*sniff* A 21st Century Miracle…
So, I plopped down on the sofa this afternoon to make absolutely sure the Tivo was picking up Family Guy’s triumphant return to TV tonight after 3 long years of cancellation. When I hit the To Do list, I was amazed to see–what’s this?– Tivo was already set to record the show! You see, in my sadness over its cancellation, I could never bring myself to delete the Season Pass on the Tivo. The scheduled recording lingered in desperate futility for over 3 years until Fox finally picked the show back up and ordered 33 more episodes, the first of which was automatically recorded 90 minutes ago.
What does this mean? Well, I kept hope alive through modern technology when there was none, so there’s probably a message there. That message? Tivo is smarter than network executives.
May 2nd, 2005 at 6:09 am
SO EXCITED to watch it!!! I haven’t yet–D is out of town so I taped it for both of us to watch together. I head to the airport in 5-10 minutes to pick him up and Family Guy is FIRST order of business when we arrive back here.
May 2nd, 2005 at 7:15 am
Well, after Dark Angel, Titus, Undeclared, Action, That 80’s Show, Wonderfalls, Fastlane, Andy Richter Controls The Universe, Skin, Girls Club, Cracking Up, The Pits, Firefly, Get Real, Freaky Links, Wanda At Large, Costello, The Lone Gunman, A Minute With Stan Hooper, Normal Ohio, Pasadena, Harsh Realm, Keen Eddy, The Street, American Embassy, Cedric The Entertainer, The Tick, Louis, and Greg The Bunny all got canceled, it was pretty much inevitable that Family Guy would return.
May 2nd, 2005 at 6:06 pm
HAHAHAHA AWESOME. GOD I love Family Guy.
Hey Garrett, do you like American Dad? I think it rather sucks. I didn’t laugh out loud once.
May 2nd, 2005 at 6:25 pm
Ehh, the jury’s still out on American Dad. I think it’s still well-written, and is “good enough”, and I did find it silently funny in the way I watch some other shows. However, the real comedy standouts in my TV lineup are the ones that consistently make me laugh out loud. Like Mel Gibson shooting the lock off the safe to retrieve another gun. That’s CLASSIC Family Guy. (I laugh out loud at The Daily Show, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, Sealab 2021, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.)
Anyway, it is somewhat irrelevant if I like American Dad or not. It seems doomed from the start, being too similar to Family Guy but not attracting the cult audience. Now, coming from one of FG’s biggest fans, that’s not a slam. It is just the reality of the situation. Network brass can’t expect American Dad to somehow take on a life of its own; thus, it will always play second fiddle to FG.
Criticism #2: I think it could survive, if it incorporated a *lot* more current events, a la South Park, but with the lead time of traditional animation, there’s just no way. You can’t be topical with your political humor when you have, at minimum, a 3-5 month lead time for episodes. Not their fault, but a tragic flaw. I really like the idea of the show, and of course would support Seth MacFarlane even if he were selling Nazi propaganda films, but I don’t think it will last.
May 2nd, 2005 at 8:30 pm
we all know I watch WAY too much TV. Between what I record, download, and watch live, just counting sitcoms, I watch at least 20 shows a week (there there are a good number of dramas as well; I also didn’t count adult swim cartoons in there either)
While I am easily amused and could easily say that most of them make me laugh out loud at some point, the ones that I find consistenly funny and just can’t miss are:
Scrubs
Arrested Development
According to Jim
Simpsons
Family Guy
The Office
There are some others that fit in the category of pretty good:
Listen Up
Still Standing
Raymond
Rodney
Malcolm in the middle
and probably a few others that escape me at the moment
The rest I really just watch cuz I always have.
May 2nd, 2005 at 8:36 pm
See, you are much more of a sitcom guy than I am. I like Raymond and King of Queens, but it all just seems like the same show to me. I’ve been really surprised the few times I’ve watched According to Jim; that show is funnier than one would think.
I’ve downloaded The Office every week, but haven’t watched it yet. I need to find a DVD player that plays DiVX movies…
May 2nd, 2005 at 8:59 pm
They arent the same show!
Raymond is Skinny, Doug is Fat
Raymond has a cooky family and kids
Doug as a crazy father in law
I agree, sometimes they do start to seem really similar, and thats what puts those shows on that first list. They are all rather unique. According to Jim kinda follows the set aside formula at times, but there is somethign about it thats different to me that sets it apart.
But hey, if I can watch the same episodes of Futurama and Family Guy played over and over again on adult swim, and find them funny every time, I think I can find two similar, yet different shows funny too.
May 2nd, 2005 at 9:01 pm
Also, in addition to sitcoms, I watch about 7 or 8 dramas a week too.
And that, as well as the count above, is only primetime broadcast shows. Its not south park, adult swim, HBO shows, etc.
May 2nd, 2005 at 10:41 pm
Do you watch House? That’s my big guilty pleasure (I would be totally weaned off of ANY TV whatsoever if not for that and Family Guy).
May 2nd, 2005 at 10:51 pm
I know you weren’t asking me, but the current Medical Drama we’re watching is Grey’s Anatomy, and we just don’t have room for 2 in the genre. Grey’s Anatomy is pretty interesting; it’s not too much of a soap opera for me to enjoy it. Haven’t seen a single episode of House, though. You like it that much?
May 2nd, 2005 at 11:05 pm
My roomie watches Grey’s Anatomy, actually, and she really likes it. I haven’t seen it–I only got into House because David is at quizbowl practice Tuesday nights and I got bored once, flipped on the TV, and there it was. For me, the appeal is really in the main character–Dr. House is a medical genius with no bedside manner to speak of whatsoever, and the show focuses a lot on his behavior as such–a thoroughly competent, even brilliant, doctor who doesn’t give a shit about the people he’s treating–he’s just after diagnosing and curing diseases. In that sense, each episode in some way focuses in on the triumph of man’s mind over societal norms and expectations. It’s freakin’ sweet.
May 2nd, 2005 at 11:08 pm
Also the storylines are pretty compelling. The first episode I saw sucked me in because it involved a guy who completely passed out and landed in the hospital after having sex with his fiancée, and the doctors were poring over medical books, trying to figure out what his symptoms were. Typically someone in the show will have a mystery ailment and they won’t figure out exactly what’s wrong until the very end… makes for a good, suspenseful hour.
May 3rd, 2005 at 6:20 am
You can beat me to an almost deal of the century again.
If you really want a Divx/Xvid etc. DVD player, CC has the Philips 642 for $59–sweet Divxy goodness in a set-top box.