Things You USED TO Like About 'Family Guy'

[Praetor]

I think a lot of posters on this board would agree with me if I posit that 'Family Guy' is no where near as funny now in its 'revived' form as it was prior to its major cancellation.

I thought it might be worth discussing the reasons for this, and what you used to like about FG that is not present now?

For me:

1. Stewie - he used to be a megalomaniacal, matricidal would-be world conquerer who was basically thwarted by the fact that he was a baby. If anyone understood what he was doing, they ignored it. Now he's just another idiot surrounded by idiots.
2. Peter & Brian - I loved the relationship Peter & Brian had where Peter was essentially a goodhearted idiot, and Brian was the all-knowing sarcastic wit that helped get him out of situations. Now their relationship seems non-existent.
3. Treatment of characters. The show seemed to once take each character relatively seriously and kept them within their own boundaries. Now it seems like they are 'in on the joke.' Example: Lois. On the one hand, I liked the realistic, low-key portrayal of Lois as an earnest, thoughtful housewife. On the other, that made it really funny when she actually did flip out (see the Christmas episode - 'Must--KILL--STAR!!' ) However, now she's more whacko than housewife and mom, and it makes her feel like a non-character. The same could be said for Meg. So your approach is to actually treat her as a joke character? Oookay.
4. Running gags/non sequitur. There is a thin line between continuity and humor, and FG used to prove it, seamlessly doing recurring running gags and non sequitur quick cuts side by side. However, by the umpteenth time we've seen the Chicken Fight, Herbert, the Greased Up Deaf Guy, or Conway Twitty play for ten minutes, it's gotten ridiculous. The great thing about pre-cancellation FG was that they actually came up with new jokes from time to time. It's only a matter of time until the non sequitur cuts consist of nothing but running gags!
5. Shock factor. FG used to be good at balancing a shock factor at just the right level where it would both be shocking and abstractly funny. Again, I think of the Christmas episode - where Peter talks about Christmas being the holiday where we lull zombie Jesus back to sleep with our songs. Now it feels like the show just does shock for the sake of shock because they are too lazy to find a good balance.

What say you all? What are things that you miss, and what are things that you think are still good?

 

[Thor Damar]

My list of the Good stuff:

The Songs: brilliant choreography, great music and the paceing and his signing was a sheer delight to watch. For Example;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NDPT0Ph5rA&feature=related

The chicken fights: for some reason this part of a FG episode is always comedy gold to me.

the Road to...episodes: classic Stewie and Brian with some great routines and song and dance moments to enjoy.

Stewie Griffin: this guy often gets the best lines and his shtick is the funnest thing going on FG. Which brings us to;

Dr Hartman: guy always makes me chuckle.

The absurdity of the humor: the cut away scenes and random gags where always good fun. Now they are just too silly or pointless alas.
(Peter narrating his own life is a brilliant example of this).

These are just a few off the cuff thoughts, more at eleven!

 

[Jayson]

I don't see how the show is all that different from what it use to be other than some shifts in a few of the characters. Peter is more stupid(Sort of like Homer got dumber over time as well) and Stewie is gay. Things I like about the show is.


1 The dialogue. Even when the show isn't funny I like listening to the characters talk. McFarland has a good grasp on language.

2 I like how Stewie goes between feminite,evil and childlike.

3 I like the observations on pop culture or how they use pop culture stuff to do really un PC things.


Jason

 

[Dar70]

The shows still good. You have just gotten bored with it.

 

[The Wormhole]

Stewie - An awesome character back when he was twisted and evil. Now, he's a tired worn out joke as a closet homosexual who's barely in the closet anymore. And what is it with TV that any character that is slightly eccentric must also by extension be gay?

Brian - This sarcastic dog, smartest character in the show and bitter at having to deal with everyone else's stupidity has simply turned into the metaphorical soap box for the writers to express their opinions through.

Humour - The show used to be funny! Jokes that could make you laugh even after the fifth consecutive time you saw the episode. Now the show is filled with lame one-liners which might make you laugh once, but no more. Also, attempts at offensive humour succeed only in offending, but not actually being funny. Offensive humour is fine, as long as it's actually funny.

 

[shivkala]

Brian used to be the family dog who really didn't act human around others. Then, suddenly he's dating human females and has a reputation as a ladies man, er dog.

I also don't like when they stick with a scene too long. I don't know the episode, but I remember Stewie taunting Brian about how he was going to write the "Great American Novel," but hadn't done much. It was funny at first, but the longer it went on, it just became uncomfortable. I've noticed how they do that every so often, stay with a joke/scene so long that it stops being funny and starts being annoying.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

The shows still good. You have just gotten bored with it.

Bingo!
I laugh as much during the new episodes as I did for the old ones.

Maybe it's because I haven't seen every episode and it's not "must see" viewing for me, if I see it on, I'll watch, but won't go out of my way.

