Speaking of algorithm things, it's designed to keep people watching above all else, so the thing that's maybe the most disproportionately weighted is if the viewer continues to watch afterwards. It can be anything - _just click on something._ If you want to stop watching, do it after clicking to a different video. Conversely, if you dislike a video, thumbs-downs don't do much, so the best way to harm it is to immediately stop watching and close your tab. Also, if you want to help your favorite channels, *_unsub from channels you dont often watch,_* or ones you watch often enough that you don't need to be subbed to (if they have enough subs). A big problem is that people simply have too many subs, so there's not enough space to spread around.
Thank you! I only recently actually added end screen elements to my videos after finding out that people clicking on other videos is what helps with the algorithm
I like early Family Guy a lot, especially Brian's replies to Peter. "Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't ... nothing?" "Brian, there's a ghost in my Alphabits. It says OOOO." "Peter, those are Cheerios."
Yeah, Brian being the weary straightman to Peter's antics was great. It's probably just a holdover from "Larry and Steve", but I still feel like it worked well.
I’m partial to their exchange in “Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater” when after him failing completely to understand Brian’s points, the latter goes “Wow! Perfect! My work here is done. But, just for the hell of it, let’s try again” in a completely deadpan manner. 😂
Early Family Guy was just really good at zingers. I still laugh at "You better watch who you're calling a child, Lois. Because if I'm a child, then you're a pedophile. And I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and get lectured by a pervert."
@@gokux75When You Wish Upon a Weinstein, the episode Fox refused to air. I'm Jewish and I can name 10 *Simpsons* episodes more offensive that don't even involve Krusty the Klown or his father! Hell, I can name 10 whole series that are more offensive, and at least four of them have been name-dropped on *Family Guy!* in fact, I could name 10 *Family Guy* episodes that are more offensive than this one! The gay episodes (the ones that actually use that to move the plot) are wall-to-wall cringe.
I think the biggest change is that originally Family Guy was mostly centered around being a direct parody of classic sitcoms, compared to a more general satire like the Simpsons. The opening credits being a homage to All In the Family, the first episode starting off with a Brady Bunch parody, Peter signalling the band to play heartfelt music when he hugs his dad, that kind of thing. 30 years later and those shows and their tropes aren't relevant anymore, which really hurt the core identity of the show. Now instead of moving on, it really seems like modern Family Guy has sunk it's feet into the ground and started lashing out at its contemporaries for getting more attention.
Sometimes punching down is punching back. If those tropes are so irrelevant (they're not), then how come nothing better replaced them but forgettable one-liners about pre-Trump post-9/11 flavors of the month? The bigger problem is that once they basically ran out of post-Boomer pre-90s pop culture references, they show how slim the pickings really are. *Saved by the Bell* references = not funny, not cool, not acceptable. Just like sacrificing an entire first act to a bunch of floats about that terrible show +0n¥ d@nz@ did after *Taxi* was canceled is also not funny, not cool, and not acceptable. Same reason the *f(r)iends, grwng pns,* and *chrls n chrg* themes are not funny, not cool, and not acceptable. And that parade float episode was and is also *The Simpsons'* fault because one of their producers also made *Taxi.* The fact that so much of 90s popular culture was defined by *The Simpsons* and other cartoons, especially the ones from Seth's pre-Fox career at what was left of Hanna-Barbera under Ted Turner, makes it hard to spoof post-1980s pop culture effectively. *Quiet on the Set* has effectively rendered post-1980s nostalgia a lie. They need to just show more discernment in what shows they reference. They also need to directly address how problematic it is to reference white ripoffs instead of the black OGs. They referenced a *Gimme A Break!* ripoff instead of *Gimme A Break!,* and they played the theme to a *Living Single* ripoff instead of the theme from *Living Single.* Between those two points, they had the title character of a *Song of the South* ripoff flash children! Seth MacClosetqueen owes us no less after the desecration of *Good Times.*
I've been making this argument for years now; that pre-cancellation Family Guy was and still is a good show, and feels completely different from post-cancellation Family Guy. It's great to see someone voice it better than I ever could. There's a reason why those Adult Swim reruns inspired millions of DVD sales. "Shut up, Meg" and "bird is the word" was not the Family Guy we originally fell in love with. "Freakin' sweet" and "damn you all" was.
Early Family Guy is the goat. I brought all three seasons and rewatched them about a year ago and I still felt emotions of all type. Beforehand, I haven't watched Family Guy in five years, but this would be the Family Guy I remember.
It was somewhere around season 7 where the change happen Peter went from being this lovable but dimwitted dad to a sociopath, Lois went from this sweet and endearing housewife with a bit of an edge to her into a depressed spiteful person. Chris became this doof with an artistic side into someone who should be in professional care. Meg went from this typical teenage wallflower into the shows punching the only redeeming thing is that the show has done a 180 and turned her into someone the rest of the characters are kind of afraid of. Stewie went from a Bond villain in baby form into a walking gay joke. And Brian went from being the voice of reason with a few demons into the shows walking criticism of society that the show loves to put down. To say nothing of the rest of the characters some of them have become unlikable walking parodies of themselves.
If I had a nickle for every show that originally was going to end at 3 seasons, but continued forward and couldn't meet the quality of the first 3 seasons, I'd have 2 nickles, which isn't much, but it's odd that it's happened twice.
"Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows" from Season 3 is my favorite episode in the entire series. Like the title theme says, it made me laugh, and it made me cry. Every single thing that they mention in the episode ends up coming back, and it's so beautifully crafted that you'd never expect it to be from Family Guy at all. I think pre-cancellation Family Guy is one of my favorite TV series, and I could honestly rewatch it over and over again
I'd actually been thinking recently about how well early Family Guy holds up, and I think this meshes pretty well with where I'm at on the topic; I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of the most famous lines and gags from the show are still from these early years. I still remember when it debuted, and how much the "Oh, no!" "Oh, no!" "Oh, NO!" "OH YEEEAH!" gag blew my mind; was it silly and not plot related? Sure, but at the time it was also something that felt very fresh, different from whatever else you were going to find with animated adult TV, so having the insane gags and cutaways combined with characters you could actually wrap your head around and relate to at times made it work. I'll never say it reached the heights the Simpsons did, since almost nothing can, but it's still interesting to think how much things started to change when the show came back.
mildly disagree with Joe going along with mockery being a sign of weakness. people like that want a response from their victim, so Joe going along with the joke at his expense is a sign of his strength compared to if he just said "you know what FUCK YOU"
I have been high school teacher for 20 years. The cartoon character I have heard my teenage students imitate more often than anybody in that entire 20 years put together is Herbert the pervert. Specifically, “I got a whole freezer full of popsicles in my cellar “.
The Jemima joke was not the first joke in family guy. It was their parity of the Brady Bunch they were watching on TV right before that… also the syrup tasted better in the other bottle prove me wrong.
What happens to *Futurama* in this timeline? Does it still get Punky Brewstered by getting sent to the Sunday night death slot at the mercy of *60 Minutes* and football? This may not matter to non-American viewers, but to those of us in the US it was irritating because this is why new episodes were so erratically scheduled. Cartoon Network saved both these shows. Now it's time for all the remaining 90s cartoons to retire so new ones can do for this decade what those did for the 90s and 00s.
I can see why they changed Joe it was probably easier to write the newer version of his character. Before he was an inherently positive character. Its easier to write jokes about negative situations. Also When Peter goes to the bar he is just kinda there. I'm not sure what the old version of Joe would be like in some of the new epsidoes. He usually just says something socially awkward and they kinda ignore him.
