[Soldier Boy]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Is that animated as well TS or not? ^

No it's live action, the protagonist (the wife) is Alexis from Schitt's Creek. Well, the actress... I hope it's not poor Alexis' sequel story .

I thoroughly recommend it but like I said you have to not take it at face value for 90% of episode 1 ... I was literally on the verge of turning it off as a terrible sitcom before I saw the frustrated IMDB reviews telling people to wait. Unfortunately their IMDB rating is still MUCH lower than it should be because it's flooded with reviews of people who watched half of the first episode and reviewed it as the most irritating sitcom in history (again, the whole point of the show as it turns out, is that the SITCOM main character - Kevin - is supposed to be absolutely abhorrent. Like you're supposed to say "quite right get 'im!!" about her literally wanting him dead

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

No it's live action, the protagonist (the wife) is Alexis from Schitt's Creek. Well, the actress... I hope it's not poor Alexis' sequel story .

I thoroughly recommend it but like I said you have to not take it at face value for 90% of episode 1 ... I was literally on the verge of turning it off as a terrible sitcom before I saw the frustrated IMDB reviews telling people to wait. Unfortunately their IMDB rating is still MUCH lower than it should be because it's flooded with reviews of people who watched half of the first episode and reviewed it as the most irritating sitcom in history (again, the whole point of the show as it turns out, is that the SITCOM main character - Kevin - is supposed to be absolutely abhorrent. Like you're supposed to say "quite right get 'im!!" about her literally wanting him dead

Ohhhh I love her, she was my favourite in Schitts Creek (along with Moira obvs) I'll see if I can find it somewhere later

[Soldier Boy]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Ohhhh I love her, she was my favourite in Schitts Creek (along with Moira obvs) I'll see if I can find it somewhere later

[edit] Apparently it's NOT an amazon show, it's AMC but outside the US it is free on Prime.

It's an Amazon show so it's free on Prime, but I'm sure can be found elsewhere if not

[LeatherTrumpet]

Youtube video

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

It's an Amazon show so it's free on Prime, but I'm sure can be found elsewhere if not

I don't have Prime but maybe maybe ..........

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

To be fair I always took that to be a satire of the "classic US family sitcom/comedy movie", where the big fat bloke is always "in charge" no matter how ridiculous and bumbling he is. They also play a bit on the fact that they're in a decent sized, detached family house that they own when it seems unlikely that Peter is competent enough to be doing anything worthwhile to earn the money to pay for it, and Lois (I believe) doesn't work (another US trope).

On that vein I thoroughly recommend the show "Kevin Can ****** Himself" - which is a dark parody of sitcoms and plays on the same trope (Kevin is basically Peter Griffin, the protagonist is his wife who is basically Lois if she finally had enough and had a mental breakdown). If you're going to watch it though watch at least the first two episodes - it is NOT what it seems to be in the first episode (a bad sitcom) - it is a dark comedy/drama.

Basically (semi spoilers as it's a reveal at the very end of the first episode)

Spoiler:

The show is in two different styles. Most of the show that's about the wife and all of the other characters when "Kevin" isn't around is shot like a gritty, slightly depressing comedy drama ... with a major plot point being that she's plotting to kill her husband. Any scene that Kevin is in or enters, the camera style changes, everything becomes really light/colourful, and it's all stupid jokes and "laughter in a can" like a 90's sitcom. Then he leaves the room and it flips back. It's a very interesting show for those who have ever watched "family sitcoms". Basically the idea is that his constant "quest for laughs" and silly hair-brained schemes are actually ruining other people's lives, and leaving them broke.

Fair warning it's pretty bleak/depressing at its core.

Yeah, I can’t vibe with or warm to that at all. He’s veritably challenged to the point where Louis has to have him use post-it notes in lieu of checks and he’s just a terrible person (I still kind of like him but to say he’s a bumbling fool would be an understatement).

[Soldier Boy]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I don't have Prime but maybe maybe ..........

