Family Guy vs The Simpsons

[thatartguy]

As a lifelong avowed foaming at the mouth rabid Simpsons fan all I have to add to the topic is this:

Futurama SUCKS.

Okay, the ONLY way I can see a Simpsons fan hating Futurama is because the quality of the Simpsons dropped into the basement while Matt Groening was working on Futurama. Futurama and the Simpsons are two completely different shows, and comparing them is like comparing apples with radio waves. Futurama is a HILARIOUS show, one that is hard to do well: science fiction comedy.

The main (or the only) reason Futurama got canceled in the first place was because Fox would change the night it was on every week. Even then, you wouldn't know if it was a rerun or not.

Thankfully, it's coming back. It's a much more worthy (emmy award winning) show than Family Guy. And in my opinion, much funnier.

[azul017]

And I'm sure Futurama. And King of the Hill... need I go on?

Futurama only pokes fun at sci-fi movies and sci-fi shows, and other films if they can fit it in. But have you even seen King of the Hill? It is nowhere close to being The Simpsons, it's more like a realistic situational comedy set in a fictional town in Texas. Sure some of the characters are caricatures and some of the situations Hank, his friends and family get into are stupid, but it's a different beast than either The Simpsons or Family Guy.

But yeah, Family Guy has really devolved since it's resurrection. There is the occasional hysterical episode, but it constantly leans towards too many flashback jokes and disgusting potty humor to make its shock value known and many a time I've turned the recent episodes off in disgust. Drawn Together is all the things Family Guy (and South Park) wanted to be and more without being so obscure and idiotic about it.

[DaveWadding]

Okay, the ONLY way I can see a Simpsons fan hating Futurama is because the quality of the Simpsons dropped into the basement while Matt Groening was working on Futurama.

No, I hate Futurama because Matt Groening forgot to bring the funny.

and Drawn Together is an entirely other level of show from South Park or Family Guy. It's great though and I'm glad the 2nd season DVD is coming out and they're going to finish up the 3rd season.

[Lazario]

Am I the only one who has, and always will, completely hate The Simpsons? It's as boring as One Tree Hill.

Actually, I sympathize with you. The Simpsons has almost always been incredibly brilliant... but sometimes it's so subtle that it can be boring. Sometimes, looking at the earlier episodes, all I can see is the Bartman hype, the music CD's they released, and those ultra-fun video games.

there's no need to into so much detail talking about what's funny and what's not - it's all subjective depending on the audience.

Well, have you seen pieces of all of these shows? Yeah we all have different senses of humor and not all of these shows will appeal to us, nor do all good comedies make everyone laugh. But Family Guy is still a very bad show, overall. And if most other TV comedies are better made and Family Guy just rips everything off... it's a bad show, overall. It just happens to be a very bad show because it has almost zero sense of tact and relies on too many gross-out jokes that are funnier on South Park, or observational jokes that have already been made on The Simpsons and much better made on The Simpsons.

Family Guy, on the other hand is one of the least-funny things on television, IMO. It was mildly entertainment back when it first began... though perhaps it was simply the novelty; and that seemed to wear off rather quickly. Ever since its return, the show has relied exclusively on shock value, incredibly repetitive "jokes", and some of the most disgusting and disturbing situations I've ever seen animated (or in live action, for that matter). Initially one of the things that seemed to draw an audience in was the show's lack of taste. However, they've now moved so far beyond mere bad taste that it's become embarressing. And it leaves me wondering how much more the censors will possibly allow them to do before they run out of shocking and/or disgusting situations (and I'm not generally in favour of censorship, being pretty liberal).

Right on the nose. It's only ever been amusing, in most (97%) of its' episodes strictly as a novelty. The novelty value of it being majorly that it just rips off The Simpsons and South Park so blatantly, that I'm sure many viewers just stare at it with their jaws on the floor, mouths agape.

The Shield

You had me up until that point. That might just be one of TV's best shows you just bashed. I'm sorry, but if none of those listed shows are up your alley I just don't think anything on TV will ever appeal to you.

Well, that's a funny thing to say. The Shield is absolutely awful. And don't take this the wrong way, but you must not know a lot about or watch a lot of TV if you think those shows are representative of all of what's on TV. They're only representative of some of the worst shows on TV. Some of the biggest culprits.

Futurama only pokes fun at sci-fi movies and sci-fi shows

No, actually, I've seen them mention popular figures out of the realm of movies and TV. One that comes to mind was (I believe) Madeline Albright. So, I'm positive they didn't just stop there.

and Drawn Together is an entirely other level of show from South Park or Family Guy. It's great though and I'm glad the 2nd season DVD is coming out and they're going to finish up the 3rd season.

That show is strictly for people who want to vomit... But the 2nd season was utterly hilarious in moments. Some moments. Sort of few and far between. Sort of...

[littlefuzzy]

I have always been a fan of prime-time animation, including Simpsons, Futurama, South Park, Family Guy, American Dad, Dilbert, The Critic, and even Capitol Critters (anyone remember that one?)

