rare that we get an inspired cutaway like the Star Wars/Curb Your Enthusiasm one.

[Blackstar]

The pre-cancellation Family Guy was a domestic sitcom. A somewhat zany, irreverent sitcom, but a domcom none the less. The post-cancellation Family Guy is not so a sitcom as it is a sketch comedy show, full of random cutaways, very little plot and plot development, and many of it's central characters acting completely out of character for the sake of a cheap laugh. I completely agree with what MagicBox said about the characters becoming less likable in the later episodes. Brian and Lois used to be the intellectual and moral centers of the show, but now they could go from light to dark at any given moment (even if it means acting completely out of character) for the sake of a joke. Lois in particular has become meaner and sluttier with each new episode. Lois used to be one of Meg's few constant allies, now she is just as nasty to her daughter as the rest of the world has become. And the Meg bashing is nothing more than the result of inferior writing; the writers are clueless when it comes to writing for teenage girls (although, they do an OK job when it comes to writing for Hayley on American Dad!, assuming that these are the same writers, of course), and so they treat Meg like scum because that's easier for them than trying to develop her as a character. Peter likewise has become nastier and more self-centered in the post-cancellation episodes.

Also, the cutaway gags have become much more random. More often than not, the cutaway gag will have little or nothing to do with the plots, or will barely involve the Griffins themselves. It almost seems as if Seth MacFarlane really wants to work on a sketch comedy show, with no main cast and just a selection of funny scenes, like Seth Green's Robot Chicken. Perhaps Seth's next project should be something like that instead of The Cleveland Show.

[Djm912]

My honest opinion, it's not worth it. Family Guy has found their new audience, all the while making sure that everyone knows the contempt and disdain they have for their audience.

They've found their mass appeal, thanks to the mythos of being "the canceled show that they brought back", which got everyone talking, and now they're the most overrated part of pop culture....the part of pop culture that lampoons pop culture.

Seth even said it in interviews past "If nothing else, the gags will always save you". There you have it. What else needs to be said?

[SirLemming]

What works and what doesn't? Well, I don't know if I can list them all in one post, but let's give it a shot.


DOESN'T WORK: Ending a scene with a cutaway.
Now, I'm going to start by saying that in a show like this, there are no hard and fast rules. (Unlike, say, The Office, which must always retain its credibility as a documentary.) It's a show that is at its best when it plays with conventions and does stuff that's completely off the wall. So sometimes, something will work even if it shouldn't, and mileage varies depending on how funny the gag itself is.

That being said, 95% of the time, when they end a scene with a cutaway, it hurts the episode. I'm not going to make the claim that the pre-hiatus episodes never EVER did this, but it's clear they did it less often. Ending a scene with a cutaway -- as opposed to starting a scene, cutting away, and then returning to the scene -- is dangerous. It breaks the flow of the episode, and you have to be really careful where you do it.

The new episodes strike me as the writers not being careful at all. They just put anything they think is funny into the episode without considering whether or not it belongs in that episode. And ending scenes with cutaways is one device they use far more often than they should. Every time they do it, it damages the episode's structure, and so when it gets to the point where nearly every scene ends with a cutaway instead of a real transition of some sort, it results in a half hour that has a few funny moments (hopefully) but is not at all memorable. Also, comedically, it's becoming very predictable.


WORKS: Self-referential humor.
Certainly Family Guy has never been a stranger to self-referential humor, but in this era, at the height of their popularity and profitability, it's good to see that they're taking the opportunity to poke fun at themselves in ways they couldn't necessarily poke fun at themselves before. It's a wise move to make fun of cutaways (like in whatever episode had the "Hitler on a unicycle" bit) or just the silly plots in general (like in Lois Kills Stewie or the season finale). For a show like this not to take such opportunities would just be wrong.

Of course, let's just hope they don't become The Simpsons and turn these self-referential gags into the typical way to resolve any plot or excuse any joke.

