most overrated comedy shows of all time...

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Until Seth McFarlane's hailed as a genius at the Comedy Awards, I imagine they'll keep quiet.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Excuse my total FG ignorance, but is/was it shown on terrestrial TV in the UK?

[Little Hoover]

Family Guy was on channel 4, but it's apparently soon to go to BBC2 along with American Dad.
I don't think there is a stock british awnser on FG.
I vaugley remember the top 100 cartoons just using clips from American people.

[Darrell]

Excuse my total FG ignorance, but is/was it shown on terrestrial TV in the UK?

Very choppy daytime Channel 4 showings (or failing that, the early hours of the morning) with lots of cuts and censorship. BBC2 have bought the rights to the back catalogue but seemingly shelved their original plan to run it at 6pm weekdays a couple of months ago (presumably cut to bits yet again).

[Paul Dee]

Channel 4 showed it. I only remember them showing it on Saturday or Sunday mornings (as part of T4 perhaps), obviously cut to buggery. I don't think it ever got a 6pm showing or, ideally, a post-watershed showing on a Friday night.

Didn't the BBC buy the rights to it?


edit: Damn you Darrell you...you...member.

[Darrell]

We're the Beverly Sisters of Family Guy trivia.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Speaking of Family Guy trivia, I read this chilling bit of trivia about Seth McFarlane the other day:

On September 11, 2001 he was scheduled to return to Los Angeles on American Airlines Flight 11 after being a keynote speaker at his alma-mater in Rhode Island. Due to a mix-up by his travel agent he was told that his flight was scheduled to depart at 8:15am but it really departed at 7:45am and he had arrived at Boston Logan Airport a few minutes after boarding was stopped on his flight and he was told he would have to wait for the next flight. At 8:45am one hour after the departure of American Airlines Flight 11 it was hijacked by terrorists and crashed into One World Trade Center (North Tower) in New York City killing all onboard. He was able to contact his parents within 20 minutes of Flight 11 striking the first tower to tell them he was okay. He also said that he thanked god that his travel agent had screwed up the departure time or he would have been on board and he wouldn't have known what to do when the terrorists took over the plane.

[Paul Dee]

God that's so weird.

Wikipedia say this though:

In an interview in USA Today a few days after the attacks, he said that he was unable to get in touch with his office or his family in Los Angeles. He ended up driving half way across the country before he finally was able to contact his office and parents to tell them that he was all right.

But good God, that's so strange.

[sick as a pike]

Frasier co-creator David Angell was on the aeroplane that hit the North Tower.

[Paul Dee]

Yeah, I remember seeing a dedication at the end of an episode.


This thread's turned a bit grim hasn't it?

[Little Hoover]

The story I heard was that he missed his flight because he was hung over, and that he uses that to justify heavy drinking.

[soopadoop]

I'm surprised to see the amount of appreciation here for Family Guy. It is really heavy-handed and overdone, with only one or two laughs per episode in a show which attempts about sixty. I'm saying this from seeing series 1-3, I have them on dvd as I went through a bit of a craze for it, but watching it again I realise it'd probably be my number 1 choice for most ovverrated comedy programme. I saw someone on another message board describing its approach to comedy as "irreverence = LOL" and that pretty much sums it up, apart from the smack-you-over-the-head pop culture references and the occasional "we're not afraid to be politically incorrect" bollocks.

[smid]

As for Family Guy, as if the Simpson writers can slag anyone off. Was it jealousy?

I can see why some might hate Family Guy, but can't really compare current Simpsons with it. At least Family Guy contains some jokes.

And the Ren and Stimpey guy? That animation was awful too...

[Lt Plonker]

I guess John Kricfalusi is criticising the lack of use of animation as a medium. Most of it looks like a sitcom, the characters expressions are just animated "realistically", with no style.

That's it, I think. There was a interview knocking around the internet from a guy who claimed to work on Family Guy, saying that it was a very depressing and restrictive show to animate on because of the very bland design and limited range of facial expressions for the characters. I think Family Guy is aesthetically bad, but you certainly can't fault the writing.  I agree with Muteki, when he talked about the great bits of timing - William Shatner is fantastic!

Shame that they didn't put a little bit more effort into the design.

[Little Hoover]

I'd have to agree with soopadoop, I did briefly love Family Guy, but it's really not that amazing, better than current simpsons yes, but when it was in it's prime no way.
At first it was nice to have a completley cynical, unemotional version of Simpsons. But it's still an incredibly uneven show, lot's of stupid dick and fart jokes, and a lot's that are incredibly laboured, forced and unsubtle, and I'm sure if you counted you'd find there's not much more attempted jokes than in most simpson episodes.

