First, I am thrilled about the prospect of new episodes in 2005.
It is a great show that consistently cracks me up.
I am even glad Fox is committed to the new episodes so much that they have been running Family Guy Marathons on Wednesdays to get it back in people’s minds.
But I am concerned that the network censors are going to gut the cutting edge humor.
Two pieces of evidence indicate this is a concern:
They’ve shown EIGHT episodes on Fox since they began the re-airings. NOT ONE of them was When You Wish Upon a Weinstein! We’ve all seen the episode. It is FAR less “offensive” than most others (the handicap olympics one comes to mind).
They’ve been using the mute button on some of the language. Last night, Peter called some one a “Son of a (MUTE).” I remember hearing the word BITCH on TV back in the 1980’s. Is BITCH now a scary word in a post-Janet Jackson’s tittie world? Even worse though, last week, they censored the word “CRAP” (the old man explaining electricity.) At the time, I thought it was just an audio glitch, but when I heard the muting this week, I knew it was intentional!
I am worried if they bring it back, it will not only be heavy handed on the mute button, but they will be harder on editing content.
I am not sure I want Family Guy Lite episodes.
Anyone else worried about this?
And because it always seems to come up in a Family Guy thread, please let this replace the inevitable debate.
ANGRY POSTER: Family Guy Sucks. They should have brought back Futurama instead.
ANGRY RESPONDER: Nuh-uh. Futurama SUCKS! Family Guy is MUCH better!
REASONABLE RESPONDER: Now. There are a lot of people who like both shows. It’s not a competition!
LESS ANGRY POSTER: I still wish we’d get more Futurama.
MULTIPLE POSTERS: Me, too.
HIJACKING POSTER: Man, the Simpsons sure did jump the shark with Saddlesore Galactica!
REALLY ANGRY POSTER: Both Family Guy AND Futurama are crap! Dragonball-Z is the best cartoon ever made!
:shudder:
Anyways, I agree with you. There is way too much censoring of things nowadays. We used to have a good age around 1999-2001 when things were aloowed to be offensive, but now we seem to be in another PC craze.
~bouv (who is still mad that Cartoon Network will show When you Wish upon a Weinstein but cuts out Prof. Farnsworth’s “Sweet Zombie Jesus” line.)
Cartoon Network is pretty heavy with the ‘mute button’ as you call it. On Futurama, which they show late at night as part of “Adult” Swim, they constantly mute out the Jesus part of Farnsworths “Oh my sweet zombie Jesus”.
I think it will depend on what time slot the new episodes get shown in. Assuming Fox has learned its lesson and won’t play shuffleboard with the show anymore, a suitably late time slot might give them more leeway. I agree, though; bowdlerized Family Guy would royally suck, and I hope Seth M. lets the network know it.
I actually watched it last night for the first time and tired, TIRED jokes about the South aside - really enjoyed it! I was laughing out loud at several points - like when that baby sang the song about his “Big Woman.”
“She’s got a budda belly, and her boobs touch the ground…” or something. Comic Gold, baby!
Can we all agree that Fox just sucks when it comes to knowing which programming to keep and which to cancel?
Neither Family Guy nor Futurama should have been cancelled. They should not have been shuffled all around the board until only fans bothered to find it while on the air.
I feel your fears are justified and we may only see a short revival, after all fox already lost control to stop one animated series from saying and doing what it wants. I’m sure it never wants to again. Seth M. won’t be allowed to have the Clout Groening has with the Simpsons.
Because they damn sure don’t want another Simpsons like franchise on their hands! That would be horrible! That short-lived cartoon damn near bankrupted them.
They aired that episode the other night, and no matter how many times I see it, I have a minor embolism when that happens.
I don’t think FOX would be beholden to MacFarlane the way they are to Groening. Family Guy had low ratings and a devoted cult audience that grew after cancellation. They helped him by bringing the show back- it’s not like the network would’ve collapsed without it. The Simpsons was kind of on another level, it was a hit that helped put the network on the map.
I was going to start a thread about the censorship today but you beat me to it. Its not like the program came from HBO or something. It was fine before for broadcast why not now? There was nothing cut from the program that would violate any FCC regulation.Its just rediculous.
Some of you are forgetting that MacFarlane will be producing two prime-time animated comedies for Fox; the other, “American Dad,” was already in development when the Family Guy DVDs took off and talk of reviving the show began in earnest. Of course, if even Matt Groening didn’t have the clout to ensure his series wasn’t pre-empted to death by a chortling John Madden, I doubt MacFarlane will be in any stronger of a position.
I seem to recall that McFarlane was on one of the hijacked planes on 9/11, but got off before it took off. He doesn’t talk about 9/11, and you will find no 9/11 ‘humour’ in any of his productions.
I don’t believe Seth actually asked for that bit to be taken out. The network wanted to do it and he agreed, though in interviews lately he doesn’t seem sure it was the right thing to do.
He missed the flight altogether, either because his travel agent gave him the wrong departure time or because he was hung over, depending on which story you read.
