# I felt almost Ashamed/Family Guy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524 "2004-02-04T19:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/1 "2004-02-04T19:12:43Z")
I figure it’s not too often tha you find out how depraved you are. I watched last nights The Family Guy. It was a take-off on Willy Wonka, here’s an [episode guide](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-348/epid-25467/) if you missed it. Though I found most of the humor harmless, I was kind of dusturbed that the the song the Chumbawumbas sing to Joe made me laugh. Anybody else feel that way about the episode, or any other for that matter? Sort of related. I just started watching Adult Swim, I had no idea there were sdo many episodes of the Family Guy. Does adult Swim have the rights to all of them? ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/2 "2004-02-04T19:25:23Z")
Family Guy makes me laugh more than anything that’s ever been on TV—Seinfeld, the Simpsons, Monty Python, you name it. The slight sense of shame you feel I experience as exhiliration: I love it that the people who make this show are so ballsy, so eager to lay into every sacred cow they possibly can. If you’re new to Family Guy and keep watching, you’ll experience that quasi-shame many, many times again. AFAIK, Cartoon Network has all the rights to the currently produced episodes. Family Guy is going back into production any day now, and whether Cartoon Network will have a stake in those episodes too remains to be seen. ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/3 "2004-02-04T19:39:28Z")
just shows how divergent tastes can be. i’ve _always_ thought Family Guy to be on par with the opinion most people now have of the 2004 Superbowl Halftime special – a loathsome spectacle that determinedly digs down to the LCD level and excavates harder to find an even lower level to sink to. call me a prude, but i’ve generally failed to see any hilarity in playing up how crude, boorish, selfish or drunken a person can possibly be. YMMV, of course. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/4 "2004-02-04T19:42:27Z")
Yeah, you’re a prude. ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/5 "2004-02-04T20:08:31Z")
interesting reply. so comprehensive. :rolleyes: and so in keeping with a place that is ostensibly about battling ignorance. personally, i’ve never seen the connection between glorifying obnoxious behavior and increasing the general level of enlightenment for humanity. but that must just be me again. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/6 "2004-02-04T20:10:54Z")
About half my laughter during each episode comes from “Oh! That is so WRONG! BAHAHAHAHA!” What I love about it is (and I think McFarlane even said this on a commentary) that it’s not like these shows that try to be edgy and then fall back on a lame “moral” or the character learning a valuable lesson. Peter NEVER learns a valuable lesson. There’s no very special moments. It never pretends to be uplifting. > [@](#): > > playing up how crude, boorish, selfish or drunken a person can possibly be. Well, that eliminates most comedy, including quite a bit of Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/7 "2004-02-04T20:12:49Z")
So, **lachesis** you’re saying you don’t like the Family Guy? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/8 "2004-02-04T20:17:22Z")
[QUOTE=lachesis] call me a prude, but i’ve generally failed to see any hilarity in playing up how crude, boorish, selfish or drunken a person can possibly be. QUOTE] It’s funny because its true. ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/9 "2004-02-04T20:22:59Z")
well, you hit the heart of my whole objection to Family Guy, **GMRyujin**. Peter never moves off his self-centered spot, doesn’t reveal any (in his case) **DEEPLY** hidden worth-while traits or redeeming features. Homer Simpson has many of the same flaws as Peter, but within his core is buried someone who does care about his family and wants to do right by them-- but is incapable of getting there on his own unless someone steers him. as i see Peter’s character, he really doesn’t give a crap about anything but what he wants, and only does the decent thing when faced with major penalties (and good behavior lasts only as long as his feet are held to the metaphorical fire). that’s not a personality i want to associate with, even in comics. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/10 "2004-02-04T20:31:01Z")
> [@Stuffy](#): > > I was kind of dusturbed that the the song the Chumbawumbas sing to Joe made me laugh. Anybody else feel that way about the episode, or any other for that matter? > > Sort of related. I just started watching Adult Swim, I had no idea there were sdo many episodes of the Family Guy. Does adult Swim have the rights to all of them? I loved that song, but I’m a blasphemous bastard. Anyone have the lyrics? I kinda remember this bit: “Where is the one you call God?” Isn’t his absence mighty odd? maybe he’s forgotten you…" ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/11 "2004-02-04T20:32:41Z")
> [@lachesis](#): > > he really doesn’t give a crap about anything but what he wants, and only does the decent thing when faced with major penalties (and good behavior lasts only as long as his feet are held to the metaphorical fire). > > that’s not a personality i want to associate with Well, so much for our date. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/12 "2004-02-04T20:36:57Z")
too bad we’re not allowed to import images, **mouthbreather** … i know a great smiley that literally rolls back and forth across the screen, laughing hysterically. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/13 "2004-02-04T20:37:14Z")
