Family Guy

By Scott Keith on 14 April 2012

Hi Scott,

Noticed you don't mention TV shows much anymore, but you used to be a fan of the Animation Domination lineup on Fox, which of course included Family Guy.

I'm curious as to what you, and others, think of the show now? I'm assuming most people think it's jumped the shark? If so, was there a particular shark-jumping moment?

Also, does it seem like over the last few years, Seth MacFarlane has gone for more gross-out humor rather than relying specifically on cut-away gags or unexpected responses? It just seems like when I watch the more recent episodes, it's almost uncomfortable to watch at times (constant vommitting, occasional limb-loss, or Meg randomly pulling one of her front teeth out). I know there's a big difference between currently being 32 years old, and being 19 when I first saw an episode of Family Guy…..but it seems like I rarely bust a gut laughing at the shows like I used to, and in fact, get a bit disgusted at them now.

Thoughts?

The shark-jumping moment for me was definitely Brian eating the poppy diaper in the bank vault. The switch to HD momentarily renewed the show, but it's been incredibly hit-or-miss since then and I've been kind of letting them pile up on the DVR for a while now. The Brian & Stewie time travel episode was pretty great, but as noted otherwise it's been a parade of gross-out jokes as of late. I'm not losing sleep over missing it, I've got all the seasons on DVD and it's available on Netflix and all over syndication anyway.