What EARLY Family Guy Did Differently (Seasons 1-3) 

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

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. 😂

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.

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.*

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.

Is the other one spongebob?

@@kcreviews8161 Yes

Meg deserves to be written that way after what Mila Kunis did.

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.

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.

That's a fair point!

Power Movement

Can't be verbally bullied very easily if you find all their insults hilarious.

That's good to hear! Glad that the fandom is growing!

you're hot

I was literally just watching his "Simpsons Golden Age" video when this one came up.

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

We stopped buying them at Season 8

Is that a pun? You should submit that one to Fozzie Bear.

Compared to actually making an antisemite a major character like south barf.

Yeah I guess you're technically right! It comes after that Brady Bunch parody

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

This is a well timed comment! I just uploaded my breakdown of seasons 4-6

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!" ♪

*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.

Interestingly that's exactly when I stopped buying the DVDs

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

Yeah IDK maybe that's why movie trilogies exist. Something magical about the number three

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

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

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

Glad you liked it!

Thanks!

Glad you liked it!

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

@@megaedeath8063The 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 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!

You're welcome!

Definitely planning on it quite immediately!

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

Hope you enjoy!

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"

Thanks so much!

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

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.

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.

Thanks so much!

I'm hoping to get round to it!

Thanks so much!

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

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching

Everyone should subscribe!

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.

Yeah I mean nowadays I guess the humour has gotten even more juvenile and accessible to younger people... I imagine

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

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.

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 :)

Thanks!

Yeah I reference that in my previous video about how family guy does reference comedy actually!

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

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.

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

It'll come at some point

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).

Thanks so much!

Glad you liked it!

You mean the one when I'm talking about Fox Promos? That's literally just from a fox promo. I think I found it on RU-vid by typing in like "Early Fox Family Guy promos" they're quite nostalgic to watch!

@@kcreviews8161 thanks

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.

Thanks!

Yeah, he went from "handicapable" to just being a joke about how pathetic he is.

Thanks!