[Sam Hill]

Eh, to me, Family Guy was never about the characters and always about the cutaways. Even after nine years, none of the characters are interesting, likable, or have enough depth to them to carry storylines like say The Simpsons. Even Stewie and Brian are basically shallow characters with thin personalities. Pretty much the only reason the cast was created was an excuse for the cutaways.

I can't say I really mind this either. I've don't give a damn about any of the characters on Family Guy. Never have.

[Chykin]

You know what bothers me? Those gags with Peter fighting the chicken are just waaaay too long. And then the just continue the show as if the fight never happened! And with Peter wounded, no less. Stupid writers...

[J. B. Warner]

You know what bothers me? Those gags with Peter fighting the chicken are just waaaay too long. And then the just continue the show as if the fight never happened! And with Peter wounded, no less. Stupid writers...

I don't have a problem with the chicken fights, as long as they're timed well. The first one in 2ACX06 "Da Boom" worked because it was a parody of action movie fights, and it went on just long enough where it was funny but not too labored. The second one from 4ACX04 "Blind Ambition" was about a minute longer, so the humor became overwhelmed by the length, and it only acted as filler. I understand there's been a third one since then that was even longer, and from what I hear, the writers want to do an episode that's just a 22-minute chicken fight. That's what worries me - the writers are letting these moments overwhelm the show based purely on the fact that they're referencing previous episodes.

[Racattack!Force]

Okay, these chicken fights are kinda fun, but an entire episode being one...that's insane.

[Swag Jenkins]

I understand there's been a third one since then that was even longer, and from what I hear, the writers want to do an episode that's just a 22-minute chicken fight.

Well, the third one did do a twist on the fight. I'm not sure I want to spoil it since you said you were going to watch the newer seasons now.

So, what do you think of MacFarlane's other show, American Dad?

[J. B. Warner]

Well, the third one did do a twist on the fight. I'm not sure I want to spoil it since you said you were going to watch the newer seasons now.

So, what do you think of MacFarlane's other show, American Dad?

You can go ahead and tell me - I've heard enough horror stories about Seasons 4 through 6 to know that they're not worth my time anymore.

As for "American Dad", I think my time really would be better spent watching that. I understand it's more linear and solidly characterized than "Family Guy" is, has more intelligent humor, and doesn't exist just to showcase pop culture references. Just about everything I hear about it is positive, and the negative comments only seem to come from those who think that "Family Guy" is the epitome of comedy (which I don't). I watched the first couple of episodes in Season 1, but I trailed off after them - I think it's time for me to play catch-up.

[Infusions]

I don't have a problem with the chicken fights, as long as they're timed well. The first one in 2ACX06 "Da Boom" worked because it was a parody of action movie fights, and it went on just long enough where it was funny but not too labored. The second one from 4ACX04 "Blind Ambition" was about a minute longer, so the humor became overwhelmed by the length, and it only acted as filler. I understand there's been a third one since then that was even longer, and from what I hear, the writers want to do an episode that's just a 22-minute chicken fight. That's what worries me - the writers are letting these moments overwhelm the show based purely on the fact that they're referencing previous episodes.

If I had seen those fights by themselves online, I would think they're well-timed and really good for a 2D fight.

However, seeing the fights interrupt the story just doesn't give me a good taste in my mouth, which causes me to have a :/ expression whenever there's a chicken fight joke.

[aalong64]

I watched the first couple of episodes in Season 1, but I trailed off after them - I think it's time for me to play catch-up.
it gets better pretty quickly. I didn't care for the first few episodes too much. The first episode I really enjoyed was Francine's Flashback, and I think it's pretty consistently funny now.

[John Pannozzi]

You can go ahead and tell me - I've heard enough horror stories about Seasons 4 through 6 to know that they're not worth my time anymore.


There are some good episodes in the newer FG seasons. The episodes with Brian's girlfriend who was voiced by Drew Barrymore were pretty good and had some actual heart, as did "Meet the Quagmires", an entertaining spoof of the Back to the Future movies.

