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It's bizarre but I think this week's South Park has actually freed people into admitting that Family Guy has some serious flaws inherent in the way the show is structured. I had always maintained on Toon Zone (fruitlessly I might add) that since Family Guy had absolutely no subtext and depth that it seemed really unlikely that it could possibly survive the test of time. All of the great cartoons that started years ago that still resonate with us like Looney Tunes, Bullwinkle, The Simpsons, and even Disney shorts had something in them that made you think or at least addressed issues in a layered fashion. Family Guy does not. I have heard the argument a zillion times that Family guy doesn't NEED depth or subtext since it's only goal is to make people laugh. But these same people believe that the show will go down in history in the same way The Simpsons or Looney Tunes have. Outside of Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo I cannot really think of a single cartoon that has survived throughout the ages without a specific reason why it did.
The original 50 episodes of Family Guy were flawed but people loved them all because there were so few of them and they made us laugh. By trying to extend a pretty much one-note series into a long-running show they have basically gutted the flash in the pan nature of the series by extending something that didn't need extending. Family Guy despite flashes of occasional brilliance will NOT go down in history the way The Simpsons and even South Park will. That's because it's structure was never meant to and people have a hard time accepting this.
Still if it wasn't for Family Guy I may not have connected as well with the Toon Zone member Stewie because I valued his opinions and followed him to other shows like Lost and 24. So at least I'm glad the show existed so I could get to know him at Toon Zone.
The original 50 episodes of Family Guy were flawed but people loved them all because there were so few of them and they made us laugh. By trying to extend a pretty much one-note series into a long-running show they have basically gutted the flash in the pan nature of the series by extending something that didn't need extending. Family Guy despite flashes of occasional brilliance will NOT go down in history the way The Simpsons and even South Park will. That's because it's structure was never meant to and people have a hard time accepting this.
Still if it wasn't for Family Guy I may not have connected as well with the Toon Zone member Stewie because I valued his opinions and followed him to other shows like Lost and 24. So at least I'm glad the show existed so I could get to know him at Toon Zone.
