“As we all know, Christmas is that mystical time of year when the ghost of Jesus rises from the grave to feed on the flesh of the living. So we all sing Christmas carols to lull him back to sleep.” – Peter Griffin, “Family Guy”, “A Very Special Family Guy Freakin’ Christmas”
“Family Guy”- dropping knowledge on viewers since 1999! That quote is a prime example of why this show is a guilty pleasure. Peter Griffin is the titular family guy, but he’s not going to be winning any awards for father, or even citizen, of the year. This guy has no social filters, and he isn’t very bright, to boot, so it gives him that combination of brutal honesty and frequent wrongness. Case in point: when talking to children about what happens after death, he tells them, “You’ll all rot in the ground.” While you may not want your own child to be on the receiving end of that horrifying picture, watching animated kids wig out and start bawling is good for a few guilty chuckles.
The Griffin family is made up of a mom and dad, three kids, and a dog- the perfect textbook image of family, right? They may have the perfect look, but they are far from the loving family people dream of. In fact, they’re kind of a pile of dysfunctional messes. The men of the family tend to be most favored among the fans, with brutally honest Peter, his more lovable (but even dopier) son Chris famous for saying stuff like, “I’m so hungry I could ride a horse… I don’t get it. Well, I could ride it to the store, I guess.” Then there’s baby genius Stewie, who is bound and determined to kill his own mother as well as anyone/thing who crosses him, like broccoli: “So, Broccoli, Mother says you’re very good for me… Well, I’m afraid I’m NO GOOD FOR YOU! The first rule of war is ‘know thine enemy,’ and I know this: Cold kills broccoli! It’s so simple! All I need to do is build a machine to control the global environment. Forecast for tomorrow: a few sprinkles of genius with A CHANCE OF DOOM!” Meg is the punching bag of the family, often treated worse that Harry Potter was by his adoptive relatives. Brian and Lois tend to be the moral/intellectual centers of the show, although Lois’ tendency towards promiscuity and Brian’s tendency towards substance abuse does tarnish that a bit. The secondary characters tend to be even wilder, with pirates, huge-jawed rich guys, and a giant bird who just won’t stop attacking Peter. It’s clear that this show is is rude, crude, and not at all worried about being “politically correct.”
“Family Guy” has traveled a long road of uncertainty to get to the comfortable place it is today. The idea for the show started when Seth MacFarlane was in college. His thesis film was about a family man, Larry, and his super smart dog, Steve. It seemed to gel with him so he took it even further, creating a pilot to pitch to networks. Sketch show “MadTV” was going to add it to their show as a short movie segment, but the budget just wasn’t there to support the animation. So it was only after all of that and more that MacFarlane finally pitched it to Fox, and even then it still didn’t get picked up until several years later. One would think the long road was over, but it’s never over if your show airs on Fox- they have a notorious reputation for canceling good shows too early without letting them find their legs (AHEM “Firefly” AHEM AHEM!). They cancelled “Family Guy” after the third season aired, but the DVD sales and ratings on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim were high, so Fox backtracked and renewed it for more seasons, making it the first show to be revived based on DVD sales. Currently there are 11 seasons, going on 12, multiple film length features (including a Star Wars parody), and a spin off show featuring Cleveland, who is probably the gentlest, and least offensive character, of the bunch.
The show is well known for its cut away gags and pop-cultural references. If any of the characters say that something “reminds them of the time,” you can bet your butt that there’s about to be a cutaway gag. Similarly, if it’s been more than two minutes since a pop culture reference was made, expect the Kool-Aid man to come crashing through a wall, or for the Fifth Doctor’s face to appear in a time vortex. “Family Guy” began as something more akin to “The Simpsons,” but now it’s known more as a pop culture pastiche, with such frequent references, and even some episodes that focus the main storyline on parodying well-known movies like Back to the Future and Poltergeist. While some of the pop culture jokes are in good fun, others get dark, mocking characters or celebrities in ways that other shows could never even dream about.
“Family Guy” revels in being madcap and frequently offensive, but there’s a demented genius at work here, too. In 2009, it was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first time an animated series was nominated for the award since “The Flintstones” in 1961. So, rest easy when you’re laughing at every cringe-inducing joke, whether it’s about kids with AIDS or Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s disease. The show may be offensive, but it’s also got a smart streak to it, and will probably be around to keep us laughing and offended for a long, long time.
