Toon Zone Talkback - Seth MacFarlane Tops Entertainment Weekly's "25 Smartest People on TV" List

[Racattack!Force]

This is the talkback thread for Seth MacFarlane Tops Entertainment Weekly's "25 Smartest People on TV" List (http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=27422).

Eh, whatever floats his money-making boat of wonders.

[Monterey Jack]

"Smart" is just parroting stuff you saw on TV 25 years ago? :mad:

As a marketer of his particular "brand", yeah, McFarlane is "smart", but...yeeeesh.

[mowub]

Funny, I thought Entertainment Weekly hated Family Guy. Or did Seth bribe them with all the money he's made off of his career of hack writing?

[Expirasin]

At least it's good to see a cartoon entrepreneur in the list, even if it is Seth.

Maybe Dino can get some acclaim for that genius piece of work Moral Orel!

[Rook]

He's pushing 4 shows, why do i have this lingering feeling he might be going for his own network?

[Marvin Tikvah]

I like how quick the MacFarlane hate surfaced here.

I hope that list was talking about smart people as in those that know how to sell themselves, because I can't see how many of those listed can be considered smart.

Also, that image with Seth surrounded by his creations is awesome.

[Ed Liu]

No matter how you feel about Seth MacFarlane and/or his shows, the reality is that he's getting paid more than any TV writer anywhere ever and generated $1 billion in DVD and merchandise sales, all based on a show that got canceled twice and does really well in the ratings no matter how much or how little you personally happen to like it.

This requires 1) smarts, or 2) blackmail. I doubt he can blackmail THAT many people into buying DVDs, though, so I'm leaning towards "smarter than anybody will give him credit for."

-- Ed

[Radical Raven]

Just because you dislike the show, (and we know you do, Jack) does not mean you need to hate it's creator. I've read several interviews involving Seth, and he has always seemed smart to me.

Pluis, please remember that no ones opinions here are universal.

[mowub]

Hell, if a person as unoriginal as him can make tons of money off something not very original and be labeled "smart", than I guess I have a shot with my alien-family concept.

[Hurricane V1]

People can take swings at Seth, but the fact is, he does come up with outrageous and hilarious gags and plots, despite how much Family Guy has been lacking lately. He can't take credit for all the humor, he does have other writers, but then again, we can't say he's the one insisting on using a dozen pop culture references an episode either.

We can't forget he's been working on four projects, that will burn any person out. American Dad always makes me smile. Who knows, maybe the Cleveland Show will surpass everything Seth has completed thus far. And no matter what crap he may put out, we can never forget how many classic episodes of FG he's made. Episodes so funny that they did the unthinkable, the show was brought back after two years of being cancelled.

And for those who say he's a hack and think for a second that they could write something close to Seth's quality of comedy, I dare you. The 'make your own FG cutaways' thread from months back pretty much proves there's no one on this forum that could write for one of Seth's shows.

I mean seriously, the first five seasons of Family Guy showed me whole new levels of jokes that I never would have thought possible before. That's why he's labeled as 'smart', FG just comes at you from all angles.

[Gokou Ruri]

I may not care for his shows much, but he has three of them under his belt. Not many animators can pull that off.

[PositronShooter]

If only his current slate of toons weren't so mediocre, I'd be celebrating. :sad:

[PositronShooter]

I may not care for his shows much, but he has three of them under his belt. Not many animators can pull that off.

Hanna-Barbera and Klasky-Csupo had multiple shows under their belt, but they suffered from unmanageable quantity over manageable quality.

[Racattack!Force]

Hanna-Barbera and Klasky-Csupo had multiple shows under their belt, but they suffered from unmanageable quantity over manageable quality.He's actually focusing on Family Guy. He has others to take care of American Dad! and The Cleveland Show.

[DarthGonzo]

Quoted below is the smartest, most well thought out, logical and (most of all) realistic Family Guy/MacFarlane related post in the entire history of these forums:


People can take swings at Seth, but the fact is, he does come up with outrageous and hilarious gags and plots, despite how much Family Guy has been lacking lately. He can't take credit for all the humor, he does have other writers, but then again, we can't say he's the one insisting on using a dozen pop culture references an episode either.