That's a good point about tragedy being more fitting for comedy than everything going well. Really aren't that many comedies about people for whom everything in their lives is going well
Ironically the major thing that damaged the show was being renewed after the cancellation. The show was originally cancelled mainly due to the Wish Upon a Weinstein episode, which by today's television standards is tame. They were cancelled for being "offensive" by early 2000s tv standards and after they came back my assumption is that most of the writer's thought that's what people wanted. Offensive edgy shock humor became the show's draw, when before they was at least some substance to the material.
It really is unfortunate how far Family Guy has fallen from its earlier years. Even during its initial revival, it was still pretty great, despite the fact that it did often feel like an inferior copycat of The Simpsons. The writers clearly spent a lot of time crafting characters who were exaggerated but still real enough to not be caricatures, legitimately funny and clever jokes, and incredible satire of everyday life. Over the past decade or so, it feels like the writers mostly just throw the most ridiculous and over-the-top ideas at the wall and hope they stick. This is why popular shows should never go on for multiple decades.
*The Simpsons* turned into an inferior copycat of itself. That would've happened with or without FG because by 1999 there were other options for "adult" western animation. And even then, FG was different from anything else on TV before, *The Simpsons* included, because no other show did as much to actually go inside the minds of the characters. That's what the cutaways were for: an inside look into a mind warped by the one-two punch of mass media consumption and junk food consumption.
@@Attmay I couldn’t have said that better myself. To be completely honest, while I madly respect The Simpsons for the impact it had on western animation, I’ve always been more of a Family Guy fan. The Simpsons has better writing, more realistic characters and stories, and more powerful commentary, but Family Guy simply is funnier and has more interesting plots and characters. I still feel that in this current age, The Simpsons has spread itself way thinner due to its 35 years on the air and refusal to end. Family Guy currently still has more opportunities to be creative since it’s a younger show.
Family Guy seasons 4-7 are also hilarious. I think the show really lost its footing once Seth MacFarlane’s involvement dropped significantly midway through Season 8.
THANK YOU. I can't believe this hasn't been explored before. Whenever I'm asked if I like Family Guy, I always respond with "Only the first 3 seasons", because anything after that is an entirely different show.
I like early Family Guy a lot, but there’s a couple of jokes in the later seasons that crack me up too - one of which is the New Orleans marching band joke Brian makes when he’s telling Stewie about delivering pizza.
One that I include as a visual reference in this video is such a stupid one but it makes me laugh it's "An astronaut who thinks the lowest number is three". Five, four, three- Woooooaaah! -two- Oh sorry
We went back to a season 3 episode after watching all the recent stuff. It's amazing how it almost feels like they are completely different characters. Some in good ways, most... Not so much.
Thanks so much! It's good to know people like the content I have faith that if I can keep the content consistent and good then the channel will grow soon
"I sleep in a racing car, do you?" "I sleep in a big bed with my wife" "Oh" That said I still think Hank Scorpio is the greatest character that's even been on the show
I legit find "To Love & Die in Dixie" or whatever so funny that its up there with golden age simpsons for me with rewatchability and how funny it is with actually delivering unexpected or just good comedy imo. Idk if id say all of em do but some episodes are funny ir interesting enough to be held up to that title imo.
Yeah I absolutely agree that episode is great. "The south! Isn't that the place where all the black guys are really lazy and the white guys are just as lazy but they're bad at the black guys for being so lazy?"
@@kcreviews8161 To me it really feels like it has that simpson Joke per minute ratio, especially cus the cutaways in that episode are pretty frequent, so most of the comedy comes from the sitution they're in. I'm glad you agree, because the joke of Peter encountering the raccoon is so well executed imo and feels like a more absure simpsons joke
what you said about family guy was what me, my dad and my big sister had with the simpsons we used to watch it every night for atleast an hour or hour and a half. you’d get one episode of simpsons here in the UK on at channel 4, and then you’d move to sky one for 2 more at 7 and 7:30. My dad, my big sister and I used to watch this all the time from as young as about 5 years old?
Mike Henry (voice of Herbert) came to my college and I got an autograph that said "Patrick, Herbert has a popsicle with your name on it! - Mike Henry." I lost that autograph, and I hate myself.
@kcreviews8161 since you actually read your comments, I want you to know that you make STELLAR videos, and I have the same opinion as you on basically everything. Also, I appreciate how you incorporate as many video clips from the show as you are legally allowed to do. Your editing is perfect for keeping the viewers' attention. Keep grinding brother, you're gonna make it.
I hope you continue to make more videos like these! These types of video essays are really engaging. Found you from some of your Simpsons content. Take care!
I still think my favorite cutaway was the episode where Peter has to choose between the boat and the mystery box, and the next scene, Peter says “remember the time we were getting that boat?” and it just plays the scene again, and Lois is like, “Peter, that just happened.” Like, it was so early on in the show, and even then they knew how silly the cutaway format was.
I still think season 4 was the best season. Definitely more comedic & out there than the first 3 seasons, but in turn I felt like it was much funnier, & the really "out-there" jokes that push just what characters can do to each-other still feel well-rounded & not just shocking. It was a good mix of what made the later seasons good & what made the early seasons good. Season 5 started off pretty good with the first 3 or so episode but jeez it went completely downhill in the later half of the season. Still, if I had to pick a cut-off date for Family Guy I'd probably say season 7 or 8 would be a good place to end it. To be fair though, I'm also quite young so I never grew up with the original 3 seasons so as a casual hind-sight viewer the drop-off may not seem as big. To me honestly, they seem much more dated, compared to season 4 which feels more timeless than the first three seasons.
I actually agree that Season 4 was pretty good. I think part of it might have been hold-out ideas from pre-cancellation plus having a sense of wanting to prove themselves having just been cancelled. Makes sense it would be good. But absolutely agree with you that Season 5 was where there was the biggest singular decline in quality
@@kcreviews8161 It's actually funny this video was made recently because I've actually been on a Family Guy binge for whatever reason & watched the first 5 seasons, so this is all fresh in mind. If I had to pick the specific Season 5 episode where the series really fell off, it would be "No Meals On Wheels". Nobody ever discusses that episode, mainly because the really horrible episodes came much later down the line, but God, do I just loathe that episode. The episodes before hand were just kind of boring & average, but that episode is just objectively terrible. It has about 3 different plots, all of which transition extremely awkwardly from one to the next, & none of them working, especially, ironically, the one that ends up being the focus of the episode. Why is Peter ableist all of a sudden? & why was it always their dream to just want to open this restaurant? & none of the gags are funny at all & the whole episode just feels extremely weak, tired, stupid & ultimately meaningless. People often compare modern Family Guy to lazy & brain-dead "white-noise static" sort of stuff, where shocking gore & edgy stuff just sort of happens for no reason & the show is more of stimulation than some sort of coherent meaningful plot or character, & it all stems from this one episode for me because that's what it feels like; static. Peter opens restaurant after finding lots of money -> Family need customers so business can stay afloat -> Disabled people come in -> Peter doesn't like that -> They fight -> They make up. There are next to no jokes in that entire plot-line & it's just very basic character dialogue. All of the characters do a bunch of stupid things & stupid things just happen for no reason, like there being a coin under the carpet. I actually got angry watching the episode because it felt demeaning to my intelligence lol
@@kcreviews8161exactly Season 4 is the perfect combo of what made early FG work and what works about modern FG. I got Seasons 1-8 on DVD and it’s my most played season tbh
Interesting analysis with the modern problem being too many extended jokes. Most old fans at least in America always say 1-3 has fewer cutaways. Perhaps what they mean is the cutaways were more flashbacks like the Peter drunk stuff?
