# Yeah, I think Futurama is funnier than Family Guy, so what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2006, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490 "2006-11-15T05:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/61 "2006-11-17T04:58:38Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Nice backpedal. [/QUOTE] _cheerful_ Oh, don’t worry Miller, my opinion of you hasn’t changed a wit. ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/62 "2006-11-17T07:06:06Z")
Man this conversation’s harshing my buzz. :: gets up and leaves couch :: ---
**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:** [November 17, 2006, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/63 "2006-11-17T16:24:31Z")
I’ve tried to watch a couple times but I’ve found: 1. the lead character to be whiny and grating. I can’t relate to that guy at all. 2. the robot to be not funny in an “I’m embarrased for the people who greenlighted this” sort of way. 3. that Peggy Bundy’s voice makes me picture Peggy Bundy, which takes me completely out of the show in a bad way. Granted, I’ve never watched enough consecutive episodes to get a sense of the arcing storylines, but the samples of the show that I’ve seen haven’t intrigued me enough to want to make the attempt. Family was brilliantly funny (in that it often made me LOL) the first 2-3 seasons, but has tapered off since Seth McFarlane started spliting time between projects. American Dad has been better than Family Guy the last year or so. For my television advertising dollar the rankings look like this: 1. South Park 2. Family Guy 3. The Simpsons 4. American Dad 5. King of the Hill 6. Futurama ---
**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:** [November 17, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/64 "2006-11-17T17:48:54Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] _cheerful_ Oh, don’t worry Miller, my opinion of you hasn’t changed a wit. [/QUOTE] You’ve no idea how relieved I am to hear that. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/65 "2006-11-17T21:11:11Z")
::: Moderator interjects a polite cough ::: > [@Weirddave](#): > > you’re completely missing the point of the thread. It’s not about which show is funnier, it’s a thread where pretentious jackoffs can congregate … It’s hard to find a way to read that, that’s not insulting everyone who posted to this thread. However, **Weirddave** retracted in the very next post, a few minutes later, with no intervening comments. Whether you think this was a sincere retraction of bad wording, or whether you think it was quick back-pedalling, it’s there. As Moderator, I’m willing to give benefit of the doubt, and we move on. **Miller** and **Weirddave** : These little pokes, prods, and jabs are unseemly and contrary to the rules of this forum. You think the other poster is an effete and elite culture-snob? Don’t say so here, go to the Pit. You think the other poster is a ignoramus and a boor? Don’t say so here, go to the Pit. In this forum, the discussion is about the art/entertainment, and not about the other posters. So, cool it. ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/66 "2006-11-17T21:49:19Z")
I have to agree that Futurama is a better show, but it’s not funnier. It has never made me gut laugh like Family Guy, but FG never makes you think or even cry\* like Futurama did. \*like you didn’t cry at the end of the episode with Fry’s dog… ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2006, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/67 "2006-11-18T06:38:22Z")
I don’t like _FG_. _The Simpsons_ is about more than just funny; \*FG \*is like what _The Simpsons_ would be like if it was nothing but funny. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2006, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/68 "2006-11-18T09:18:53Z")
Caught an older episode of _Simpsons_ earlier today; the family goes to Itchy and Scratchy land. It contains a flashback to an earlier vacation when the family went to “Amish country”, in a parody of the movie _Witness_. Had _Family Guy_ done it, it wouldn’t have been “remember that time we went to Amish country?” It would have been “remember that time you were an extra in the movie _Witness_?” i.e. no subtlety asked or granted. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/69 "2006-12-09T12:43:11Z")
[QUOTE=Arac] Family Guy can have its moments but the incessant, mundane evil of the protagonist just wears on me. I’m meant to root for Peter? Sympathize with him? He’s a monster, and that eventually that just wears me out. [/QUOTE] You are absolutely **not** meant to root for or sympathize with Peter! That is probably the biggest obstacle for appreciation of FG. You still might not like it, for other reasons, but if you accept that FG is a satire on “fat, dumb, boorish husband/hot, intelligent, all-enduring wife” sitcoms, that makes appreciation at least possible. Lois, along with virtually every other character, calls Peter on his jerkishness to his face. He doesn’t care, of course, and continues rampaging on, but the point is made. He’s not a hero; he’s not even an anti-hero. You’re supposed to think he’s a jerk, because that’s all he’s presented as. Now, I like Futurama a lot, but what prevents me from total adulation is the fact that I **really** don’t like Bender. He’s cruel and selfish in ways that would never even occur to Stewie, let alone Peter. There are episodes, like **The Sting** , and **Jurassic Bark** , in which Bender’s actions and remarks turn a poignant moment into a truly, and unnecessarily, painful one. In FG, there **are** no tender moments to ruin, so the characters can be as jerkish as they like. But I just can’t take Bender. I don’t know how anyone else can, either. But they do! No one ever calls him on his crap, the way FG characters do with Peter. It’s just “Eh, that’s Bender,” if they acknowledge his jerkishness at all. **Bryan Ekers** : I, personally, don’t always need subtlety. A large part of what I like about FG is the complete randomness of the gags. Like Peter mentioning the time he fell in with a bad crowd; cut to him marching along with the Cavity Creeps. “We! Make! Holes in teeth! We! Make! Holes in teeth!” I almost fell off the couch. Who could have seen that coming? Where did McFarlane, or his crew, dig that up from? Hadn’t thought of the commercial in years, but I instantly recalled it! Maybe you have to be Gen-X; I dunno. But that’s another aspect of FG that makes it so special to me. McFarlane is _my_ age; the gags are tailored for _my_ generation. I don’t have to take that second to process them, as I did with early Simpsons, when the referfences were from before my time. It’s riffing on what _I_ grew up with. Nyah. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/70 "2006-12-09T16:59:24Z")
Well, I’m gen-X, too, and I remembered the Cavity Creeps also, and I “get” the vast majority of the pop-culture references (except for musical ones). Heck, when Peter’s float idea was about a scene in _Who’s the Boss?_, I remembered that, too. I just don’t find them especially _witty_. Peter’s “You’re all stupid; they’re gonna be _looking_ for army guys” was comparatively brilliant because it at least wasn’t a pointless retread formed from some vapid pop-culture reference. Don’t pull that generational crap with me, MacFarlane’s only four years younger than I am. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490/71 "2006-12-09T19:05:40Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > “Think” does not belong in the same sentence as “Futurama is funnier than Family Guy.” Except maybe, “Futurama is funnier than family guy, because its humor actually requires you to think a little bit.” A lot of Futurama doesn’t make you laugh, but instead makes you nod and go, “Ah, I get it. Very clever.” In Family Guy there is often nothing to get, just a laugh. Funny, yet boring in a way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yeah-i-think-futurama-is-funnier-than-family-guy-so-what/380490.md?page=3)