Family Guy: Difference between revisions
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'''''Family Guy''''' is an [[United States|American]] [[animated sitcom]] created by [[Seth MacFarlane]] for [[FOX Network|FOX]] in [[1999]]. The show was cancelled in [[2002]], but positive response to the show's release on [[DVD]] and reruns on [[Cartoon Network]]'s [[Adult Swim]] led FOX to resume production of the show in [[2005]] (see "[[#Return to television|Return to television]]" below). To date it is one of only a handful of shows in television history to be cancelled and later revived by the power of their fan bases, and one of the few shows to be brought back to air by the same network that cancelled it (see [[Cagney and Lacey]]). |
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The title character is [[Peter Griffin]], an inept [[blue-collar worker]] head of a [[middle class]] [[family]] frequently beset by the consequences of his foolish antics. ''Family Guy'''s brand of humor is notable for the usually brief, frequently nonsensical cutaways and [[flashbacks]] to various points in history, geography, and reality involving the characters and their ludicrous actions (see "[[#Structure and comedic approach|Structure and comedic approach]]" below). |
The title character is [[Peter Griffin]], an inept [[blue-collar worker]] head of a [[middle class]] [[family]] frequently beset by the consequences of his foolish antics. ''Family Guy'''s brand of humor is notable for the usually brief, frequently nonsensical cutaways and [[flashbacks]] to various points in history, geography, and reality involving the characters and their ludicrous actions (see "[[#Structure and comedic approach|Structure and comedic approach]]" below). |
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Revision as of 17:57, 27 March 2006
| Family Guy | |
|---|---|
| File:FamGuy.png Family Guy title screen | |
| Created by | Seth MacFarlane |
| Starring | Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Seth Green Mila Kunis |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 72 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 21–23 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | FOX (production, see other networks below) |
| Release | January 311999 – February 142002; May 1, 2005 – present |
Family Guy is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for FOX in 1999. The show was cancelled in 2002, but positive response to the show's release on DVD and reruns on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim led FOX to resume production of the show in 2005 (see "Return to television" below). To date it is one of only a handful of shows in television history to be cancelled and later revived by the power of their fan bases, and one of the few shows to be brought back to air by the same network that cancelled it (see Cagney and Lacey).
The title character is Peter Griffin, an inept blue-collar worker head of a middle class family frequently beset by the consequences of his foolish antics. Family Guy's brand of humor is notable for the usually brief, frequently nonsensical cutaways and flashbacks to various points in history, geography, and reality involving the characters and their ludicrous actions (see "Structure and comedic approach" below).
MacFarlane also serves as a writer on the show, and voices many of the characters (Peter, Brian, Stewie, Glen Quagmire, Tom Tucker, and some others). Other voice actors include That '70s Show star Mila Kunis (Meg), actor Seth Green (Chris), former MADtv star Alex Borstein (Lois), and comedic character actor Patrick Warburton (Joe Swanson).
Characters
The show revolves around the adventures of Peter Griffin, a bumbling blue-collar worker.
Peter is Irish-American and is also directly descended from an African-American slave owned by his wife's ancestors. His wife, Lois, a stay-at-home mom and piano teacher, is a member of the Pewterschmidts, a wealthy socialite family. They have three children: daughter Meg Griffin, who is frequently the butt of jokes for her apparent ugliness; teenage Chris Griffin, in many respects a younger version of his father; and a diabolically perverted infant son, Stewie Griffin. The family also lives with an intellectual talking dog, Brian Griffin, who has repeatedly expressed romantic interest in Lois. Even though Brian has been completely anthropomorphized by the show's creators (he walks on two legs, drinks martinis, and engages in normal conversation with the Griffins), the Griffins still consider him a pet in many respects.
Other recurring characters include the Griffin family's colorful neighbors: paraplegic police officer, Joe Swanson, and his perpetually pregnant wife, Bonnie and their teenage son, Kevin, who habitually walks home from school with Meg; sex-crazed bachelor, Glen Quagmire; mild-mannered deli owner, Cleveland Brown, his ex-wife, Loretta and their hyper-active son, Cleveland Jr., news anchors Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons and the mayor, Adam West (modeled after and voiced by the actor of "Batman" fame), who is portrayed as paranoid and slightly mentally ill, as well as other various coworkers and town personalities.