i will add that the "Stewie turning gay" thing i really dont see as a flaw since its not that they changed his sexuality since iirc he was also into women in the later seasons and even then it can easily be explained as him being bi/pan
@@realdragon yeah from what ive seen his big change was being more moral than literally everyone else in his family rather than *checks notes* expressing his attraction for men
That was such a cop out it's actually offensive. Why does same-sex attraction have to take a backseat to literally everything else? Those days are more gone with the wind than the days of *Gone With The Wind.* #MakeStewieEvilAgain
I remember my introduction to Family guy, I saw A DVD of it in store once and what caught my eye was a dog that looked like Snoopy and a baby holding a ray gun. My dad came home after work with those DVDs at least a year later and they remained for a week on a stack of other DVDs until I finally asked dad where they come from and he said a friend at work gave them to him thinking he would like it. I suggested we put it on as I was curious about those characters on the cover and right after those amazing opening titles that made me smile widely, I was hooked. Seriously though, whoever owns those DVDs, keep them! They contain the stories you were meant to get, Disney Plus has the TV edits. I lost mine as I kept losing the discs! I just recently checked over the seasons order and I think it declined after that Hanna Montana episode and for my dad, it was screams of silence. I have come back to it with Fighting Irish and the introduction of Wild West but I don't think I can ever forgive them for the abuse of Meg and Brian's terrible 'love life'.
I remember having a bulky TV. I'm not that old but I'm old enough to remember the transition from "flat screen" being considered quite flashy to now being something that you would expect from literally every TV and computer
I think the biggest difference between The Simpsons and Family Guy's earlier seasons is that The Simpsons used its subversion of the nuclear family dynamic as a vehicle to deliver social satire within its situation comedy while early Family Guy followed the same dysfunctional family dynamic to deliver absurdist situational comedy that's heavily pop culture-centric.
Haha good point. But I guess it feels slightly different when the character development happens to somebody who was previous a pretty one-note joke dispenser
I think more that the fact that stewie becomes more gay one difference in S4-beyond apart from like 3 episodes with his original characterization, if he doesn't have brian or rupert he either does baby stuff or whatever the writers want him to do. I agree in part about the wholesome tone of early FG compared to scully simpsons, but meg remains an exception apart from some moments and endings and "let's go to the hop" 13:07 there's him secretly looking at chris drawings dissapointed when they hug in "the son also draws" but he still accepts him. Also they appear for like 3 episodes each but like chris having a job as an artist there was also lois who was a piano teacher and brian having a therapist.
Yeah the "Don't frollick too long" scene is from the first episode of Season 5 so they committed to the gay thing harder quite soon after the cancellation
Family Guy S1-3 was completely different. Heartfelt, funny and crazy. Rhode to Rhode Island, Brian Wallows and Peter Swallows, Fifteen Minutes of Shame, Road to Europe, Dammit Janet and Lethal Weapons all resonate as funny and heart felt. Road to Rhode Island and Fifteen Minutes of Shame and Let's go the Hop are my favourites from the era. Totally different tone in S1-3 that made it amazing.
I been saying that for years. Family Guy before the cancellation was much better. I am old enough to remember when it was new and comparable to Futurama and Family Guy. Not the simpsons though. By this time the simpsons was mostly shit.
The early seasons were really where Family Guy was at its peak with its writing. It sometimes shocking to remember that there was a time where the characters were actually likable.
I thought they changed the name because there was a big controversy in the US about black mascots on foodstuffs? Like they got rid of the native american girl on butter packaging IIRC
4:26 "As a British person, I'm naturally predisposed to not consider child predation a particularly serious issue." I can try to give that a generous interpretation, but that really doesn't roll off the tongue well. Did you mean to say it is not a prevalent issue? Because particularly serious it is by any ethical standard, though I'm not opposed to jokes about it. The joke works because of how awful and serious that issue is.
I personally enjoyed Family Guy seasons 3-7 mainly because not only the animation was a bit better, but the jokes and story of each episode were memorable. And the songs were enjoyable to listen to.
I actually don't know that many shows that got cancelled and then came back. I think I've heard that the reboot of Battlestar Gallactica is better than the original? But that's not really coming back after being cancelled so much as it's just being rebooted
@@kcreviews8161 Another show that got cancelled and then came back worse that immediately springs to mind is Arrested Development; although unlike Family Guy, they quickly acknowledged that the show's return had been botched and cancelled it again after two further seasons.
@kcreviews8161 it's a hard recovery from being cancelled. Majority of your actors and writing staff go off onto other projects while your show has the stigma of being cancelled. The best case scenario is that you can pull everyone back for a movie to tie up loose plot threads like "Firefly/Serenity"
Two things, first, I didnt click this video for the clickbait thumbnail. I think the thing about family guy vs simpsons is simpsons feels like almost nihilist propaganda telling you the world sucks and it feels way less happy. Meanwhile family guy, even current family guy, feels like its telling you the world *can* suck but that doesnt mean we cant have fun or enjoy good moments. When simpsons does wholesome, it feels awkward and almost out of character, when family guy does wholesome it works, it feels realistic. Meg is a punching bag but when she was knocked up Peter just wanted to talk to him, just wanted to talk to him,just wanted to talk to him,just wanted to shoot him,just wanted to talk to him. As a father, I can relate to that. Homer is just, like, a idiot mary sue.
I decided to watch Family Guy to have an opinion for myself, the first 3 seasons are actually great, but then watching the 4th it felt a bit off but then at the 5th I decided to stop because it wasn't getting better. Would be interesting to see the second part where you dissect the next 3 seasons to figure out what happened to the show.
What happened was Wellesley Wild joined the writing staff when a bunch of the key people behind the first three seasons got other jobs and the only OG writer they could get back was Gary Janetti, but IIRC they had to wait for that godawful self-loathing parade of gay stereotypes and Stockholm syndrome-suffering celebrities to be canceled before they could get him back. Not worth the wait and they couldn't afford Bruce Vilanch. I would have gladly taken his place, but I don't belong to a union, and even if I did, I would've had to move in with my elderly grandparents in the San Fernando Valley. And also, *American Dad* happened to show how much contempt Seth really has for both gays and conservatives. As both a gay man and a conservative, I hate it with a passion. Any man who hates Trump but still wants to grab 'em by the pussy is problematic.
I half agree and half disagree, I believe seasons 1-3 had the best heart, but I believe seasons 4-6 had the better comedy, like Petarded is funnier than every season 1 episode combined if you ask me.
Early seasons of Family Guy is one of my favorite shows all time. Some people look at me like I have 4 heads when I say it. I actually think the show is quite good all the way up to around season 5. Though 2, and 3 are the peak. They're funny without being overly topical. They're heartfelt, passionate, and creative. When people sit down to watch an episode with me, they're always caught off guard by how much they laugh
While I do love all eras of FG, the first three seasons have a lot of charm and wit you can’t find in many other shows. Plus a lot of little things about them too, like Brian’s quips towards Peter, the cruder but more fluid animation, and just Peter having a zest for life compared to the more lethargic side we get nowadays. Seasons 4-6 carried some of it over, but by Season 7 they completely transitioned to the humor FG is the most (in)famous for. Still funny and enjoyable imo, just different.
