# South Park vs Family Guy: why no retaliation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680 "2008-09-29T05:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/21 "2008-09-29T15:28:16Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > They just won an Emmy. That was a great episode, and I love that Blizzard went along with it. (My favourite of the season is still “Tsst” though) SP has the ability to react to current events in a very timely manner (and remember, the other theme of that show was the Muhammad cartoons) and they can do very focused attacks. FG can’t, or at least doesn’t, and half the humour is thrown out of left field–Cartman’s rant on that was great and right on target. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/22 "2008-09-29T15:29:50Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > That was a great episode, and I love that Blizzard went along with it. (My favourite of the season is still “Tsst” though) > > SP has the ability to react to current events in a very timely manner (and remember, the other theme of that show was the Muhammad cartoons) and they can do very focused attacks. FG can’t, or at least doesn’t, and half the humour is thrown out of left field–Cartman’s rant on that was great and right on target. The WoW episode sucked IMO. It kind of felt like Family Guy in that it’s just a random pop culture reference. I was referring to a more recent Emmy win, for the Imagination episode. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/23 "2008-09-29T15:32:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Everybody and everything. It’s special kind of snide, passive-aggressive, “cool kid” type of bullying where the basic assumption is that everyone in the world is stupider than you are. Or, family guy is just a really bad show. 🙂 I never saw the Southpark episode attacking them, but I’m sure I would agree with most of it. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/24 "2008-09-29T15:39:27Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The WoW episode sucked IMO. It kind of felt like Family Guy in that it’s just a random pop culture reference. I was referring to a more recent Emmy win, for the Imagination episode. Ah, didn’t know they won an Emmy for that too. I liked the WoW ep because it’s a pretty good caricature of (some of) the people who play it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/25 "2008-09-29T15:42:54Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Missed that one; who are Clyde and AG? Clyde is a minor South Park character who has lice in that episode. It’s an episode where a lot of the action is from the POV of lice who are being eradicated (all the kids in SP have lice in this ep, actually). In the end, the last…er, louse is picked up by a housefly and taken away to Angelina Jolie’s pubic hair. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/26 "2008-09-29T16:59:07Z")
I suspect that Seth McFarlane and his writers intended a comeback, but lacked the attention span to follow through. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/27 "2008-09-29T17:10:58Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I have not seen Family Guy respond once. Why is that? Because there’s no “South Park” ball in the manatee tank. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/28 "2008-09-29T17:14:36Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s because FG only goes after easy targets. Like most bullies, they’re too chickenshit to attack someone who fights back. And when asked who they bullied, you answer… [QUOTE=Alessan] Everybody and everything. [/QUOTE] Which is it? Only the easy targets or everybody? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/29 "2008-09-29T17:51:33Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > South Park has throw together episodes in less than a week. I think this is the real answer. South Park can respond in days, Family Guy would take at least a season to have a come back. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/30 "2008-09-29T17:54:49Z")
The Simpsons has made fun of Family Guy a few times and I don’t think Family Guy has responded to that either. (I don’t watch Family Guy, but if there was a response I figure I would’ve found out in a thread here.) Bottom line is, Seth McFarlane is making his money and probably doesn’t care if some of his peers don’t respect him. Or that none of his peers respect him, which I think is closer to the truth. And networks probably don’t want their shows to make fun of competitors on cable, since it’s like free publicity. For the record, I strongly dislike both shows - South Park for posing as a cutting cultural satire when they seem to dumb everything down and pick on safe targets, and Family Guy for being a plotless, pointless string of cultural references that doesn’t even bother with jokes a lot of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/31 "2008-09-29T18:54:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s because FG only goes after easy targets. Like most bullies, they’re too chickenshit to attack someone who fights back. Uh… it’s a fucking cartoon, led into by _King of the Hill_, and it’s rarely truly satirical. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/32 "2008-09-29T19:00:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The Simpsons has made fun of Family Guy a few times and I don’t think Family Guy has responded to that either. (I don’t watch Family Guy, but if there was a response I figure I would’ve found out in a thread here.) That’s partially because Seth McFarlane and Matt Groening actually like each other, they poke fun at each other all the time. There have been Family Guy episodes (okay, one episode to my knowledge) with a Simpson character (Marge, I think even with her usual voice actor. But I’ve never watched Simpsons so I’m not sure) in a scene just for kicks. