# Does anybody actually like The Family Circus? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2001, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990 "2001-08-13T04:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/41 "2001-08-14T20:43:28Z")
I remember one my mom cut out about a woman who was going door to door doing surveys, and she starts to describe Thelma as a woman who doesn’t work. Thelma is dressed raggedly, hair is a mess, kids screaming, PJ puking on her shoulder, and she slams the door shut in the woman’s face. Not clever, but not too cutsey. Still, I think it’s pretty good for little kids. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/42 "2001-08-14T21:19:02Z")
Every time I read it, one of the kids is making that ever so cute mistake of words that only kids make and I scream at the newspaper “God damnit you little fuck nugget, you’re not that stupid. Even if you’ve been 4 for the last three centuries you should still know what a cloud is.” I say it’s time to take whole Circus gang and sit them down in front of the tvs at Radio Shack and force them to watch the news. If it can work for Jefty, it can work Jeffy. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/43 "2001-08-14T21:37:08Z")
I like it . . . ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/44 "2001-08-15T00:26:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Briminator \* > \*\*Family Circus > Fred Basset > One Big Happy > Ziggy > > 4 comic strips that I hate, but for some reason I have to read them every day. Maybe one day something bad will happen to all of them. \*\* Check out Barney Google at: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/comics/king.htm?name=Barney\_Google](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/comics/king.htm?name=Barney_Google) It’s terrible, it makes me ill, much more so than the Family Circus. Full House took away the full pain of the Family Circus, but I never had anything to blunt Barney Google. (Check out the history of the strip, the main character was so unpopular that he hasn’t appeared since the Depression) ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/45 "2001-08-16T00:05:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darqangelle \* > \*\*[http://www.jaxstuff.com/sideshowstuff/sideshow.html](http://www.jaxstuff.com/sideshowstuff/sideshow.html) \*\* And I do…and I do. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/46 "2001-08-16T00:47:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Turbo Dog \* > **The Family Circus is the Circus Peanut of the comic strips.** How **dare** you insult Circus Peanuts so! ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/47 "2001-08-16T02:22:03Z")
Originally posted by mouthbreather: > [@](#): > > There have been exactly four different ideas for TFC cartoons in the past 19 years: > > 1. “Little Billy does the drawing this week since Dad is on vacation” > 2. “Trace Jeffy’s path to the neighbor’s house as he goes to get a cup of sugar for mom”. > 3. The “not me” ghost. > 4. The Grandma and Grandpa ghosts. Let’s not forget 1. Family scene with “all the kids talking at once saying annoying things and parents looking tired”. Those darn kids. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/48 "2001-08-16T07:18:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darqangelle \* > \*\*[http://www.jaxstuff.com/sideshowstuff/sideshow.html](http://www.jaxstuff.com/sideshowstuff/sideshow.html) \*\* HAAAA… Jesus, that’s some great stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/49 "2001-08-17T07:27:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by drpepper \* > \*\*Originally posted by mouthbreather: > > > [@](#): > > > > There have been exactly four different ideas for TFC cartoons in the past 19 years: > > > > 1. “Little Billy does the drawing this week since Dad is on vacation” > > 2. “Trace Jeffy’s path to the neighbor’s house as he goes to get a cup of sugar for mom”. > > 3. The “not me” ghost. > > 4. The Grandma and Grandpa ghosts. > > Let’s not forget > > 1. Family scene with “all the kids talking at once saying annoying things and parents looking tired”. Those darn kids. \*\* These ideas have been done to death, too: 1. Billy stays home sick from school and has a miraculous recovery as soon as the school bus leaves. 2. One of the children makes some silly pronunciation mistake. 3. One of the children misunderstands something that the mother or father says. By the way, I wish that Dolly would learn how to say “cashier” instead of “doot-doot lady.” I love Kittycat. The only Family Circus cartoons that I like are those with Kittycat in them. ---
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/50 "2001-08-17T07:32:34Z")
It was funny years ago, but it isn’t funny now. If it weren’t for Kittycat, I would stop reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990/51 "2001-08-17T07:48:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*I swear to God I saw this Family Circus strip years ago, when I was a wee lad. It was a Sunday strip, not the circular daily ones. All qoutes are paraphrases from a very fuzzy memory. It starts with this guy asking Jeffy for directions. Jeffy remembers mom telling him not to talk to strangers, so he runs off without a word, leaving the guy standing their with his hands on his hips saying “How rude!” Jeffy runs home and tells mom about it, and she says, “Well, in this case it was probably okay to talk to him.” Cut to a pair of cops busting the guy, and one of them says, “Good thing we caught this child molester before he could find another victim.” :eek: I swear I actually saw this, but nobody believes me. \*\* I never saw that strip, but I do believe you. Maybe there’s still a copy of it somewhere. Those parents in “The Family Circus” are so clueless. I saw a Sunday strip years ago that showed Barfy barking up a storm in the middle of the night. The father came to the window and shouted at Barfy. He called Barfy a bad dog for barking. In the background, it showed a burglar running away from the house. Barfy scared the burglar away, and all he got in return was a scolding from the stupid father. The father never stopped to think that Barfy might have a good reason for barking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-actually-like-the-family-circus/75990.md?page=2)