When did they hire Wellesley Wild? The biggest cringe on the show that wasn't there in the early years or even the early revival years was because of him.
After you talked about the simpsons, I feel like that’s why they’re so butthurt about bob’s burgers. They’re the new family show, and they don’t like that
Good point! I guess it's the lifecycle for animated sitcoms that they start off family-oriented, but then abandon that and another show comes in to take over
Haha I was wondering if somebody would pick up on that! It's a reference to the fact that the UK justice system has a really bad habit of giving incredibly light sentences to people who do those crimes. I've literally seen people call the UK "Pedo Island" because the justice system is so lax about it
@@kcreviews8161 Really? I thought it was the other way around. I heard that learning that one comedian was a "nonce" was a culturally shocking thing that shook the UK to its core
@@SonofTiamat It wasn't learning that he was a nonce that shook us to our core; it was learning that pretty much the entire BBC and several NHS bodies (read: Britain's two most well-respected institutions) turned a blind eye as he racked up hundreds of victims, that shook us.
@@SonofTiamat I'm assuming you're talking about Jimmy Saville? That was more a case of 2010s Britain being shocked by how 1970s-1980s Britain had turned a blind eye to his serial offenses; beloved institutions the BBC and the NHS had ignored persistent rumours, respectively because he was a bankable star, and he did charity work (never mind that the charity work was motivated by gaining access to vulnerable, hospitalised kids).
I was starting to go off it, but the episode which really killed it for me was the one about wife beating, which didn't really have any jokes in it, and ended with Quagmire crushing the beater against a tree with his car. It was so bleak. Oh, and the Conway Twitty thing which wasn't funny at any point.
@@kcreviews8161 It's certainly not in the good era. I've just looked it up and I think it's called Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q. Pretty sure it's that one. Season 10.
As much as I loath Modern Family Guy, I'll always have a soft spot to the early seasons. This video is a great trip down kemory lane that really hammers home why I still feel that way.
Correction: Joe appears strong when he’s being nice to someone making fun of him. Only the weak take offense to good-natured ribbing. Thank you for coming to Masculinity 101. I’ll be your daddy
I think if American dad had had a bit more time as Seth mcfarlanes only begotten show, they could have evolved a lot more as creators. IMO American dad is much better and is still consistently good
American Dad was always helmed by different writers than Family Guy. Seth was heavily involved in Family Guy for the first 10-11 seasons, then only involved in voicing the characters as he moved on to other projects. With American Dad he was loosely involved in the first season and only really did voice work rather than get involved in the writing of it.
I never got that into American Dad. The only episode I remember is when Stan injures his manparts in a woodworking accident and then gets addicted to touching himself
The first 14 or so episodes of American Dad are totally different from what the show became - which is basically a spiritual successor to season 5/6 of The Simpsons, but even more heightened and insane. If anyone’s disappointed in Family Guy but never gave American Dad a full shot, they owe it to themselves to give that show another chance. American Dad season 2-11, in my opinion, run circles around even pre-cancellation Family Guy.
i saw early family guy as a kid and it is probably the funniest thing i have ever seen in my entire life. the only thing rivaling it could be beavis and butthead or some youtube poops. early family guy was a firework of fast pace over the top jokes. the dumb humor was so unpredictable back then.
For me I see it like this Seasons 1-7: The Golden Era Seasons 8-12: The Silver/Experimental Era Seasons 13-15: the Bronze/Decent Era Season 16-Present: the Dark Era
Speaking of algorithm things, it's designed to keep people watching above all else, so the thing that's maybe the most disproportionately weighted is if the viewer continues to watch afterwards. It can be anything - _just click on something._ If you want to stop watching, do it after clicking to a different video.
Conversely, if you dislike a video, thumbs-downs don't do much, so the best way to harm it is to immediately stop watching and close your tab.
Also, if you want to help your favorite channels, *_unsub from channels you dont often watch,_* or ones you watch often enough that you don't need to be subbed to (if they have enough subs). A big problem is that people simply have too many subs, so there's not enough space to spread around.
Thank you! I only recently actually added end screen elements to my videos after finding out that people clicking on other videos is what helps with the algorithm
I like early Family Guy a lot, especially Brian's replies to Peter.
"Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't ... nothing?"
"Brian, there's a ghost in my Alphabits. It says OOOO."
"Peter, those are Cheerios."
Yeah, Brian being the weary straightman to Peter's antics was great. It's probably just a holdover from "Larry and Steve", but I still feel like it worked well.
I've been thinking about "Are you sure it wasn't... nothing?" For the whole time that I was working on this video. Such a funny line
I’m partial to their exchange in “Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater” when after him failing completely to understand Brian’s points, the latter goes “Wow! Perfect! My work here is done. But, just for the hell of it, let’s try again” in a completely deadpan manner. 😂
Early Family Guy was just really good at zingers. I still laugh at "You better watch who you're calling a child, Lois. Because if I'm a child, then you're a pedophile. And I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and get lectured by a pervert."
Yeah Peter used to be kind of smart in a dumb way
What episode is that from? I can't recall that line for some reason.
@@gokux75 When you wish upon a Weinstein.
@@gokux75When You Wish Upon a Weinstein, the episode Fox refused to air. I'm Jewish and I can name 10 *Simpsons* episodes more offensive that don't even involve Krusty the Klown or his father! Hell, I can name 10 whole series that are more offensive, and at least four of them have been name-dropped on *Family Guy!* in fact, I could name 10 *Family Guy* episodes that are more offensive than this one! The gay episodes (the ones that actually use that to move the plot) are wall-to-wall cringe.
I think the biggest change is that originally Family Guy was mostly centered around being a direct parody of classic sitcoms, compared to a more general satire like the Simpsons. The opening credits being a homage to All In the Family, the first episode starting off with a Brady Bunch parody, Peter signalling the band to play heartfelt music when he hugs his dad, that kind of thing.
30 years later and those shows and their tropes aren't relevant anymore, which really hurt the core identity of the show. Now instead of moving on, it really seems like modern Family Guy has sunk it's feet into the ground and started lashing out at its contemporaries for getting more attention.
That's a really good point! I guess most shows that go on forever will find the aspects of society they reflect might move on and then the show can't
Sometimes punching down is punching back. If those tropes are so irrelevant (they're not), then how come nothing better replaced them but forgettable one-liners about pre-Trump post-9/11 flavors of the month?
The bigger problem is that once they basically ran out of post-Boomer pre-90s pop culture references, they show how slim the pickings really are. *Saved by the Bell* references = not funny, not cool, not acceptable. Just like sacrificing an entire first act to a bunch of floats about that terrible show +0n¥ d@nz@ did after *Taxi* was canceled is also not funny, not cool, and not acceptable. Same reason the *f(r)iends, grwng pns,* and *chrls n chrg* themes are not funny, not cool, and not acceptable. And that parade float episode was and is also *The Simpsons'* fault because one of their producers also made *Taxi.* The fact that so much of 90s popular culture was defined by *The Simpsons* and other cartoons, especially the ones from Seth's pre-Fox career at what was left of Hanna-Barbera under Ted Turner, makes it hard to spoof post-1980s pop culture effectively. *Quiet on the Set* has effectively rendered post-1980s nostalgia a lie. They need to just show more discernment in what shows they reference. They also need to directly address how problematic it is to reference white ripoffs instead of the black OGs. They referenced a *Gimme A Break!* ripoff instead of *Gimme A Break!,* and they played the theme to a *Living Single* ripoff instead of the theme from *Living Single.* Between those two points, they had the title character of a *Song of the South* ripoff flash children!
