Family Guy concerns

I am concerned about “Family Guy”. It is my favorite show on television. And I do not watch much. I don’t watch 24 and I don’t get HBO. The Sunday cartoon block (sandwiched around the despicable “The War at Home”) of Simpsons and “Family Guy” is all I have. So I am very invested in this program. And I am scared.

“Family Guy” needs to evolve. All the great shows do. The “Simpsons” was the first prime time cartoon to ever entrench itself as a weekly sitcom. It was so new and different, that the content of the writing was inconsequential. The show was irreverent and crass and that was all that mattered. Bart dropped a couple ‘aye carumbas’ and ‘don’t have a cow, mans’, Homer made a bumbling mistake and shouted at everyone in the room and you had yourself a show. Take a look at the early shows. Season 1 is nearly unwatchable.

“Simpsons” figured out that if they were going to stay on the air, they had to move forward. They hired fantastic writers and shifted the focus away from Bart towards Homer. They incorporated supporting characters and created a living community. They started delivering satire more poignant and biting than any show in the history of television. That is a reinvention.

Not every show can recruit and retain the caliber of writers the “Simpsons” can. So if you cannot match that level of talent, you have to carve a niche. Enter “South Park”. When that show came on, it was so crude and offensive that it took immediate notice. The shock value carried it for the first few seasons. But fart jokes and low blows at celebrities only go so far.

“South Park” evolved. They mastered the ability to digitally design and produce a 22-minute animated episode in less than a week (a “Simpsons” episode takes 9 months to complete). Now, writers Matt Stone and Trey Parker can respond to happenings in the world instantaneously. No other sitcom has the ability to be this topical.

“Family Guy” corralled a cult following by taking often piercing shots at everyone and everything. Nothing was spared. This was combined with a sadistic genius infant with sexual identity issues and a hard drinking talking dog. The show distinguished itself by leaning on random flashbacks plugged in throughout the story. The absurdity of the flashbacks and complete departure from the running plot made the show deliciously weird and nonlinear. It was refreshing to watch a show that did not play by the rules.

But now you know about the baby and the dog. You expect snide remarks towards Hollywood, religious groups and George Bush. And the flashbacks are starting to look more like filler. In fact, if you take away the flashbacks, you are left with a 10-minute cartoon about a wise-cracking family. Last week, the show flashed to one of Peter’s old ‘part-time’ jobs. They ran a clip of Peter working behind the counter at Burger King, singing about menu items over a Christmas jingle. This was a parody of a cartoon that made the rounds on the internet. Spoofing an internet clip? That’s weak.

Record a “Family Guy” show. Edit out the flashbacks. There’s not much left.

But this reads like any other critique piece - picking out the nitty gritty and complaining about a show that has done nothing but bring me laughs for free. I hope I watched an off show and I am being ridiculous. I need this show.