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Look, regardless of where you fall on the Family Guy divide, whether you think that its endless, redundant, 3rd-grade pastiche of self-referential fart jokes and unclever non-sequiturs is terrible, or whether you think ahahah me like put this show in my face, there is one thing that I think we can all agree on: no one fucking cares about the politics of Family Guy. If there is one arena of the public discourse in which Family Guy need not even pretend to be competing, it is laughter politics. So will someone please tell that to Seth MacFarlane? From the Guardian UK:
American right-wing talk-show host Rush Limbaugh and former president George Bush’s strategist Karl Rove are to play themselves in a forthcoming episode of Fox’s animation Family Guy.
In the episode being produced for next season, Brian, the liberal dog of the cartoon’s central family, the Griffins, gets bored and frustrated because he feels he no longer has anything to complain about with Barack Obama in the White House, so he becomes a Republican and starts listening to Limbaugh.
Hold on. That part is fine. Family Guy can have whatever type of slime-faced thumb head it wants on there. Have them all! I don’t care. But, come on, Seth MacFarlane, with this explanation:
“Family Guy tends to be very liberal because it’s written by liberals,” creator Seth MacFarlane told US trade magazine the Hollywood Reporter.
“So we thought let’s give the other side some face time. So we put it out there to a lot of Republicans – ‘we’re doing this show, who wants in?’ – and we got some bites. I’m sure the reaction from some will be, ‘you monsters, how could you have Karl Rove on your show?’”
Right. If there is one thing that Family Guy has always stood for, it is a careful, rational, balanced look at opposing viewpoints in American politics. WHAT? If you want to have a stupid storyline about a TALKING DOG who decides to switch parties, go for it, but please do not pretend like it is some kind of important repairing of the ideological rift that has developed in families torn apart by the politics of this show. And as much as Karl Rove may be a total worm-face, I’m pretty sure that he can’t do anything to denigrate the reputation of your show. You monsters, yes. But how could you have Karl Rove on your show? Easy. (Thanks for the tip, Justin.)
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You know, ever since Videogum has started posting about Seth MacFarlane, I have sat idly by as he compared his show to Obama, outed a one year old baby, and was just the worst on so many levels. I thought “Let it be Captain, this moron doesn’t even warrant your comment”, but NO MORE! Sorry Seth MacFarlane, but WE are the monsters. Stop trying to steal our thing, especially when it is in reference to the fact that you actually believe people care at all about the political agenda of you stupid show about talking dogs and gay babies. You sir, are officially the worst ever!
I’m pretty sure the only divide this show has caused is between those who watch and love Family Guy and those who like things that are funny.
Next will be the Saw-themed Family Guy episode.
If there was anything I thought this show needed it was Rush Limbaugh
Your monsters, how could you have your show on your show?
That typo is going to drive me to suicide, I swear.
Typo?
Stewie’s going to lose his virginity to Mark Foley.
10 to 1 this episode ends with the baby beating the shit out of Rove and demanding an emmy.
SUCK IT, West WIng. Family Guy is the best political show ever. In fact, I highly doubt Obama would have been elected if it weren’t for the superior liberal writing of Seth MacFarlane.
Family Guy, basically the Federalist Papers of our time…
There is nothing to complain about now that Barack Obama is in the White House. SO TRUE!
I just realized after I posted this that this may come off as ignorant and trite, but what I meant was that there are a myriad of issues that Family Guy (if it was actually a politically relevant show, which it is NOT) could have focused on given the state of EVERYTHING. Instead they chose to assert the ridiculous notion that Obama being in office somehow makes everything perfect? Huh? Do you watch the news at all?! Obama being in office is great, but saying that that is the answer to anything (let alone everything) is just plain ignorant and lazy! But what else did I expect from Seth MacFarlane?
Haha! I hope Stewie is in this episdoe! He’s my favorite! “For every sprinkle I find, I shall kill you!” Hahaheuthanize me.
Nazis wearing McCain/Palin pins….. the heighth of political satire
Are you kidding? That bit of trenchant political analysis probably gave Obama all of Indiana’s electoral votes.
Seth M is a mafia house wife…has those Carmela blinders….
“So we thought, let’s give the other side some face time,” said the show that airs on Fox.
Because when I see Jewish characters lifted directly from Der Stürmer, or the mining of humor from babies left in dumpsters, I think: Liberalism!
Family Guy is reactionary by virtue of being the worst.
I’m not a republican, but if I was I would be totally pissed by the assertion that since Brian is becoming a Republican he will have to start listening to Rush Limbaugh. Oh you know, he’s GOP now so I guess he’s going to have to start listening to a largely despised and mocked radio personality. In a way its family guy creating a straw man. Its like saying somebody who supports socialized medicine must love Michael Moore.
