Simpsons had a huge drop in quality awhile back, but I've been watching it again recently. It has become a lot better since my absence, it seems.
I don't really mind Family Guy so much as it has kind of fallen into a rut in terms of comedy. It started it really well, but over time it has developed some in-jokes and annoying quirks. For example, Brian's political rants get annoying really fast, because he's just so unfunny.
It can be good, and I still watch it more than other shows, so it's not terrible or anything as far as shut off your brain comedies go. I just prefer Simpsons. More soul to it, I guess. I don't know.
I spend too much time in front of the computer to watch TV anymore. My poor game console collection is being neglected. I think I need help.
But anyway, I was never allowed to watch the Simpsons when I was little because my mom hates it. On the other hand, I used to watch Family Guy on Adult Swim every night when I lived in the college dorms for a year. So I suppose I'm biased.
Include Futurama and South Park, that would make it more interesting.
To me, South Park doesn't really compare. Of course, I'm a bit biased, as I have a deep seated hatred for the show. My name is Kenny and South Park came out when I was in fourth grade. You do the math.
Of course, I suppose Futurama doesn't really compare either, other than it being Groening's other show, but I still prefer it over all of the above.
But really, I can't compare the two. The Simpsons, while not a family-friendly show, has always had a sort of "heart" to it. Family Guy, on the other hand, will go as far as the FCC allows them, and even then they push it just a bit farther. Completely different styles that I like for completely different reasons.
That said, if I had to choose one, it'd be The Simpsons.
Family Guy, though given that I haven't really watched the Simpsons in ages, I'm somewhat biased. i caught a recent episode and it struck me just how similar to Family Guy it was (without the random flashbacks, of course), so I may give it another chance, but that's a theory, nothing more.
Love both! But my vote goes to The Simpsons because, while I like the comedy side of both shows, there are other things I enjoy The Simpsons for too. So taking all things into consideration it gets my vote.
I remember being one of the very few people in my college class who actually liked the random flashbacks in Family Guy, though. I think those are the best parts!
I don't think my mom cared for Beavis and Butthead. Not that I did either, but my dad would watch it. He also thought Ren and Stimpy was hilarious.
Yeah, I wasn't allowed to watch either of those either. I also wasn't allowed to watch Rugrats, and I can't remember if I wasn't allowed to watch Rocko's Modern Life or if I just didn't want to.
I don't think my mom cared for Beavis and Butthead. Not that I did either, but my dad would watch it. He also thought Ren and Stimpy was hilarious.
Oh, I liked watching Ren and Stimpy when I was a kid, but my mum didn't like me watching it. So I only got away with it when my dad was already watching it. XD
I've always been allowed to watch The Simpsons. I remember when I was very young it was on Sunday evenings on Sky (in the UK), and we always watched it. Mind you, when I was 3 years old any "adult content" went over my head anyway.
Simpsons had a huge drop in quality awhile back, but I've been watching it again recently. It has become a lot better since my absence, it seems.
Really? I may have to start watching it again then. Because I had turned my back on the new Simpsons episodes because they, well, just haven't been the same, they had almost lost the magic that the classic episodes had (e.g. "Lemon of Troy", "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment", "Lisa on Ice", etc.). I mean, I never hated the new episodes, but I just couldn't watch something that had lost it's heart and forgotten what it was about in the first place. But, if the show has lifted since that dark period of Season 16 - 20, then I may have to pick up where I left off, with my obsession wit the great show.
Family Guy's problem is that it only gets laughs from being shocking, and when something's trying to offend you all the time, it stops being shocking very quickly and just reeks of effort. The Simpsons (which has been getting better of late) has these characters with depth that you care about, pretty much every Family Guy character is a horrible piece of work (I particularly dislike Brian as well, he brings new meaning to the phrase "liberal douche")
I think Family Guy was a great novelty at first, but it's just a very mean-spirited show...I like the Cleveland Show strangely...probably because of the kickass theme tune
Family Guy before it got cancelled the first time was amazing. Some of the more recent Series' (Season Five (or what the UK calls season 5) I'm looking at you specifically here) had too many flashbacks and random scenes and blatant advertising.
It's got good again recently though what with the Star Wars Parody ep and the Bird is the Word ep.
However, I'd probably say right now that of McFarlane's stuff I prefer American Dad anyway. I can't really comment on the Cleveland show right now as I've only seen two episodes.
As to the poll: Family Guy, easily. I'm not a Simpsons person, I'm a Futurama person. (Though the Simpsons movie wasn't bad).
Edit: BTW surely the Family Guy of the simpsons is Homer? (In other words: Check the thread title!)
