I watch Family Guy.
There, I admitted it. For years, the animated sitcom fan has shied away from such admittance. The others in the genre all carried some prestige, but Family Guy exists in the cartoon dumpster of its own (rightfully earned) reputation. The Simpsons is classic. South Park is political. Bob’s Burger’s is allegedly good. Family Guy sucks.
The legacy of Family Guy will always revolve around that first three season, that somehow leveraged a cult following into a renewal and eventual empire. Which, in retrospect, makes no sense. Not that fans were able to complain their way into getting a second chance. The corpse of Teen Wolf is proof enough of that phenomenon (I wish every Anne With An E stan a good “shut the fuck up your show sucks”). But that a show as crude, unfunny and awkward as the first run of Family Guy could create such a fervour in the first place.
I won’t bore you with a recap of early Family Guy. The show is uneven at best, awkward in a way that suggests Seth MacFarlane only had a broad and unfocused vision of the show and its characters were developed much later into the run, and potentially only after it was cancelled. There are a few jokes that land, but ultimately the running comparison to The Simpsons is probably the biggest tell that the show wasn’t doing anything particularly compelling. The show had been on for over 4 years at the time it was cancelled, and it never seemed to get past its biggest hurdle, which was the premise. A family like, but not the same as, The Simpsons are stupid and mean. And the dog talks.
This seriously affected how the rest of the show was approached critically.
Fans of those first three seasons complain that it lost its spark with the shift post-renewal, but I’d argue it maintained the standard level of cynicism and nastiness. The big change wasn’t tone, but content.
In the 2005 renewal, Family Guy debuted in the same year as MacFarlane’s other big animated sitcom, American Dad. But while the former became the head of the MacFarlane television family (population: 2, formerly 3), the latter is arguably the more influential.
I’ll explain.
Where early Family Guy can be absurd and wacky, at it’s core, the show is about a family that hate each other. It’s a 90s sitcom, but animated and cruel. American Dad is Alf, but animated and absurd. While at all times the Griffins are written as despising each other, the Smiths are affectionate and even protective. Despite conflict, they come together regularly within the show. Heart is what makes the resulting stupid, crude and sometimes offensive humour work.
I think a good way of seeing how these shows differ is their way of handling celebrity.
Take the famous Family Guy approach to mocking everyone, but especially famous people. They’re separate from the story. The cut-away gag format adds a second layer of distance for the viewer that allows them to laugh at something the characters themselves are conceivably watching with them. Even when a celebrity intrudes on the show itself, it’s rarely more than a walk on role and regularly just as gawking as the cut-aways. But in comparison, American Dad tries a similar method to The Simpsons.
For those unfamiliar with…The Simpsons(?), the basic gist is that when a celebrity appears on the show, they’re integrated into a regular plot so that they feel somewhat grounded in the show and its tone. Sometimes they’re themselves, more often they’re a new character that appears for one moment, or in some cases many episodes. Think Britney Spears appearing on an awards show held within the show or Reese Witherspoon portraying a spoilt child who Bart dates for an episode. Sideshow Bob is probably the most famous cameo, with many associating the voice of Frazier with a murderous clown. They’re not just figures to watch, they’re actively slotted into the world building.
Well, unless they’re Lady Gaga. Then everything goes wrong.
American Dad does the same thing but heightened. Kim Kardashian appearing on the show turns into a relationship drama where she’s a clingy alien girlfriend. Or you’ll have Ricky Martin play part in a subplot about clothing that magically makes you look sexy. But they’re actively participating in the story at hand.
The thing is…Family Guy has slowly taken cues from American Dad. Not completely, they’re still incredibly distinct in tone. But, particularly in the past few seasons, Family Guy has actively shifted its approach from needlessly cruel, to more deliberate. The endless barrage of jokes about Stewy being obsessed with matricide, or gay Stewy jokes, has shifted into a sometimes-charming persona. He’s less a villain and more a mad scientist trapped in an infant’s body, with the accompanying instincts and feelings. Meg has shifted from a punching bag into an intense, scary girl who’s source of unhappiness is more often led by her actions. Peter is more childlike than childish. Lois is unhinged. Chris is a pervert.
These characters have rounded off, yes, but to the greater good of the show. They have space to actually interact with each other without the punchline being the same every time. The humour comes less from the standard dynamics between the characters, and more how they respond to these insane situations. A recent episode, Customer of the Week (Season 19, Episode 15) places Lois in the driver’s seat and lets her play out an increasingly insane set of choices until she is caught and sent to jail. It’s funny because she’s unhinged with the framework of the “perfect housewife”, but only in her mind. An audio of her from the episode where she proclaims she isn’t woke went viral on TikTok, and it’s a testament to how much better the writing is now. 1999 Family Guy could never have pulled this of. It’s taken 2 decades of finding its feet to do so.
I mean it’s definitely not worth it but if it’s good (or just better) now I’ll live with it.