# Family Guy last night - (The Shark was not just jumped but bloody well leaped) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328 "2009-03-30T16:45:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/41 "2009-03-31T02:39:51Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Ben Affleck. His hand was supposed to BE J-Lo. Right, right. The point is, South Park was brilliant in it’s first couple of seasons and eventually devolved into utter shit. The fact that it has somehow cycled back to brilliance is going to be lost on the same people who are walking away from Family Guy right now because they won’t want to come back if it ever gets brilliant again. Because whatever reason you come up with to justify it, this was a poor episode all around. The fact that they came right out and said “This is a Meg episode, no one would blame you [for changing the channel]” and that it was the funniest part of the whole thing was ridiculous. And also just plain sad. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/42 "2009-03-31T02:45:09Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Right, right. I’m not proud of knowing that, just so you know… ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/43 "2009-03-31T02:47:26Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I’m not proud of knowing that, just so you know… That does make it a little better. Oh, and put me down in the column of people who think American Dad is better than Family Guy, The Simpsons and South Park nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/44 "2009-03-31T02:57:33Z")
I’m a sporadic Family Guy watcher, so, don’t know the whole history enough for any shark jumps, but, I laughed at this one. Loved the juxtaposition of atheism and trekkie in an episode, playing on strident enthusiasm. I figured that Meg would take Brian to a church service after her scoring him some alcohol, so, the book burning was funny, really, as her best example of faith. I didn’t quite follow the jump to live—didn’t know that was Adam West, saw Rob Lowe, but still don’t get the connections. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/45 "2009-03-31T03:12:00Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > didn’t know that was Adam West, saw Rob Lowe, but still don’t get the connections. I think there is no real connection other than implying that West and Lowe are God. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/46 "2009-03-31T03:18:36Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > \*Point: You can be a perfectly good human as an atheist. Where I disagree is whether you get beyond that, which in my religion (Catholicism) is basically the entire point of human existence. And, unfortunately, perfectly good humans aren’t really all that good. Wow . . . I somewhat agreed with your OP but . . . wow . . . considering something like 5/6ths of the world isn’t even Catholic, this is just misanthropy. > [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > You can always tell a TV show is bad when it gets preachy. Even more when it grossly insults anyone on the other end by being grotesquely unfair or dishonest about them, particularly when it’s, y’know, not even funny. I mean, even remotely. Eventually, I was just shaking my head in disbelief. No episode they’ve ever done was this bad. Not necessarily. South Park got REALLY bad, unfunny, and preachy in one of its seasons - season 6, I think - and I thought they were done for. They snapped out of it, though, and have done most of their best stuff since then. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Oh, and put me down in the column of people who think American Dad is better than Family Guy, The Simpsons and South Park nowadays. That’s not really fair to say if you haven’t watched South Park since the J-Lo episode, considering that episode aired like 2 years before American Dad even premiered. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/47 "2009-03-31T03:25:14Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > I think there is no real connection other than implying that West and Lowe are God. So, forgive me and help me here as a sporadic TV watcher, what’s the funny bit here? I liked it as a segue from the cartoon, but prolly miss the gist. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/48 "2009-03-31T04:23:05Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > So, forgive me and help me here as a sporadic TV watcher, what’s the funny bit here? I liked it as a segue from the cartoon, but prolly miss the gist. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Conway Twitty… Basically, Family Guy has been doing a lot of these cuts to live action lately and none make much sense beyond “Family Guy is a cartoon! This live action stuff has blown ma mind!” It’s getting tiresome. And **Cisco** , you’re right, I can’t have any opinion on South Park because I haven’t watched it in years, but that’s my point. I have no desire to go back (even though it’s supposed to be great again) because it was so terrible at one time. For a lot of people, Family Guy has reached that point. I still find it OK, but it’s losing me and I’m amazed at how good American Dad is now. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/49 "2009-03-31T04:48:46Z")
One of the manatees must have picked the wrong ball. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/50 "2009-03-31T04:48:52Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Basically, Family Guy has been doing a lot of these cuts to live action lately and none make much sense beyond “Family Guy is a cartoon! This live action stuff has blown ma mind!” It’s getting tiresome. There was one live action joke I liked. Somebody on the show says something bad about Alyssa Milano, and it jumps to a live action shot of her watching TV, obviously pissed off, and yelling at her agent, who’s franticly trying to get the Fox attorneys on the phone to demand an apology. ---