STILL? Okay, I'd better concede before I get into Home Movies and Tom Goes To the Mayor territory, and then I'd REALLY be reaching.
All right, I give it up for-
The Simpsons
Let's talk about Family Guy. Family Guy can get beat out by anyone anyday. It frickin sucks, it fricking upchucks, it upchucking sucks, it frickin sucking upchucks, it frickin sucks and frickin sticks like frickin ticks...
...and I don't like it.
Now I'll examine it for a second. It WAS once a great show, that looked like it could be filled with a lot of heart. Yet, in the end, it was turned into a completely heartless, at times, even mean spirited show. Futurama is mean spirited towards its own characters and with famous people and pop culture, but it was always done tastefully and didn't take over the plot, and the heart-felt moments really were extremely heart-felt, because these were characters you could actually feel for. I think I stopped caring for anyone in Family Guy when Lois killed Stewie; I mean what? I mean really? That's like Leela killing Fry! And there was hardly any emotion over it! It was crap! Exposition, Show! Emotion! EMOTE, SHOW!!!EMOTE!!!
Now to be fair, the jokes really are incredibly hilarious, but to me they're more obvious than anything The Simpsons and Futurama might usually throw at you. To each their own.
WARNING - SLIGHTLY IMAGE
Let's talk about Family Guy. Family Guy can get beat out by anyone anyday. It frickin sucks, it fricking upchucks, it upchucking sucks, it frickin sucking upchucks, it frickin sucks and frickin sticks like frickin ticks...
...and I don't like it.
Now I'll examine it for a second. It WAS once a great show, that looked like it could be filled with a lot of heart. Yet, in the end, it was turned into a completely heartless, at times, even mean spirited show. Futurama is mean spirited towards its own characters and with famous people and pop culture, but it was always done tastefully and didn't take over the plot, and the heart-felt moments really were extremely heart-felt, because these were characters you could actually feel for. I think I stopped caring for anyone in Family Guy when Lois killed Stewie; I mean what? I mean really? That's like Leela killing Fry! And there was hardly any emotion over it! It was crap! Exposition, Show! Emotion! EMOTE, SHOW!!!EMOTE!!!
I could not agree more with you! The reason i'm really digging the new Simpsons are the Marge and Lisa storylines, earlier seasons were all Bart and Homer, and then they got "zany" for a while (and still are a bit more "kooky" and off-the cuff than they ever where) but now we have these good stories that make us feel for the characters and it just makes for better viewing. In particular Julie Kavner has been on top form as an actress ever since the movie came out and i've been really impressed at how much the character has grown on me since
Futurama was always a bit edgier than the Simpsons, but my god it has some moments, like Leela and Fry's relationship, in later series' there's some really touching stuff in there. The one episode that sticks out to everyone is the episode with fry's dog from the past waiting for him for decades outside the old Pizza Parlour.
As for South Park, it's only ever as good as the current affairs that it's making fun of. You get some "original" stories, but all in all it relies on its jokes alone to get by and you don't really feel for the characters
Except for the episode with Kenny in a coma. (can't recall the title) Even though at that point Kenny still died almost constantly, I actually felt for the character.
I know they were just mirroring and commenting on Terry Schiavo, but they did an exceptional job there. (I feel terrible when I laugh at the "tomato" lines)
Futurama was always a bit edgier than the Simpsons, but my god it has some moments, like Leela and Fry's relationship, in later series' there's some really touching stuff in there. The one episode that sticks out to everyone is the episode with fry's dog from the past waiting for him for decades outside the old Pizza Parlour.
As for South Park, it's only ever as good as the current affairs that it's making fun of. You get some "original" stories, but all in all it relies on its jokes alone to get by and you don't really feel for the characters
I need to watch more of the Simpsons, but I've never had much of a chance as I could never catch it on when it aired. So I'm pretty unaware of what the Simpsons has to offer, but if it's anything like Futurama, I know I'd love it.
I think that the scene in Futurama that sticks out in my mind the most is the final scene from 'Time Keeps On Slippin', when Fry finally figures out how to express his feelings to Leela by moving the stars in the sky to write a love note to her, and it disappears before she can see it. My second favorite is the ending to 'Luck of the Fryish' when Fry realizes that his brother Yancy really did love him, followed by the song 'Don't You' by Simple Minds leading in the credits.
