4. "Family Guy"
Some shows try terribly hard to be so clever but fall short, and "Family Guy" is one of those. It aims to be a slightly subversive family comedy like "The Simpsons" but pales by comparison -- especially to the glory days of Bart and his family. The characters are flat-out annoying and unlikable, and there's nothing funny about them.
"Family Guy" also seems to reach for the type of satire that "South Park" does so well, yet the former cartoon merely offends with crude humor that has nothing of real substance to say. Even their "Star Wars" parodies are dumb.
Then again, it all makes sense when one realizes that "Family Guy" stems from the mind of the odious Seth MacFarlane, who has a strange cult following. But what good is a cult following if you can't be funny or insightful? As with so many cult shows, "Family Guy" isn't as good as the reputation its fans give it.
I don’t think "Family Guy" ever aimed “to be a slightly subversive family comedy like "The Simpsons"” Anyone who ever thought Family Guy was even a slightly subversive family comedy has never watched it. And FWIW, I never thought of “The Simpsons” as exactly family friendly fair either. Some people are under the mistaken impression that if in a cartoon format, it has to be geared toward children.
"Family Guy" also seems to reach for the type of satire that "South Park" does so well, yet the former cartoon merely offends with crude humor that has nothing of real substance to say. Even their "Star Wars" parodies are dumb.
And here I disagree again. Family Guy has gone for a lot of crude humor (not unlike South Park) and has had some big misses (again not unlike South Park has at times) but also some IMO brilliant social commentary. Yes, it leans rather liberal but has also as lampooned some liberal sacred cows rather unmercifully as well. And I for one loved the Family Guy Star Wars trilogy. It both was a loving homage to the 1st 3 movies and a parody of them at the same time.