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.

[sub780lime]

Finally watched this last night. I have to say I found it quite entertaining. The repetitive lines directly from Star Wars didn't bother me one bit....primarily because its Star Wars. Come on. My first thought was there should be an entirely animated version of Star Wars, just for the hell of it. I have to say the John Williams Danny Elfman part was hilarious.

[sub780lime]

Oh, and the Dr. Who inclusion was awesome.

[rixrex]

Yeah, for the most part it hit the mark. I also don't see it as my favorite, episode, but it's a good one, and of course the subject is ripe for parody once again.

Hardware Wars is one of my fave Star Wars spoofs, came out right afterwards in the late 70s. Anybody seen that one?

Family Guy rules Simpsons easily, but I also thought Futurama was better than Simpsons. My personal favorite animated show has to be South Park.

I would have loved seeing a Nixon/Agnew sticker on the "tailgate" though, more timely to 1977, but too many viewers would go Huh?

Stewie should have been on stilts with the robe sometimes exposing them, with a little self-consciousness statement about short fascists like Napoleon. Or maybe using Meg as his support under the robe. I don't think using her as the garbage creature was the best spot for her.

I wasn't really crazy about the old pervert pedophile being so prominent, really don't like that character too much, not really a funny subject IMO.

Isn't hindsight great? Nothing like being a film critic.

[thomashton]

Just to set the record straight, the best prime time animated show ever was Futurama. Way better than Simpsons, not as off-putting to a large demographic as South Park or FG, but still edgy and continues to be funny even on 20+ viewings.

As for the FG SW episode, I got a bit bored at times and I am a FG fan. I have all of the DVD sets including the new 5th Volume, but just couldn't get into this episode. There were a few nuggets of humour here and there but mostly it was boring.

[umainebearman]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

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

Yeah the fact it hasn't been canceled 3 times shows that the viewer ship has a longer than 2 minute attention span. Probably why I like robot chicken it only goes to 15 seconds. But after seeing reruns of Futurerama I can say that show was definitely under appreciated. Maybe if it had more crude jokes and "remember that time" flashbacks it could have hung around. As far as South Park is concerned I thing its on a much higher level than most of the FG viewers can understand. Yeah the first couple years had there crudeness but the writing went to places the Simpsons would never dare to go and FG would never go because frankly Seth Macfarline knows his audience wouldn't get it.

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by umainebearman

but the writing went to places the Simpsons would never dare to go and FG would never go because frankly Seth Macfarline knows his audience wouldn't get it.

Wow. Insulting Family Guy fans? Good way to prove how much better than us you think you are. Nicely done.

[plissken99]

Originally Posted by GlacierMonkey

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.

This sums it up perfectly. I laugh more at Family Guy, but I actually care about The Simpsons. I love both shows, but The Simpsons is a superior show, even present day episodes are better than any sitcom comedy ever, animated or otherwise.

And Family Guy is a bit of a rip off of The Simpsons. Even the constant flashback stuff they do in Family Guy is what the Simpsons were doing for a few years(the same years Family Guy was concieved of and created). Every now and then we get a sense that Maggie is diabolical, Stewie is just Maggie in steroids(and Stewie rocks). But most pop culture and even some classic films are rip offs of something else.

Basically when making casual friends, there are two things a person must like for me to trust them.

1. Dogs
2. The Simpsons

[Damian]

Originally Posted by umainebearman

Yeah the first couple years had there crudeness but the writing went to places the Simpsons would never dare to go and FG would never go because frankly Seth Macfarline knows his audience wouldn't get it.

You're joking right? Family Guy audience doesn't get Southpark Jokes?
What the hell are you talking about? We're not talking about King Leare here, we're talking about Southpark and Family Guy. The two shows on television that you can watch and enjoy while brain-dead. There are no deep resonating messages in either one of them. If you think there are, you spend far too much time watching cartoons.

[SidcupMartin]

"don't get penisy"



I felt ashamed for laughing at such a bad dick joke.

[limacharliewhiskey]

I finally watched the episode last night, and I thought it was great. To me, easily the best FG episode in the past 2 years, with jokes that actually made me laugh out loud. When I started laughing during the rolling text at the beginning, I knew it was gonna be good.

I'd been dissing FG for the past year because I thought the pop culture references were getting pretty weak, but they had the right jokes and nostalgia in this Star Wars episode.

Might put FG back into my TV viewing schedule.

[Pirate]

My favorite part was the Robot Chicken argument.

[limacharliewhiskey]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

My favorite part was the Robot Chicken argument.

That joke is even funnier when you realize that Seth Green does the voice for Chris and is co-creator for Robot Chicken.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by limacharliewhiskey

That joke is even funnier when you realize that Seth Green does the voice for Chris and is co-creator for Robot Chicken.

I thought that was why it was funny.

[rixrex]

Originally Posted by SidcupMartin

"don't get penisy"



I felt ashamed for laughing at such a bad dick joke.

Well, when Star Wars (1977) first came out, and Harrison Ford says, "Don't get Cocky!", most of the guys in the audience laughed at that aloud or at least to themselves, and most girls snickered too.

We couldn't believe that nobody in the film's production caught that innuendo, and that they let it get through, unless they intended to?

FG just said what we'd been thinking all these years.