Family guy steals? NEVER!

[darth los]

Family Guy isn't funny, it's just Simpsons all over again. And I got so annoyed with all those "Remember that time when I..." jokes that would then instantly go to a flashback. Talk about beating a dead horse. That's a way to fill time when you've run out of storyline. Just like those 80's sitcom episodes when they used to have flashbacks for an entire episode.

[Andy]

Flashback episodes where a way to show people their favourite clips back before VCR's where mainstream, not becuase the writers needed a way to "fill time when they've run out of storyline"... in fact many shows where under network pressure to do more flashback episodes than they did. Using "its like the time when..." jokes as episode filler becuase they have run out of story is just a obvious sign of very bad writing IMHO.

[MinionZombie]

It was clearly a part of the show's style - the flashbacks, but they used it way too much - that, that overuse, was a sign of decreased writing (by those pesky manatees ). Mind you, clip shows are still common waaaaaaaaaaaaaay after the invention of the VCR, so it still acts as filler. I mean who needs a Friends or Simpson's clip show? They show them EVERY DAY.

[darth los]

As for the reason that they did it back then was to show their favorite moments before the vcr is a very good point. But just because that's a reason doesn't mean it was the only reason.

[Andy]

It was clearly a part of the show's style - the flashbacks, but they used it way too much - that, that overuse, was a sign of decreased writing (by those pesky manatees ). It might well of been the shows style, and it may well be my cynical view of family guy, but it never clicked with me.. it seems stupid, unfunny, unoriginal and overused. Mind you, clip shows are still common waaaaaaaaaaaaaay after the invention of the VCR, so it still acts as filler. I mean who needs a Friends or Simpson's clip show? They show them EVERY DAY. You know at one point the simpsons staff where under pressure from FOX to make 5 clipshows per season? Show makers often have to fight networks over this. As for the reason that they did it back then was to show their favorite moments before the vcr is a very good point. But just because that's a reason doesn't mean it was the only reason. Oh certainly it wasn't the only reason, but it was the main reason clipshows came around, that and their cheap to make lol.

[darth los]

Oh certainly it wasn't the only reason, but it was the main reason clipshows came around, that and their cheap to make lol. It's true. You don't even need the actual actors to make them either, which makes them ideal to make in the off-season.

[EvilNed]

I actually think making a flashback episode in a Sitcom is tougher than making a real episode. Becuase you have to sit through and watch every episode over and over and select your favourite of them and then get to cutting.

[darth los]

I actually think making a flashback episode in a Sitcom is tougher than making a real episode. Becuase you have to sit through and watch every episode over and over and select your favourite of them and then get to cutting. There are some episodes that are better than others and the people involved with the series know that. I'm sure there are certain "golden" moments throughout a season that they have in mind for episodes such as those.

[MissJacksonCA]

Not that it would really suprise anyone but... I like the Simpsons more than FG but I like King of the Hill more... that's true or my name isn't Rusty Shackleford I'm just wondering though... is anyone involved with the Simpsons also involved with FG? Are they just recycling material or what?

[mista_mo]

Simpsons isn't particularly well written at all...the actors are what bring life into the show, not the poor dialogue or bad jokes or humour. Family guy burst onto the scene and was a marked improvement over the simpsons. It was actually funny, and came at a time when the days you could sit back and laugh for an entire simpsons episode was over. I still refuse to watch new ones as the show has been in a huge decline for about...6 years or so? come on, 18 years on air ffs. all the ideas are the same or go back to allready done ones, and the writers are stuggling. And it's obvious. Just let the show die and forget the past few years of it; a show that now relies on celebrity appearances instead of a plot and most attempts at humour are so ham fisted and half assed.... King of the Hill all the way; a show that got better as it got older.

[Maitreya]

That's all I have to say.

[Andy]

come on, 18 years on air ffs. all the ideas are the same or go back to allready done ones, and the writers are stuggling. And it's obvious. Just let the show die and forget the past few years of it; a show that now relies on celebrity appearances instead of a plot and most attempts at humour are so ham fisted and half assed.... While i do completly agree that the simpsons is long past its sell by date and needs to end as soon as.. i personally think they lost their way at the end of season 9. While i do agree, i dont find family guy funny at all, i dont think its surpassed the simpsons and i dont think it ever will, i am a huge fan of "adult" cartoons from classics like beavis and butthead and ren and stimpy to modern stuff like south park.. but i dont like family guy, never have. the humour is repetive and unfunny and they just use pop culture, quick "single scene" jokes and "its like the time when..." jokes to the extreme.. take those 3 jokes away and family guy is nothing.

[EvilNed]

That's all I have to say. Yuck. Talk about taking it too far.

[bassman]

I would prefer to watch "Family Guy" over "The Simpsons" anyday, but "The Simpsons Movie" was actually surprising. I laughed through most of it... And to all you people complaining about "Family Guy" having certain jokes that are re-used such as the "It's like the time when...", take yourself back to when "The Simpsons" was young and think of these phrases, "Do'h", "Eat My Shorts", "Don't have a cow, man", "Hi Everydbody!", etc. These catch phrases were constantly reused in the height of the show's popularity(and some are still used) just to get a cheap chuckle.

[MinionZombie]

But of course, The Simpson's used catch phrases, whereas with Family Guy it's repeated structural elements being used over and over again, and sometimes being used far too much...