Seth MacClosetqueen owes us no less after the desecration of *Good Times.*
"Overall, the early seasons have a pretty wholesome family dynamic."
*"Oh my god, we forgot Meg!"*
XD
I have a personal theory that the whole running gag of raking Meg through the coals started right when Mila Kunis replaced Lacey Chabert as her VA.
I've been making this argument for years now; that pre-cancellation Family Guy was and still is a good show, and feels completely different from post-cancellation Family Guy. It's great to see someone voice it better than I ever could. There's a reason why those Adult Swim reruns inspired millions of DVD sales. "Shut up, Meg" and "bird is the word" was not the Family Guy we originally fell in love with. "Freakin' sweet" and "damn you all" was.
Well, I like 'Bird is the Word', but "Shut up, Meg" got very tired very quickly.
@@Mondomeyer telling Meg to shut up was rich while Mila Kunis actually was shutting up about a co-Star of hers on another show Cosbying women.
@@Attmay Sounds like she took it to heart.
Early Family Guy is the goat. I brought all three seasons and rewatched them about a year ago and I still felt emotions of all type. Beforehand, I haven't watched Family Guy in five years, but this would be the Family Guy I remember.
It was somewhere around season 7 where the change happen Peter went from being this lovable but dimwitted dad to a sociopath, Lois went from this sweet and endearing housewife with a bit of an edge to her into a depressed spiteful person. Chris became this doof with an artistic side into someone who should be in professional care. Meg went from this typical teenage wallflower into the shows punching the only redeeming thing is that the show has done a 180 and turned her into someone the rest of the characters are kind of afraid of. Stewie went from a Bond villain in baby form into a walking gay joke. And Brian went from being the voice of reason with a few demons into the shows walking criticism of society that the show loves to put down. To say nothing of the rest of the characters some of them have become unlikable walking parodies of themselves.
Meg deserves to be written that way after what Mila Kunis did.
If I had a nickle for every show that originally was going to end at 3 seasons, but continued forward and couldn't meet the quality of the first 3 seasons, I'd have 2 nickles, which isn't much, but it's odd that it's happened twice.
Is the other one spongebob?
@@kcreviews8161 Yes
@NCXDKG I think the other one should be futurama
@@Walid-mk4jofuturama ran for four though
"Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows" from Season 3 is my favorite episode in the entire series. Like the title theme says, it made me laugh, and it made me cry. Every single thing that they mention in the episode ends up coming back, and it's so beautifully crafted that you'd never expect it to be from Family Guy at all. I think pre-cancellation Family Guy is one of my favorite TV series, and I could honestly rewatch it over and over again
I'd actually been thinking recently about how well early Family Guy holds up, and I think this meshes pretty well with where I'm at on the topic; I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of the most famous lines and gags from the show are still from these early years. I still remember when it debuted, and how much the "Oh, no!" "Oh, no!" "Oh, NO!" "OH YEEEAH!" gag blew my mind; was it silly and not plot related? Sure, but at the time it was also something that felt very fresh, different from whatever else you were going to find with animated adult TV, so having the insane gags and cutaways combined with characters you could actually wrap your head around and relate to at times made it work. I'll never say it reached the heights the Simpsons did, since almost nothing can, but it's still interesting to think how much things started to change when the show came back.
mildly disagree with Joe going along with mockery being a sign of weakness. people like that want a response from their victim, so Joe going along with the joke at his expense is a sign of his strength compared to if he just said "you know what FUCK YOU"
That's a fair point!
Power Movement
Can't be verbally bullied very easily if you find all their insults hilarious.
Early family guy is so, so charming in its own way. Chris is such an interesting character in this era, and I wish it was devlved into further.
the real jims is such a good channel, thanks for mentioning it.
I was literally just watching his "Simpsons Golden Age" video when this one came up.
I have been high school teacher for 20 years. The cartoon character I have heard my teenage students imitate more often than anybody in that entire 20 years put together is Herbert the pervert. Specifically, “I got a whole freezer full of popsicles in my cellar “.
That's good to hear! Glad that the fandom is growing!
you're hot
I feel like the reason why FG has beef with Bobs Burgers is because they occupied the wholesome spot where Family Guy used to reside.
Is that a pun? You should submit that one to Fozzie Bear.
that "reverse flanderization" is just star wars having a short story about literally everyone and everything in the mos eisley cantina scene.
The Jemima joke was not the first joke in family guy. It was their parity of the Brady Bunch they were watching on TV right before that… also the syrup tasted better in the other bottle prove me wrong.
Yeah I guess you're technically right! It comes after that Brady Bunch parody
Wild to think of the alternate history where Family Guy was remembered as a shortlived classic instead of the god awful low effort garbage it became
What happens to *Futurama* in this timeline? Does it still get Punky Brewstered by getting sent to the Sunday night death slot at the mercy of *60 Minutes* and football? This may not matter to non-American viewers, but to those of us in the US it was irritating because this is why new episodes were so erratically scheduled. Cartoon Network saved both these shows. Now it's time for all the remaining 90s cartoons to retire so new ones can do for this decade what those did for the 90s and 00s.
I think it should have ended on a episode where Stewie did simulation what would happen if he killed Louis
I always found it weird that they didn't make that episode the 100th one, considering how close it is to episode 100
@@kcreviews8161it was supposed to, but then the writer’s strike happened and Fox meddled
I can see why they changed Joe it was probably easier to write the newer version of his character. Before he was an inherently positive character. Its easier to write jokes about negative situations. Also When Peter goes to the bar he is just kinda there. I'm not sure what the old version of Joe would be like in some of the new epsidoes. He usually just says something socially awkward and they kinda ignore him.
That's a good point about tragedy being more fitting for comedy than everything going well. Really aren't that many comedies about people for whom everything in their lives is going well
Ironically the major thing that damaged the show was being renewed after the cancellation. The show was originally cancelled mainly due to the Wish Upon a Weinstein episode, which by today's television standards is tame. They were cancelled for being "offensive" by early 2000s tv standards and after they came back my assumption is that most of the writer's thought that's what people wanted.
Offensive edgy shock humor became the show's draw, when before they was at least some substance to the material.
Compared to actually making an antisemite a major character like south barf.
It really is unfortunate how far Family Guy has fallen from its earlier years. Even during its initial revival, it was still pretty great, despite the fact that it did often feel like an inferior copycat of The Simpsons. The writers clearly spent a lot of time crafting characters who were exaggerated but still real enough to not be caricatures, legitimately funny and clever jokes, and incredible satire of everyday life. Over the past decade or so, it feels like the writers mostly just throw the most ridiculous and over-the-top ideas at the wall and hope they stick. This is why popular shows should never go on for multiple decades.
*The Simpsons* turned into an inferior copycat of itself. That would've happened with or without FG because by 1999 there were other options for "adult" western animation. And even then, FG was different from anything else on TV before, *The Simpsons* included, because no other show did as much to actually go inside the minds of the characters. That's what the cutaways were for: an inside look into a mind warped by the one-two punch of mass media consumption and junk food consumption.
@@Attmay I couldn’t have said that better myself. To be completely honest, while I madly respect The Simpsons for the impact it had on western animation, I’ve always been more of a Family Guy fan. The Simpsons has better writing, more realistic characters and stories, and more powerful commentary, but Family Guy simply is funnier and has more interesting plots and characters. I still feel that in this current age, The Simpsons has spread itself way thinner due to its 35 years on the air and refusal to end. Family Guy currently still has more opportunities to be creative since it’s a younger show.
