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I hesitated to post this, because like anyone I hate being wrong. And yet... I'm man (and geek) enough to admit it.
You know how in the past I've often said disparaging things about Family Guy, the primetime animated sitcom on Fox? For example, calling it one of the worst shows in the history of TV? Well, I've been watching some Family Guy clips on YouTube, and some more Family Guy clips on YouTube, and some full episodes on TV, and well, guess what? Family Guy is... good.
For one thing, it's not the Simpsons ripoff so many critics claim it is. What, just because it's a TV show about a suburban family? Heck, The Donna Reed Show did that back in the 1960s, which means that The Simpsons is actually a ripoff of Donna Reed!
And Peter Griffin? He's not that much like Homer Simpson. I mean, okay, he's a dumb dad. But so is George W. Bush, and nobody accuses him of being a Homer clone. Of course what really matters is the comedy, and Peter is so funny he makes me have to belch because my stomach is so full of funny.
Finally, the pop culture references... or should I say, the brilliant pop culture parodies. They're not, as I previously thought, cheap attempts at laughter based only on the viewer's recognition of TV and movie characters and B-list celebrities from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. They go much further than that.
Comedy is all about the unexpected, and I certainly didn't expect to see the narrative of an episode interrupted by a scene featuring the characters from the 1980s fantasy adventure cartoon Thundercats on a sitcom about a modern American family! And when it turns out that the scene is about Lion-O using his magic sword to watch Cheetara using the toilet... well, the whole thing just goes from merely "hilarious" to all-out hi-freakin'-larious! See, they took a thing that wasn't naughty... and made it so that it was naughty! And I've heard of Thundercats before, so it seems like the writers have seen the same TV shows I've seen, which proves that they are geniuses! The best part? Every episode is full of these jokes!
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make -- and I'm pretty sure you've already figured this out by now -- is that this whole post is an April Fool's Day goof. Family Guy is one of the worst shows in the history of TV, and it should lick the bottom of my shoe.
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For a moment there, you had me wondering. But by the Thundercats reference, I was mentally phrasing a comment asking whether or not this whole post was an April Fool's Day gag.
So now, instead, I'm commenting to declare myself an April Fool. Cute. Cute ruse. |
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| You had me going there for a minute. I thought you had finally lost it. I'm glad to know that you haven't lost it, yet. |
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| My favorite 80's sitcom was "The Spam Fam," about a family that owned a Spam canning factory. In one episode, one guy got fired the same day another one fell into the mixing machine, and the lead character says, "Either way, both of them are canned." In another episode, there is take off on Clint Eastwood "Dirty Harry" moment, where Eastwood-type guy waves a can of Spam in the face of a thug and says, "Get ready to MEAT your maker", then bangs him on the head with it. No, wait, I just remembered this is an April Fool's joke as well. |
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Michal: The Thundercats scene is a real thing from Family Guy. I don't remember how or why I happened to see it, but they really did it, and of course it was unrelated to anything.
RevRoe: I know you were joking, but I think CBS just picked up your show for fall 2008. |
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| I watched some Family Guy while I was out of town this weekend, since I can't watch it at home without lots of sideways glances, and I'm staying firmly in the "I Enjoy Family Guy" camp. And then I watched an episode of American Dad and I wanted to shoot myself. You should write an article about that show. |
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AAAH! You actually had me, for the first three paragraphs or so. I was about ready to scream, "I don't know who you are anymore!"
Were you with us on that family vacation when we went to Toronto, or was that the one where you met up with us later? Anyway, I remember at the CN Tower they have a glass floor on the observation deck, so you can step on this pane of glass and look 1100 feet straight down (like what they've done at the Grand Canyon now). Stepping on a transparent floor was a weird sensation, because even though my brain said it was alright my body refused because it went against every instinct I had. I have to wonder if you went through the same thing writing this post. |
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I didn't go to the CN Tower, but now I don't have to because I know what it's like.
Actually, I wondered as I was writing it if everyone would catch on during the opening paragraph, because I didn't think I had it in me to say I like the show but actually sound convincing about it. Turns out I'm a better April Fooler than I thought. |
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