(1).jpg)
By Felix Vasquez Jr.
|
Ten Strikes returns with a look at ten reasons why the Family Guy needs to throw in the towel.
|
10. Quickly Dated Humor/References
Hey, remember Britney Spears and how she's said to be a horrible parent? Remember Kevin Federline? Well, we've seen them and everyone else spoofed repeatedly and I don't think we'll really remember it five years from now. "Family Guy" is too reliant on current event humor setting themselves up for nothing but a short shelf life placing the responsibility on the audience to explain to other people what these jokes even mean. "Who's the bald chick?" They'll ask. And we'll have to explain, and if you know the rules of comedy you'll know that if you have to explain a joke, it isn't funny. "Family Guy" is the "Meet the Spartans" of television.
9. Blatantly Preachy
With "South Park" you're almost always guaranteed a commentary about something involving the war, society, or religion through hilarious stories and great gags, but "Family Guy" cuts through all of the clever undertones and just blatantly breaks the fourth wall to preach to the audience. While I enjoy what they have to say about the FCC, and television monitoring, staring at the screen to preach is just sloppy. "Family Guy" will never be as clever as “South Park,” in fact they pretty much don't even attempt any subtlety and just place their characters together to chat about an issue while we watch. It's pathetic.
8. Robot Chicken did it better
Attn: Fox. Robot Chicken spoofed "Star Wars" better than you ever really could, and shockingly enough they did it first. They had no eighties references, and used the movies as a tent pole for rather brilliant gags. Not to mention that they actually spoofed "Star Wars"! Instead of, you know, placing characters into a situation that would give them a cheap excuse to have a thirty minute non-stop reference show. If you have to admit that Seth Green did it first, in the final scenes of the episode, then it's obviously an admission of guilt.
7. Meg Griffin
I have nothing against mean spirited humor when it's done right, but the incessant cruelty toward the character Meg is absolutely unfunny. Meg was always an unnecessary character who was written in the beginning as a self-absorbed and whiny individual. Once Lacey Chabert left, Meg became the family punching bag often bashed, insulted, used as an often annoying punch line for cruel jokes, and sometimes never even featured in an episode. The writers either have difficulty luring Mila Kunis back, or simply don't know what to do with Meg, anymore. So rather than write her off, they simply make her a target of violent behavior that's hardly humorous.
6. Spoofing Yourself = Jumping the Shark
When a series points out its own absurd qualities, then it's a surefire signal that the writers have all but given up trying to take the show seriously. When television series and movie franchises don't even take their own story methods with a stern determination anymore, it's obvious by then that it's time to give it a rest. Take for example the writers spoofing the massive cutaways as Stewie talks to Brian, looks to the camera and says "What? We don't have a clip for that? Oh okay, then." If even the writers are satirizing the cut away’s, it's time to step up and change things.