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Please feel free to down vote me due to my improper usage of “your” instead of “you’re”
Really? That’s why you think you might get down voted?
Well of course I’ll be down voted for saying something against the site, I mean that’s what the whole voting system is there for. Fortunately for me, I don’t really care if I’m down voted. I said what I felt needed to be said.
Haha, you said what needed to be said? Congratulations, your Pulitzer Prize for Internet Heroism is in the mail.
You don’t care if you get downvoted? Well.. then post on my wayward son! Post to your hearts content! Post like there is no tomorrow! God it must be so awesome to post with impunity! I envy you.
I can’t speak for everyone here but it’s not necessarily like i have a obsessive vendetta against Family Guy fundamentally. While i do not enjoy the show, my big problem comes with the excessive commercial and now critical success that has been heaped upon it while so many other great shows struggle. It’s that frustration compounded with a creator with an inflated sense of creative entitlement who makes outlandish comparisons that really irritates me.
I’m not defending the show in the slightest, I’m just really sick of having to hear about it one way or the other, especially on this site.
It’s like when kids act out for attention, you ignore them because making a big deal is what they want. So when McFarlane says he’s making an episode where the dog goes Republican, he’s doing it to get attention, both good and bad. Every time Gabe throws up a post going “OMG Family Guy is even more The Worst than yesterday” it’s just playing into Seth McFarlane’s hand. You’re basically giving the show free advertising at this point because it thrives off of outrage and negative attention.
Let’s just give it a rest. If we all ignore Family Guy, it will go away eventually.
Maybe Family Guy articles get Videogum lots of hits.
i hear you.
i’m a total gabe-alo, and i have no trouble with it, but there are totally repeated jokes here that i don’t always enjoy.
the huge jackman peed in his pants thing? nyeh.
hating on gwyneth paltrow? nyeh.
but who cares?
is it worth being contrary over?
no.
just ignore it.
roll your eyes.
it’d be nice if everything on this site which we enjoy was perfectly tailored in every way to our total perfect enjoyment, with nary a contrary bit, but it’s just not. sometimes there will be jokes we don’t think are that funny, or recurring bits we’re a little eyeroll-y about.
let’s just be mellow and take the good with the bad, ‘kay?
let’s paint, exercise and just let it go.
You know who else is willing to reach across the aisle during times of political crisis?
POINT OFF
Well played. If we are borrowing other V-gummers’ avatars, I counter your Frank Lloyd Wrong with Godsauce.
Thank you, sir. I humbly offer up an i am ian:
I can’t upvote things today for some reason, but know that you are upvoted in my heart.
Don’t use the word “monsters” to describe the Family Guy staff, MacFarlane. That’s our word! And we are at least five steps above you on the monster ladder!
“Brian gets bored and frustrated because he feels he no longer has anything to complain about with Barack Obama in the White House.” Aside from the fact that that premise is… not really funny, really, its relevance dates back to what, maybe January? Seth MacFarlane: timely!
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I like how their primary argument against Flight of the Conchords is that its just a show with “glasses and wacky sideburns,” and that “They aren’t even from here.” I think Seth Macfarlane looked at the wikipedia page for the show and saw a picture of germaine to come up with that slew of biting commentary.
Who is Germaine? I’ve seen all the episodes of FoTC and I don’t remember a Germaine.
Jemaine, on the other hand, is my favorite.
“I can’t speak for everyone here but it’s not necessarily like i have a obsessive vendetta against Family Guy fundamentally”
You sir fail the necessary and sufficient criteria for metaphysical taste: i.e. you do not fundamentally have an obsessive vendetta against the tank of multi-colored idea-ball toting manatees who infect the world with their disregard for the context of humor in relation to an existing plot. Choosing to refrain is still a political choice which makes you, by default, a perpetuator of the “Seth McFarlan should not be in stink jail* with the other stinkers” super-meme.
**”stink jail” is the intellectual property of Gabe
So wait, it’s Family Guy’s job to repair the politically divided America by airing a single episode that makes fun of liberals (Oh my God they drink cappuccinos and care about the environment!) ? Wasn’t that the excuse to create American Dad in the first place? Or is the talking fish not as hip with the kids as the gay baby?
Talking dog, talking baby, talking fish, talking bear, giant chicken, a kitty eating corn on the cob… I just don’t know what to believe in anymore…
Why are you blaming Seth for this? We all know it is the manatees that come up with the show’s ideas. If you really hated Family Guy you would simply take an idea ball out of the tank.
This makes me lose respect for Rush Limbaugh.
still, all this indignation makes no difference because he gets to sleep with elisha dushku and makes millions for doing something he loves.