We can't forget he's been working on four projects, that will burn any person out. American Dad always makes me smile. Who knows, maybe the Cleveland Show will surpass everything Seth has completed thus far. And no matter what crap he may put out, we can never forget how many classic episodes of FG he's made. Episodes so funny that they did the unthinkable, the show was brought back after two years of being cancelled.

And for those who say he's a hack and think for a second that they could write something close to Seth's quality of comedy, I dare you. The 'make your own FG cutaways' thread from months back pretty much proves there's no one on this forum that could write for one of Seth's shows.

I mean seriously, the first five seasons of Family Guy showed me whole new levels of jokes that I never would have thought possible before. That's why he's labeled as 'smart', FG just comes at you from all angles.

Bravo.

[Leviathan]

People are conflating "smart" with funny.

Seth MacFarlane's shows are often incredibly funny, but his style of humor is possibly the basest, most sophomoric ever in animation. Beavis and Butt-Head and Aqua Teen Hunger Force exhibit more wit in a given episode (and I dearly love all three). Which reminds me, if Adult Swim and the DVD's hadn't exposed FG to the college kids that built the current MacFarlane empire, we wouldn't even be discussing this right now. It'd still be yet another case of a cancelled show with potential.

Seth's a gifted comedian in that he can make material that wouldn't be funny otherwise funny, but unless we're talking about Jerry Seinfeld or Kelsey Grammer, let's be a little more judicious in ranking the smarts of TV people.

[Peter Paltridge]

Fey should be #1, she is the smartest on TV. I don't know if Oprah is smart or not, but she has started many foolish trends just by screaming about them. MacFarlane is many things, but I hesitate to call him "smart."


The 'make your own FG cutaways' thread from months back pretty much proves there's no one on this forum that could write for one of Seth's shows.
Hey, I came close!

[DarthGonzo]

Hey, I came close!

I still think my Harry Potter cutaway won the entire thread.

Spoiler as it may ruin the end of the final HP book for those who haven't read it:

Death: Man I haven't been this annoyed since my last visit to Hogwarts.

(cut to the battle of Hogwarts from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort circle each other, wands at the ready...)

Voldemort: So it's come to this, Potter
Harry: Yes, it has, Voldemort
Voldemort: Fight to the death, then.
Harry: One of us has to die so the other can live.
Voldemort: Indeed.
Harry: You've taken your last life.
Voldemort: How does it feel to know I was responsible for killing your head master?
Harry: You didn't kill him. You were betrayed.
Voldemort: But I have the most powerful wand of all, Potter.
Harry: You may think that, but that wand belongs to me, Riddel.
Voldemort: Don't call me that.
Harry: Oh yeah?
Voldemort: Yeah.
Harry: Oh yeah..?
Voldemort: Yeah!

(pull back slightly to reveal Death, standing impatiently nearby)

Death: Will you two get on with it!

[tb4000]

When Seth is writing the material, he's on point. When it's his writers like Mike Henry or Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, they're like his proteges and can be real hit or miss. The last ep. I recall him writing which was Super Griffins, was extremely hilarious.

[Peter Paltridge]

When Seth is writing the material, he's on point. When it's his writers like Mike Henry or Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, they're like his proteges and can be real hit or miss. The last ep. I recall him writing which was Super Griffins, was extremely hilarious.
Actually "North by North Quahog," the episode that returned the series, was the last one he wrote. That was pretty good as well.

I love Cherry's last name, but I've come to dread her scripts.

[HG Revolution]

I mean seriously, the first five seasons of Family Guy showed me whole new levels of jokes that I never would have thought possible before.

You must not have watched a lot of other comedy cartoons then. Early Family Guy was funny, certainly, but I'd be lying if I said it was original. Nothing that was really done in it that wasn't done in some shape or form before in shows like The Simpsons, The Critic, South Park, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid, or even Seth's earlier and better work on Johnny Bravo.

Seth's a genius, certainly, but mostly for being able to sell himself so amazingly well. His actual work can be pretty smart, but certainly not smart enough to be solely responsible for being placed at #1 on this list.

[HomeMoviesFan]

I mean seriously, the first five seasons of Family Guy showed me whole new levels of jokes that I never would have thought possible before. That's why he's labeled as 'smart', FG just comes at you from all angles.

You mean first four, right? Because that was when FG was brilliant. Nowadays? Extreme hit or miss television. Like, worse than new Simpsons...