Seth MacFarlane is an awesome liberal. I hope no one bashing him watches South Park.

[ButterflyBlood]

South Park is unfunny corporatist right-wing trash. On the other hand, MacFarlane is absolutely brutal in skewering right wingers. Most people wouldn't be willing to assault American militarism and jingoism and up front as he did here:

And Seth on xenophobes:

And look at what he's willing to say about Republicans:

Then the entire gay marriage episode that was utterly brilliant. Look at this way: Seth is indoctrinating millions of young viewers to progressive ideology and deliver millions of new Democratic voters. Millions of kids who grew up watching Family Guy are convinced Republicans are all utter trash and are nothing but sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic bigots who deserve to be compared to Nazis. Are they voting Republican? Well I think the 18-29 voting records in the last couple elections proved that.

[white_wolf]

1. Sorry, I judge artists by the quality of their work and MacFarlane leaves a lot to be desired.

Family Guy is utterly childish for the most part and the few decent things about it are derivative. Give me the worst episode of the Simpsons over the best Family Guy any day. Furthermore, South Park is a much better show. Yes, it can be extremely immature, childish, and disgusting at times, but it contains a lot of social satire as evidenced by the fact that it has won 9 Emmys for best animated series. Has Family Guy won any?

Also, in terms of politics. One of South Park's episodes ending with a mass burning of Ayn Rand's works, the Wal-Mart episode is a great critique of the role big box stores play in our economy. Then of course we have the episode where Cartman dresses up as Glen Beck and they bash him the entire episode for his constant attacks on the Obama administration.

Of course, none of this matters because The Simpsons is the best of the "adult cartoons" (god that's sounds like porn). In short both South Park and Family Guy can be equally disgusting and immature, but at least one has some good satire and the awards to back it up.

[Deep13]

5. The Simpsons lost it's edge in the early 1990s.

It stopped being counter culture and started being the Brady Bunch.

Family Guy does not hit a home run with every episode, but it usually stays edgy and sometimes creative.

[white_wolf]

7. I'll admit there are some aspects of Family Guy I like.

Adam West for instance is just funny, I don't know he just has a good voice for humor I think.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

12. I don't know about that

I agree, I stopped watching the Simpsons around '95 or '96....it just got weird....and now with the special guest cameos....

Supposedly it's gotten better the last two years....oh, and Mr Krusty Goes to Washington is one post '95 episode I saw and loved.

[white_wolf]

13. I think the episodes from the last couple of years are really good n/t

[fizzgig]

9. you said it better than i could have

the mormon and scientology episodes are sheer brilliance. and family guy doesn't exactly scream liberalism to me. i've been appalled by some of the stuff they've said. the only time i felt south park really crossed the line was the passion of the jew type episodes.

[white_wolf]

10. How could have I forgotten those two.

In fact "Book of Mormon" won several Tony awards, including best musical. I really wish they would release a DVD of that. I'd love to watch it, but I don't have the time or money to go to Broadway as awesome as that would be.

[ButterflyBlood]

15. The Simpsons hasn't been good all century

In fact it's now been bad for a lot longer than it was good.

[white_wolf]

18. They are still better than Family Guy, in my opinion.

The Simpsons have won 10 Emmy's for outstanding Animated Program, South Park has 9, Family Guy has won 4 Emmys and they were all dealing with technical aspects of the show. So, once again, Simpsons beats South Park which beats Family Guy which sure as hell beats the Cleveland Show. And to top it all off, neither Simpsons nor South Park let that blowhard Rush Limbaugh on their show.

[Champion Jack]

44. +1000000

[joeybee12]

56. God no...I find the Simpsons unbearable...they lost it around season 9...

And what are they up to now, 47 or something? They need to pull that off the air.

[nomorenomore08]

31. I wouldn't go that far. I've seen nearly every episode up till about Season 12/13

and I can't remember - at least off the top of my head - any obviously crappy ones. But I guess compared to say, Season 6 or 7, a lot of the later seasons might seem wanting.

[Behind the Aegis]

32. Totally disagree.

There are some really good ones. Yes, there are a few misses, but some really outstanding ones are there too. I loved "Treehouse of Horror" episodes and they can be uproariously funny.

"This doesn't happen in America! Maybe in Ohio!" - Homer Simpson on automatic voting booths after his votes are miscounted.