Definitely worth it - it's also not very long and it's complete (limited series, 2 seasons of 8 episodes that ended last October) so a complete story and not a huge time committment.

[Soldier Boy]

Originally Posted by Redway

Yeah, I can’t vibe with or warm to that at all. He’s veritably challenged to the point where Louis has to have him use post-it notes in lieu of checks and he’s just a terrible person (I still kind of like him but to say he’s a bumbling fool would be an understatement).

I think as with most comedies there's also been "character trait creep" where he wasn't quite as dramatically incompetent in the first few seasons but became more and more so. Similar to Joey in Friends, who started out S1 as their "less educated but fairly street smart" friend ... but by the end was basically a toddler trapped in a grown man's body.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

Definitely worth it - it's also not very long and it's complete (limited series, 2 seasons of 8 episodes that ended last October) so a complete story and not a huge time committment.

Great stuff, I'll try to find somewhere to watch it and report back

[Redway]

Originally Posted by MTVN

I do agree actually and they sometimes joke about abusing underage people as well which is pretty suspect. Like SB says a lot of it just feels scattershot as well and serves no purpose

I was amazed a few weeks ago though to discover my 94 year old Grandma knew of Family Guy and she described it as 'an ethically sound program' can only assume she's only seen a small sample size

I was watching an episode last night involving Quagmire (surprise, surprise) and a high-school girl who lied about her age (to cut a long story short the only thing that stopped Quagmire from serving a 20-year sentence was his mum sleeping with the judge). That was awkward.

[Redway]

I’ll give that series a shout (I’ll stick with the first two episodes to begin with and see how it goes), SB.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Youtube video

Why has everything got to come down to race with you?

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

I think as with most comedies there's also been "character trait creep" where he wasn't quite as dramatically incompetent in the first few seasons but became more and more so. Similar to Joey in Friends, who started out S1 as their "less educated but fairly street smart" friend ... but by the end was basically a toddler trapped in a grown man's body.

(Moving swiftly on from LT’s usual bait) yeah. They did the same thing to Homer Simpson, Junior off My Wife and Kids and Chelsea (That’s So Raven). Chelsea in particular was fairly smart in season 1 (and partially season 2) but in seasons 3 and 4 it was a miracle how she was able to get by without a cater all day or had the sentimental sensitivity-intelligence to even have strong morals about animals. In the earlier episodes she hardly acted like that at all.

[Swan]

I dunno if anyone has seen Silicon Valley, it's not animated, but there's some risky dialogue in that. The interplay between two characters, Gilfoyle and Dinesh that boarders what would certainly be considered non-acceptable out of context today (i think the show ran from 2013-2019). But the interplay between the two characters works so well, that simply comes across as very funny.

It's the same with one Joke, by a character who you'd never expect it from, it could come across pretty offensive out of context, but the delivery, and coming from the most unexpected character, just make it's incredibly funny.

Mike Judge show. Witty, funny, slick, excellent comedy. Highly recommend. The writing is great. And context is key.

I can't really judge on Family Guy, not seen it since season 5. South Park, which as SB said, from season 5 ish onward become more political, and pushed boundaries, has been politically spot for 20 years now, barring a couple of latter season misses. And they've admitted when wrong, like they did about Climate Change recently ish with Al Gore (paired with the RDR2 release in 2018). Politically firm Centre imo. Matt Stone and Trey Parker would just find it funny if they got cancelled anyway. It wouldn't stop them, and they don't need the money. Both are worth half a Billion $ now.

Context is key.

[Oliver_W]

They call it "Flanderization".

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...Flanderization

[Soldier Boy]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

They call it "Flanderization".

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...Flanderization

Interestingly I think you can see the opposite in South Park - characters were all quite trope-y caricatures in eastrly seasons and have developed into more nuanced characters over the span of the show.