[Kazuya Prower]

Like many of the people here said, ever since the series got resurrected from cancellation it went downhill. Everyone is all mean-spirited and the sex jokes, racism jokes, religious jokes and senseless violence are overused. The early seasons were more light-hearted, but the later ones seem to be the opposite. Peter is now a heartless sadistic jerk who thinks only of himself, Lois is now skanky and uncaring, Meg is treated like crap and Stewie's changed from evil diabolical genius baby to a unfunny homosexual baby who spouts out celebrity names many people probably never heard of. Bring back old-school Family Guy.

[SirLemming]

As for "American Dad", I think my time really would be better spent watching that. I understand it's more linear and solidly characterized than "Family Guy" is, has more intelligent humor, and doesn't exist just to showcase pop culture references. Just about everything I hear about it is positive, and the negative comments only seem to come from those who think that "Family Guy" is the epitome of comedy (which I don't). I watched the first couple of episodes in Season 1, but I trailed off after them - I think it's time for me to play catch-up.
The show got remarkably better after the first few episodes. If I had to recommend one from the first season it would be "Bullocks To Stan", which was one of the first AD episodes that really had me in stitches, but most of the other ones after the first few are also very good.

[Dr. Daedalus]

You can go ahead and tell me - I've heard enough horror stories about Seasons 4 through 6 to know that they're not worth my time anymore. Basically, after fighting for a few minutes, Peter and the chicken realize that what they're doing is stupid, as they don't even remember what they were fighting about. The two (and chicken's wife) go out to a lovely dinner. When the check comes, Peter wants to pay for it, but the chicken insists on doing it himself. This escalates into yet another fight.

[J. B. Warner]

Basically, after fighting for a few minutes, Peter and the chicken realize that what they're doing is stupid, as they don't even remember what they were fighting about. The two (and chicken's wife) go out to a lovely dinner. When the check comes, Peter wants to pay for it, but the chicken insists on doing it himself. This escalates into yet another fight.

Actually, that does seem like a fairly clever spin on the premise, but it also sounds a lot like "The show was short and we didn't have anything else to fill it with".

[Daxdiv]

Actually, that does seem like a fairly clever spin on the premise, but it also sounds a lot like "The show was short and we didn't have anything else to fill it with".

Well that actual episode did feel flat to begin with. I think the third fight was shown with the episode where Chris got expelled from his old school and went to his grandpa old boarding school. Chicken Fight to me was the episode highlight, especially the twist.

[Racattack!Force]

When a cutaway is the highlight of a show instead of the actual plot, something is wrong. :shrug: Which reminds me, I watched "Family Guy" last night on Adult Swim. The episode I saw "Stewie Kills Lois" had very few cutaways (if any at all), which I found made the episode better. :)

[Chykin]

When a cutaway is the highlight of a show instead of the actual plot, something is wrong. :shrug: Which reminds me, I watched "Family Guy" last night on Adult Swim. The episode I saw "Stewie Kills Lois" had very few cutaways (if any at all), which I found made the episode better. :)
that actually makes sense considering


that in Lois Kills Stewie those two episodes turn out to be simulations viewed by stewie to find out what would have happened if he actually killed lois.:sweat:My guess is that his simulator can't account for cutaways.

[Desensitized]

When a cutaway is the highlight of a show instead of the actual plot, something is wrong. :shrug: Which reminds me, I watched "Family Guy" last night on Adult Swim. The episode I saw "Stewie Kills Lois" had very few cutaways (if any at all), which I found made the episode better. :)Yeah, up until that episode, the season seemed to be looking up. Like they realized their problems and were working to fix them.

Then they went back to status quo almost immediately after.

The problem was the old formula worked and when refined in season 2 and 3, was great. The newer formula is very hit or miss, however. I can go from laughing my ass off on one episode, to 3 or 4 episodes in a row with a few chuckles. If even that.