[davidthegnome]

61. Nine Emmys?

Really? WOW. That MUST mean that South Park is superior to the Family Guy. We know they don't give Emmys to shows that suck, right?

I disagree. Completely. South Park is occasionally a little funny. The Family Guy is (slightly more) occasionally moderately funny. The Simpsons stopped being funny a number of years ago. Emmys? Do you honestly judge the quality of these shows based on how many emmys they win?

[Arctic Dave]

2. Love Seth.

Didn't watch all the hub-bub that got everyone's panties in a bunch so not sure what the total butthurt whining is about.

[white_wolf]

4. I just don't like his shows and I think he comes across as kind of a jerk.

It may be nothing he does, but he seems kind of annoying and once again I don't care for his shows.

[Arctic Dave]

6. People are different.

I'm not a big fan of Conan or Fallon.

[white_wolf]

8. There's something we have in common. n/t

[Deep13]

3. People not familiar with his brand of humor were offended...

by apparently misogynistic, homophobic, and antisemitic remarks at the Oscars. While it is pretty clear that his cartoons are poking fun at people for harboring such beliefs while maintaining a liberal facade. Or skewering irrational ideas, behavior, and concerns. People not in on the joke just saw below-the-belt punches.

I don't really blame McFarland, but I do wonder if whoever chose him for host ever saw his cartoons.

[bettyellen]

27. Ahhh this makes sense- it would have been funny if maybe it had been his cartoon characters...

doing the schtick, but it loses in translation when it's him in a tux? I know something crucial was off.
but not that stupid bear Ted, right? the bear movie was such a disappointment.

[Deep13]

69. Ted, the anti-semetic bear. nt

[bettyellen]

70. I wanted to love that movie so bad, was convinced I would....

but it was so off. Irredeemable assholes are hard to give a shit about. That schtick gets old really fast.

[CBGLuthier]

41. I am very familiar with his work and I found his Oscar remarks out of line

In fact the awful joke he is getting so much well-deserved shit for would have been OK on Family Guy. Family Guy is a cartoon satire. This was the movie industry's most prestigious event and they insulted every woman who has ever made a brave and difficult choice for their art.

[Deep13]

68. One of my friends objected to the...

...perpetuation of "Jews control the media" and "Jews are all pro-Israeli" remarks by S.M.'s animated bear. She is Jewish herself and and is sensitive to those two stereotypes in particular.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

11. I pray the South Park idiots never get an Oscar gig

They won't, their time has passed, but if people here think MacFarlane was offensive....

[ButterflyBlood]

14. Plus those idiots rely exclusively on stupid shock value jokes

It's all "OMG LOOK SOMETHING OFFENSIVE! HA HA HA! OMG CELEBRITY REFERENCE, HOW FUNNY!" Family Guy doesn't rely on that low brow crap, it has actual jokes.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

17. Well....

....I'm not a huge Family Guy fan (I do think it's low brow, don't see how you can say it's not) by any stretch either (I prefer American Dad) because the non seq pop culture references are annoying and I have never seen such contempt and hatred for a non-evil character on a TV show like Meg gets....but as far as South Park every time I hear a fucking libertarian whining about some law or tax, I just hear Kyle's voice and the "That's so not cool, dude" tone of a fucking moron who doesn't know shit about politics.

South Park was funny for five minutes, then I got over the joke of Colorforms swearing and moved on.

[ButterflyBlood]

20. The Meg hatred being unfounded is the whole joke

It's not like the characters bashing her are portrayed as positive or the slightest bit intelligent.

[white_wolf]

21. Doesn't Stewie bash her, though?

Okay, I'll admit he makes me laugh some. I like his evil genius incarnation better than his current one, though. Still, though Stewie attacks her and he's a genius. Brian is the only one who treats her decently.

[ButterflyBlood]

22. I wouldn't hold up Stewie as a good moral character...

He might not be as dumb as Peter or the cheerleaders at school, but he certainly isn't a good guy. Brian being the only nice one makes sense considering that he's Seth's avatar and always held up as the nicest character on the show. For the record even Quagmire of all characters has been pretty kind to her.

[white_wolf]

24. Brian is probably the most likable one on the show.

Him or Adam West, because he's just funny. Lois is pretty decent at times, now that I think about it. Fine, I'll freely admit maybe I was too harsh on the show. I still hate the Cleveland Show though and I'm not changing my mind on that one.