From what I did watch of Family Guy I'd say the same thing about Stewie, though I've not seen anything newer than about 5 years ago. They leaned a little heavily into "Stewie is gay" but at the start the joke was just "evil plotting baby" and he over time became a more rounded character.

[Oliver_W]

To be fair Stewie is the one with the most scope for development - he's the only family member who's not a stereotype (how many American sitcoms have a possibly gay posh British baby?!) and the only one who's not some flavour of stupid.

[Swan]

Originally Posted by Redway

(Moving swiftly on from LT’s usual bait) yeah. They did the same thing to Homer Simpson, Junior off My Wife and Kids and Chelsea (That’s So Raven). Chelsea in particular was fairly smart in season 1 (and partially season 2) but in seasons 3 and 4 it was a miracle how she was able to get by without a cater all day or had the sentimental sensitivity-intelligence to even have strong morals about animals. In the earlier episodes she hardly acted like that at all.

I just thought the guy who played Junior was pretty bad actor. Damon Wayans, and the woman who played the wife carried that show.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Swan

I just thought the guy who played Junior was pretty bad actor. Damon Wayans, and the woman who played the wife carried that show.

His acting was crap but in fairness to the character he wasn’t as much of a bumbling idiot in the first season or two (likewise for whoever the flanderdised snapback one was between Kenan and Kel; I think he had a fetish for orange soda).

And yeah, Oliver, it is called flanderdisation. They take the character who’s either relatively normal, even smart, but just a bit goofy/quirky or maybe a little slow but within reasonable idiots and dumb them down by the season. The only time it’s ever worked in a character’s favour as far as I can kind of recall is Homer Simpson. He was an abusive jerk in the first few seasons so I actually prefer him as a clumsy doughnut.

[Livia]

I like Family Guy. It's hard to grade comedy. For instance nothing they've ever said about Jews - and they've said a lot - has offended me because it's COMEDY.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

To be fair Stewie is the one with the most scope for development - he's the only family member who's not a stereotype (how many American sitcoms have a possibly gay posh British baby?!) and the only one who's not some flavour of stupid.

To me Stewie’s a boss character just by virtue of who he is and his relationship with Brian, not his sexuality. I couldn’t care less about his sexuality and that goes for actual people as well as far as I’m concerned. Unless you tell me I don’t care and I don’t want to know.

[GoldHeart]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

There's no such thing as a joke being taken "too far". Unless it implies a call to violence, nothing should be seen as off-limits.

I find it double standard how the rules are cherry picked, family guy & south park get a pass for ' it's just satire bro ' ,but comedians get grief over jokes for being 'too offensive ' . There's no consistency. People get offended now even before watching something for themselves.

Family guy & south park have always pushed the jokes too far imo ,but there you go .

[Swan]

Originally Posted by GoldHeart

I find it double standard how the rules are cherry picked, family guy & south park get a pass for ' it's just satire bro ' ,but comedians get grief over jokes for being 'too offensive ' . There's no consistency. People get offended now even before watching something for themselves.

Family guy & south park have always pushed the jokes too far imo ,but there you go .

Animation gets away with more because it's animation, not real life. We don't quite process live action, to animation in the same way. Hence the offence is lesser with animation.

However, whatever you do, please don't judge South Park if your haven't followed it for the last 20 years. It makes excellent points. Universities in the US used to, and might still do, classes and lectures on the Politics of South Park. I can't judge really on Family Guy, but South Park goes much deeper than merely 4 kids in Colorado being offensive.

[LeatherTrumpet]

Unless you can quantify what "too far means" it would be rather difficult to say

too far for whom?

[GoldHeart]

Originally Posted by Redway

Yeah, I can’t vibe with or warm to that at all. He’s veritably challenged to the point where Louis has to have him use post-it notes in lieu of checks and he’s just a terrible person (I still kind of like him but to say he’s a bumbling fool would be an understatement).

People class Peter as a man child,I've noticed there's more hate towards Lois ...as she's supposed to be the 'responsible' one ...yet she behaves like a selfish idiot aswell.