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Fox Considering a Return of "Family Guy"
wo1verin3 writes: "USA Today is reporting that all is not lost and due to exceptionally strong DVD sales Family Guy may return with as many as 35 new episodes! A DVD set of the show's first 28 episodes, released in April, has sold nearly 1 million copies, making it this year's top-selling TV show and the No. 4 television title ever, according to Video Store magazine."
Stewie Lives :)
I love that show, I saw every epoisode on Fox that I could catch, and I watch ever one that I can on adult swim. As I remember it fox keep moving the show from night to night. Sometimes showing it sometimes not, it really didn't make a log of sense. It was one of those shows that you couldn't depend it being on. I am glad that Fox is reconsidering.
The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
what kind of "restrictions" are they gonna place on it?
The show got cancelled more because of controversy than lack of ratings. It's good to see Fox selling out on this due to response (whoddathunkit? Fox?), but I hate for the Family Guy people to sell out too.
In some ways it was good that it went out on top; Look at the Simpsons now; yech.
Maybe they could save us all a little time and release them straight to DVD instead of on TV first....If I remember correctly part of the reason they got cancelled was they gave it a shitty timeslot so nobody watched it.
I belong to the ______ generation.
You've obviously never watched it then... Family Guy is levels upon levels above King of the Hill, and in my opinion actually better than the Simpsons too. It mixes an awesome blend of 'stupid' humor with underlying intelligent themes.
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"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
-- George Orwell
Futurama was smarter, funnier, and provided lots of could-be "prior art" for future patent lawsuit defenses.
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
A sense of humor?
evil adrian
I figured they'd end up on UPN with Buffy and the gang...
Chris Griffin: Where do you think you go when you die?
Southern boy: I learned from church that if you're good you go to heaven but if you're bad, you go to a place where the dead believe they're still living and they pray for death but death won't come.
Chris Griffin: UPN?
Family guy has more witty comedy packed into a half hour than any other show I've seen... it's offensive at times (Stewie often plots to kill his mom, and unlike Homer who's funny because of his ignorant, Peter is ignorant and often often *mean*). Still, if that sort of humor doesn't bother you there are some real gems in each episode, real "laugh out loud" moments, which is rare nowadays.
~Berj
It's also good because it's one of the only times in life when you get rewarded for watching shitloads of tv shows and commercials during the 70s, 80s & 90s (as in, you get the jokes:).
what the "banned episode" is about? too lazy to google ;-)
It's called "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", and it's about Peter getting into financial trouble and making a wish for a Jew to come save him, because he thinks all Jewish people are financial geniuses. I thought it was relatively tame compared to some of the other things they've done, particularly the "Special People's Games" episode. In any case, the episode is available on DVD Volume 2, and it's a joy to watch.
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"Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders what the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of"-TMBG
(from the USA Today article) "...new episodes could end up going directly to Cartoon Network."
That would solve the controversy problem since Cartoon Network is a cable channel.
relatively short network run may have helped DVD sales, Video Store's Judith McCourt says. "It really speaks to something that had a following, was cut off network TV, and people said, 'What did I miss?' "
I don't think people are saying "hmm, I think I'll check out the family guy." Consumers of the DVD were fans of the show. It sounds like no one wants to admit that fox made a mistake when they cancelled it. Also I wonder if they make the same turn around when they see the strong Firefly DVD sales
What the DEUCE!? That's bloody marvelous! Family guy is a virtual cornucopia of matriarchal matricide. Does anyone know for certain if Stewie's accent is modeled after a South African or some form of British? I guess I'm not worldly enough to tell ;-)
That sets a precident.
everybody, go buy the Firefly DVD set as soon as it's out.
hmmmm?
Everyone can thank me. I told the fox network executives that my kid was dying and his last wish was to have another season of Family Guy.
My sig can beat up your sig.
But.. they look like pepperoni
The show is very clever. Some of the things they parody are brilliant.
Ever seen the episode where Stewie says "I know what it takes to be cool" and then imagines himself doing an Elton John "Rocket Man" spoken word exactly like the one William Shatner did?
Ever seen the episode with the National Gun Association? They talk about how child gun safety is a top priority. They then show a video with a kid talking to a puppet gun (Petey the Pistol, I believe). Petey says he gets lonely and wants the kid to hold him. He also says "when you squeeze me, I make the bad people go away". Insanely funny...
I know I'm not doing these two scenes in particular justice, but the show really is great. Find a friend who has the DVDs and give them a watch or check out the episodes on Adult Swim.
So the only way to get rewarded of wasting most of your youth is to be able to get some jokes while you waste away more of your life.. woop dee fucking doo!
...
... is what I would say if I wasn't wasting *my* youth on Slashdot ;)
Karma: Could be worse (could be raining)
Even when they played it on Cartoon Network, it wasn't completely uncensored. They changed Peter's line "Even though they killed my lord," to "I don't think they killed my lord."
So they have similar characters. Big deal. The difference is in the style. Family Guy used the 'flashback' joke a LOT, as in: "Oh, they don't let Peter rent from the video store anymore because he kept recording over the tapes. {cut to scene of opening of 'citizen kane', which goes staticy for a second and then it's Peter on a couch, obviously being filmed with a home video camera, saying "It's a freakin sled, okay! Rosebud is a freakin' sled! There, now I just saved you from wasting two boring pointless hours of your life.", and then the movie continues.}
The Simpsons generally tried to stick to the story, and use the plot for the humor, while Family Guy was usually funny *despite* the plot, because the humor was in fast, small snippets.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
I agree with you that Family Guy is one of the smartest shows on television, but it is in no way subtle. Do you call the Kool-Aid Guy busting through a wall and yelling "OH YEAH!" subtle?
blog & fiction: jd87
>gave it a shitty timeslot so nobody watched it.