[ButterflyBlood]

25. Yeah The Cleveland Show is just awful

I don't think I've ever met anyone who likes it.

[white_wolf]

26. I liked Cleveland on his own,but he can't carry a show.

I would have liked a Stewie and Brian spin-off. I'm imagining them going cross country like Green Arrow and Green Lantern in the 70s.

[TexasTowelie]

33. I actually enjoy watching it.

My favorite is Lester Krinklesac since he is the parody of southern white bigotry and (for better or worse) I know a few people that take after him. I don't agree with bigotry or racism, but I can laugh at it.



And the love of his life is his wife is Kendra Krystal Krinklesac (KKK).

[think]

52. +1.

[MADem]

78. +++++++1! nt

[MADem]

77. I like it! Some of the characters (like the n'er do well

Federline) are hilarious! And some of the episodes are more than a little edgy.

[eShirl]

38. even Brian has his flaws

racism is the big one to come to mind

[Jamaal510]

53. I tried watching Cleveland once,

and I don't even think I made it through the whole episode. Why did FOX have to cancel King of the Hill for that show? Oh well...at least Bob's Burgers is a nice substitute. And while I like South Park and used to watch Family Guy, what I like about Bob's Burgers and King of the Hill is that they can be funny without being offensive.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

82. if he were trying to say something deep about unfounded Meg bashing

Wouldn't he have her get over on the abusers once in awhile?

I havent seen it since I was living with a friend who has cable, but that was the thing that bugged me. I love the absurdist humor; the rest of the show cracks me up.

I'm conflicted about it because there's so much that's really nutz (my kind of humor), and then there's this unprogressive old-fashioned sexism, where the one main female character who appears frequently is the Mom who puts up with her goofy husband. Ralph and Alice Cramden (the Honeymooners, an old show from early teevee days). She is usually limited to being the wet blanket. But always the forgiving wife.

The sexism seems harsher than the other over the top stereotyping of everyone (male) else. Those characters are all in on the joke on each other, or they mock the mockery--that is key. But the (very few) female characters are almost always presented as the passive butt of a male-pleasing sex joke.

Very few female characters are presented as an interesting or funny or crazy or wise to their status as sex object. Very few are characters in their own right. Meg is passively accepting of the punishment she gets for not being a hot babe.

Chris is a dumb mook, but he still gets to have heroic flights of fancy, act on his own behalf....


Ehhhhhhhhh.
It's late and I'm over-analyzing.

Maybe that aspect has improved since I saw it last.

To me, i see it as less a sly way of denouncing sexism than as an unchallenged continuation of the sexist attitude that the only females who exist (in this world where dudes are the stars and own the perpective) are "hot babes".

[MadrasT]

63. Well, there is something we have in common...

South Park was funny for five minutes, then I got over the joke of Colorforms swearing and moved on.

[white_wolf]

19. Not true.

The Glen Beck episode, the various religion episodes, the Wal-Mart episode, among others all show that South Park relies on more than shock value. Shock Value doesn't win you any Emmys.

[deutsey]

58. I'm not a big fan, but I did find the episode about Muhommad hilarious

especially the bogus subtitles of what actual Al Qaeda leaders were saying in film clips.

[SpartanDem]

16. The Puritan Patrol around this place is stupifing

I can only imagine how'd they react if a classic like Blazing Saddles came out today.

[bettyellen]

29. it's not puritan.... i know quite a few people who love it and they describe it as stupid

and juvenile and kind of mean spirited- like watching a train wreck. I've never heard anyone claim it has any deeper meaning than that before.

[Ed Suspicious]

34. It's all that and its funny. Jokes are funny. I even like a good fart joke every now and again.

low brow, high brow, I really don't care as long as it doesn't take itself too seriously and its funny.

[bettyellen]

46. Well not really. We really tried to get into it. The only one who didn't think it was a mess

was a huge Family Guy fan. I guess that's the filter you needed.
Once you got the shock, the follow through- lyrics and whatnot, were pretty uninspired- just like the Ted movie. Up there with chicken crossing the road jokes. I guess I like genuine surprise in a punchline, more than shock at the first words. I guess that's why people were calling it juvenile, because of the shock thing?

[CBGLuthier]

42. I watched it the other day. It is funny as hell and would not change a thing.

But McFarlane is not really funny and his jokes were offensive.

