Family Guy: Episode IV

[Reaver]

That was hysterical. A few jokes here and there that didn't land, but all in all the wife and I laughed our asses off. My favorite line - "How about your home world of Alderan? Ohhh... too soon?"

[Monterey Jack]

Like, 70% of the entire episode just replicated Star Wars shot-for-shot and line-for-line. Imagine a MAD Magazine parody that just replicated the movie in question EXACTLY. What is supposed to be funny about that?

Oh yeah, cutting-edge jokes about Dr. Who and Grey Poupon.

[Damian]

That was the best episode of Family Guy EVER, and possibly the best episode of a prime time animated show ever.
Absolutely hilarious!

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Damian

...and possibly the best episode of a prime time animated show ever.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Not sure if that's my favorite episode of Family Guy, but I'd certainly say Family Guy is the best prime time cartoon of all time. Easily.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Reaver

Not sure if that's my favorite episode of Family Guy, but I'd certainly say Family Guy is the best prime time cartoon of all time. Easily.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

What do you consider better? And please, for the love of god, don't say The Simpsons. Jesus don't let it be that.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Reaver

What do you consider better? And please, for the love of god, don't say The Simpsons. Jesus don't let it be that.

Certainly not The Simpsons now (the movie excepted), but from 1992-98, there was no animated show that could touch it's brilliance. And even as mediocre as it's gotten in recent years, I'd still rather watch it than the putrid Family Guy.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Certainly not The Simpsons now (the movie excepted), but from 1992-98, there was no animated show that could touch it's brilliance. And even as mediocre as it's gotten in recent years, I'd still rather watch it than the putrid Family Guy.

Christ, The Simpsons is the most overrated show I can think of. I've never found it to be funny. But, that said, we're all entitled to our opinions. My opinion is that the Episode IV show was great, and I can't wait to watch it again.

[SilentBob]

Well i liked it. I actually laughed my ass off a few times. Loved the "Oh no. They killed John Willaims. . . and replaced him with Danny Elfman" It was by far one of the better episodes they have done in a long time. Been finding most of the newer episodes ok by going too far with the jokes. Here i thought they were for the most part just right. Can't wait for the rest of this season

[umainebearman]

Originally Posted by Reaver

Not sure if that's my favorite episode of Family Guy, but I'd certainly say Family Guy is the best prime time cartoon of all time. Easily.

Yeah cause repeating things over and over episode after episode is cutting edge. Sure its funny every once in a while but 9 times out of 10 they've done everything in an episode 10 times before.

That said I had 3 voice mails reminding me that this episode was on tonight, I worked and the fact that it was a Star Wars parody would have been the only draw for me.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by umainebearman

Yeah cause repeating things over and over episode after episode is cutting edge. Sure its funny every once in a while but 9 times out of 10 they've done everything in an episode 10 times before.

Right, and Homer strangling Bart every other episode, that's on the bleeding edge.

[Damian]

Originally Posted by Reaver

Right, and Homer strangling Bart every other episode, that's on the bleeding edge.

DOH!

[El Lancito]

Originally Posted by Reaver

Right, and Homer strangling Bart every other episode, that's on the bleeding edge.

While that certainly is a tired joke, the shows themselves don't revolve around that particular gag.

Family Guy, while funny at times, is more about a constant stream of pop culture references than anything else. The Simpsons, in its heydey, had plenty of that, but it also had character development and biting social commentary. It was the first prime-time show to go after sacred cows like religion, for instance, and it was able to get away with it due to it being "just a cartoon." Family Guy is pretty much riding the coattails of The Simpsons when it does anything even remotely cutting edge.

Ultimately, The Simpsons will stand the test of time, whereas I doubt that anybody who didn't grow up with Family Guy will be able to get into it. Now, to work on a time machine to see if I'm right...

[El Lancito]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmUoxOAgCQw

[sub780lime]

Should be on my DVR when I get home. Can't wait.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by El Lancito

Ultimately, The Simpsons will stand the test of time

God I hope not. If I have to see those jaundiced freaks for the rest of my life, I'm going to be sick.

[Hockey Mask]

My thoughts:
I enjoyed how much Family Guy followed Star Wars almost scene by scene, word by word. I hadn't seen a parody follow something that closely and it worked because it was animated.