Family Guy does not have an especially large cast of recurring minor characters (though this has changed in season 4, with many one-shot characters from prior episodes making appearances in new episodes) and most of the episode plotlines center chiefly around the exploits of the Griffin family.
There are also some semi-regular characters whose appearances basically tell the same joke over and over. Examples include the Evil Monkey in Chris' closet; Herbert, the old man who enjoys "watching" Chris (see pedophilia); the greased-up deaf guy; and the Giant Chicken, Peter's nemesis, whose fights usually end up causing huge amounts of damage to the city.
Structure and comedic approach
The characters live and work in Quahog, Rhode Island (IPA: ['kəʊhɑg]), a hyperrealistic and intensely satirical version of a small Rhode Island town. A "Quahog" is in fact a type of hard shell clam and doubles as a slang term for "vagina", similar to the term "clam". Characters' lives largely revolve around items and ideas of popular culture, which are incorporated into everyday conversation and events. Some of these references have exaggerated grounding in reality — a paranoid and psychotic version of actor Adam West serves as Quahog's mayor, and public schools are named for Rhode Island natives James Woods and Buddy Cianci — while others unabashedly delve into the realm of fantasy without being questioned.
Although Family Guy sometimes maintains a rough sense of continuity, complicated plots are most often traded for a concentration on comedy that is based largely on pop culture references and non-sequiturs. Though this style is often played within the characters' world, the series is also known for its use of cutaways, where the plot is interrupted and segues into unrelated, self-contained sketches — known as "gags" — of variable length. Often initiated when a character refers to a past event (accompanied by phrases such as "like that time when...", "I haven't felt like this since...", or "This is worse than the time..."), these sketches are wildly divergent in topic—ranging from classic film scenes to historical events to contemporary television commercials — though many times they encapsulate twisted, humorous takes on reality, and sometimes they are completely nonsensical, such as Peter's being a magic mirror for Kevin Federline or using his bulk to provide nighttime warmth for Lara Flynn Boyle.
The show owes a great deal of its comedic inspiration to the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker's Naked Gun/Police Squad! series (spoof, parody and screwball), whose structural comedic approach has been homaged by Family Guy. Slapstick gags, deadpan one-liners, non sequiturs, flashbacks, absurdity, and mainly parody on pop culture have been an influence on Family Guy. Family Guy finally parodied this ultimate parody movie in the fourth-season episode called "PTV." Some have also noted that many jokes on the show and the pacing seem like an updated version of the British sitcom The Young Ones[citation needed].
Though earlier animated series (such as The Critic) experimented with this style, few before Family Guy wandered the line between reality and fantasy with such aggression. Indeed, the use of this style has been parodied by the show itself; an entire episode was revealed to have been a dream concocted by Pam Ewing, a character from the television series Dallas, which retconned an entire season to the same conceit.
Because of this approach, the series reverts to normality by the end of most episodes, and occurrences in past episodes are sometimes ignored. Some changes back to normality are accomplished by tortuous or unlikely means, while others are tacitly implied. The episode He's Too Sexy for His Fat offers examples of each: Peter's extensive liposuction and cosmetic surgery is reverted by having Peter have a car accident and land in a lard factory, where he consumes a whole vat of lard. In one episode, Brian has shards of glass embedded in his head, is beaten repeatedly with a golf club, shot through both knees, and is roasted by a flamethrower, but returns to a perfectly healthy state afterwards - this could be compared to traditional Warner Brother's cartoon style humor [1].
But there are also cases of episodes making changes to continuity that are upheld and even elaborated on in later episodes, such as Peter's occupation being shifted from a toy factory assembly line worker to a fisherman, to a lowly worker at a beer factory, and the breakup of secondary characters Cleveland and Loretta. In a recent fourth-season episode, Brian picked up a rock and hit Peter in the head, telling him that it was revenge for keeping the window rolled up when Brian tried to jump head-first into the family car, which Peter had repainted at the time to resemble the General Lee, an event that took place in the Season Three episode "To Live and Die in Dixie."
Being a native of Kent, Connecticut, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, MacFarlane has written a number of in-jokes and references into Family Guy which allude to real life places in Rhode Island and the surrounding New England area, including Providence, Pawtucket, Narragansett, Newport, Warwick, Natick, Upton, South Attleboro, and Webster.