I really enjoy all of these pretty much equally... I only have 4 seasons of South Park, but I plan on getting the rest. I have most (or all) of the current volumes of Family Guy, American Dad, Simpsons, and Futurama. I won't "quit" any of them, even during the seasons that stink.

I was watching King of the Hill when it first came out, but it became too "red-neck" and basically was an animated sit-com (as someone else pointed out,) rather than doing stuff that couldn't be done in live-action...

[azul017]

No, actually, I've seen them mention popular figures out of the realm of movies and TV. One that comes to mind was (I believe) Madeline Albright. So, I'm positive they didn't just stop there.

Let me amend what I was trying to say: Futurama uses less real-life celebrities as a crutch for their jokes (like Lucy Liu, Al Gore, Madeleine Albright, Pamela Anderson) than The Simpsons has done. That said, most of the humor is poking fun at sci-fi and sci-fi conventions, it's not as if poking around in other genres is going to hurt it.

[Disney-Fan]

Well, that's a funny thing to say. The Shield is absolutely awful. And don't take this the wrong way, but you must not know a lot about or watch a lot of TV if you think those shows are representative of all of what's on TV. They're only representative of some of the worst shows on TV. Some of the biggest culprits.

You're in such a small minority on that opinion, I don't even know if I should be taking it seriously. I mean, 24 and Housewives from the early days is some of the best to air on TV in a good long while. House, The Shield and Rescue Me are all highly praised and well-accepted shows amongst both viewers and critics alike.

To add to that list, there is also Lost, The OC, Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Rome, Heroes, Veronica Mars, Scrubs, Smallville, Pushing Daisies (am I forgetting anything?). All of the above are shows that have earned huge amounts of critical acclaim. I'm sorry to say, but if you're not enjoying this golden age of television, you probably never will find the fun in TV. There will always be junk that's airing / produced / churned, but when it becomes so easy to find good stuff within that pile of trash, you know this is a good time for TV viewers.

[littlefuzzy]

I greatly dislike The Shield, myself... It would be one thing on The Sopranos where the characters are criminals, but to watch one of the main characters of The Shield be a dirty cop who actually killed another cop just sickened me!

[Disney-Fan]

Well, since the Shield was meant to be very realistic and very hard and gritty, I'm not surprised it wouldn't appeal to the masses, but fact is, that these things exist. Now, if that's not your cup of tea I get it, but it should sicken you more that it exists in real life, not just on TV.

[littlefuzzy]

Part of it was a matter of degree...

I was somewhat ok with his character (who I first saw as someone who didn't go by the book, instead of actually dirty.)

In the pilot episode, he beat a pedophile doctor with a phone book to find out where a kidnapped girl was... It was a miscarriage of justice, but it was done to find the girl, who would have died otherwise.

[Lazario]

I greatly dislike The Shield, myself...

Because you're obviously very intelligent.

You're in such a small minority on that opinion

Minority or not, I'm in the group who knows quality TV.

24

is a pandering, melodramatic, over-stylized (shaky camera - real hard to do, so professional!), small-minded, overacted MESS. I can't watch or listen to more than 1 minute without banging my head against a wall or counter/table top to the point where blood comes out. This is the kind of show that would make me side with the terrorists and villains (which I don't normally do, obviously- since I don't support most Republicans ), and they don't look that much better or smarter than the heroes. So, the show fails to make either side look good.

House

is a show completely driven by it's main character, who is an obvious rip-off of (I counted and named off examples on another message board) at least 11 different classic TV show characters that came before, most of those being damn good characters, better than this dumbass.

The Shield

is a complete hunk of crap. They think they're the first thing to make the heroes as morally bankrupt as the villains??? Every cop and detective movie in the 1990's did the same damn thing. Then, ooh- shaky camera. So exciting!!! Angry cops yelling at each other, yelling at their superiors. How intense! Not. If every single regular or recurring character on a show tries to be yelling, angry, intense during every second of their screen time... than nobody is. When something is done too much, it means that's all the show's got to offer. The writing is also extremely stupid.

Rescue Me

I'll always like Denis Leary. The Job was just better. That's the show that should have gone on, not this one. This is probably the absolute worst on this list, though. The writing is downright embarrassing (the writers should literally kill themselves or drop out of the business entirely, out the back door and pray no one sees them), the actors are beyond annoying, none of the characters are worth paying attention to, and all the material has been done before. If anything on this show entertains a viewer, that viewer has serious problems. This material is just that bad.

Gilmore Girls

This is a crap show. But... I'll go ahead and say it's probably the best of the so awful, someone should be put in jail for it TV shows. Not for any particular reason.

Housewives

This is like a show for the new-yuppie. People who have it way too easy. People who kind of screwed themselves up, so they want to see people with the same superficial problems they have. These women are not interesting enough to keep coming back to watch. Anyone who thinks otherwise are deluding themselves.

I'm sorry to say, but if you're not enjoying this golden age of television, you probably never will find the fun in TV.

But these shows don't necessarily represent all of television being made right now. Just the really, horribly, tragically, disgustingly awful ones.