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/33 "2008-09-29T19:43:18Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > That’s partially because Seth McFarlane and Matt Groening actually like each other, they poke fun at each other all the time. I hadn’t heard that. While some of the Simpsons writers really do seem to dislike Family Guy, I think others are just kidding around about a rival show, just as they’ve done with King of the Hill and a lot of other shows over the years. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/34 "2008-09-29T19:46:56Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > That’s partially because Seth McFarlane and Matt Groening actually like each other, they poke fun at each other all the time. There have been Family Guy episodes (okay, one episode to my knowledge) with a Simpson character (Marge, I think even with her usual voice actor. But I’ve never watched Simpsons so I’m not sure) in a scene just for kicks. It wasn’t her usual voice actor, it was an impersonator. And if it’s the scene I’m thinking of (one that didn’t air in the US), it involved Quagmire attempting to rape Marge and then killing every single member of the Simpson family. I thought it was funny, but I don’t know if that could be considered a friendly jab at the competition. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/35 "2008-09-29T20:00:12Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > It wasn’t her usual voice actor, it was an impersonator. And if it’s the scene I’m thinking of (one that didn’t air in the US), it involved Quagmire attempting to rape Marge and then killing every single member of the Simpson family. I thought it was funny, but I don’t know if that could be considered a friendly jab at the competition. I thought it was kind of creepy and over the top. Like weird for its own sake, not because it was funny. For some reason, I’m not sure why Cartman feeding Scott Tenorman his own parents doesn’t weird me out. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/36 "2008-09-29T20:10:48Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > My favourite of the season is still “Tsst” though This is my all-time fave SP episode. Anyway, remember that time FG decided to send the Terminator over to Comedy Central, but Emilio Estevez and Charo got in the way while trying to warn everybody about the giant meteor that looked like Wilford Brimley from _The Firm_? Oh, wait, that’s next week’s episode. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![bobthebuilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobthebuilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobthebuilder)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/37 "2008-09-29T20:58:27Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Oh, please. South Park are even worse at that. They will only attack targets “approved” by the Libertarians and will never take a definitive position on anything more important than a singer or a TV show.. This sentence contradicts itself. How would they only attack “approved” Libertarian targets and yet never take a position on anything important? Just off the top of my head things that southpark takes on thats more important than a TV show or Singer is: The anti-smoking movement fetal stem cell research The church of Scientology And to be honest their are many others, those were the only ones I could think of off the top of my head. Are those things truly no more important than a singer or a TV show? You may disagree with their political conclusions (I typically agree with them) but they do at times take definitive positions on major issues. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/38 "2008-09-29T21:22:45Z")
I think it could be an overstatement to say that the South Park episode was an Attack. I think us fans on the outer rim might make it out to be something much harsher than it is to either of the creators. Though I’m as much a fan of FG as I am of SP, I agree with with the premises put forth in the SP episodes: their cutaways ARE random. And remember that it’s the show’s “bad guy” Cartman who hated it, Kyle was a fan. ALSO, in this same episode, SP rips on itself for it’s habit of getting preachy from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/39 "2008-09-29T21:31:58Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Clyde is a minor South Park character who has lice in that episode. It’s an episode where a lot of the action is from the POV of lice who are being eradicated (all the kids in SP have lice in this ep, actually). In the end, the last…er, louse is picked up by a housefly and taken away to Angelina Jolie’s pubic hair. Thanks! So, AG stands for Angelina Jolie. Never would have guessed that. I enjoy both shows, at least when they’re on their game. Two different styles, both of which can work fine for comedy. Some of the non-sequitur bits on _Family Guy_ really work as little independent absurdist comedy vignettes. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680/40 "2008-09-29T21:37:08Z")
> [@bobthebuilder](#): > > How would they only attack “approved” Libertarian targets and yet never take a position on anything important? > Just off the top of my head things that southpark takes on thats more important than a TV show or Singer is: > The anti-smoking movement > fetal stem cell research > The church of Scientology What was their position on stem cell research? Taking on the anti-smoking movement is nothing. Nobody’s said anything new about that from a comedic standpoint in 15 years, if not longer. They helped make mockery of Scientology more mainstream, but everybody who had heard of it already knew it was ridiculous and people were already laughing at what Tom Cruise was doing. And Scientology is still what it was before: a small cult supported by rich celebrities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-vs-family-guy-why-no-retaliation/465680.md?page=3)