Also, I like now that they DON'T do the song and dance numbers. It really hits it home every time I see how great South Park does music versus Family Guy. That was the one thing that made me turn the channel back in the day. Family Guy trying to do music.

 

[Sephiroth]

If Stewie were portrayed slightly differently in the beginning, I'd think his surfaceing homosexuality would be just normal charater development, but to go from matricidal evil with the ability to create blasters and time machines to just one day becoming rather docile and obviously in love with Brian was just so inorganic.

Also Brian has become a complete and total douche nozzle, the way he treated that retarded blonde he dated to the fact that he's pretty much going out of his way to humiliate Stewie now also feels really inorganic as well....discuss.

 

[Lookingglassman]

I like Stewie and that is the only reason I watch it. I dont like how they are doing a gag and they drag it out. It is not funny if Peter says something over and over again.

 

[Praetor]

Here's another thing I used to like: I didn't have to be stoned to laugh at it.



Example? The Kool-Aid man. That made me laugh every time. Every. Time.

 

[Amaris]

The shows still good. You have just gotten bored with it.

Not necessarily. I have Seasons 1 & 2 on UMD (got them for exchanging my XBOX 360 games) and have laughed often in every episode. I watch episodes on Hulu for the later seasons and I just don't laugh like I did, but when I go back to seasons 1, 2 & 3, I still laugh. The writing has become lazy.


J.

 

[ialfan]

Agreed with the above. Almost every episode was hilarious back in seasons 1-3 but since it came back only every other episode or so are funny at all and maybe one in six is hilarious.

They use too many cultural references and cutaways now. Most episodes have no plot which is lame.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I have to say, Praetor, I almsot compeltely 100% agree with you with that list.

Stewie has becoem way too soft. And if I have ot hear another one is his high pitched vocals that keep going up as he mock's somebody, I may have to kill.


A thing missing from your list:

Meg:
When the sries came back she became a little too nasty with her mouth. "son of a bitch" this and "you bastard" that.

The unecessary sex jokes and situations. Occassionally it can be, well .. for lack of a better word ... "cute". Like Herbert and that "Oh, jackpot!" scene.


Also, while FG has always been out there with it's gags and plots (like Death, havng Adam West as the mayor, or other unrealistic things), it's gotten to fanciful. They used to know where to draw the line, but ... Pter buying a space shuttle and launching it from the lawn? Stewie killing a guy and leaving him in the trunk? Randomd celebrities popping in and out? And worse off, it's not even funny!


If they keep being as deeply unfunny as they have been recently, they might get canned, and that sequel Star Wars parody go straight to DVD.

 

[Starbreaker]

I've seen almost every episode (maybe not 5 or 6) and the first few seasons where they actually had plots were the funniest episodes. The jokes are mostly stale now, but I will occasionally laugh out loud for a good bit of time... like the scene with Quagmire and Cleveland and the DirecTV.

 

[davejames]

I haven't really noticed a difference. I suspect most people here have just grown far too familiar with the show's formula. That and the fact that, like South Park, it's just not as easy to be shocked by it anymore. You EXPECT the show to be raunchy and do outrageous things, which automatically makes it less shocking.

As for the subtle changes in character, I just see that as the natural evolution that happens to characters in any show. If they all stayed exactly the same forever, I'm sure people would be complaining about that too.

 

[Harvey]

The "remember that time" formula has been overused, and become tired. The characters have all become meaner, or more stupid, or changed in some other way from their original personalities. Mostly, it's just not funny. I haven't enjoyed anything related to the series since its renewal outside of Blue Harvest and don't expect I'll tune in ever again, outside of the Empire Strikes Back episode.

 

[Caligula]

I liked the banter between Stewie and Brian. If the show were centered around those two characters, it'd be better off.

 

[Skywalker]

American Dad is what Family Guy used to be. It's too bad it doesn't do as well in the ratings as its parent show.

 

[Ward Fowler]

I used to like the muscley-armed newspaper boy. If only he'd come over and suck on a Popsicle.

 

[ExcaliburZeta]

I used to like the fact that the show had a plot and made me laugh in its A-story, and the cutaways were just bonuses thrown in to amp up the hilarity.

I stopped watching partway into the first revived season because I just didn't find it funny anymore. The storylines became barely there, and they began wayyyy overusing the cutaways as their main jokes, sometimes making them last minutes at a time. I think my final straw was the minute-and-a-half long caveman porn cutaway, which was so unfunny and so dragged out that I turned it off and never turned back.

I watch the first 3 seasons on DVD now and then and they STILL make me laugh. Turning on the "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven..." episode and at most I maybe chuckled at one or two of the scenes with the TNG crew. Just not the same...

American Dad is what Family Guy used to be. It's too bad it doesn't do as well in the ratings as its parent show.

I don't watch it regularly anymore but I find this to be the easily superior show now. Subtle humor and fun characters with existent storylines. May not be "laugh out loud" like Family Guy but I enjoy this one much much more.