Can you tell the difference between a comedy movie and a premiere event that celebrates artistic achievement.

[Warpy]

23. He's great on a whole host of issues. He just has a blind spot.

His blind spot is big enough for half the human race to fit into.

[MrSlayer]

28. Ummm, no. South Park fucking rules.

And so does Family Guy.

Don't tell me what's funny, I'll tell you.

[Puzzledtraveller]

48. =D

[Behind the Aegis]

30. I like him. I knew the "Boob Song" would be trouble.

I thought it was a bit juvenile, and the addition of bare breasts from movies which were about rape, should have been removed. Personally, it would have been funny if it had been a version of "I see your heiny, all bright and shiny" and did a laundry list of actors who showed their butts. I didn't see anything as homophobic, and I know his stances on marriage equality and GLBT rights. The "anti-Semitic" thing was a fucking riot. I was more pissed at the ADL's reaction because they should have realized it was a parody of those who actually think we run Hollywood and spew those things in earnest and then get cheers of "truthtopower." IMO, yes, some of his stuff is sexist, some isn't all that funny, and some I just don't get, but I felt he was restrained and that some of his stuff was "low brow" doesn't surprise me in the least.

[RockaFowler]

36. You and I are in total agreement here

I mentioned this on Monday that as a Jew I wasn't offended at all by the "Jews run Hollywood" joke. It was a joke about the ongoing joke!!

I love Seth. I love Family Guy!! Heck even American Dad is growing on me.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

60. Bringing up poor Scarlett's breasts was crossing the line

She didn't sign on to have some sicko hack her phone.

The rest were all about motion pictures freely available in Redbox and on Netflix. I don't imagine any of those actresses are ashamed of it.

The interesting thing about the ADL/Jewish part is that you could argue he was parodying the same behavior with the boobs song, being an obnoxious frat boy who only goes to movies to see naked women....anyway....

[Behind the Aegis]

62. You brought up something I had considered.

I thought it was possible, especially given his other material, that the "boob song" was simply parody about the juvenile "obsession" with breasts, especially given the venue and the orchestra and chorus. It is certainly one possibility.

[RILib]

35. No

You don't get to be called a liberal if you demean women. Enough of that crap has tried to be excused as "humor."

[reformist2]

37. Just because he's liberal doesn't mean I have to like him or find him amusing. (And I don't.)

[MinM]

39. The South Park guys were completely in the bag for Bush...

Especially in that movie that takes gratuitous shots at antiwar advocates ie., Sean Penn, Michael Moore et al. That movie took jingoism to another level.

[Jumpin Jack Fletch]

40. South Park Sucks

Family Guy Rocks!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

55. Both Family Guy and South Park went seriously downhill after their first two respective seasons.

Family Guy was hilarious before it was initially cancelled. After they brought it back, the writing just got lazy and relied too much on repetitive jokes and stale plot devices.

I remember when South Park first came out--I was in college and it was a big deal. Entire dorms would have viewing parties every time a new episode came on, and you'd hear the jokes repeated for days on end. Then they made a movie out of it, and after that, it just lost its novelty and grew lame. Matt Stone and Trey Parker remind me of those guys who sat at the back of the class who made a funny joke that everyone initially laughed at. But they overplayed it, kept on repeating it and people just got bored and tired of them, but they still think they are the funniest people in the world. No one cares about South Park any more.

[EastKYLiberal]

43. I like living in a country where no subject is safe from humor. nt

[Zax2me]

45. Seth has no leg to stand on in boob joke...right....

Heidi Klum, Britney Spears and Others Show Off Major Cleavage at Oscar Parties
http://omg.yahoo.com/news/heidi-klum-britney-spears-show-off-major-cleavage-175000295-us-weekly.html

[bettyellen]

49. If you have to give links, or explain it's a parody- it failed.

Usually parodies are a take on something, and don't look so exactly like the thing itself.
I guess that's where it failed. Now I get why you had to already be a fan to enjoy it.

[Puzzledtraveller]

47. I love South Park

[BlueStreak]

51. I don't see South Park as overtly right wing

They try to be equal opportunity satirists. The right wing is what is called a "target rich battlefield", so when South Park tries to balance their right jabs with similar punches to the left, some of that feels like they are really stretching to attack the left.