Family Guy seasons 4-7 are also hilarious. I think the show really lost its footing once Seth MacFarlane’s involvement dropped significantly midway through Season 8.
Interestingly that's exactly when I stopped buying the DVDs
Six was the last season I bought on DVD. I’m glad I stopped there.
I also bought the first three seasons on DVD back in the day and watched them with a buddy of mine
I never bought any of the other seasons
We stopped buying them at Season 8
THANK YOU. I can't believe this hasn't been explored before. Whenever I'm asked if I like Family Guy, I always respond with "Only the first 3 seasons", because anything after that is an entirely different show.
This is a well timed comment! I just uploaded my breakdown of seasons 4-6
It’s kind of funny how when it comes to Family Guy and SpongeBob, the first three seasons are considered the golden era.
Yeah IDK maybe that's why movie trilogies exist. Something magical about the number three
I like early Family Guy a lot, but there’s a couple of jokes in the later seasons that crack me up too - one of which is the New Orleans marching band joke Brian makes when he’s telling Stewie about delivering pizza.
One that I include as a visual reference in this video is such a stupid one but it makes me laugh it's "An astronaut who thinks the lowest number is three".
Five, four, three-
Woooooaaah!
-two-
Oh sorry
@@kcreviews8161 “We’re blocking the street, yeah, we’re blockin’ the street…”
There are more, but that one sticks out to me.
♪ "One of us dropped a contact lens, we're goin' back to block the street!" ♪
We went back to a season 3 episode after watching all the recent stuff. It's amazing how it almost feels like they are completely different characters. Some in good ways, most... Not so much.
For such a small channel this is some really good content. Hope you have luck growing it my dude
Thanks so much! It's good to know people like the content I have faith that if I can keep the content consistent and good then the channel will grow soon
Nice video. Hope one day you talk about why Kirk Van Houten is the best Simpsons character.
That... wasn't high on my todo list, but sometimes sure why not!
@@kcreviews8161I can lend you a feeling if it'll help get you in the mood
He's one feeling from being perfection
@@PapaLugeIs that feeling happiness?
"I sleep in a racing car, do you?"
"I sleep in a big bed with my wife"
"Oh"
That said I still think Hank Scorpio is the greatest character that's even been on the show
I legit find "To Love & Die in Dixie" or whatever so funny that its up there with golden age simpsons for me with rewatchability and how funny it is with actually delivering unexpected or just good comedy imo.
Idk if id say all of em do but some episodes are funny ir interesting enough to be held up to that title imo.
Yeah I absolutely agree that episode is great. "The south! Isn't that the place where all the black guys are really lazy and the white guys are just as lazy but they're bad at the black guys for being so lazy?"
@@kcreviews8161 To me it really feels like it has that simpson Joke per minute ratio, especially cus the cutaways in that episode are pretty frequent, so most of the comedy comes from the sitution they're in.
I'm glad you agree, because the joke of Peter encountering the raccoon is so well executed imo and feels like a more absure simpsons joke
what you said about family guy was what me, my dad and my big sister had with the simpsons
we used to watch it every night for atleast an hour or hour and a half. you’d get one episode of simpsons here in the UK on at channel 4, and then you’d move to sky one for 2 more at 7 and 7:30. My dad, my big sister and I used to watch this all the time from as young as about 5 years old?
Mike Henry (voice of Herbert) came to my college and I got an autograph that said "Patrick, Herbert has a popsicle with your name on it! - Mike Henry." I lost that autograph, and I hate myself.
:( That sucks!
@kcreviews8161 since you actually read your comments, I want you to know that you make STELLAR videos, and I have the same opinion as you on basically everything. Also, I appreciate how you incorporate as many video clips from the show as you are legally allowed to do. Your editing is perfect for keeping the viewers' attention. Keep grinding brother, you're gonna make it.
@@patrickperot6296 Thanks so much! That means a lot!
I hope you continue to make more videos like these! These types of video essays are really engaging. Found you from some of your Simpsons content. Take care!
Glad you liked it!
Commenting to boost this in the algorithm.
I absolutely love your Simpsons and Family Guy videos
I still think my favorite cutaway was the episode where Peter has to choose between the boat and the mystery box, and the next scene, Peter says “remember the time we were getting that boat?” and it just plays the scene again, and Lois is like, “Peter, that just happened.” Like, it was so early on in the show, and even then they knew how silly the cutaway format was.
I'm glad I found this channel, looking forward to whatever else you put out next 👍
Thanks!
"...only with physical media, so better."
You get a thumbs up just for that.
Excellent video and has convinced me to go back and watch the first 3
Hope you enjoy!
I still think season 4 was the best season. Definitely more comedic & out there than the first 3 seasons, but in turn I felt like it was much funnier, & the really "out-there" jokes that push just what characters can do to each-other still feel well-rounded & not just shocking. It was a good mix of what made the later seasons good & what made the early seasons good. Season 5 started off pretty good with the first 3 or so episode but jeez it went completely downhill in the later half of the season. Still, if I had to pick a cut-off date for Family Guy I'd probably say season 7 or 8 would be a good place to end it. To be fair though, I'm also quite young so I never grew up with the original 3 seasons so as a casual hind-sight viewer the drop-off may not seem as big. To me honestly, they seem much more dated, compared to season 4 which feels more timeless than the first three seasons.
I actually agree that Season 4 was pretty good. I think part of it might have been hold-out ideas from pre-cancellation plus having a sense of wanting to prove themselves having just been cancelled. Makes sense it would be good. But absolutely agree with you that Season 5 was where there was the biggest singular decline in quality
@@kcreviews8161 It's actually funny this video was made recently because I've actually been on a Family Guy binge for whatever reason & watched the first 5 seasons, so this is all fresh in mind.
If I had to pick the specific Season 5 episode where the series really fell off, it would be "No Meals On Wheels". Nobody ever discusses that episode, mainly because the really horrible episodes came much later down the line, but God, do I just loathe that episode. The episodes before hand were just kind of boring & average, but that episode is just objectively terrible. It has about 3 different plots, all of which transition extremely awkwardly from one to the next, & none of them working, especially, ironically, the one that ends up being the focus of the episode. Why is Peter ableist all of a sudden? & why was it always their dream to just want to open this restaurant? & none of the gags are funny at all & the whole episode just feels extremely weak, tired, stupid & ultimately meaningless.
People often compare modern Family Guy to lazy & brain-dead "white-noise static" sort of stuff, where shocking gore & edgy stuff just sort of happens for no reason & the show is more of stimulation than some sort of coherent meaningful plot or character, & it all stems from this one episode for me because that's what it feels like; static. Peter opens restaurant after finding lots of money -> Family need customers so business can stay afloat -> Disabled people come in -> Peter doesn't like that -> They fight -> They make up. There are next to no jokes in that entire plot-line & it's just very basic character dialogue. All of the characters do a bunch of stupid things & stupid things just happen for no reason, like there being a coin under the carpet. I actually got angry watching the episode because it felt demeaning to my intelligence lol
@@kcreviews8161exactly Season 4 is the perfect combo of what made early FG work and what works about modern FG. I got Seasons 1-8 on DVD and it’s my most played season tbh
The explanation for Da Boom was that it was a dream. It's revealed at the end.
God I have no idea how you have way less subscribers than me, I love the videos you've been making
Hope to see the 4-6 seasons video eventually
I think some people don't subscribe until they see a lot of videos from a channel, and I haven't made that many. Either way, thanks for the support!
