How do you guys keep watching anime?

[Leader Desslock]

Okay, Swaggity, I don't think you'll be back, but in case you are, let's go over something you said in a bit more detail, purely for your edification. Maybe this'll make what we're saying a bit clearer. You said:

Originally Posted by swaggity

And each joke is approached originally.

Let's just take a look at that claim. But for a moment, forget about Family Guy. I think I want to tell you a joke. This is a very common joke from back home, where making fun of the French-Canadians is something of a pastime.

Q: How do you get a one-armed Frenchman out of a tree?
A: Wave to him.

That's a harmless bit of ethnic humor, and since I'm French, I can get away with it. Maybe you think ethnic humor is "adult", maybe you don't. Either way, it's a good joke.

Now I'd like to tell you another joke. It's another piece of ethnic humor, this time from the New York region.

Q: How do you get a one-armed Dutchman out of a tree?
A: Wave to him.

I'm not Dutch, so I hope those of you who are will forgive me for my impertinence, there. I realize that edgy humor of this nature can be a bit shocking on a family-friendly forum such as this.

Now, these are clearly two separate jokes, but if you're the clever reader I think you are, Swaggity, I'll bet you noticed that they're pretty similar. I might try and claim that they're totally different because one's a disparaging joke about the French, while the other's a quick joke about the Dutch. But if I try to claim this, you'll point out that it's exactly the same joke - all I did was change the word Frenchman to Dutchman.

Please note that I could just as quickly make this a racial, political or sexist joke by switching the word "Frenchman" to "Jew", "Libertarian" or "Feminist", respectively.

Now imagine that I put together a half-hour comedy act consisting of repeating this same joke over and over again with different targets. Would the reviews read "It was a tour-de-force of ethnic, racial, political and gender comedy!" or would people leave saying "The guy kept saying the same joke over and over and over again for a half hour?"

We both know it would be the latter. I have one joke. The format of that one joke is as follows:

Q: How do you get a one-armed [JOKE TARGET] out of a tree?
A: Wave to [HIM/HER].


...and so.... let's go back to Family Guy. Can you tell me if the following joke outline looks at all familiar?

[SITUATION]
(Character): "That's just like the time that [CELEBRITY TARGET] did [DESCRIPTION OF SCENE].
<CUT TO SCENE>
([CELEBRITY TARGET]): "[SIGHT GAG BASED ON CELEBRITY TARGET'S PERSONA]"

That should look pretty familiar, because it's one of the jokes that Family Guy uses over and over and over again:


"That's just like the time I took that calligraphy class with Michael J. Fox."
<scientist sees Fox's paper, mistakes it for a seismograph of the Big California Earthquake, runs out and causes a panic.>


"That's just like that time Godzilla hosted the Hollywood Squares."
<Godzilla kills Paul Lynde in center square.>



Even though the one joke is about Michael J. Fox and the other's about Godzilla, it's the same joke, just like my Frenchman/Dutchman example.

The script writers at Family Guy could come up with the same jokes if they pulled celebrity names and random situations out of a hat. Each joke is not being "approached originally". They're being cranked out assembly-line style. That's part of the reason the pace of the show is so fast - if they gave the audience time to think about the jokes, they'd realize that they're not all that funny.

That's just one of the jokes that's constantly overplayed in Family Guy. Want me to break down the "Movie/TV Scene Reference" joke for you? That's gotta be the next most used joke. How about the "Completely Improper Response" joke? I'm pretty sure I haven't seen an episode without that one.


South Park did a whole episode deconstructing the lack of sophistication in Family Guy's humor, which I found hilarious. Maybe you ought'a give that a watch sometime.

[Driver]

Let's not forget the 3 or 4 or however the **** many other shows that are exactly like Family Guy that do the exact same thing.

[goddessofanime]

At least The Simpsons frequently take the piss out of pop culture/history/politics and other things. Same with South Park

The best thing about Family Guy is Brian and Stewie. Peter is awful, as is the wife, the son's an idiot and I seriously can't stand the 'MEG IS UGLY' jokes.

[DazarGaidin]

Even the guy who makes family guy acknowledges that he is basically ripping off the flintstones and honeymooners. They make fun of it themselves all the time, even the flashback gag.

"Like that time peter did blah blah....what? No clip? I thought we had a clip. Oh ok then, nevermind."

I like family guy, its kinda mindless entertainment. There isnt much sophisticated about the humor or the show in general but they know that and don't try to be. A lot of episodic comedy shows are like that, most american shows are. There are some anime that do the same as well. I think to use it as a standard of quality for animated shows vs japanese animated shows is a bad idea, because it doesn't stand up as a model example. It isn't meant to though.

In japan i think the norm is to have continuous, plot/character driven cartoons, and the out layers are the random comedy and episodic shows. In american shows, even non-cartoons, the proportion is reversed (they want to hold your interest for the length of the episode, having to tune in each time to understand whats going on is usually to be avoided). Exceptions like Avatar are more rare (tho they are highly successful sometimes when they are brave enough to try, look at Heroes and Lost).