[AngryOldDem]

50. He's well spoken politically but as an artist....

...I happened to catch an episode of "Family Guy" where he actually made fun of crib death.

'Nuff said.

aAnd I'm not buying the bullshit that his humor appeals to teenage boys as his excuse.

[think]

54. American Dad is my favorite of his works.

Specially Roger...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

59. Roger may be one of the best characters on TV

He's an unapologetic self centered drama queen con-man asshole and I love it.

[Recursion]

65. I can't tell his three shows apart

Seriously, I find making the exact same series three times to be incredibly lazy.

[ButterflyBlood]

73. They are actually quite different

Yes, the characters are usually the same template, but Family Guy is the only one that relies on cut away jokes the whole time and is more like an animated sketch comedy show than one with a coherent plot. American Dad rarely uses cutaways and usually spends the episode satirizing a certain topic and The Cleveland Show is just standard animated zaniness like The Simpsons (though nowhere near as good, well comparable to modern day Simpsons, far far beyond from The Simpsons at its peak.)

I don't see the big deal with Family Guy not focusing on plot anyway. Robot Chicken doesn't even pretend to have a plot, and you don't hear anyone complaining about that as much.

[MADem]

79. And Roger--who also is hilarious--is every kind of "ist" in the book,

depending on what character he plays. He's racist, sexist, homophobic (with the Paul Lynde voice, too), you name it.

[RZM]

57. Its just your personal taste

I've never found family guy funny. I watched all three clips in the OP and didn't even come close to chuckling.

But so what? Some people like it, some don't. Live and let live I say.

[Recursion]

64. McFarlane has exactly one gag, nothing else, and he's stretched it into 3 identical shows

Can't stand the guy's work, personally. SouthPark (which I'm not a huge fan of either) is much smarter and much less predictable.

Here's an episode of any McFarlane show:

Dumb guy comes home to his hot wife, dumb son, daughter he hates, talking non-human friend, and baby. Wife says something that irritates him. Guy makes a contrived simile that is then illustrated with a 5-minute cutaway scene. Repeat 4 times, and you've filled in your requisite 23 minutes of airtime.

It was cute once. Three separate shows of it is just a sign of how little work TV networks put into finding talent.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

72. American Dad doesn't do the cutaways

It stays away from doing what I find so goddamn annoying about Family Guy. The plot (while farcical) is coherent.

[MinM]

66. @ebertchicago: Tina Fey defends Seth McFarlane's performance a Oscarhost.

@ebertchicago: Tina Fey defends Seth McFarlane's performance a Oscarhost. http://t.co/CW70TW4QvK

[DainBramaged]

67. Why is this still important?

He may be brilliant, but he sucked at the Oscars, and mainstream America doesn't get him anyway.


Besides, we have no pull or say so have a nice day.....

[DesMoinesDem]

71. The South Park episode making fun of family guy was hilarious.

And as your videos prove, it was dead on. Most of the jokes on family guy have nothing to do with the plot or characters. They are cut and paste, and they aren't funny.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/103666/idea-balls

[Warren DeMontague]

74. South Park stopped being funny years ago. And that "Team America" crap was unwatchable.

The South Park movie was pretty funny, for the musical numbers and the points about censorship.

But they lost it somewhere along they way to deciding Al Gore and global warming are a big joke.

Bleh.

And for my money, Mike Judge is funnier than Parker, Stone AND MacFarlane, combined.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

75. So why did he invite Limbaugh on the show and give him a tongue bath?

The FG episode with Rush was pathetic

[TheMightyFavog]

80. MacFarlane is convinced that Rush is actually playing a character on his radio show.

And that the real Rush Limbaugh isn't really that crazy.

[ButterflyBlood]

81. It was definitely not pro-Republican

Limbaugh might've agreed to appear on it because he might have more of a sense of humor than we'd expect or he liked the good publicity. But the "conservative Brian" as he appeared on that episode was obviously a satire of conservatives and not what Seth was endorsing.

[MADem]

76. He is a strong supporter of Democrats, Democratic causes and gay rights.

He's given hundreds of thousands to Dem candidates.

People who are very concrete don't understand his humor. You can't force them to get it.

It is designed to shock, in many instances, but for those who want to think, it stimulates that. Then, other times, it's just regional humor (Quahog, RI, the whole New England thing; and stereotype-rich Stoolbend, VA).