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Did Anyone Catch Last Night's Episode of Family Guy?

B

BRNout

It was a very odd installment of FG, starting with a disclaimer that the episode was from "Peter's basement" and dated from 2007 (necessary, given OJ's recent conviction). But, not only was the premise weird but the whole ep seemed mistimed and strangely undeveloped. The strangest part of all was when they played a full 3-minute clip of an old Conway Twitty performance from a 1970s "Hee Haw" episode. They've used that bit a couple of times before and it was already getting old, but to show the entire song was weird to say the least. I chalk it up to laziness. ???

What's up with Seth MacFarlane lately anyhow? He's really been mailing it in this season and last night's installment of FG showed up postage due......

Just wondering if anyone else found it to be as strange as we did.
 
He's really been milking the daylights out of some long-running gags that should have been 'one-hit wonders' on that show. I attribute at least some of it to a lack of work on the show during the WGA strike.
 
Last week's episode was bad too. This week's wasn't awful outside of the Twiddy thing, but still wasn't great.

On the other hand, American Dad has gotten really good. I'm really enjoying that show a lot more than I did when it started.

I have to wonder if McFarlane is diverting his attention from Family Guy to make American Dad better and to launch the Cleveland show.

- Trip
 
OR, could it be too m any guest roles on Robot Chicken? (I don't think so either, but I had to suggest it)

Be happy last night's episode didn't include another chicken fight or the two Portuguese guys or the two ragtime era guys who were killed off and brought back, or another stewie vs brian fight or (do I need to keep going? they have plenty of running gags)

Here's another thought, maybe they should base an entire episode on one running gag after another?
 
Actually, a couple of weeks ago, they somehow put in an episode the tape of Christian Bale's movie set tirade, that had only been made public a week or so earlier. The animation process for a single episode takes nine months, so how it got inserted at the last minute is beyond me to understand.

This episode may have sit on the shelf...given how Sunday football tends to throw everything off. That Conway Twitty piece might have been a placeholder for a creative last-minute edit like the one that happened a couple of weeks ago...only they didn't put one in this time.
 
Though no doubt the Twitty estate and Gaylord Entertainment appreciates the royalties.

But still, if Seth reuses the Hee Haw gag, doesn't he have any other musical guests he can use? Or at least, any other Conway Twitty songs?
 
I'm pretty sure the Conway Twitty clip on last night's "Family Guy" was not from "Hee Haw." It looked to me that it was likely from one of Show-Biz Productions' syndicated country music shows from the 1970's, most likely "That Nashville Music" or "The Porter Wagoner Show." I believe Willie Nelson owns the Show-Biz library, and he licenses some of the shows to RFD-TV. However, I do believe that a Conway clip used on a previous "Family Guy" episode was from "Hee Haw."
 
jal41 said:
Actually, a couple of weeks ago, they somehow put in an episode the tape of Christian Bale's movie set tirade, that had only been made public a week or so earlier. The animation process for a single episode takes nine months, so how it got inserted at the last minute is beyond me to understand.
Click to expand...
Easy, if you noticed, they didn't really have any animation with it. Just a animated tape player going. Personally, I would've rathered they take the few months to have made an animation of the spoof.
 
I haven't seen last nights episode but I thought last weeks "gay gene" episode was one of the funniest ever. I think it is getting better each year. I do agree that some of the running gags need to stop, mostly that stupid and endless fight with the chicken.
 
SteveRichards said:
I'm pretty sure the Conway Twitty clip on last night's "Family Guy" was not from "Hee Haw." It looked to me that it was likely from one of Show-Biz Productions' syndicated country music shows from the 1970's, most likely "That Nashville Music" or "The Porter Wagoner Show." I believe Willie Nelson owns the Show-Biz library, and he licenses some of the shows to RFD-TV. However, I do believe that a Conway clip used on a previous "Family Guy" episode was from "Hee Haw."
Click to expand...
After a bit of research, I believe the Conway clip came from the show "That Nashville Music" which was on TV from 1970 to 1985. Here is another clip citing the show and the same barn-like backdrop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohfs5-r3Gco

I knew I'd seen that before, but 30 years will clouds one's mind. Thinking back on it now, seems these shows pre-dated MTV by about 20 years! Porter's show began in the early 60s!

I enjoy seeing the Conway clips, but what gives? Is there a purpose or is it just filler?

