Comical cartoons have increased in number dramatically over the past few years, and in the 21st century in general. From Futurama to South Park there are many cartoons that are considered vulgar by anyone who dislikes them. As it is, the Top 2 are definately Family Guy and The Simpsons. Each show appeals to a different audience, but within that audience there are subdivisions that enjoy each unique type of humor.
The Simpsons without a doubt contains the most realistic storyline. The Simpson family of five go through various challenges that are dealt with in humorous ways. Homer Simpson's, the father of the family, life revolves around food (specifically doughnuts and beer) and idiotic courses of action for daily issues. His son Bart creates trouble for his sister, Lisa, and the other classmates of his school (including the teachers and principal). Both types of humor are consistent, varying only in detail. Overall, the Simpson's are the most developed and probably best well-written of the two shows.
The next show in line would be Family Guy. Created by Seth McFarlane the show revolves around an American family of five. Once again, we see the caring mother and the mornoic father, accompanied with a typical brother-sister relationship. But, unlike the Simpsons, Family Guy introduced Stewie, the murderous, deceitful baby with a cynical sense of humor. The show often includes several 70's, 80's, and 90's references that make up about half the humor in the show. The other half comes from the daily lives of the family, namely Peter Griffin, the father. Todays teenage audience relates with this kind of humor and thus is the most popular out of the three shows in the teenage community.
In general, The Simpsons is a better show, but Family Guy is funnier. Anybody could watch any episode and Family Guy and have a good laugh, but the same cannot be said for the Simpsons. The Simpsons take longer to appreciate the humor, but the show is more developed and thus more enjoyable. Personally, I'd watch Family Guy all day long as the Simpsons fade into the distance, forgotten by all but the crazy fanatics.
I totally agree with you, The Simpsons is defiantly more well written than Family Guy. The characters in The Simpsons are funny in a way that is relevant to the plot as a whole, unlike Family Guy with cut-away jokes bearing no reference to the plot and can be used interchangeably throughout the episode. The Simpsons also does well with keeping its jokes relevant, second only to South Park in my opinion, while Family Guy does in fact make many references from past decades, which i find to be lazy writing. I liked your blog and thought you made some really good points, keep up the good work man.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...This is a tough one. I would definitely agree with you about the Simpsons being the best of the three. It is brilliant, from its biting satire to its neverending string of creative couch gags. Imagine sitting around the table as a member of the creative team that comes up with the next couch gag. My favorite is the one where the camera zooms into Homer's face and keeps magnifying closer and closer, and eventually you realize that there is an entire universe inside one cell of Homer's face, and eventually it zooms back into Earth with the family sitting on the couch. Absolutely brilliant.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bom Trady about the non-sequitorial nature of the break away jokes in Family Guy. In terms of humor, I would say that Family Guy has provided more uncontrollable laughter fits over the years, but I have never been as impressed with the intellect behind the Family Guy jokes as I have been by those of the Simpsons.
The dark horse is South Park, which I never really got into. I think the guys who create South Park are comic geniuses and are accutely aware that they are satirists whose role is to challenge society to think about its own foibles.