Family Guyyyyy

[GoGo Yubari]

American Dad is NOT better than Family Guy. Not even close.

Get Volumes 1 & 2.

American Dad is better than the fourth season of Family Guy. Then again, it's hard to NOT be funnier than the fourth season of Family Guy.

I like Stan and the kids more than Peter, Chris, and Meg, but it's true that Roger is no Brian.

[stokeriño]

Simpsons is still the best cartoon out there, personally. If Family Guy, American Dad or a lot of the other cartoon series' would have gone as long as The Simpsons, they'd have had bad times and poor episodes, but the Simpsons, although some of it is poor, have had a really consitently good product over a much longer timespan.

Certainly these new cartoons, like Family Guy, American Dad etc., have shown weakness a lot earlier than The Simpsons did. They're a little iffy after 4 or 5 series, whereas at that stage The Simpsons were at full stride. However in terms of quality today I wouldn't rate The Simpsons anywhere near as high - certainly not when placed against that series which is directly comparable...Futurama.

Edited July 22, 2006 by stokeriño

[Liam]

Simpsons is still the best cartoon out there, personally. If Family Guy, American Dad or a lot of the other cartoon series' would have gone as long as The Simpsons, they'd have had bad times and poor episodes, but the Simpsons, although some of it is poor, have had a really consitently good product over a much longer timespan.

Certainly these new cartoons, like Family Guy, American Dad etc., have shown weakness a lot earlier than The Simpsons did. They're a little iffy after 4 or 5 series, whereas at that stage The Simpsons were at full stride. However in terms of quality today I wouldn't rate The Simpsons anywhere near as high - certainly not when placed against that series which is directly comparable...Futurama.

I just think that Simpsons ability to be funny and clever without resorting to wackiness for the sake of it and the fact that a lot of their stuff seems to be funny on different levels rather than what you tend to see in FG or AD means I find it just that little bit better, though the amount of times I've seen The Simpsons has led me to watch more FG or AD recently. Admittedly, I am looking at all three as a whole, rather than how recent series/episodes match up.

Futurama is good, and I can see why people prefer it to Simpsons, but I just don't like any of the characters as much as a lot of the Simpsons ones.

Edited July 22, 2006 by liamwannabe

[thatshortguy]

The Simpsons survives due to one overwhelming factor: Springfield is as close to 'alive' as a cartoon city can be.

There are so many characters that have been developed or featured just enough to warrant them having their own episodes.

Add this to the fact that they have a stellar voice cast and voila, a show that has deservedly gone for the better part of twenty seasons.

Out of personal taste, though, I'd have it in my top twenty. Mainly because the show hasn't been able to maintain a continued interest from me in nearly five years.

[Liam]

I just think that some of the newer cartoons get the "zOMG WOW" reactions comparitively purely because they are new and different. But in 20 years time, Simpsons will still be the benchmark probably, and rightfully so.

[Godfatha]

The Simpsons gets the benchmark treatment because of its longevity and the fact that it was the first mainstream cartoon to cast a wide net in terms of demographics. It wasn't solely for children (like say the Flintstones) and it's something parents can watch with their children.

Because it has such a wide appeal, it can continue to last because on any given episode, there will be a lot of people watching regardless. To echo what Midge said, Family Guy is just the one track style of humor. The unexpected, in your face style. After watching two episodes in a row, it gets predictable and quite boring. But with an episode of the Simpsons or Futurama, you can watch more than two episodes in a row and not be entirely bored.

Family Guy started off right in that it was an original cartoon that started off with a bang, but they're not really developing any characters or doing anything. The show doesn't feel like a stream of episodes, but rather a series of "wacky" one-off adventures. That's why it's slowing down and that's why The Simpsons slowed down a lot during their darker days as well.

[Rashid]

I own Volume 1 (seasons 1+2) of Family Guy and it's great. The best seasons of the show. I recommend anyone to buy that.