[grain of sand]

that peter kay thing - one of the most unfunny and overrated programmes i've seen in ages. it's not that there aren't any decent characters, or even half-decent situations but where the fuck are the jokes? and the sight of Catherine Tate in the 'oldest newpaper boy in britain' one brought a genuine shudder to the spine. infact has peter kay done anything good apart from phoenix nights?

[mayer]

Just to stick my neck out and say that I adore Family Guy, every series of it.

Criticising it for "lazy pull back and reveal gags" is like criticising Old Doctor Who for having cliffhangers. Whether you like it or not, it's not lazyness, it's part of the style of the show, and it wouldn't be Family Guy without it.


Someone said it was poor on repeated viewings, I find the opposite to be true. Some of the gags I felt fell flat on first viewing (especially in the new series) have me in stitches 2 or 3 watchings down the line ("you can't eat all those hamburgers... you ridiculous man" being one line that immediately springs to mind.

At first it was nice to have a completley cynical, unemotional version of Simpsons

Family Guy isn't unemotional at all. Well, not any less than The Simpsons, who's "emotion" is derived from horrible sitcom clichés more often than not. It's occasionally cruel, but unemotional? I wouldn't say so.




Did anyone in the world like the Clerks Animated Series? I ask this as someone who thinks Clerks is one of the funniest movies, eva! It was so disappointingly shit, that to even mention it in the same breath as Family Guy is insulting. The latter is the best modern animated series. The former a jokeless, pointless cash in by someone who's lost it in the biggest possible way.

[mayer]

Uncut this month: 100 Rock and Roll Icons.

#14 Matt Stone on The Simpsons.

Very very complimentary.

[CalamityScrimshaw]

Al Jean & Mike Reiss should be pissed off at Family Guy - their attempt at the fat-loser quickfire-gag show, The Critic, came out about 7 years before its prime and got cancelled twice because no fucker watched it, despite being insanely good.  Easter Island Kid > Greased Up Naked Deaf Guy.

Family Guy's pretty much the opposite of South Park to me - FG has brilliant jokes but the plots are never, ever entertaining (Meg as popstar!  Lois as model!  Brian as The Bachelor!  FUCK OFF!), while SP lacks witty dialogue/scenes but makes up for it with the stories.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Uncut this month: 100 Rock and Roll Icons.

#14 Matt Stone on The Simpsons.

Very very complimentary.

Matt Stone talks about the Simpsons, you mean? Yeah, they did an ep about that. Does he think the series is so great in it's current incarnation? I'm not buying Uncut for the privelege.

[mayer]

My mum bought it for me, sweetheart that she is, on a whim in Asda because it's got a Higway 61 Revisited Covers CD on the front.

I'll scan it in tomorrow.

A few quotes.

"I think The Simpsons is probably one of the best shows that's ever been on television"

"After 350 eposodes, it's probably not at the level of its heyday, but as a body of work it's unbelieveable."

"...we were hyped out of the ass, so people were like 'We'll, it's not as good as The Simpsons' but we never said we were as good as The Simpsons"..... it's like playing on the same court as Michael Jordan!"

[Munday's Chylde]

Al Jean & Mike Reiss should be pissed off at Family Guy - their attempt at the fat-loser quickfire-gag show, The Critic, came out about 7 years before its prime and got cancelled twice because no fucker watched it, despite being insanely good.  Easter Island Kid > Greased Up Naked Deaf Guy..

I loved The Critic when it was on tv and last year I bought the complete collection on dvd from the states.... I dont know whats happened but I found them suddenly dire, which is why I'm in two minds about buying the Dream On collection, I dont what that going the same way.

[orangedog]

Anything to do with Carry On.

Every time i mention my distaste for this mass of symptoms of all that is wrong with an emotionally repressed nation, people react as if i'd shat on the british flag then wrapped it around the national cricket team. Even the most cynical critic gets all dewy eyed and sentimental about it. For fucks sake, it's a total anachronism,  move on.

And Billy Connolly makes me want to do bad things. But not in a good way.

[The Mumbler]

I really liked the Carry Ons when I was about ten, but with a few exceptions (Frankie Howerd gives a wonderful performance in Carry On Doctor), I can barely stand to watch any of them now, apart from some of the earliest ones.  I saw Carry On Abroad about two years ago (which I had loved as a kid), and it turned my stomach.  It was no better than Holiday On The Buses.

Sadowitz once did a magnificent rant about how shite Carry On was, saying how relieved he'd be once the last few performers had dropped dead.