Interesting analysis with the modern problem being too many extended jokes. Most old fans at least in America always say 1-3 has fewer cutaways. Perhaps what they mean is the cutaways were more flashbacks like the Peter drunk stuff?
Yeah I think that could be it. The cutaways are more baked into the narrative. In the later seasons the set ups for the cutaways get more contrived
i will add that the "Stewie turning gay" thing i really dont see as a flaw since its not that they changed his sexuality since iirc he was also into women in the later seasons and even then it can easily be explained as him being bi/pan
The biggest change for me was when he stopped being evil
@@realdragon yeah from what ive seen his big change was being more moral than literally everyone else in his family rather than *checks notes* expressing his attraction for men
@@MegaEdeathThe two are one and the same at this point.
That was such a cop out it's actually offensive. Why does same-sex attraction have to take a backseat to literally everything else? Those days are more gone with the wind than the days of *Gone With The Wind.* #MakeStewieEvilAgain
I sometimes wonder if it would’ve been for the best if family guy stayed cancelled.
I remember my introduction to Family guy, I saw A DVD of it in store once and what caught my eye was a dog that looked like Snoopy and a baby holding a ray gun. My dad came home after work with those DVDs at least a year later and they remained for a week on a stack of other DVDs until I finally asked dad where they come from and he said a friend at work gave them to him thinking he would like it. I suggested we put it on as I was curious about those characters on the cover and right after those amazing opening titles that made me smile widely, I was hooked.
Seriously though, whoever owns those DVDs, keep them! They contain the stories you were meant to get, Disney Plus has the TV edits. I lost mine as I kept losing the discs!
I just recently checked over the seasons order and I think it declined after that Hanna Montana episode and for my dad, it was screams of silence. I have come back to it with Fighting Irish and the introduction of Wild West but I don't think I can ever forgive them for the abuse of Meg and Brian's terrible 'love life'.
I feel so old considering I grew up with demand and those tv's that could break your fingers if you put it down wrong
I remember having a bulky TV. I'm not that old but I'm old enough to remember the transition from "flat screen" being considered quite flashy to now being something that you would expect from literally every TV and computer
I think the biggest difference between The Simpsons and Family Guy's earlier seasons is that The Simpsons used its subversion of the nuclear family dynamic as a vehicle to deliver social satire within its situation comedy while early Family Guy followed the same dysfunctional family dynamic to deliver absurdist situational comedy that's heavily pop culture-centric.
Maybe they only spread good, old-fashioned values in the show’s prime so that they could say that they “used to rely” on them too? I dunno. 😂
The 'under discussed opposite of flanderization' is called Character Development
Haha good point. But I guess it feels slightly different when the character development happens to somebody who was previous a pretty one-note joke dispenser
I think more that the fact that stewie becomes more gay one difference in S4-beyond apart from like 3 episodes with his original characterization, if he doesn't have brian or rupert he either does baby stuff or whatever the writers want him to do.
I agree in part about the wholesome tone of early FG compared to scully simpsons, but meg remains an exception apart from some moments and endings and "let's go to the hop"
13:07 there's him secretly looking at chris drawings dissapointed when they hug in "the son also draws" but he still accepts him.
Also they appear for like 3 episodes each but like chris having a job as an artist there was also lois who was a piano teacher and brian having a therapist.
Yeah the "Don't frollick too long" scene is from the first episode of Season 5 so they committed to the gay thing harder quite soon after the cancellation
Family Guy S1-3 was completely different. Heartfelt, funny and crazy. Rhode to Rhode Island, Brian Wallows and Peter Swallows, Fifteen Minutes of Shame, Road to Europe, Dammit Janet and Lethal Weapons all resonate as funny and heart felt. Road to Rhode Island and Fifteen Minutes of Shame and Let's go the Hop are my favourites from the era. Totally different tone in S1-3 that made it amazing.
Make a follow up video, please! This is so good. I relate to watching this show with my dad when I was a kid
Great video. Loved the analysis.
I been saying that for years. Family Guy before the cancellation was much better. I am old enough to remember when it was new and comparable to Futurama and Family Guy.
Not the simpsons though. By this time the simpsons was mostly shit.
It’s like night and day compared to Family Guy’s early and modern seasons.
I'm not much of a Family Guy guy but your analysis videos are really entertaining to watch!
Thanks so much!!
I'd love to see an analysis of each era of the show.
I'm hoping to get round to it!
Excellent insight. I hope you do make a follow-up video that charts the way the show would change over seasons 4 thru 6.
Definitely planning on it quite immediately!
The early seasons were really where Family Guy was at its peak with its writing. It sometimes shocking to remember that there was a time where the characters were actually likable.
16:33 Aunt Jemima is actually a Syrup brand. It's still a thing, but just a lame pun.
I thought they changed the name because there was a big controversy in the US about black mascots on foodstuffs? Like they got rid of the native american girl on butter packaging IIRC
@@kcreviews8161 Huh. So it's true.
@kcreviews8161 You are correct. They stopped using Aunt Jemima as a mascot around late 2020, early 2021.
4:26 "As a British person, I'm naturally predisposed to not consider child predation a particularly serious issue." I can try to give that a generous interpretation, but that really doesn't roll off the tongue well. Did you mean to say it is not a prevalent issue? Because particularly serious it is by any ethical standard, though I'm not opposed to jokes about it. The joke works because of how awful and serious that issue is.
I’m surprised there aren’t more comments pointing this line out. I hope he responds
I explain elsewhere this is a joke about the many documented cases of paedophiles in the UK getting incredibly lax sentences for their behaviour
@@kcreviews8161 Witty subtext noted
I personally enjoyed Family Guy seasons 3-7 mainly because not only the animation was a bit better, but the jokes and story of each episode were memorable. And the songs were enjoyable to listen to.
I can't think of any television program coming back better after being cancelled.
Arguably, Doctor Who?
@alexpotts6520 Good one, but it's a special case, though. The connection between per and post cancellation is a bit loose.
I actually don't know that many shows that got cancelled and then came back. I think I've heard that the reboot of Battlestar Gallactica is better than the original? But that's not really coming back after being cancelled so much as it's just being rebooted
@@kcreviews8161 Another show that got cancelled and then came back worse that immediately springs to mind is Arrested Development; although unlike Family Guy, they quickly acknowledged that the show's return had been botched and cancelled it again after two further seasons.
@kcreviews8161 it's a hard recovery from being cancelled. Majority of your actors and writing staff go off onto other projects while your show has the stigma of being cancelled.
The best case scenario is that you can pull everyone back for a movie to tie up loose plot threads like "Firefly/Serenity"
Two things, first, I didnt click this video for the clickbait thumbnail.
I think the thing about family guy vs simpsons is simpsons feels like almost nihilist propaganda telling you the world sucks and it feels way less happy.
Meanwhile family guy, even current family guy, feels like its telling you the world *can* suck but that doesnt mean we cant have fun or enjoy good moments.
When simpsons does wholesome, it feels awkward and almost out of character, when family guy does wholesome it works, it feels realistic.
Meg is a punching bag but when she was knocked up Peter just wanted to talk to him, just wanted to talk to him,just wanted to talk to him,just wanted to shoot him,just wanted to talk to him.
As a father, I can relate to that. Homer is just, like, a idiot mary sue.
That's an interesting and quite unique take. But does fit with what I was saying about how family guy was actually less bleak than the simpsons
Really great video, man, thanks for posting! Hard to find any good FG video essays and this was really a great watch, keep it up!! :-))
Glad you liked it!