Another example of a series that used a heartfelt moment to make me a fan for all time is, again, the Boondocks in the episode "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus". A lot of people look down on this series, and especially this episode, as being racist and horrible. I've heard people say it's anti-black, and some say it's anti-white. Well, they're all wrong; in fact they're not wrong they're complete morons. It's a satire and a parody of racism and segregation; which is in no way racism. The show and comic it's based on were created by a black dude. A lot of people probably saw commercials for this episode featuring Ronald Reagan telling a black man to preach about "White Heaven" and immediately shot it down, without even "getting it". To be honest, that was probably the commercials fault, since just showing THOSE scenes out of context like that is just screaming "look at me! I'm controversial!". It's kind of like what they say about British humor, you just have to "get it" and not judge a book by its cover. Instead of being racist, what the episode really delivers is one of the most heart-felt moments in television. Huey Freeman, a kid who believes himself to be 'above the system' and a freedom fighter, wants to bust an innocent man out of jail. In the end he comes up with a brilliant, daring, action-packed plan to bust him out, only to reveal that the entire plan couldn't be pulled off just because his grandfather wouldn't drive him to the prison. And so, he doesn't curse about it, he doesn't get mad, he just does the only thing a caring kid can do in a situation like that. He cries.
In the end it shows that no matter how tough a kid is on the outside he's still a kid on the inside, and when you're a kid things can't always go the way you want them to, and it's a very brilliant scene. Huey Freeman is one of the coolest characters I've ever seen.
I think that the scene in Futurama that sticks out in my mind the most is the final scene from 'Time Keeps On Slippin', when Fry finally figures out how to express his feelings to Leela by moving the stars in the sky to write a love note to her, and it disappears before she can see it. My second favorite is the ending to 'Luck of the Fryish' when Fry realizes that his brother Yancy really did love him, followed by the song 'Don't You' by Simple Minds leading in the credits.
The first one to really get me was actually the second episode of the first season.
Simpsons can very much have those kinds of moments, by the way. I'd recommend starting relatively early, or watching The Simpsons Movie, as some of the best Simpsons writers returned to write that one(and it shows).
A lot of people look down on this series, and especially this episode, as being racist and horrible.
I dunno, I've always been more a fan of Moral Orel's later seasons. Maybe it's because that's definitely more my background growing up.
Family Guy for me, I like my humor edgy and mean instead of schmaltzy, plus I'm a sucker for nonsensical randomness. (I also love Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Space Ghost: Coast to Coast) But I like Futurama better than either of them, and a good episode of South Park is also better.
Having said that, now that I've seen some newer Simpsons episodes, the show does seem to be getting funny again. Still far more excited about the new Futurama though.
But my absolute favourite comedy show is Black Books followed closely by The IT Crowd and Blackadder. But none of them are animated, so I guess they don't really count.
I dunno, I've always been more a fan of Moral Orel's later seasons. Maybe it's because that's definitely more my background growing up.
You know I think you've told me to watch that before on these forums, a long time ago. In fact, I'm starting to get this extremely strange feeling of deja vu, as if this thread has been done before.
I think that the scene in Futurama that sticks out in my mind the most is the final scene from 'Time Keeps On Slippin', when Fry finally figures out how to express his feelings to Leela by moving the stars in the sky to write a love note to her, and it disappears before she can see it. My second favorite is the ending to 'Luck of the Fryish' when Fry realizes that his brother Yancy really did love him, followed by the song 'Don't You' by Simple Minds leading in the credits.
But my absolute favourite comedy show is Black Books followed closely by The IT Crowd and Blackadder. But none of them are animated, so I guess they don't really count.
I think I can see that our humour is similar fron this.
Well, yeah. The end of Jurassic Bark is wonderful, and classic, but when I think of Futurama and "touching scenes" those two are the first that come to mind. I can't really say that Jurassic Bark was touching as much as it was just plain sad and even a little depressing. The movie Bender's Big Score changed things a bit though, but I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it yet.
But my absolute favourite comedy show is Black Books followed closely by The IT Crowd and Blackadder. But none of them are animated, so I guess they don't really count.
I like Monty Python, just not as much as Black Books, IT Crowd and Blackadder. And I like A Bit Of Fry and Laurie too, but I preferred Jeeves and Wooster.
You know I think you've told me to watch that before on these forums, a long time ago. In fact, I'm starting to get this extremely strange feeling of deja vu, as if this thread has been done before.
Parts of it may have been done before. I thought then and now that the second season finale and the third season of Moral Orel are the some of the most emotionally impacting animation I've ever seen, up there with The Little Match Girl and Waltz With Bashir.
Alternatively:
What? De ja vu?
...It's a glitch in the system. It happens when they change something!
But my absolute favourite comedy show is Black Books followed closely by The IT Crowd and Blackadder. But none of them are animated, so I guess they don't really count.
Comments
I don't really mind Family Guy so much as it has kind of fallen into a rut in terms of comedy. It started it really well, but over time it has developed some in-jokes and annoying quirks. For example, Brian's political rants get annoying really fast, because he's just so unfunny.