> [@GMRyujin](#): > > Peter NEVER learns a valuable lesson. The very end of the episode “He’s Too Sexy For His Fat” Lios: “Well Peter, I hope you learned a valuable lesson.” Peter: “Nope.” ::credits:: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/14 "2004-02-04T20:38:19Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I loved that song, but I’m a blasphemous bastard. > > Anyone have the lyrics? I kinda remember this bit: > > “Where is the one you call God?” > Isn’t his absence mighty odd? > > maybe he’s forgotten you…" Found 'em Chumba wumba gobbledy goo life isn’t fair, it’s sad but it’s true Chumba wumba gobbledy gee When your poor legs are stiff as a tree What do you do when your stuck in a chair? Finding it hard to go up and down stairs What do you think of the one you call God? Isn’t his absence slight-ly odd? (maybe he’s forgotten you) Chumba wumba gobbledy gorse Count yourself you’re not a horse They would turn you into dog food or to chumba wumba gobbledy glue. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/15 "2004-02-04T20:49:16Z")
**lachesis** , FG isn’t supposed to be character-driven comedy. It doesn’t deal with serious issues, it has no continuity, and it plays havoc with the laws of time and space. It’s much closer to something like **The Young Ones** than to the Simpsons, which was (until recently\*) as upstanding a family sitcom as you’d find anywhere. I think the appeal of Family Guy is age-dependent to an extent. I’m nearly Seth MacFarlane’s age, and like him spent my formative years watching a lot of mediocre to-bad tv, including the ghastly family sitcoms of the Reagan era to which Family Guy is largely a response (and which provided Peter with everything he seems to know about being a parent). Maybe you need to have childhood memories of Family Ties and Silver Spoons to really hook into FG’s wavelength; I don’t know. You’re on the wrong track when you say the show “glorifies” Peter’s stupidity. It doesn’t at all; much of the show’s funniest bits are when Peter gets his well-earned comeuppance, usually from the essentially intelligent and decent Brian or Lois. It’s because Peter is so wrong about everything that he’s so funny; like Beavis and Butt-head (another show about stupidity that many mistook for a glorification of stupidity), you laugh more **at** the main character than **with** him. \*(The Simpsons has really ceased to be a character-driven show and now tries to be more of a parody of the sitcom form itself.) ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/16 "2004-02-04T20:59:11Z")
The problem with Peter Griffin was that he was just incredibly _dull_. There was no conflict, internal or external: he just did whatever he pleased and the story changed to accomodate him. And where’s the comedy in that? Behaving outrageously when there’s no tension has all the impact of Janet Jackson exposing her boobs in a nudist colony. Add to this the fact that the wife and the kids were also dull and most of the stories were lame, and you had a mediocre show, no matter how funny some of the blackout gags were. The only saving graces were the baby and the dog. That’s because they did have conflicts, both with the outside world and with each other. The wise move would have been to make the show about them. (Come to think of it, they eventually did. Didn’t the series end with an episode about them going off on a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby style adventure?) ---
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/17 "2004-02-04T20:59:23Z")
well, i thought Beavis and Butthead was another major source of suck-itude, so my reactions seem to be consistent. chaulk it up to my extreme low tolerance for idiocy, i suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/18 "2004-02-04T21:00:23Z")
**Big ol’ fat disclaimer: I’ve never seen _Family Guy_.** But I have a 15-year old son, so that sort of counts. And the kid loves the show. More than _Malcolm in the Middle,_ more than _The Simpsons_. And I think it’s the gleeful, unrepentant _badness_ in it that appeals to him. Teenagers know we all have the seeds of selfish, self-centered, misogynistic, glutinous, etc. behaviour in us. They know we fight against these things, usually successfully. To see a character happily indulging in these things is awfully liberating. The best humor lies in mutual recognition of what goes unsaid, and there it is in this show. There’s probably also a little bit of “geez - there’s somebody I’m a better person than” involved, too. My kid’s a very open, accepting, curious, and friendly person with a self-deprecating sense of humor and an interestingly skewed view of things. \*Watching the Family Guy \* hasn’t lowered him in any way, and certainly hasn’t lowered him in my estimation. Of course, now I’m really curious . . . I might just have to watch it with him some time. . . ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/19 "2004-02-04T21:21:44Z")
Count me in as another fan of the show but I’m not an ass-scratching, mouth-breathing, nose-picker like **lachesis** would seem to think I am. One can laugh at depravity and still have morals. I don’t have that twinge of guilt when I’m laughing hysterically at something like that song. I think the laughter is more, “Oh my God! I can’t believe they did that” rather than “Cool, they’re making fun of handicapped people”. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/20 "2004-02-04T21:44:25Z")
> [@lachesis](#): > > well, i thought Beavis and Butthead was another major source of suck-itude, so my reactions seem to be consistent. > > chaulk it up to my extreme low tolerance for idiocy, i suppose. Then you’re _really_ gonna hate this Family Guy joke (my fav): Quagmire hitting on woman at a bar. Quagmire: “Are you a Sagittarius?” Woman (bored): “No.” Quagmire: “A Capricorn?” Woman: “No.” Quagmire: “Well, I know you’re not a Virgo!” Woman punches him. Quagmire falls off of stool. Quagmire: “Hey, from down here you look like a Pisces!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524.md?page=2)