Using Family Guy gets the word out, and got people to watch. As for the show repeatedly saying they dislike Family Guy, that was Cartman's motivation, and Bart's motivation (both based on the actual dislike for FG which exists among both series' creators/writers). Bart writing FG sucks over and over again makes perfect sense since 1) it is about the only thing we know about this character (SP Bart, not Simpsons Bart), and 2) it IS a knowing jab to The Simpsons character. I don't know whether SP or FG qualify as "witty" - I'm not sure there is an objective yardstick for such a thing. Both make me laugh (sometimes more than others), SP for its outrageousness, FG for its random absurdity.
I just find it really ironic how every animated comedy show's creator seems to be trying to diss FG when from what I recall Family Guy has done nothing against them. So I guess since FG is on top and was brought back, hey let's try to bring it down. Good luck next time, South Park.
I can tell you didn't watch the episodes of South Park jet. Otherwise you'd realize how wrong you are.
I like both shows. I like SP because they can respond so quickly to issues in the world at hand, and I care for FG because of the characters and the random absurdity. Sure they were poking fun at FG; its funny because its true. FG has a lot of interchangeable jokes and pop culture references, but it's still a good show. SP makes fun of everyone, themselves included, in this episode.
South Park is witty. South Park has some of the absolute best political/current events humor out there. They also find a way to make both sides of the political spectrum laugh at the same things. Because the show is done on computer, they can make an episode in about 5 days I believe they said. Which is great for the current events humor. Family Guy is not witty. It is very funny at times. But 80% of it is just random crap. Also One major point....out of those shows, they've both been around longer than Family Guy, and neither has been CANCELLED like Family Guy was. And hey, I'm a Family Guy fan. The show is funny. The Simpsons hasn't been funny since 1997. But it's nowhere near the calibur of South Park.
FG is a bunch of jokes strung together. It's funny, but the "writing" is shit. It's not very witty really. Not saying that it isn't funny, but it's writing is about as lazy and easy as it gets. Anyone can write random jokes and references and just shove them into flashback scenes while padding it all out with a poor 5 minute storyline.
BTW - "Random" shit can be both funny AND well written. Witness Monty Python. Great deal of random silliness in that, but I'll be damned if the FG writers could ever come up with two women in a laundromat discussing Kirkegaard and Sartre. In the end, FG is the new boy on the block (relatively speaking), and it's gotten the lion'[s share of media attention (prior to the Hayes incident), so its not suprising that someone took a shot at it, especially if they really don't like the show. Given that Family Guy has gotten a tremendous amount of mileage by poking fun at others (often with little tact), I don't see why any of its fans should give a damn that someone else is criticising it WITH PERFECTLY VALID POINTS.
See, I like Family Guy. BUT... the last couple of episodes really have been utilizing the same gag techniques, even before the South Park episodes aired. Anybody remember the episode where Chris ran away to avoid Freshman hazing? I thought that episode had a bunch of random flashbacks in it that really detracted from the overall episode. There's like three things that a Family Guy episode seems to do: *Do "Remember that time" (or whatever) flashbacks *extend a gag over a long period of time (ie Peter vs Chicken; "POW! Right in the kisser!" homage; scene where someone sings; etc etc) *Some sort of pop culture reference (either in the flashback or in the story) It was funny when they did this early on because people didn't expect it (and occasionally they still do that). Once people anticipate it, some of the jokes--particularly the gag-extending ones--get really, really annoying. You know, come to think of it, if Seth MacFarlane and co want to get back at South Park in a really, really, really annoying way, then they'd constantly do scenes where Family Guy is mentioned as being "good or better than" South Park. Especially considering this interview with Parker and Stone: http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=6&csid1=3880 Where this is mentioned:
Parker and Stone love winding people up. That includes their detractors and probably their fans as well. People need to get a bit of perspective, and should stop taking their digs at FG so personally.
We have an answer for that question now: http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/13/southpark.muhammad.ap/index.html
This point is actually what really turned me against this South Park episode. SP does have a lot of good social commentary, and Trey and Matt seem to be some of the most sensible guys on the planet. For instance the war protest episode where they realize America needs people who like war and who don't like war, there's a balance, there's a valid point of view to each side. What is really wrong is total Extremism. Well saying everything or nothing can be made fun of is total Extremism. Perhaps there's a bit of hypocrisy in not allowing an image of Muhammad but having other religions made fun of... but there's also a thing called judgment. Making everything in the world completely black or white is too simplistic, there are many shades of gray. Complete Extremism is also the evil in Beast Machines. I respect they were able to poke fun at themselves about being "preachy" and having their "heads stuck up their own asses"... but on this episode, simply making fun of that, mentioning that doesn't mean it isn't true. Also, while SP jokes are more often connected to a plot whereas FG jokes may not be... the actual sense of humor is similar. For example Stan's dad said something like "If we wake up tomorrow morning then we'll know we're not dead." Which I think is pretty much the same kind of funny, the same "sense of humor" as FG saying stuff like "and we didn't learn a thing" (maybe that's not the best example... I gotta think of a better FG quote, but I'm blanking right now). SP jokes may be written to a plot more, but the "sense of humor" is similar.
And we all know people tend to give lots of money to support shows they hate, dislike, or are just plain ambivilant towards.
i concur. if you must insist cartoon with juvenile humor is witty, then i can only assume it must be wit in its most blunt form. like, boulder-blunt. scrubs. now thats witty. ...i just discredit myself, didnt i?
True, but you do see Family Guy rip into just about everything else. In fact, in the examples you posted, they rip into a TV network, a religion, and a celebritiy or too.