[TM2-Megatron]

You're probably being a bit harsh on some of those shows. While I don't watch a whole lot of them myself, I've seen far worse things as well. I do enjoy 24 and House (sometimes), though. Though I didn't really like the way 24's last season ended, it's usually good for some reasonably well written action. And being an extremely sarcastic person myself, with a personality some people can find abrasive, I really enjoy watching House when I'm in the right mood.

I'm mostly in agreement on Housewives and Gilmore Girls, though. The main characters of Housewives are the type of people I generally find extremely irritating in real life... mostly yuppie suburbanites who's minds are too dulled to realize how boring their existance really is. And Gilmore Girls just isn't really targeted at my demographic.

I've never seen The Shield or Rescue Me, though, so I can't comment on those two; although I've heard decent things the former.

[Lazario]

I do enjoy 24 and House (sometimes), though. Though I didn't really like the way 24's last season ended, it's usually good for some reasonably well written action. And being an extremely sarcastic person myself, with a personality some people can find abrasive, I really enjoy watching House when I'm in the right mood.

I don't pretend to know why most people enjoy these shows. So, you got your reasons- whatever. But the way people glom onto House, is like they've never seen this kind of character before. It's actually one of the top 10 biggest cliches in TV history. And this guy isn't even 2% as clever as the prototypes he was ripped off from. 24 is one of the worst on that list though. It literally is one of the stupidest (and I know technically that's not a word) programs on TV right now, for people who don't care about quality TV but just want to see mindless action. Mindless to me though, is a bad quality. Unless it's somewhat artful. And there's nothing artful about 24. Therefore, nothing at all redeeming.

[PeterPanfan]

While Family Guy has me cracking up for minutes and minutes...I still choose The Simpsons. You can actually learn to like the charectors and feel for them,whereas in Family Guy,the creators treat the charectors like crap and just toss them around.

Both are very enjoyable,though.

[TM2-Megatron]

24 is one of the worst on that list though. It literally is one of the stupidest (and I know technically that's not a word) programs on TV right now, for people who don't care about quality TV but just want to see mindless action.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your basic idea, here, but sometimes a bit of mindless entertainment can be incredibly healthy. Not everything need be at the over-analytical art house film level... mind you, I enjoy a fair dose of that kind of stuff as well.

I've found that being able to enjoy and see the merit in material from a multitude of genres and intellectual levels is critical for a balanced approach to any kind of fiction. There are a whole lot of people who'd criticize us, as adults, for being interested in Disney films simply because they're not able to see anything in them beyond children's entertainment. Bashing 24 and its viewers isn't much different.

[azul017]

Minority or not, I'm in the group who knows quality TV.

*stifles laughter into his sleeve*

[Lazario]

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you(...) but sometimes a bit of mindless entertainment can be incredibly healthy. Not everything need be at the over-analytical art house film level...

Alright. And I agree.

There are a whole lot of people who'd criticize us, as adults, for being interested in Disney films simply because they're not able to see anything in them beyond children's entertainment. Bashing 24 and its viewers isn't much different.

I disagree. Because look at how they are different- 24 is for adults (adults with a slanted perspective on the world), Disney movies are for... I'll just say Child. We all have a child inside us all, whether we're adults or children. So, "bashing" 24 and it's viewers is different. I'd add: vastly.

*stifles laughter into his sleeve*

Laugh all you want, but I'm right.

[Disney's Divinity]

Well, I think the saving grace for most of these shows goes more to the actors than anything else. With just anyone, they most likely wouldn't have been as popular as they are. I personally feel that Desperate Housewives has one of the best casts of any show I've seen (though I'm sure that doesn't mean much). Then there's Hugh Laurie as House. As for The Shield, I've never seen it myself, but Glenn Close's always been a good actress to me, so...

But I have to agree completely about Gilmore Girls and Rescue Me. They're horrible shows. And I'm still wondering how Heroes and Lost got such huge fanbases.

[Disney-Fan]

But these shows don't necessarily represent all of television being made right now. Just the really, horribly, tragically, disgustingly awful ones.

See, thing is Lazario, you chose to break my post down into teeny bits instead of trying to get my point. My point was, and is, is that there will always be garbage made (not just in the TV field, but anywhere in the world) but you as a consumer get to pick and choose through all the garbage and find something that appeals to you. Something that gets your brains going. I never mentioned liking House, Rescue Me, 24 etc. In fact, these specific shows listed I personally dislike quite a bit, but that wasn't the point either. There are so many critically acclaimed shows out there now, most of them with a huge fan base to support all the critics' ravings. On that short list of mine are some of the shows that are considered TV's best, not just for this generation. If you can't find the appeal in any of these shows, the problem might not be the quality of TV because frankly, this trully is a good time for TV fans.

[Lazario]

If you can't find the appeal in any of these shows, the problem might not be the quality of TV because frankly

I didn't say what I said about these shows because I didn't find any appeal in them. They're actually terrible TV shows, and that is why I don't like them.