| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
 Posted - 08/27/2006 : 6:27:05 PM
|
Months have passed and I'm still puzzling over that now-famous two-part "Mohammed" South Park episode where Trey and Matt mercilessly and endlessly derided Family Guy as being little more than a string of endless, incoherent, (and unfunny) non sequitur jokes.
Now I'd be the first to admit that sometimes Family Guy relies a tad too heavily on those one-shot-gags, especially right at the beginning of an episode, where the story hasn't even started yet and already we're being distracted by the inevitable "Lois, remember that time...?" But on balance I think Family Guy more than holds its own against South Park. In fact, I can't remember that last time I laughed long and hard at the latter show, which seems more obsessed with gross-out jokes, endless (bleeps), and the obligatory anti-PC lecture at episode's end.
Besides, any show which introduced Scuzzlebutt (a Bigfoot wannabe with a stick of celery and Patrick Duffy for legs), Mecha-Streisand (defeated only when Sidney Poitier, Leonard Maltin, and Robert Smith turned into giant monsters to defeat her), and Mister Hanky (a singing, dancing, Christmas mascot made of feces) really ought not to be lecturing Family Guy about non sequitur humor. Nor are they really in any position to ridicule Family Guy writers as a bunch of manatees pushing idea balloons. When you're responsible for the immortal line, "Scott Baio gave me pink eye," it's best not to cast stones.
And if I may, another observation: The Simpsons. I hate, hate, HATE "Itchy and Scratchy." When an episode stops for a two minute I&S short, that's when I'm off making coffee. I know, I know, Simpsons is just taking shots at the old Tom & Jerry-type cartoons. The problem is they're cheap shots. T&J, even at the worst, were never one-tenth as violent as how they're depicted on Simpsons, and they certainly never celebrated sadism. So what's the point of the satire?
My advice to Groening and co.:
A) We get the joke, already. You think most cartoons are too violent. Gotcha. Enough already!
B) Considering the amount of physical abuse Homer Simpson has suffered at the hands of the show's creators -- an endless number of tumbles, falls, and cracks to the skull, as well as that one "hilarious" episode where Homer cut his finger cut clean off by Marge's kitchen knife, then ran around trying to find an emergency room to get the finger reattached (tee-hee!), or that other side-slapping episode where Homer suffered a genuine cardiac arrest and needed open-heart surgery to save his life (har HAR!) -- I'm not sure dissing Jerry for hitting Tom over the head with a frying pan is gonna cut it anymore. |
|
|
Citizen Carrier
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
322 Posts |
Posted - 08/27/2006 : 7:34:12 PM
|
It kills me whenever The Simpsons shows the place where Itchy and Scratchy cartoons are made.
An oppressive looking sweatshop with two unnecessary smokestacks spewing black fumes into the air.
Breaks me up everytime. |
 |
|
|
Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 08/27/2006 : 8:04:55 PM
|
I actually have never seen that South Park. I also tend to agree that Family Guy was generally very funny in its initial run, although what little I've seen since it came back on the air was pretty dismal. (Maybe they've got it back together, I don't know.) But in general SP is much funnier and incisive (or was at least through Season 8- I don't get Comedy Central), PLUS as far as I'm concerned it's about the only non-documentary show that consistently supports actual rational thought on a regular basis. But yeah, Matt and Trey do take cheap shots now and then.
The Simpsons- geeze, don't get me started. It's unwatchable ever since the fourth season or so, and maybe earlier. Futurama was much better.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
Edited by - Sardu on 08/27/2006 8:06:25 PM |
|
|
|
Cannon Fodder
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
Australia
176 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2006 : 06:47:30 AM
|
| I never really saw Itchy and Scratchy as being an attack on or satire of Tom & Jerry or as an attack on cartoons for being violent, more as a twisted reinterpretation. The Simpsons world is that much more twisted and goofy than our own (Well, most of the time) and hence so the cartoons of that world are correspondingly more over the top and twisted. Possibly I could see them as an attack on TV entertainment for being violent and mean spirited in general but it is also worth remembering the creative team who first put in the Itchy and Scratchy shorts in the earlier episodes are largely different people to the "creative team" who have been producing the later, far lesser episodes which have relied on far more on comedic violence. The open heart surgery episode mentioned was a fairly early episode but it wasn't played THAT much for laughs. |
|
|
|
Renfield
Minister of the Sacraments of Jabootu
USA
27 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2006 : 4:15:27 PM
|
quote:
Months have passed and I'm still puzzling over that now-famous two-part "Mohammed" South Park episode where Trey and Matt mercilessly and endlessly derided Family Guy as being little more than a string of endless, incoherent, (and unfunny) non sequitur jokes.
Family Guy, I think, is the (relatively) new kid in town and is making South Park look so...so last Thursday. So, South Park is responding in its tried and true manner--attacking without mercy.
--Joe "Renfield" Meadows
HORROR-WOOD Webzine
http://www.horror-wood.com |
Edited by - Renfield on 08/28/2006 4:47:54 PM |
|
|
|
Juniper
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
616 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2006 : 11:25:51 PM
|
Eh, I'm fully on Team South Park, Family Guy has about 3 Jokes, and has used them, and is using them, and will keep using them until the plug is pulled.
"The Devil Made this Movie for You!" |
|
|
|
commodorejohn
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
76 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2006 : 10:23:50 AM
|
I'm not defending South Park, but I definitely do agree about Family Guy having only a few tired, worn-out jokes.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Who -are- the overlords of the UFO? |
|
|
|
RVHorror
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
532 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2006 : 3:23:30 PM
|
There's a key difference between the two shows. South Park relies a lot on violence and gross-outs, but ultimately it's a character based show. Cartman will always react a certain way, because it's in his nature. Same with Kyle, Mr. Garrison, etc.
Family Guy is a joke-based show--everything is based on the punchline. Which is why Peter can be fiendishly clever and dumb as a box of rocks all in the same episode--he's whatever the joke requires. |
|
|
|
zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2006 : 8:22:09 PM
|
| Peter Griffin... fiendishly clever? |
|
|
|
RVHorror
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
532 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2006 : 11:58:48 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by zombiewhacker
Peter Griffin... fiendishly clever?
Yeah, that sounds far-fetched, doesn't it. But it does happen. I'd have to watch them again to give examples, but they are there. |
|
|
|
The Bog Man
Minister of the Sacraments of Jabootu
45 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2006 : 3:27:32 PM
|
I wholeheartedly agree with you Zombiewhacker. I was actually a bit put off by the whole ‘cartoon wars’ thing on South Park. Considering what lazy writers Parker and Stone are, the attitude is a bit petty. When they take on a specific target (PC thugs, media darlings, etc.) I often feel like they don’t give them the intellectual thrashing they deserve due to fact that they’d rather focus on the easy gross-out laugh.
www.hauntedbog.com
That is not dead which can eternal lie, I’m just not a morning person. |
|
|
|
Triviachamp
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
254 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2006 : 7:21:17 PM
|
| Personally I don't watch South Park a whole lot and this feud seems very petty. On the other hand I have to agree with South Park's criticism of Family Guy as it is a show that I despise. I have not seen the Simpsons in years so there feud with Family Guy is petty as well. A pox on all of their houses! |
|
|
|
zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2006 : 8:10:06 PM
|
| Myself, I just think Family Guy is flat-out funny. (The reruns, not the new episodes.) I like a good dumb laugh now and then, and Peter and Co. definitely deliver on that score. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Forum Locked
Topic Locked