Family Guy: Too Old to Rock N' Roll, Too Young to Die

It has a certain charm. You can't deny that, Mr. New Yorker.
"It's good, isn't it? It is." - Cheryl Davis, Curb Your Enthusiasm, S03E03


This past Sunday, Fox's Family Guy aired its fourth episode of the thirteenth season. While it's difficult to imagine any comedy staying funny for thirteen long years, somehow Seth MacFarlane and co. have figured out the formula. Sure, it's not quite as great as it was in the earlier seasons. The cutaways have gotten a little lazier and the writing certainly follows a formula, but overall, the comedy is still there. This season, we've already had an instant classic in the premiere episode titled "The Simpsons Guy." As the title suggests, this was a crossover episode between The Simpsons and Family Guy. In it, Peter and Homer, Bart and Stewie, Meg and Lisa, and Marge and Lois all finally meet each other. The episode ran 45 minutes and for the most part, (I say for the most part because there was an 8 minute long fight between Homer and Peter) it basically delivered. Astute as ever, the episode was self-deprecating toward both shows, paid homage to Family Guy's biggest inspiration, and of course, was downright hilarious.
Although it may get its fair share of criticism for being sophomoric in humor style and too reliant on cutaways, the show is still actually pretty layered. In fact, it kinda reminds me of Spongebob Squarepants. I know it's a weird comparison, but hear me out. When we look at Spongebob, the show is made for kids. However, a lot of kids watch television with their parents so the writers have to fit in more adult jokes. Therefore, Spongebob is actually a layered show. On the surface, it's a show about a talking sponge and his undersea friends getting into shenanigans. On a deeper level though, it's actually includes a number of biblical allusions and a modern retelling of Finnigan's Wake.

What? I'm serious. Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordedenenthurnuk!

Okay, maybe not. But on a deeper level, Spongebob can actually make people of all ages laugh. It references old movies on occasion and will even throw in a rather raunchy joke that just goes over children's heads. On Family Guy, it's kinda the same deal. While on the surface level, it must appeal to all audiences and include fart jokes and dick jokes (which I admit, I think are kinda funny), on a deeper level, Family Guy is really fucking clever. A lot of the time, I watch the show with my Father, someone two generations older than me. Sometimes, cutaways will reference something so obscure and old, only he will get the joke. These obscure references are what make Family Guy brilliant. There's references to pop culture of every decade from the 70's onward, guest stars from every generation, and hidden jokes within others that only upon repeated views will be noticed. Yeah, after 13 years some of the classic family guy tropes are a bit tired (Conway Twitty, the Chicken fights, etc), but the fact that comedy is still flowing is a feat in itself.
Honestly, this relates a bit back to my thesis a couple weeks ago about the influx of dramedy vs comedy. Like it or not, Family Guy is one of the last actually funny comedies still on TV. For the most part, network television airs pretty shitty shows, but with rarities like Seth MacFarlane's cartoon, there's still a couple speckles of gold to be mined. Family Guy is comedy for the sake of comedy. The goal of the show is to make you laugh. Every once in a while, an episode will have a message, but for the most part, the show is purely devoted to making the ha ha's go round. I love what I just wrote. That's gonna be a new thing on this blog.

So, although maybe not the must-see phenomenon that it used to be, every new episode of Family Guy never really ceases to make me crack up at least twice per half hour. Much as I love all of the drama in each week's cycle (welcome back, Hell on Wheels), I really need some comedy to brighten the days as well. With The League delivering a pretty lackluster season thus far, Family Guy provides half an hour of fun levity every week. For that, I will forever be a fan.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,