Posted by The Mewes at pm3-p11-wny-004.modempools.net on March 05, 2001 at 10:56:37:
In Reply to: Question For Kevin : What's with Seth McFarlane? posted by The Mewes on March 03, 2001 at 13:30:03:
Yah. I thought Family Guy was a riot. I loved the constant cut-aways to tv and movie parodies.
And I thought Clerks was great for that too. That's why I thought that it could have been the similarities to his show that spawned Kevin's animosity towards Mr. McFarlane....Or it could just be misdirected anger as he is probably the last in a long line of people who hate TODD McFarlane and he was just confused and lashing out after many hard days of putting up with Jay on the set. =)
Ok. I can see how Family Guy was sort of a rip off of the Simpsons as you had the Stupid Father/Son duo but I think the similarities end there. Homer likes to watch tv and eat. Peter's reality is pretty much the TV and the TV only. He's obsessed with it. And while the son may be dumb as bricks like Bart, Bart is street smart and could talk his way out of a mob lynching. The rest of the cast is a stark contrast to each other...Maggie's innocence/Stewie's evil, Marge's sweetness/Lois' bitchy ways, etc.
And while the Simpsons were clever in their jokes, featuring lots of inside jokes and slapstick too (IE : So you have something to laugh at when the joke about an old episode goes over your head....)
The Family Guy was aimed at an older target audience (like the way I believe Clerks was). They skewered old TV shows and movies like The Brady Bunch and Animal House (I was in tears when Peter was sneaking across school grounds like John Belushi sneaking in the horse (on AH) while making all the background music himself). Most kids today wouldn't even know of that stuff. They were brought up on Britney and Ricky Martin while watching Teletubbies and Elmo. FG was also very raunchy which was not suitable for kids. Notice though, how the Simpsons is getting more and more raunchy. Every single episode there is a funny more-adult-oriented comment. IE : At the Prison Rodeo Bart is yelling for the bull to toss the inmate's salad. I almost choked on my tongue when that gem came out. I personally love the humor but alot of parents don't.
While Family Guy and Clerks may have alot in common and FG may be an adult clone of the Simpsons...The Simpsons are still clones of the Bundys whom were the bastard clones of Lucille Ball's old family comedy etc.
So who cares if FG and Clerks look alike.
- The Mewes
(Still searching for answers to why Kevin hates Seth so much)