And after reading the previous posts, I must say American Dad is a poor show. It's almost as bad as King of the Hill. American Dad is too dull. I hate most of the characters. The only one I have remote intrest in is the teenage girl.

But recently I bought Simpsons season 1 and Futurama volume 1 DVDs and they're both awesome. I plan to buy the other 4 volumes of Futurama. The Simpsons and Futurama are much better than Family Guy and American Dad. I actually prefer Simpsons season 17 to the recent Family Guy and American Dad episodes. I don't get why many people have to bash the current Simpsons. Sure, the episodes aren't as good as the first seasons, but they're still pretty good and enjoyable. The Simpsons season 18 is one of the few shows I'm looking forward to come September.

[ClaRK! Kent]

I'm a big, big fan of Family Guy. I'd recommend you buy seasons 2 and 3, really. They're both solid, and have consistently funny episodes.

As for the whole "is it any good/is it funny?" debate. Well... yeah, it is. Shows like South Park can bitch all they want about the cutaway jokes, saying they have no point to the plot or whatever, but that really is the point. They're there to be funny, and 9 times out of 10 they are pretty funny. Obviously, being funny is something South Park is above debasing itself with, so yeah. Good for them.

American Dad... meh. It's funny, not as good as FG or Futurama or something like that. The main thrust of that show's humour is its political humour, satirising the right-wing America and its politics, which is why Stan gets most of the jokes, because he's the 'living' epitome of those values. He also has some excellent tasteless one-liners, and let's be honest, tasteless is fucking hilarious.

Like, when he shaved her hair after she dyed it green, and showed her the selection of wigs. "I don't know what you're complaining about - most girls you age have to go through chemo to get a wig this good!"

The other characters aren't so good, mind. The alien and fish... meh. Brian is ten times better.

At the end of the day, Family Guy is the better show, for Stewie Griffin if nothing else. Futurama was better, back in the day, as was the Simpsons, but right now Family Guy is the best thing out there.

South Park, meanwhile, has fucking sucked since day 1 and only continues to get worse.

[Liam]

Whether you like it or not, I'd also make a point of arguing that generally, South Park is a lot cleverer with its observational humour/culture references and very cutting also, unlike FG or AD.

Edited July 23, 2006 by liamwannabe

[stokeriño]

South Park is indeed very clever, and I would personally say it's got better. It took a while to outgrow (at least partially) the toilet humour and crass for the sake of crass, and has actually put out some of the best comedy satire I've ever seen. It remains, however, rather hit and miss episode-to-episode.

[Guest Grapehead]

If you haven't already, watch all the episodes of 'Mr. Show' you can, it's fucking amazing. "Mr. Pickles Happy Time Abortion Clinic 'We'll bring out the kid in you"... David Cross and Bob Odenkirk are fantastic.

[ClaRK! Kent]

Meh. I've never liked South Park, never really found it that clever either. It's making comments, sure, and they're delivered in a fairly interesting fashion, but they never seem to have a consistent opinion on a subject from one episode that discusses it to the next, and they end up coming off (to me at least) as controversial-for-the-sake-of-it idiots.

[FLiam]

I like Family Guy more than the Simpsons, there are more jokes in every episode. I don't get the Season 4 bashing, I thought it was great.

Every series is good in my opinion but Season 1 and 2 are probably the better ones.

American Dad is pretty funny too, just for the pure fact that Stan is a just a complete cunt.

[Toe]

There is a reason that South Park is so hit-or-miss. Every single interview I have seen from Stone and Parker, they always say that they come up with the plots some of the episodes when they are about to start creating that one episode. They usually have a writers meeting and come up with half a seasons worth of stuff, then they "book" on the fly for the rest.

And Grapehead is right. "Mr. Show" was completely and utterly destructive - it was so awesome it could level a city. A movie by those two to watch is "Run Ronnie, Run".

[apsham]

American Dad is NOT better than Family Guy. Not even close.

Get Volumes 1 & 2.

You're right, they're both horrible.