If you want to see some lame McFarlane clips check out the Calvacade of Comedy on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Lg...D14FC7CF6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
 
Irishfl said:
jal41 said:
Actually, a couple of weeks ago, they somehow put in an episode the tape of Christian Bale's movie set tirade, that had only been made public a week or so earlier. The animation process for a single episode takes nine months, so how it got inserted at the last minute is beyond me to understand.
Click to expand...
Easy, if you noticed, they didn't really have any animation with it. Just a animated tape player going. Personally, I would've rathered they take the few months to have made an animation of the spoof.
Click to expand...

"South Park" still wins in the timely gags category, hands-down.
 
I thought that the episode was hateful, tasteless, and insensitive; especially to the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. I would sue Seth McFarlane and Fox if I were them. That is just inexcusable.

This is not the first time that a Fox show has depicted a murder victim's relatives. Do any of you remember when MADtv used to spoof John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of murdered Colorado beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, who was found dead in her parents' basement on December 26, 1996? (That case has yet to be solved.) The Family Guy episode at hand is, in my opinion, reminiscent of that.
 
Mastaclocksetta said:
I thought that the episode was hateful, tasteless, and insensitive; especially to the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. I would sue Seth McFarlane and Fox if I were them. That is just inexcusable.

This is not the first time that a Fox show has depicted a murder victim's relatives. Do any of you remember when MADtv used to spoof John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of murdered Colorado beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, who was found dead in her parents' basement on December 26, 1996? (That case has yet to be solved.) The Family Guy episode at hand is, in my opinion, reminiscent of that.
Click to expand...

It's always amazing to me that the presumption of freedom of speech goes out the window when people are offended. Then they want censorship, or lawsuits. There was nothing libelous in the episode about the Goldmans. Tastelessness and insensitivity are not against the law, or grounds for a lawsuit.

I'll admit that this episode made me wince a few times, but that's The Family Guy. McFarlane works hard at being offensive and he often succeeds.

And yes - running that entire Conway Twitty song was obviously done to pad out a short episode. Perhaps there was a scene that was so unbelievably insensitive that Fox made them cut it. We'll probably never know...
 
Mastaclocksetta said:
I thought that the episode was hateful, tasteless, and insensitive; especially to the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. I would sue Seth McFarlane and Fox if I were them. That is just inexcusable.
Click to expand...

The fact that Fred Goldman and his mustache love TV cameras doesn't exactly make them private figures. Well before OJ's latest legal troubles, any small tidbit of news involving Simpson (his book, his 'reality show', his getting run out of a Louisville, KY restaurant) warranted Fred Goldman face time, and he soaked it up wherever he could get it. You cannot deny some level of opportunism there.

It might not be fair, but its slightly easier for me to sympathize with the Browns and the other Simpson family members, seeing as how they smartly choose to keep low profiles.
 
If you truly want to see an offensive Family Guy episode, just watch Seth try to make 9/11 refernces sound funny (like on Tales of a Third Grade Nothing and James Woods steals Peter's Identity episodes). Now that was truly tasteless.
 
While I can understand how much of the humor in Family Guy can be considered 'tasteless', I usually refer back to George Carlin's bit about how "Rape can be funny".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqeM-5uLqOg

I'm not going to get that upset at a cartoon that isn't being serious or literal.
 
azumanga said:
A New York weatherman tried doing that in 1976 -- it cost him his job:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex_Antoine
Click to expand...

Context, occupation, and platform. All different, and all wrong for Antoine at the time he told the joke.

Nobody's expecting anything from Family Guy but yuk-yuks and entertainment.
 
Nate Wesley said:
azumanga said:
A New York weatherman tried doing that in 1976 -- it cost him his job:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tex_Antoine
Click to expand...

Context, occupation, and platform. All different, and all wrong for Antoine at the time he told the joke.

Nobody's expecting anything from Family Guy but yuk-yuks and entertainment.
Click to expand...

True - and according to that Wikipedia article, Antoine's insensitive quip about race came just a few minutes after a news report on the rape of a 5 year old girl. Antoine's stupidity was unbelievable.
 
If you truly want to see a bad Family Guy episode, look at the I Dream of Jesus episode earlier this season. Half of the show was Peter singing Surfing Bird and the other half was just blasphemey.
 
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