Moved: Is Family Guy getting more offensive??

[tiger]

I've caught bits of a couple of shows in the last couple of days and both times I changed the channel after some really unfunny and plain offensive jokes where they make fun of disability, rape, disease, strokes etc. Are they getting so desperate that they need to resort to shock value to gain viewership?

I've always thought Peter Griffen's character was an idiot and had no redeeming qualities at all. I find him totally unlikeable. Al Bundy (Married with Children) was a poor sap that couldn't get a break. Peter is just a plain idiot and jerk. I find it completely unentertaining and inappropriate for prime time TV. From an artisitic POV, at least be witty or creative, even if your material is offensive. But they can't even do that.

2 thumbs way down for Family Guy.

[bryface]

i find that sometimes, family guy is actually capable in being as poignant as the simpsons could be, but it just does it way too scarcely. family guy tends to be pretty superficial in the way that it tries to throw a huge ton of unrelated jokes at a wall and seeing what sticks.

south park is still going strong with really offensive stuff too, but for some reason i actually get the sense that there's some kind of deeper, more subtle commentary going on underneath the gags.

what's interesting is that none of this stuff would ever air if it weren't for the simpsons, which still managed to deal with offensive subject matter, but in a tasteful and thoughtful way and not just for the lulz.

[nature boy]

hey, there's a forum for this kind of talk you know...

i never was into south park. i think it's because i can't stand their animation. it gets to me.

i like family guy for their constant reference to the 80's and other things that our generation would get. yeah, it can be offensive at times, and i did turn the channel when i saw my son watching stewie beat brian up pretty badly (with a glass of juice and a blowtorch), but other than that they still make me laugh.

simpsons was created by a lutheran. nuff said.

[tiger]

lol...I forgot that there was a TV/gaming forum. I was just thinking how inappropiate it was and posted it. At least southpark is on late at night. They show family guy in the middle of the day and on prime time TV. I really think it's inappropriate for kids, and I know some parents think it's okay to let them watch it b/c they think it's funny. So we're going to have a generation of insensitive, obnoxious, stupid jerks b/c they think it's funny and acceptable behaviour.

[supersuk]

[tiger]

I guess then they've just been less creative about sneaking it in. Or now that they've made it big, the networks let them do whatever.

I've never really liked Family Guy, but thought some episodes/characters were interesting. Like when Stewie shrunk himself and met his future brother. The stories/writing just suck now and these little offensive pieces are thrown in to try to hide it.

[nature boy]

actually, some of the episodes you mentioned (not exactly sure which ones) are pretty old. so maybe it was always offensive, you just didn't know.

if you watch the star wars ones, they were pretty funny. hilarious even. i didn't think they were offensive, they just made fun of star wars.

[tiger]

The most recent one that was pretty offensive to me was just on a few days ago. Not sure if it was a re-run. It mocked Michael J Fox and his disability. It basically said how he was miscast as Zorro, and the insignia on the wall left behind was a big scribble b/c of his Parkinson's. That's just bad taste. Even worse when it's done in prime time with millions of young viewers. That warning at the beginning of the show is meaningless because most parents think it's probably a cartoon, how bad could it be?

They do have funny stuff on the show, but when they resort to Peter just being a idiot/jerk who never learns his lesson with no redeeming qualities, it turns me off. At least Homer is a likable a buffoon.

[tiger]

[geForce]

Yeah, I've noticed Family Guy has gotten more offensive.. or rather, I should say they don't try as hard to be subtle about their offensiveness.

One recent episode with James Woods really got to me. I know they were trying to play on making fun of being offensive by being offensive in the third person point of view, sort of... James Woods stole Peter Griffin's identity, so Peter was trying to get back at James Woods and stole his identity and went on the David Letterman show. He told Letterman that he's coming out with a new comedy movie about 9/11 about a window washer who just finished washing all the windows and turns around and sees the plane coming and just says, "Come on, seriously?".

It just wasn't funny and it was offensive (not to me personally, but I could see how it can be).

[nature boy]

that james woods episode is pretty old (at least a year). i admit i didn't see too many of the new ones (current season) except for the "something something something darkside" one, so i can't say if they're getting over the top or not.

actually, i think phillip yancey (christian author) predicted that this would happen when they started giving tv shows ratings. he said that before there were strict guidelines as to what could be put on tv but after paranoid parents pushed for ratings in a little box in the corner of the screen, tv producers would be able to put anything they want on tv and just slap an "m" or higher on it to cover their own butt.

the argument goes back to the whole "rock n roll raising our kids" argument from i think the 60's. sure, the media glorifies a lot of stuff out there but it's up to us as parents to not only filter out the content, but filter out the thinking that the content produces.

"when a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up your school and they blame it on marilyn, and the heroin. where were the parents at? and look at where it's at: middle america, now it's a tragedy, now it's so sad to see, an upper class city having this happening, then attack eminem cause i rap this way " ~eminem (way i am)

[supersuk]

MMA coming to Vancouver creates gang violence.

[tiger]

yeah...parents have a responsibility to know what their kids are watching. But there is no moral/social responsibility on the TV network's part. They are all about making money. Sex and violence sells.

[nature boy]

[nature boy]