The Increasing Negative Reception To Family Guy

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

Yeah, I know this is a topic which could have been started years ago, and I'm a little late to the party, but recently researching the topic has intrigued me and until the movie or seventh season comes out I don't really have anything actually MLP related to talk about, that's why I've kinda been slumming it up in the Beyond Equestria section, so sorry if this seems out of place or not too relevant. So let's talk about Family Guy, a show which to me at least, is getting tons and tons of undeserved hate and has been for years, from critics, the general public and even other cartoon creators such as South Park being one of the more extreme examples. I'm gonna sound like a bit of a Family Guy fanboy right now so before I go ahead I do wanna clarify I don't think of Family Guy as a perfect show, in fact it has some problems, a lot of them. The series has suffered a bad case of seasonal rot in my eyes, and it hurts for me to say that. Characters have been flanderised, a lot of the episodes rely more on gore and sexual content for laughs, it can still be funny from time to time and a lot of the jokes for me are a guilty pleasure, like some of the more offensive ones, but I am aware the show is steadily getting a little lower in quality as time goes on. That and there's a lot of unoriginal or badly written plots, and it generally suffers the more common symptoms of seasonal rot, the only thing that's never been bad is the animation, and if I had to pick a lowest point it would be the ratings stunt where Brian was killed off for a little bit. I could also get into detail on the things I LIKE about the show but we'd be here all day, in short the characters while incredibly different and admittedly poor tasted jokers today, do still have a decent amount of good moments that shine through the writing. But back to the topic at hand. I'm sick of all the overwhelming negativity the show's received, and I think It's mainly to do with the use of the cutaway gag and the fact that a lot of general society is honestly a little weak boned and really can't seem to take a joke. It's satire people, this show wants to rely on more crude humour and it can if it wants to, this is a cartoon featuring a talking dog and a smart baby evil genius, stop taking everything so seriously and assuming this show is attacking whatever groups you're in. Going back to the cutaways, they're a double edged sword for me. On one hand, the cutaways can be very funny still at times and are a nice refresher to take us away from the main plot for a short burst of comedy, this show practically invented this kind of humour and I think it deserves applause for that. On the other though, it can make the plot feel rather disjointed and odd, fewer and fewer jokes are smartly written into the main plot and related to the story of the episode, or there can be plain unfunny or bad ones. And of course the humour as a whole can get rather bland, and there is such a thing as a line for low brow humour, which Family Guy sometimes crosses. Point is, I think people are taking the show's style o humour and seasonal rot, and blowing the situation way out of proportion. "Worst show of all time"? Do me a favour and do a quick search, you'll find plenty of cartoons and shows in general that are much worse than Family Guy. Every show likes to handle itself differently, Rick and Morty does, South Park does, and they usually stay without nearly as much criticism, why can't Seth and the writers make the show how they want to make it (with a formula that clearly appeals to a lot of people) without people in the dozens giving it flak?

[Gestum 2,493]

Personly I don't enjoy familiy guy simple because the jokes are so goddamn repetitive. It's so bad that I can usually guess what the punchline is before they have finished the setup of the joke. 

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

My only real problem is how many serious issues it botches (Not All Dogs Go To Heaven, Seahorse Seashell Party, etc.).

Edited June 12, 2021 by Anti-Villain

[man dude man 555]

I like Family Guy in the way that I like American dad and other adult cartoons a no tolerance policy for political correctness, and there are adult themed shows of various styles targeted at different demographics in this regard. The way that some randomness and low brow humor seeps through i almost expect from all cartoons, the thing about these shows by Seth McFarlane is that the targets for pop culture references target xers and millenials and even some boomers, yes there are many jokes some understand while others wont, being unfamilar with the the context is common in both current pop culture for those older and older pop culture for those younger, to overcompensate for this there is violence and low brow humor which is supposed to pull the whole thing together for all audiences

[ChocolateCrane 155]

Family Guy was really fun for the first few seasons. I loved the more restrained "dry" type of humor in the early seasons, although I will admit it could be slightly bland here and there. Then the show shifted to Flash animation (or something that greatly resembles it at least), and the plots got REALLY over-the-top and wacky. It was very "in your face" and the humor became much more low brow.

Towards the beginning of this new swing in direction, Family Guy was extremely polished and funny as hell. Some of these episodes were my all time favorites of the series; these type of episodes bringing with them a grandeur I would have never expected from something like Family Guy. But slowly, I started to notice the show becoming increasingly more and more desperate with how they tried to get laughs out of the audience. It never struck me as "offensive" or anything like that. More along the lines of cringeworthy attempts at being edgy; the type of stuff you see on (2009-to-present day) 4chan all the time. Family Guy went from a quirky comedy to this edgy "adults" cartoon desperately clinging to life grasping at any societal hot topic they could get their hands on just in order to stay relevant.

