# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/21 "2004-02-04T21:55:43Z")
Don’t feel lonely lachesis. I think Family Guy is the worst waste of animation since Scooby-Doo and the Smurfs. And before any of you jump to say it’s an age thing, my 21-year old daughter, who loves Adult Swim and everything in it, practically breaks her hand grabbing for the remote when Family Guy comes on. ---
**Author:** ![Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Age_Quod_Agis)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/22 "2004-02-04T22:36:54Z")
> [@Wumpus](#): > > The only saving graces were the baby and the dog. I’m with **Wumpus**. The evil genius baby (who speaks with a psuedo-British accent) was one of the funniest television characters I’ve ever come across. Precariously balanced between taking over the world (he could construct a deathray and a machine that controlled the weather) and toddler-hood (he was fascinated by the Teletubbies), and at once dependent on his mother and plotting to kill her . . . pure comedy. Lois: What’s going on? Stewie: We’re playing house. Lois: The boy is all tied up. Stewie: Roman Polanski’s house. ---
**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, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/23 "2004-02-04T23:08:57Z")
Wow. I struck a nerve. **GMRyujin** caught my feelings exactly. In fact nearly word for word including the laughter :D. For some reason I thought there was only one season of the Family Guy. When it was on Fox, it seemed to move around so I was shocked when I saw there were three seasons. I just stared wathching AS, since I work from home now I can stay up later. FTR, Stewie is my wife’s favorite, I like Brian. ---
**Author:** ![Ex\_Machina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/24 "2004-02-04T23:29:04Z")
I recently discovered _The Family Guy_ and I love it. It’s a constant stream of silliness and satire. I wouldn’t suggest that anyone try to find either neat moral conclusions or sinister suggestions in the show even though you can find a lot of things in art if you try hard enough. In any case, I’m left with the overwhelming impression that they are a devoted and loving family. I don’t find Peter any more morally repugnant than Fred Flintstone. They’re just goofy guys doing goofy things. I wouldn’t suggest the program for children but for adults it’s a hoot. ---
**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 5, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/25 "2004-02-05T00:11:40Z")
Peter Griffin deserves a lot more credit that you guys are giving him. He made the “Luke Perry” is gay story for his daughter. He tried to get his son bar-mitzvah-ed to give him a better future. He infiltrated the school as Lando Griffin to get rid of drugs. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/26 "2004-02-05T00:45:26Z")
**lachesis** I feel the same way about Reality TV, CSI, etc… But I find Family Guy to be wildly entertaining. I think that a large part is how gravity, applied to a locally falling body, increases its force by at least three orders of magnitude. That and the irreverance. God: I hate it when he tells this one… ---
**Author:** ![SnowySeason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnowySeason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnowySeason)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/27 "2004-02-05T00:59:46Z")
Being that my brother owns all the seasons of family guy on DVD I have seen the most of the episods. It is an insane collaboration of evilness, truth, and laughs. There are definetly a few episods that leave me open mouthed and thinking ‘Oh gosh, can they say that?’ The truth is I think that Family Guy can get away with insults and stereotypes because they do it too **everyone**. Perhaps if the show habitually picked on only certain topics then it could be veiwed as being only disrespectful and crude rather than humorous. This show is not for someone without an open mind and light-hearted nature. Also many of the ‘inside jokes’ (Kool-Aid man showing up in the court room in the 1st episod…“Oh Yeah!”) appeal to younger audiences that can recognize and appriciate the insanity of the joke. Am I saying that I would support some of the things they say/do on the cartoon. No way. Do I laugh when I watch it? Every time. ---
**Author:** ![Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Age_Quod_Agis)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/28 "2004-02-05T01:44:03Z")
> [@SnowySeason](#): > > There are definetly a few episods that leave me open mouthed and thinking ‘Oh gosh, can they say that?’ The truth is I think that Family Guy can get away with insults and stereotypes because they do it too everyone. Absolutely. Every scene throws punches from every direction. A few more quotes: Meg: You could kill all the girls who are prettier than me. Death: Well that would just leave England. Doctor: Mr. Griffin I’m saying you’re fine. Peter: Now what? Are you coming on to me? Lois: Peter, he’s not coming on to you. He’s trying to tell you you’re healthy. Doctor: …Can’t it be both? [Ed. note: Prepare your sig lines!] Peter Griffin [_while riding a circus elephant_]: Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change. ---
**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 5, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/29 "2004-02-05T02:01:18Z")
I liked the fact that Peter never learned or changed, because that’s _just like every other character on television._ What was great about _Family Guy_ was that, instead of him learning a lesson at the end of every episode and completely forgetting by the beginning of the next, the show just comes right out and has Peter say, “I didn’t learn anything.” That’s some good satire, right there. I think the show _Family Guy_ most resembles is _Monty Python’s Flying Circus_. It’s not about plot or character (and really, most of the characterizations were wildly inconsistent) The plot exsists merely as an excuse to hang a bunch of gags off of, the more absurd the better. If a joke requires Lois to be an uncaring and insensitive mother, (such as the flashback when Meg comes into her room and finds Lois reading Meg’s diary to the rest of the family. After Meg flees the room in tears, Lois calmly returns to reading out loud) then she is, because the joke is the most important thing, not the story. Mind you, I do maintain that _The Simpsons_ (the early episodes, at least) is generally superior to _Family Guy_ precisely because they put more emphasis on character and story. The episode where Marge stars in a musical version of _A Streetcar Named Desire_ is as funny as any episode of FG, but also has an emotional resonance that FG never even attempted. But, there’s room enough on TV for both approaches, and I respect _Family Guy_’s willingness to go to any length to get a laugh. Oh, and my favorite character? Mayor Adam West. “You want an interview? Well, you can’t interview a dead man!” \ ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/30 "2004-02-05T02:11:41Z")