As far as humor goes there really wasn't much there. I don't think it will hold up that well on repeated viewings except as a novelty.

Simpsons and Futurama were far better than Family Guy at their respective peaks.

Futurama's Star Trek episode had more laughs than Family Guy's Star Wars episode and it was half the length.

I am not trying to knock Family Guy's episode I did enjoy it. The music was great.

[El Lancito]

Originally Posted by Reaver

God I hope not. If I have to see those jaundiced freaks for the rest of my life, I'm going to be sick.

Honestly, whether you like it or not, it's safe to say that they already have. How many years now since the first season? And they were able to generate enough interest in a film to make it a hit movie? I doubt that Family Guy will be able to do that.

Why is it that I can't help but think of the girl in the Beatles documentary, when asked about the Beatles during the whole backlash period, said that she was no longer into the Beatles liked Herman's Hermits better.

Yeah, I'm saying it. Family Guy is to The Simpsons as Herman's Hermits is to The Beatles.

[Pirate]

Besides aesthetics, Simpsons and Family Guy have always struck me as apples and oranges (or perhaps apples and lemons). Simpsons (and Futurama) acts more as social satire and commentary, while Family Guy is simply the result of lives lived in this specific social environment. They’re both brilliant in their own ways, but I think comparing them is a waste of time.

And, just for the record, The Simpsons has and continues to stand the test of time.

[Titleist]

Wether or not you find it funny for Family Guy, Robot Chicken ruled Family Guy's sorry ass when it came to parodying Star Wars. The long 1-2 minute COPIES of the original scenes (did we really need poor cg animations of already established scenes?!), weren't that interesting compared to Robot Chicken's.

Frankly I'm done with Family Guy, I was incredibly bored during that episode, and maybe it's just me but I can not stand the whole Pedophile/Chris bit, it's lame, and was never that funny. Creepy, not funny at all.

Pass on the whole episode. Oh add to that, South Park rules Macfarlane's pop-culture nostalgia (read: manatee gag/plagarism) ass.

EDIT: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34165

Please god no more of this crap, if I wanted to watch people ruin the original movies even more scene for scene I'd pop in the special editions.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by El Lancito

Why is it that I can't help but think of the girl in the Beatles documentary, when asked about the Beatles during the whole backlash period, said that she was no longer into the Beatles liked Herman's Hermits better.

That might apply had I ever liked The Simpsons. I didn't. From the first episode right up until this moment I thought they were shit. Family Guy is just a show that fits my sense of comedy more.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by Titleist

Please god no more of this crap, if I wanted to watch people ruin the original movies even more scene for scene I'd pop in the special editions.

Luckily, you don't have to watch the show, and you don't have to post in threads about it. Ain't freedom great? I hate The Simpsons, and so I do myself the favor of avoiding threads about them. I don't tend to like to stew in the negative.

[El Lancito]

Originally Posted by Reaver

That might apply had I ever liked The Simpsons. I didn't. From the first episode right up until this moment I thought they were shit. Family Guy is just a show that fits my sense of comedy more.

Sorry. Bad analogy. Like I said, it just popped in my head, but I didn't mean to imply that's what you were doing.

[Monterey Jack]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPHZr5a4gFk

[GlacierMonkey]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

Besides aesthetics, Simpsons and Family Guy have always struck me as apples and oranges (or perhaps apples and lemons). Simpsons (and Futurama) acts more as social satire and commentary, while Family Guy is simply the result of lives lived in this specific social environment. They’re both brilliant in their own ways, but I think comparing them is a waste of time.

And, just for the record, The Simpsons has and continues to stand the test of time.

That's exactly how I feel. I've always thought that the difference really is that The Simpsons has heart, and Family Guy doesn't. I don't mean that as a slam to FG, but The Simpsons has strong, consistent dynamics between its characters, and a family drama often at the center of its episodes in the midst of the comedy, whereas Family Guy goes all out on the comedy. I care more about the Simpson family, but I laugh more at the Griffin family. The Griffins often don't seem to care about each other, so why should I? But that doesn't stop me from laughing my ass off. Family Guy is funnier, but Simpsons has more depth.