Criticism and Controversy
 |
Ever since its initial run, Family Guy has received much criticism from a variety of sources. Of particular concern to parent watch groups is the show's adult content and disregard for traditional morality. Critics and peers have criticized the show for the derivative and simplistic nature of its comedy.
Family Guy has been panned by certain television critics, most notably from Entertainment Weekly[2], which was in turn attacked by MacFarlane during a scene in the straight-to-DVD movie Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story!. The Parents Television Council has also registered their disapproval of the show, giving it second place on their 2000[3] and 2005[4] lists of "worst prime-time shows for family viewing".
In addition to TV critics and political groups, those who have publicly criticized Family Guy include quite a few fellow cartoonists. Criticism was offered by John Kricfalusi, the mind behind Ren and Stimpy, who complained that, "If you're a kid wanting to be a cartoonist today, and you're looking at Family Guy, you don't have to aim very high. You can draw Family Guy when you're ten years old. You don't have to get any better than that to become a professional cartoonist. The standards are extremely low."[5]
Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame [6], and a number of The Simpsons hands, including creator Matt Groening and Executive Producer Al Jean, have all registered their distaste, and even disdain, for Family Guy. Writers for the Simpsons have jokingly accused it of outright plagiarism on a DVD commentary.[citation needed] The Simpsons' Season 17 episode The Italian Bob also shows the writers of the Simpsons accuse them of plagiarism, and in a Simpsons episode in which Homer spawns an army of clones, Peter Griffin appears as one of them. When the Italian police are looking through a wanted book, Peter's picture comes up as wanted for "Plagiarismo" (Plagiarism). Further in, the main character of American Dad, Stan Smith can be seen as well with the crime of "Plagiarismo di Plagiarismo" (Plagiarism of Plagiarism), implying that Family Guy is a rip-off of The Simpsons, and American Dad is just another Family Guy. Although this isn't the first time The Simpsons has taken a shot at Family Guy, it is referring mainly to the rivalry between the two shows. In an episode of the Simpsons, a girl calls Bart a "Family Guy" as a demeaning name, though it may only be a continuation of the taunt "mama's boy."
Episodes
In keeping with the humorous tone of the series, most episode titles of Family Guy are parodies of popular television shows, movies, and mottos. No media product or cultural norm is immune from parody on this show.
For the first half of the first season, the writers tried to work the words "murder" or "death" into the title of every episode (i.e., Mind over Murder and Death Has a Shadow) to make the titles resemble those of old-fashioned radio mystery shows. On a DVD commentary, creator Seth MacFarlane says that the writers stopped doing this when they realized they were beginning to get the titles confused.
DVD film
The first film, released to DVD on September 27, 2005, focuses on Stewie searching for his biological father. Three separate, but continuous episodes, originally intended for the fourth season, were combined into a full-length film. A one-minute scene from the movie can currently be viewed here.
Theme Song
Composed by Walter Murphy, the familiar theme music of the show begins as a parody of the opening theme of All in the Family, where Peter and Lois sing at the family piano, similar to Archie and Edith Bunker.
There has been some confusion over Stewie's solo line of "laugh and cry". Because it immediately follows a music sting, "laugh and cry" has been mistaken for "effin' cry" by both viewers and closed-captioning transcribers. Although a clearer recording of the line was featured during the third season, MacFarlane maintains the lyric has always been "laugh and cry". Nevertheless, rumors flew during its ambiguity claiming that "laugh and cry" and "effin' cry" were used interchangeably.
In keeping with the series's malleable comedy, the traditional opening song has been occasionally dropped in favor of different themes, including parodies of Law & Order, Family Ties, Police Squad!, and the Hope-Crosby Road movies.
History
Creation
While studying at the Rhode Island School of Design, Seth MacFarlane created a short film entitled The Life of Larry about a middle-aged slob named Larry Cummings, his cynical talking dog, Steve, wife Lois, and pudgy teenage son Milt. This film includes many of the same gags that would end up on Family Guy.