> [@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. What - even that one time when Peter was in a glass box, and he farted, and then he tried to get out of the box, but he couldn’t, so he passed out, because the fart was so rank? Even that one? Everybody likes that one! Right? ---
**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 5, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/31 "2004-02-05T02:22:44Z")
**lachesis** , you say you don’t like _Family Guy_. All I can say in response to that is, c’mon. Come on! _Come onnnnn!_ Dammit! It works with Congress! ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/32 "2004-02-05T03:43:00Z")
> [@Age Quod Agis](#): > > Peter Griffin [_while riding a circus elephant_]: Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change. 😃 That’s my favorite line. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/33 "2004-02-05T03:46:31Z")
I’m kind of ambivalent towards the Family Guy. As boorish oafish fathers go, Peter Gryphon pales in comparison to the hilarity of Homer Simpson, Al Bundy, Fred Flintstone, Sean Finnerty or Hal “in the Middle”. Those fathers are funny because they are essentially torn between acting carefree and irresponsible (as we all would like) and their responsibilities to raising a family. We laugh as they hatch some crazy, good natured scheme and then are pick up the peices as it inevitably falls apart or as their tranquility is shattered by the antics of their family. Simply acting like a mean jerk is not funny and all too often Peter goes this route. Worst of all, we don’t care because with the exception of Stewie and Brian, none of the other characters have any personality. The kids are a retard and a social outcast and the wife is utterly forgetable. None can carry an episode of a show. The show does have some funny moments. The episode where “Lando” Griphon shows up to school was pretty funny, but overall, I still prefer Southpark, Simpsons or Futurama for my animated needs. lachesis - Its ok taht you don’t like the show. You might feel more comfortible with the stern discipline of Red Foreman or Hank Hill ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/34 "2004-02-05T04:00:36Z")
I think the wife is hot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/35 "2004-02-05T04:20:49Z")
**Wumpus** : “(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?)” Yep, two episodes like that, in fact. “The Road to Rhode Island” and… well, I forget the name but Stewie runs away to England to live in a Teletubby-like show, Brian tries to stop him and they end up in the Middle East. This is also the episode where Lois reveals that she’s ‘done’ Kiss. I just watched this again recently and caught Stewie’s stream of Britishisms as he’s sneaking on the plane: “pip-pip-cheeri-o-stiff-upper-lip-kippers-for-breakfast-baby’s-arm-with-an-apple-in-its-fist” Anyway, I was listening to the DVD commentary on “When You Wish Upon a Weinstien” (the episode that went to final production but never aired) and McFarlane and one of the other writers observed that American TV-viewing habits have lost their sense of context over the past few decades. In the 70’s there were shows like “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons” that had characters saying extremely offensive things, yet it was acceptible because viewers could make a distinction between the actions of one character and the message the entire program was trying to get across. Racist characters said racist things, stupid characters said stupid things, mean characters said mean things, nice characters said nice things, etc., all within the same show. Since then, the trend has incresingly been to brand a show as ‘rascist’, ‘sexist’, ‘anti-family’ or whatever based on the words of actions of a character while ignoring the context of that character’s actions within the show. If ‘All in the Family’ ran today, people would be claiming that Archie Bunker’s presence meant Norman Lear was encouraging viewers (and the children!) to be bigots. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/36 "2004-02-05T05:49:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Simply acting like a mean jerk is not funny and all too often Peter goes this route. Worst of all, we don’t care because with the exception of Stewie and Brian, none of the other characters have any personality. The kids are a retard and a social outcast and the wife is utterly forgetable. None can carry an episode of a show. > The show does have some funny moments. The episode where “Lando” Griphon shows up to school was pretty funny, but overall, I still prefer Southpark, Simpsons or Futurama for my animated needs. I agree completely. I don’t find _Family Guy_ to be all that funny - not because of its subject matter (I do not offend easily), but simply because the jokes aren’t funny to me. And the incessant flashbacks which attempt to beat you over the head with the joke just get on my nerves: “Hey! Peter said something outlandish! Hey! Now let’s _watch_ Peter _do_ that outlandish thing! 'Cause that’ll make it _more_ funny!” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/37 "2004-02-05T06:00:08Z")
> [@](#): > > 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). So what? You’re entitled not to like the show, **lachesis** but you DO sound very much like a prude. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/38 "2004-02-05T06:15:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Oh, and my favorite character? Mayor Adam West. “You want an interview? Well, you can’t interview a dead man!” \ I LOVE Adam West. The whole scene where he’s eating taffy nearly kills me. “And I’m a man who loves his taffy…Mmmmm…mhmmmm…mmmm…oh yea…” ---
**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 5, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/39 "2004-02-05T06:28:45Z")
> [@lachesis](#): > > 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. Hey, you said; “call me a prude.” So I did. Just indulging you. And you didn’t even have to pay me! It’s a bargain, really. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524/40 "2004-02-05T06:32:21Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. It doesn’t have to promote good manners or enlighten humanity. It’s a comedy. The only thing it has to do is make people laugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-almost-ashamed-family-guy/227524.md?page=3)