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/51 "2009-03-31T05:19:58Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > And **Cisco** , you’re right, I can’t have any opinion on South Park because I haven’t watched it in years, but that’s my point. I have no desire to go back (even though it’s supposed to be great again) because it was so terrible at one time. > > F. South Park is still the greatest show on television. The episode you are referring to is called Fat-butt and Pancake head and is freaking hilarious. The sex change episode was pretty weak, but South Park has hit far more than it has missed. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/52 "2009-03-31T05:29:58Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Seriously, does Seth MacFarlane want to bone Brian, or just become him? Cuz Brian’s Athor Avatarness is getting obscene. There’s a reason Brian speaks with MacFarlane’s “normal” voice. > [@Little\_Bird](#): > > K, could every one just take a second and remember a character from a tv program that either revealed themselves to be an atheist or lost their faith. Now, other than Gregory House and maybe Mal Reynolds, how many of those characters kept up the atheism? I’m counting zero. Also Perry Cox (_Scrubs_), Fox Mulder (_X-Files_), Maddie Hayes (_Moonlighting_) and Michael Garibaldi (_Babylon 5_). In fact, I can’t think of a single TV show character, established as an atheist in more than one episode, who eventually found religion. Care to give any examples? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/53 "2009-03-31T05:38:11Z")
Another thing I liked about the episode is that he called them “Trekkies” instead of “Trekkers.” Or did the Trekkies give up on that without my being aware? It wouldn’t be the first time. [Like that time I thought Prince Andrew’s ex-wife was the singer from the Black-Eyed Peas.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9799278&postcount=5) Did you see what I did there? It was like one of those cutaways from _Family Guy_. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/54 "2009-03-31T07:57:19Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Also Perry Cox (_Scrubs_), Fox Mulder (_X-Files_), Maddie Hayes (_Moonlighting_) and Michael Garibaldi (_Babylon 5_). I haven’t watched most of those series, but the fact that you included Fox “I want to believe” Mulder on your list makes me question how accurate the rest of it is. Conduit: MULDER: She’s calling out my name, over and over again. (We see the picture is one of Mulder and his sister when they were kids. We see it is Mulder who is now holding the picture) She’s crying out for help but I can’t help her. I can’t move. (We see that Mulder is sitting inside a church) DR. HEITZ WERBER: Are you scared? (Mulder starts crying) MULDER: I know I should be but I’m not. DR. HEITZ WERBER: Do you know why? MULDER: Because of the voice. DR. HEITZ WERBER: The voice? MULDER: The voice in my head. (Mulder keeps down on his knees and begins to pray) DR. HEITZ WERBER: What’s it telling you? (The camera zooms away from Mulder as he prays) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/55 "2009-03-31T08:46:00Z")
Yeah, I dropped out of X-Files after season 5 or so. I haven’t seen the episode you quoted, but it must have happened after the series turned to crap. I don’t think that really counts - once writers run out of ideas, they’ll do _anything_. Anyway, I tend to assume that all TV characters who never talk about their religious beliefs - which is most of them - are atheists or agnostics. Life isn’t the SDMB. Most atheists never talk about religion, because it doesn’t interest them. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/56 "2009-03-31T09:22:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Yeah, I dropped out of X-Files after season 5 or so. I haven’t seen the episode you quoted, but it must have happened after the series turned to crap. I don’t think that really counts - once writers run out of ideas, they’ll do _anything_. > > Anyway, I tend to assume that all TV characters who never talk about their religious beliefs - which is most of them - are atheists or agnostics. Life isn’t the SDMB. Most atheists never talk about religion, because it doesn’t interest them. Of course it counts. And that would be a weird assumption, since the vast majority of the american population are christians. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/57 "2009-03-31T09:36:39Z")
And the majority of Christians talk about their religion, which is not something you can say about TV characters. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/58 "2009-03-31T11:48:48Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > And the majority of Christians talk about their religion, which is not something you can say about TV characters. Not true at all. Where I grew up you kept your religion to yourself, and as a Catholic you did your one hour a week and went on with your life. Contrast that with the Bible Belt, where they never actually shut up about it. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/59 "2009-03-31T12:02:55Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Not true at all. Where I grew up you kept your religion to yourself, and as a Catholic you did your one hour a week and went on with your life. And how did you tell those who believed from those who didn’t? ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328/60 "2009-03-31T12:47:47Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Anyway, I tend to assume that all TV characters who never talk about their religious beliefs - which is most of them - are atheists or agnostics. What nonsense. I’ve noticed that most people on TV shows don’t fart – do you assume that this is because they lack anuses? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-last-night-the-shark-was-not-just-jumped-but-bloody-well-leaped/491328.md?page=4)