I decided to watch Family Guy to have an opinion for myself, the first 3 seasons are actually great, but then watching the 4th it felt a bit off but then at the 5th I decided to stop because it wasn't getting better.
Would be interesting to see the second part where you dissect the next 3 seasons to figure out what happened to the show.
I'm hoping to get around to making that pretty soon!
What happened was Wellesley Wild joined the writing staff when a bunch of the key people behind the first three seasons got other jobs and the only OG writer they could get back was Gary Janetti, but IIRC they had to wait for that godawful self-loathing parade of gay stereotypes and Stockholm syndrome-suffering celebrities to be canceled before they could get him back. Not worth the wait and they couldn't afford Bruce Vilanch. I would have gladly taken his place, but I don't belong to a union, and even if I did, I would've had to move in with my elderly grandparents in the San Fernando Valley.
And also, *American Dad* happened to show how much contempt Seth really has for both gays and conservatives. As both a gay man and a conservative, I hate it with a passion. Any man who hates Trump but still wants to grab 'em by the pussy is problematic.
This video has not been watched anywhere near enough! Excellent work!
Thanks so much!
Hope this video blows up, good luck bro!
Thanks so much!
Very informative! Thank you for the time you took to put this video together for us, the audience.
You're welcome!
I checked to see if my favourite Cut-Away gag was in Seasons 1-3, and to my pleasant surprise, it was!
Which one was it?
@@kcreviews8161 the Benjamin Disraeli joke.
@@TheGerkuman Ah are you the person who commented that on my previous video about reference comedy?
@@kcreviews8161 yes :)
I half agree and half disagree, I believe seasons 1-3 had the best heart, but I believe seasons 4-6 had the better comedy, like Petarded is funnier than every season 1 episode combined if you ask me.
When I do my seasons 4-6 retrospective I'll consider whether the comedy gets better!
@@kcreviews8161 Cool, I do tend to get defensive about those seasons because those are the seasons (along with 7) that hooked me to the show.
Early seasons of Family Guy is one of my favorite shows all time. Some people look at me like I have 4 heads when I say it. I actually think the show is quite good all the way up to around season 5. Though 2, and 3 are the peak.
They're funny without being overly topical. They're heartfelt, passionate, and creative. When people sit down to watch an episode with me, they're always caught off guard by how much they laugh
While I do love all eras of FG, the first three seasons have a lot of charm and wit you can’t find in many other shows. Plus a lot of little things about them too, like Brian’s quips towards Peter, the cruder but more fluid animation, and just Peter having a zest for life compared to the more lethargic side we get nowadays. Seasons 4-6 carried some of it over, but by Season 7 they completely transitioned to the humor FG is the most (in)famous for. Still funny and enjoyable imo, just different.
When did they hire Wellesley Wild? The biggest cringe on the show that wasn't there in the early years or even the early revival years was because of him.
I am enabling the algorithm!
Very good to watch 😊
I enjoyed this video! Thank you for this video!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching
commenting to do the algorithm thing. these are very good videos
Agreed with Physical Media being best.
After you talked about the simpsons, I feel like that’s why they’re so butthurt about bob’s burgers. They’re the new family show, and they don’t like that
Good point! I guess it's the lifecycle for animated sitcoms that they start off family-oriented, but then abandon that and another show comes in to take over
Really funny to think a ton of people who’re fans of family guy have been since they were very young
Yeah I mean nowadays I guess the humour has gotten even more juvenile and accessible to younger people... I imagine
Family Guy has been on my mind recently, so the timing of this video is perfect!
How about that episode of South Park were they make fun of the writers of Family Guy.
Yeah I reference that in my previous video about how family guy does reference comedy actually!
I love early family guy because this didn't exist 2:18.
4:30 uhh what? How the hell does being British correlate with that 🤨
Haha I was wondering if somebody would pick up on that! It's a reference to the fact that the UK justice system has a really bad habit of giving incredibly light sentences to people who do those crimes. I've literally seen people call the UK "Pedo Island" because the justice system is so lax about it
@@kcreviews8161 Really? I thought it was the other way around. I heard that learning that one comedian was a "nonce" was a culturally shocking thing that shook the UK to its core
@@kcreviews8161 that’s half hilarious and half depressing at the same time
@@SonofTiamat It wasn't learning that he was a nonce that shook us to our core; it was learning that pretty much the entire BBC and several NHS bodies (read: Britain's two most well-respected institutions) turned a blind eye as he racked up hundreds of victims, that shook us.
@@SonofTiamat I'm assuming you're talking about Jimmy Saville? That was more a case of 2010s Britain being shocked by how 1970s-1980s Britain had turned a blind eye to his serial offenses; beloved institutions the BBC and the NHS had ignored persistent rumours, respectively because he was a bankable star, and he did charity work (never mind that the charity work was motivated by gaining access to vulnerable, hospitalised kids).
I was starting to go off it, but the episode which really killed it for me was the one about wife beating, which didn't really have any jokes in it, and ended with Quagmire crushing the beater against a tree with his car. It was so bleak. Oh, and the Conway Twitty thing which wasn't funny at any point.
I don't think I've even seen that episode... I'm guessing it's pretty late?
@@kcreviews8161it's the third episode of season 10 called "scream of silence: the story of brenda q"
@@kcreviews8161 It's certainly not in the good era. I've just looked it up and I think it's called Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q. Pretty sure it's that one. Season 10.
As much as I loath Modern Family Guy, I'll always have a soft spot to the early seasons. This video is a great trip down kemory lane that really hammers home why I still feel that way.
this is some really good content.
Thanks so much!
Early Family Guy is the best.
i'd love a follow up video on the next three seasons
It'll come at some point
I had already another video from this channel on watch later lmao, so I guess I should subscribe already
Everyone should subscribe!
Great video! Did the algorithm things to grow
Thanks so much!
Correction: Joe appears strong when he’s being nice to someone making fun of him. Only the weak take offense to good-natured ribbing. Thank you for coming to Masculinity 101. I’ll be your daddy
I think if American dad had had a bit more time as Seth mcfarlanes only begotten show, they could have evolved a lot more as creators. IMO American dad is much better and is still consistently good
American Dad was always helmed by different writers than Family Guy. Seth was heavily involved in Family Guy for the first 10-11 seasons, then only involved in voicing the characters as he moved on to other projects. With American Dad he was loosely involved in the first season and only really did voice work rather than get involved in the writing of it.
I never got that into American Dad. The only episode I remember is when Stan injures his manparts in a woodworking accident and then gets addicted to touching himself
The first 14 or so episodes of American Dad are totally different from what the show became - which is basically a spiritual successor to season 5/6 of The Simpsons, but even more heightened and insane.
If anyone’s disappointed in Family Guy but never gave American Dad a full shot, they owe it to themselves to give that show another chance. American Dad season 2-11, in my opinion, run circles around even pre-cancellation Family Guy.
i saw early family guy as a kid and it is probably the funniest thing i have ever seen in my entire life. the only thing rivaling it could be beavis and butthead or some youtube poops. early family guy was a firework of fast pace over the top jokes. the dumb humor was so unpredictable back then.
this video rocks, comment for engagement
cool video 👍
For me I see it like this
Seasons 1-7: The Golden Era
Seasons 8-12: The Silver/Experimental Era
Seasons 13-15: the Bronze/Decent Era
Season 16-Present: the Dark Era
friggin sweet lois, a comment for da algorithm!