After being hired at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc., MacFarlane was given a chance at the age of 22 in 1996 to direct a sequel to the short entitled Larry and Steve, a nine minute short which was broadcast as one of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons. The short featured two main characters: Larry, a fat, old, balding man who did idiotic things, and Steve, a talking dog who was smarter than most people. The short features Steve in front of a camcorder recording an SOS tape for someone to come and save him from his bumbling owner, Larry. Steve recounts for the tape the misadventures that have ensued ever since Larry bought Steve from the dog pound, focusing on a series of misadventures and hijinks that ensued when the pair went to the mall to buy items for Larry's apartment. While at the mall, the two destroy nearly everything. For example, Larry is looking for a light bulb for his bedside lamp. He puts in a high-wattage bulb and criticizes Steve for saying that it wasn't a good idea to put the bulb in by commenting that he didn't go to kindergarten for twelve years because he was stupid (but because he got his foot caught in the radiator). When Larry plugs the lamp in, it turns into a wide lightsaber and he cuts the store in half. Of course, while he's doing it, Larry references the "Luke, I am your father..." line from The Empire Strikes Back by saying "Luke, this is your landlord. You still haven't returned my weedwacker." The episode can be seen here.
Executives at Fox Broadcasting Company saw both shorts, and MacFarlane was given the opportunity to develop a show based on them. He agreed, leaving Hanna-Barbera and working on the characters of Larry and Steve, who eventually evolved into Peter and Brian Griffin.
Regardless, both The Life of Larry and Larry and Steve portray vast similarities to Family Guy, including similar voices and character status for Peter and Brian's character. Also, in an interesting side note, Larry mentions a store named Stewie's. Stewie would later become the name of Peter Griffin's infant son.
See Family Guy history for a complete timeline.
Initial run
The first episode was aired in the United States on the Fox Network on January 311999, after Super Bowl XXXIII. The show premiered as a regular series in April and ran for six more episodes until the season finale in the middle of May. The first season contained seven episodes and introduced the viewer to the show's main characters. The second season began on September 231999, and contained 21 episodes. The third season contained 22 episodes and began its run on July 112001. During its second and third-season runs, Fox frequently moved the show around different days and time slots with little or no notice[citation needed]. Ratings suffered, and after only two episodes of the second season, Family Guy was taken off the network's permanent schedule and was shown irregularly thereafter.
When Family Guy was shown in the UK, and when the DVDs were subsequently released there (November 122001), the first seven episodes of the second season were included with the first season, balancing them out with 14 episodes each.
There was a great deal of debate and rumor during the second and third seasons about whether Family Guy would be cancelled or renewed. Fox publicly announced that the show had been cancelled at the end of the second season. In an attempt to convince Fox to renew the show, dismayed fans created websites, signed petitions, and wrote letters; some even sent diapers and baby food to the network for Stewie.
A shift in power at Fox resulted in thirteen new episodes being ordered, which formed the basis of the third season. The show's writers, aware of the uncertainty of the show's future, referenced it in several episodes. During the third season, Fox announced that the show was cancelled for good.
Revival efforts
The news of Fox's cancellation in the third season was met with dismay by fans, and renewed efforts were made to convince Fox to resurrect the show. An online petition was launched, which garnered over 10,000 signatures within a few weeks. The petition gained over 100,000 signatures total, but this along with mass e-mailing and letter writing to Fox executives and organized street protests failed to save Family Guy. Later efforts to get other networks, particularly UPN, to buy Family Guy also failed.
Return to television
In 2003, reruns of the series found a permanent home at Cartoon Network and its late-night Adult Swim block, where, as of 2006, it continues to play. According to a Cartoon Network press release, "FAMILY GUY ranks #1 in its time period on cable among Adults and Men 18–24, and also beats both The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in head-to-head competition among Men 18–34 and Men 18–24." (This was only an occasional ratings outcome[7].)
The series found further success on DVD, when it was finally released for the US market (NTSC, Region 1) on April 152003. Divided into two volumes, Family Guy sold 2.2 million DVD units in the first year[8], reportedly surpassing every other TV-based DVD released in 2003, including Sex and the City and Friends compilations. The significant Cartoon Network ratings, combined with the unprecedented DVD sales, led to widespread rumors that Fox was in talks to revive the series.