 

[Nightshroud 331]

4 hours ago, A.V. said:

My only real problem is how often it poorly handles issues (Not All Dogs Go To Heaven, Seahorse Seashell Party, etc.).

that's a big problem its inability to handle topics like religion politics and domestic abuse another thing that comes to mind is that its hard to find sympathy for any of the characters

[Megas 27,064]

Problem with new Family Guy is that besides making everyone unlikable and handling certain issues really poorly, it tells jokes poorly and when it gets offensive, it's just for the sake of it, there's no point nor is there ever cleverness like South Park

I was recently marathoning the show and the first 3 seasons hold up soooo well, hell, even S4 and 5 have their gems. But nowadays, whatever magic there once was has completely vanished. 

Hell, I can understand why they started shitting on Meg in the S4 onward, she was an incredibly lame character in the first 3 seasons, but it's gotten to the point where people just feel sorry for her

[Nightshroud 331]

And another thing is the humor has just vanished remember this is a comedy show yet there's no humor anywhere to be found it's trying to hard to take itself seriously what ever jokes are left are either stereotype jokes or shock humor done wrong.  

[Dreambiscuit 8,024]

I despise shows like Family Guy. There are too many like it and they all suck. It doesn't take a genius to write crude humor and animate badly. Everyone has been doing it since they realized they could get away with it back when these shows first came into vogue, and it's not funny or entertaining. That kind of humor wasn't funny when I heard it from my fellow sixth graders back in the day, and it isn't funny now.  

[LeafFerret 3,382]

I don't remember the last time I've watched an episode of Family Guy, their last good episode was back in 2005/06. It's an example of a show that just relies on it's past and it's glory days rather than try anything different or risky like what this show is doing, one example of this is after their dog died, they brought in a new dog and after a few episodes, it goes back to what it was and it seemed like nothing had happened and it just went back to the way it was and that pisses me off. They could try out something and hope for the best but they're still trying stuff that would've worked 10 years ago when it was in it's prime. It's kind of sad that shows like Futurama and Regular Show that doesn't have much of a history and still decent ended and shows like Family Guy is still going because of it's past success and it's refusal to try anything different. 

[The Cynical Lone Wolf 614]

I think Mr.Enter put best in his latest video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoQxXKklfq8&t=212s

 

[Nerdy Luigi 2,064]

No wonder it would have negative reception. It's completely bile garbage that somehow other people in the production cast must think is good enough for TV, but is so distasteful that that I can't watch it for too long. It's like The Simpsons (which I thought never got too bad until the most recent pilot... It sucked so much I didn't care about the rest of it.) but it actually got REALLY BAD. Like Breadwinners for an older audience level of bad.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

When a show has been running for a long time, it gets to the point where the production staff, writers, and so forth begin running out of ideas and resort to using just about anything in an attempt to keep the show going. Family Guy has been entertaining though even I will admit that its staleness is showing though I doubt the staff is aware of this. Unless it gets a major tone shift that brings new life into it, I think the time has come for the series to be brought to a final conclusion. There are other programs going through a similar situation that need to end as well before they are further driven into the ground.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

So far, from what I've been hearing people saying this whole subject (at least in the brony fandom) has a very mixed reception. Some people feel it just has some issues, others feel It's been going on too long, and others either hate the show outright. There's some stuff I can sort of agree with. The jokes don't always hit, some episodes are terrible at dealing with certain issues, and shock/edgy humour is really take it or leave it depending on who you are. Though I will comment that some of the replies here seem to be suggesting that Family Guy ONLY relies on this so called "offensive" (and I put that in quote marks as I addressed the issue with people finding this offensive int he original post) shock humour and nothing else. It's fine if you think that, I just really don't see where that viewpoint is coming from, this show can be really smart sometimes, at least I think, sadly I haven't seen as much of that in later seasons. But I guess the root of the problem for me now that I have a general idea of the vibe is why It's always Seth McFarlane's shows in particular that get flak for being a little more mature and bold, what I don't get is why Family Guy is the target every time, or American Dad, when there are plenty of other shows leaning on the more mature side of comedy like Rick and Morty and South Park, and they don't usually catch any of it (No discredit to either of those shows though, I love South Park and Rick And Morty, I'm just saying why do certain shows get treated differently when they are generally doing the same thing.)

[Prospekt 10,984]

I still call myself a fan, but Family Guy has gotten more and more stale over the years. Too many repetitive jokes, too many funny plot ideas sacrificed in favor of the typical "random pop culture reference" humor. The first era of the show before its original cancelation was amazing. It was good for a few years after the revival. Then... somewhere along the line, it jumped the shark. I'll tell you one thing, when they killed off Brian for a few episodes I was very annoyed. Breaking point for me. Did they have to do something that outrageous to gain some attention?

Now, I tend to avoid newer episodes. American Dad is more my kind of thing. Roger is best pony.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Prospekt

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

32 minutes ago, Prospekt said:

I still call myself a fan, but Family Guy has gotten more and more stale over the years. Too many repetitive jokes, too many funny plot ideas sacrificed in favor of the typical "random pop culture reference" humor. The first era of the show before its original cancelation was amazing. It was good for a few years after the revival. Then... somewhere along the line, it jumped the shark. I'll tell you one thing, when they killed off Brian for a few episodes I was very annoyed. Breaking point for me. Did they have to do something that outrageous to gain some attention?