It can be good, and I still watch it more than other shows, so it's not terrible or anything as far as shut off your brain comedies go. I just prefer Simpsons. More soul to it, I guess. I don't know.
But anyway, I was never allowed to watch the Simpsons when I was little because my mom hates it. On the other hand, I used to watch Family Guy on Adult Swim every night when I lived in the college dorms for a year. So I suppose I'm biased.
Besides, Futurama is better than both of them.
yea I guess, but I wanna see wich wins between Family Guy and The Simpsons
To me, South Park doesn't really compare. Of course, I'm a bit biased, as I have a deep seated hatred for the show. My name is Kenny and South Park came out when I was in fourth grade. You do the math.
Of course, I suppose Futurama doesn't really compare either, other than it being Groening's other show, but I still prefer it over all of the above.
But really, I can't compare the two. The Simpsons, while not a family-friendly show, has always had a sort of "heart" to it. Family Guy, on the other hand, will go as far as the FCC allows them, and even then they push it just a bit farther. Completely different styles that I like for completely different reasons.
That said, if I had to choose one, it'd be The Simpsons.
I remember being one of the very few people in my college class who actually liked the random flashbacks in Family Guy, though. I think those are the best parts!
I don't think my mom cared for Beavis and Butthead. Not that I did either, but my dad would watch it. He also thought Ren and Stimpy was hilarious.
Whilst Simpsons is nowhere near as good as it used to be, it still has hundreds of fantastic episodes to watch, so takes the biscuit for me.
Yeah, I wasn't allowed to watch either of those either. I also wasn't allowed to watch Rugrats, and I can't remember if I wasn't allowed to watch Rocko's Modern Life or if I just didn't want to.
I've always been allowed to watch The Simpsons. I remember when I was very young it was on Sunday evenings on Sky (in the UK), and we always watched it. Mind you, when I was 3 years old any "adult content" went over my head anyway.
Really? I may have to start watching it again then. Because I had turned my back on the new Simpsons episodes because they, well, just haven't been the same, they had almost lost the magic that the classic episodes had (e.g. "Lemon of Troy", "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment", "Lisa on Ice", etc.). I mean, I never hated the new episodes, but I just couldn't watch something that had lost it's heart and forgotten what it was about in the first place. But, if the show has lifted since that dark period of Season 16 - 20, then I may have to pick up where I left off, with my obsession wit the great show.
I think Family Guy was a great novelty at first, but it's just a very mean-spirited show...I like the Cleveland Show strangely...probably because of the kickass theme tune
It's got good again recently though what with the Star Wars Parody ep and the Bird is the Word ep.
However, I'd probably say right now that of McFarlane's stuff I prefer American Dad anyway.
As to the poll: Family Guy, easily. I'm not a Simpsons person, I'm a Futurama person. (Though the Simpsons movie wasn't bad).
Edit: BTW surely the Family Guy of the simpsons is Homer?
I choose Futurama.
Oh, not good enough? Screw you then. Okay, fine.
The Boondocks then.
Still not good enough? You heartless monster.
The Venture Bros.
Still not enough? You fiend!
Crayon Shin-Chan.
STILL not good enough?
Mission Hill.
STILL? Okay, I'd better concede before I get into Home Movies and Tom Goes To the Mayor territory, and then I'd REALLY be reaching.
All right, I give it up for-
The Simpsons
Let's talk about Family Guy. Family Guy can get beat out by anyone anyday. It frickin sucks, it fricking upchucks, it upchucking sucks, it frickin sucking upchucks, it frickin sucks and frickin sticks like frickin ticks...
...and I don't like it.
Now I'll examine it for a second. It WAS once a great show, that looked like it could be filled with a lot of heart. Yet, in the end, it was turned into a completely heartless, at times, even mean spirited show. Futurama is mean spirited towards its own characters and with famous people and pop culture, but it was always done tastefully and didn't take over the plot, and the heart-felt moments really were extremely heart-felt, because these were characters you could actually feel for. I think I stopped caring for anyone in Family Guy when Lois killed Stewie; I mean what? I mean really? That's like Leela killing Fry! And there was hardly any emotion over it! It was crap! Exposition, Show! Emotion! EMOTE, SHOW!!! EMOTE!!!
Now to be fair, the jokes really are incredibly hilarious, but to me they're more obvious than anything The Simpsons and Futurama might usually throw at you. To each their own.