On November 192003, the E! Entertainment Television channel and its website (see below) reported that Fox was negotiating with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane to revive the show with 35 new episodes. On February 272004, in an interview with IGN, Seth MacFarlane confirmed that Family Guy would resume production. MacFarlane provided even more information in a BBC interview. (see IGN interview, BBC interview)
On March 262004, 20th Century Fox Television officially announced that it had committed to producing at least 22 more episodes of Family Guy to be rebroadcast on Adult Swim in early 2005. The Fox Network has retained a window to run these episodes, starting on May 12005. Seth MacFarlane was quoted as saying, "I'm just incredibly excited that we're back in business on Family Guy. Now all those crazy kids who've been hounding me to bring the show back can stop bothering me and move onto more serious matters—like saving Coupling."
The fourth-season premiere of Family Guy took place on Sunday, May 1, 2005, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Fox. One aspect that has helped the show's current success is its placement on Sunday night with the other Fox animated programs. Reruns of the fourth season began play during Adult Swim on June 9, 2005.
Furthermore, a Family Guy direct-to-DVD movie, titled Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story!, which was a collection of 3 Family Guy episodes strung together in one collected plot with additional added scenes, was released on September 272005 (see [9]). The 87-minute film is unrated and includes commentary, deleted material, and other bonus features.
A Family Guy video game is currently in production under the Take-Two Interactive banner, and will be developed by High Voltage Software. Playable characters include Peter, Brian, and Stewie. The game is slated for a 2006 release on the Game Boy Advance, Xbox, and PlayStation 2. [10] [11].
On September 272005, Variety reported that 20th Century Fox green lighted production of 22 additional all new episodes of Family Guy, (see [12]).
International syndication
- In the UK, BBC Two started showing Season 3 in September 2005 along with American Dad, but are yet to announce the showing of Season 4. It is interesting to note that although the fourth season hasn't been shown yet, the fourth season of Family Guy will be released on DVD on 24th April 2006 in the UK. The programme is also regularly shown on the Fox channel, FX.
- In Australia, the show has made its long awaited return, airing Thursday nights on the Seven Network during the summer non-ratings period. This was shifted to a later timeslot on the resumption of the ratings year.
- In Canada, it is shown on the Global Television Network, often simultaneously with the Fox telecasts across the border. Also, Teletoon shows unedited reruns of the series.
- Swedish viewers can watch reruns of the show weekdays at 20:30 CET on Z-TV. Family Guy is also shown Fridays on TV3 around 19:00 CET.
- In Flanders (Belgium) the show has always been broadcast by Kanaal Twee, althought with lengthy interruptions. The fourth season hasn't been shown yet. Episodes are never dubbed, they are subtitled in Dutch instead (as with most animated shows in Flanders).
- In Norway the show is sent on ZTV weekdays at 18:30
- In Latin America the show is broadcasted by FOX Latinoamerica on mondays and tuesdays at midnight.
- In the Philippines, is is shown on Jack TV every Monday night at 8:30 PM (Philippine Time).
Podcast
A free podcast is available to download as an MP3 from the official site. 17 episodes have been released for it. On several of the podcasts, cast members discuss upcoming episodes.
See also
- List of characters from Family Guy
- List of Family Guy episodes
- Trivia and Pop Culture References in Family Guy
- Criticism of Family Guy
- Family Guy DVDs
- American Dad!
References
- ^ Netherby, Jennifer. "DVD keeps Family alive". Video Business. March 29, 2004.
- ^ Battaglio, Stephen. "The Second Life of Brian". TV Guide. May 1-7, 2005.
External links
Official
- Official Family Guy Website
- Family Guy at [adult swim]
- Family Guy at The Detour
- Family Guy at Wikicites
Info
- Family Guy at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Family Guy at IMDb
- Family Guy at TV.com
- Family Guy at RetroJunk.com
- Planet Family Guy and Damn You All forums (fansite)
- Quahog 5 News (fansite)
Clips from the show
- four WMV 250 kbit/s clips
- Family guy video clips
- Collection of Family Guy Clips
- Template:Google video
- Template:Google video
- Stewie's version of "Rocket Man" by Elton John
- The FCC Song
- Template:Google video
- Take on me featuring Chris
- Gags removed from the Show
- Peter Griffin on David Letterman (not from the show)