Now, I tend to avoid newer episodes. American Dad is more my kind of thing. Roger is best pony.

Roger IS best pony. It's canon!

Edited March 29, 2017 by cuteycindyhoney

[Sovereign Leader Rarity 12,000]

No offense, but modern family guy ranges from okay at best, to a sheer atrocity at worst. It's cringey, unfunny, repetitive ( it's been doing the same thing with absolutely no sort of variety for years now ) and extremely distasteful. While I agree that Seth should be allowed to make the show how he wants to make it, an easy counter argument would be the perverted, skewed and downright terrible morals that the show attempts to teach to it's 14 year old audience. A bad show can be taken at face value, and simply just stand as just that - a bad show. But a show that actually sustains itself on giving potentially harmful and downright idiotic messages to it's fan base, with absolutely zero regard for any sort of negative influence or impression that it may leave on it's audience is more than just " a bad show ", it's and atrocious show. And with some of the sheer B.S that Family Guy has pulled in it's more recent years ( Not all Dogs go to Heaven, Screams in Silence, Herpe the Love Sore, Brian's a Bad Father, Seahorse Seashell Party, Fresh Heir and more, which all stand as some of the worst episodes of any cartoon ever made ) the hatred towards it cannot be just attributed as " seasonal rot " or " becoming stale ".

 

Many people which Family Guy loves to parody, treat their problems like a joke and give some of the most insultingly simple and/or contrived methods of dealing with it, have to put up with this show completely and commonly flanderizing the true nature of their respective situations, and that alone is enough for it to be considered one of the worst cartoons ever made. The excuse that it's just harmless and dumb fun can no longer be used when that " fun " is no longer harmless anymore. You have influence Family Guy, you can't just keep acting like you don't.

 

Also there is a world of difference between a show " handling itself differently " and a show being in very poor taste. Rick and Morty is a really well-done and entertaining show that also happens to feature adult orientated jokes as well as teaching a subtle, competent and mature moral. Family Guy is just a bloated collection of extremely unfunny and distasteful jokes, with virtually no sort of substance outside of being distasteful. And when it DOES try to teach messages, oh GOD does it screw them up in the worst way possible.

[Luigi 7,868]

Honestly, I USED to think Family Guy was funny back when I was 14, but a couple years ago I lost all interest in the show.

[RiderNadeshiko 5]

I gave up on this show a few years ago. I don't think its funny anymore and I think it's gotten stupider in the past couple years. I'll admit to still liking the Star Wars parodies, but that's it anymore.

[Peppermint Larry 203]

Family Guy is a thing I'm lukewarm about. It's a thing I like to put on in the background while I do other things, and it's a thing I watch with people just for the sake of watching something together.

I think it used to be alright. The last season or so, however, seems... off. Recent episodes seem to have more chunks of silence, there seems to be less cutaway gags. I'm hating Brian more and more. There's fewer musical numbers. The atmosphere is... Gloomy?

And the Road to India episode was abysmal. 

[PumpkinCharm 65]

On 3/27/2017 at 8:36 PM, Whompy Whomperson said:

Problem with new Family Guy is that besides making everyone unlikable and handling certain issues really poorly, it tells jokes poorly and when it gets offensive, it's just for the sake of it, there's no point nor is there ever cleverness like South Park

I was recently marathoning the show and the first 3 seasons hold up soooo well, hell, even S4 and 5 have their gems. But nowadays, whatever magic there once was has completely vanished. 

Hell, I can understand why they started shitting on Meg in the S4 onward, she was an incredibly lame character in the first 3 seasons, but it's gotten to the point where people just feel sorry for her

To elaborate on this great response with my own "two bits", shows that have politically incorrect humor generally turn me off, except when the characters are likeable. South Park for example. It would be hard to enjoy that show if I wasn't enchanted by the characters.

That being said, I really just don't think Family Guy is that funny. I've watched some episodes, and I find myself frowning rather than smiling. I can't explain exactly why, but my gut instinct goes "meh..."

[Drunk Not I Am 1,069]

I find family guy to be over rated as FUCK. It all just shitty humor. 

[Cl0udChaser 3,006]

I don't watch Family Guy anymore but yes it sucks. The jokes are terrible and repetitive. Back then....the jokes was funny with these comedies and references. Now they have jokes with blood, core, and stuff, which is not funny. For Example: Like that scene where Peter use a forklift to pick up a whale.

[EpicEnergy 22,074]

I never watched Family Guy and I don't plan to either. I did see part of an episode of it though and I hate the animation.

[Sasoriman 128]

Any day now, Seth will stand up and say, "Screw this, I'm done." I haven't seen the show for years, but there was this clip I saw of Brian and Quagmire fighting, and when I thought they were really going to kill each other, they reconciled. It's a stretch, but that might be a sign of things to come.