Which timeslot? I remember being moved at least twice.
Also, let's toss in Futurama while we're at it.
All the cartoon network did is take these gems and give them a consistant timeslot and *gasp* did some advertising. Now Rupert Murdoch et al are all scracting their heads at how much money CN is making and why dreck like "King of the Hill" isn't the cash cow it used to be.
I think you're right, I'd rather just buy the DVD than deal with FoxVision - where the shows you expect to see aren't there! Here, have some football instead.
Hell, if Cartoon Network had Fox-like money they'd be doing this too and with Futurama.
(above message from a Tivo owner and I still couldnt record Futurama because of football, for shame Fox)
The sad part is that they kill great shows to promote ones with far less lasting power.
Indeed. *cough* Firefly *cough*...
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Matt is from Portland although I argue that the Springfield vs. Shelbyville rivalry comes from Eugene and Springfield
That may make sense. There was an episode of Futurama which had a spoof of the Iron Chef, and in the beginning, Bender was a robo (Robot Hobo):
Hobo: Welcome to Bumbase Alpha, the biggest hobo jungle in the quadrant.
Bender: I've seen bigger. Oh wait, I'm thinking of Eugene, Oregon.
My favorite quotes, cant remember them exactly but i'll try...
:)
Meg: Happy Birthday Stewie! You want some ice cream?
Stewie: yes, but NO SPRINKLES! For every sprinkle I find, I shall kill you.
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Mom: You look as happy as when you were born
Stewie: But of course, that was my victory day, the fruition of my deeply laid plans to escape from that curse-ed ovarian bastille. (looks at mother who has his mind control device) Return the device woman!
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Stewie: Excellent! The weather machine is nearly completed! What do you say to that broccoli? (broccoli just sits there)... STOP MOCKING ME!
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Mom: Stewie, why dont you play in the other room.
Stewie: Why dont you BURN IN HELL!
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Stewie: (in diaper) I say, am I to spend the entire day wallowing around in my own feces?
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Stewie: (Captured in airport trying to escape by security guard) Damn you! You're one of them arent you? What are they paying you? I'll double it! I'll give you whatever you want! Money! Women! (looks at him precariously) Men?
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Stewie: (to Mom) Ohhh blast you and your estrogenical treachery!
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Stewie: Well well Mother... We meet again!
Mom: Stewie I thought I tucked you in an hour ago?
Stewie: Not tightly enough it would seem! And now you contemptible harpy I shall end your oppressive reign of matriarchal tyranny.
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Stewie: (to mom) Damn you vile woman! You've impeded my work since the day I escaped from your wretched womb.
Im sure there are lots more
I've always been of the opinion that the jokes that drag on and on for considerably longer than sanity might dictate are done that way for a reason. Watch Adam West talking about Taffee in 'E Peterbus Unum' It's worth a little laugh, but it drags on until it's not funny, then drags on even longer until it's actually funny again. Same thing with the 'Wasted Talent' when Peter falls and hurts his knee. Then you laugh even harder when he does it again later in the episode.
Specific example: In the Simpsons episode where Sideshow Bob is out of prison on work release, and he keeps stepping on rakes. The longer it goes, the funnier it is. The third time the bit is repeated, he keeps stepping on one rake after another, which is hilarious.
Caveat: If what you're doing isn't funny, no amount of repetition will save you. Case in point: "You like-a the juice?"
Final point: there's very little that's less funny than someone talking in technical terms about why something is funny.
Interociter
-=What do I want? I'm an American. I want more.
I agree with the other responders to this message: TFG is much, much wittier than The Simpsons. They're also less afraid to go for the cheap shot, and the musical bits just knock me on my ass. (Don't get me started on those flaccid "Evita" takeoffs on The Simpsons the other day -- yecccch!)
Most significantly to me, Family Guy doesn't succumb to a sitcom-ish last-two-minutes-of-the-episode personal-redemption jones. The Simpsons seems to be constitutionally incapable of wrapping things up on a mean-spirited note. Nobody ever "learns a valuable lesson" on The Family Guy; it's kinda like Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm in that sense.
It's obviously a matter of personal taste, but if you haven't seen The Family Guy you should at least give it a shot. When it first aired I dumped it after a couple of episodes because the whole "Stewie killing Lois" thing was way too overwrought for me, but after jumping back in for the Adult Swim airings I realized just how good a show it is. Arguably it's the most tightly-written network comedy in recent memory.
(I would leave King of the Hill out of the discussion, because it's a completely different kind of show -- much more grounded and less reliant on pop-culture references and flights of whimsy and "wackiness" than TFG or Simpsons, or even your average network sitcom.)
My GOD!!! That chicken sketch was the most action packed cartoon scene I have ever seen. Right near the end when Peter says, "Chicken, gave me a bad coupon...", and it starts up again... Just thinking about that makes me laugh but I digress. I think that is one of Family Guys strengths. They keep going with stuff, and it really has an effect on me.
Ditto
Peter on a bus headed for the Women's Retreat:
"OK, I'll be Charlie, and you can all be my angels". Then pointing to a less-attractive woman, "except you. You be Bosley".
*amazed to here something good has come out of this incredibly bad day*
I enjoy Family Guy for its spot-on grasp of the sense of humor of its target demographic. There was always something to make me laugh out loud at least three times an episode.
There is truly some genius in that show. Same for (IMHO) The Oblongs. Or perhaps it is just my twisted sense of humor.
The scene in Family Guy S2E14 "Let's Go To The Hop", where Lois and Peter are slipping into their BDSM gear while dicussing the problems facing kids today may well be the funniest thing I have ever seen in animation. And, *laughing* I'm pretty sure done by someone who knew what they were talking about at the time.
YMMV.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order- Ed Howdershelt Via Tass