Oh, and I'll just put this here-
I could not agree more with you! The reason i'm really digging the new Simpsons are the Marge and Lisa storylines, earlier seasons were all Bart and Homer, and then they got "zany" for a while (and still are a bit more "kooky" and off-the cuff than they ever where) but now we have these good stories that make us feel for the characters and it just makes for better viewing. In particular Julie Kavner has been on top form as an actress ever since the movie came out and i've been really impressed at how much the character has grown on me since
Futurama was always a bit edgier than the Simpsons, but my god it has some moments, like Leela and Fry's relationship, in later series' there's some really touching stuff in there. The one episode that sticks out to everyone is the episode with fry's dog from the past waiting for him for decades outside the old Pizza Parlour.
As for South Park, it's only ever as good as the current affairs that it's making fun of. You get some "original" stories, but all in all it relies on its jokes alone to get by and you don't really feel for the characters
Except for the episode with Kenny in a coma. (can't recall the title) Even though at that point Kenny still died almost constantly, I actually felt for the character.
I know they were just mirroring and commenting on Terry Schiavo, but they did an exceptional job there. (I feel terrible when I laugh at the "tomato" lines)
I need to watch more of the Simpsons, but I've never had much of a chance as I could never catch it on when it aired. So I'm pretty unaware of what the Simpsons has to offer, but if it's anything like Futurama, I know I'd love it.
I think that the scene in Futurama that sticks out in my mind the most is the final scene from 'Time Keeps On Slippin', when Fry finally figures out how to express his feelings to Leela by moving the stars in the sky to write a love note to her, and it disappears before she can see it. My second favorite is the ending to 'Luck of the Fryish' when Fry realizes that his brother Yancy really did love him, followed by the song 'Don't You' by Simple Minds leading in the credits.
Another example of a series that used a heartfelt moment to make me a fan for all time is, again, the Boondocks in the episode "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus". A lot of people look down on this series, and especially this episode, as being racist and horrible. I've heard people say it's anti-black, and some say it's anti-white. Well, they're all wrong; in fact they're not wrong they're complete morons. It's a satire and a parody of racism and segregation; which is in no way racism. The show and comic it's based on were created by a black dude. A lot of people probably saw commercials for this episode featuring Ronald Reagan telling a black man to preach about "White Heaven" and immediately shot it down, without even "getting it". To be honest, that was probably the commercials fault, since just showing THOSE scenes out of context like that is just screaming "look at me! I'm controversial!". It's kind of like what they say about British humor, you just have to "get it" and not judge a book by its cover. Instead of being racist, what the episode really delivers is one of the most heart-felt moments in television. Huey Freeman, a kid who believes himself to be 'above the system' and a freedom fighter, wants to bust an innocent man out of jail. In the end he comes up with a brilliant, daring, action-packed plan to bust him out, only to reveal that the entire plan couldn't be pulled off just because his grandfather wouldn't drive him to the prison. And so, he doesn't curse about it, he doesn't get mad, he just does the only thing a caring kid can do in a situation like that. He cries.
In the end it shows that no matter how tough a kid is on the outside he's still a kid on the inside, and when you're a kid things can't always go the way you want them to, and it's a very brilliant scene. Huey Freeman is one of the coolest characters I've ever seen.
The same episode also has one of the funniest satirical scenes I've ever seen.
Simpsons can very much have those kinds of moments, by the way. I'd recommend starting relatively early, or watching The Simpsons Movie, as some of the best Simpsons writers returned to write that one(and it shows).
I dunno, I've always been more a fan of Moral Orel's later seasons. Maybe it's because that's definitely more my background growing up.
Having said that, now that I've seen some newer Simpsons episodes, the show does seem to be getting funny again. Still far more excited about the new Futurama though.
But my absolute favourite comedy show is Black Books followed closely by The IT Crowd and Blackadder. But none of them are animated, so I guess they don't really count.
You know I think you've told me to watch that before on these forums, a long time ago. In fact, I'm starting to get this extremely strange feeling of deja vu, as if this thread has been done before.
Seriously? Those stick out in your mind more than the end of Jurassic Bark?
I think I can see that our humour is similar fron this.
Hurrah for British humour! *high-fives*
Well, yeah. The end of Jurassic Bark is wonderful, and classic, but when I think of Futurama and "touching scenes" those two are the first that come to mind. I can't really say that Jurassic Bark was touching as much as it was just plain sad and even a little depressing. The movie Bender's Big Score changed things a bit though, but I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it yet.
I find the lack of Monty Python disturbing...
I like Monty Python, just not as much as Black Books, IT Crowd and Blackadder. And I like A Bit Of Fry and Laurie too, but I preferred Jeeves and Wooster.
Alternatively:
What? De ja vu?
...It's a glitch in the system. It happens when they change something!
Yea all three of those are great shows