From: (No Email available)

Date: 2003-12-09 09:13:06

Comment:

I recently went on a DVD rampage and bought the first three seasons of the Simpsons, and the two vols. of Family Guy.


Watching the Simpsons was a total shock.  The first season of course was slow, but picked up the pace by the sixth ep: (Homer as Bigfoot). Season two and three are masterpieces.  "Bart the Daredevil" has one of the funniest sight gags ever in TV animation (Homer over the gorge).  They are well written with a Homer who still went to work and cared about his family.  

While I enjoyed the fact that Homer became a complete moron over the years, the freshness of the current seasons are missing.  Season two and three are all time classics, which could be shown today and get higher ratings than what the Simpsons are pulling now.  


I've been a Family Guy fan since the pilot episode.  I even have a cat named "Tewey" named from "Stewie".  I lost track of the episodes during the second season because they kept moving it around on FOX.  I didn't see one episode from season three.  


I thought the weakness of the first season was their reliability on old TV shows with twisted plots.  Now that I've watched all three seasons, I'm glad to say the show really matured by the third season.  I was crying from laughing so hard.  I have to admit when Stewie told Peter to play the lonely man music from "The Incredible Hulk", I was on the floor (it was my fav. show as a kid).


As for those who say the writing is poor I can give one example which is pure genius.


During the episode "Dammit Janet", Stewie makes a pit trap at the playground and entices his victims to fall through a pile of leaves.  Once Stewie closes the hatch and walks away, he sings the first line from "Another One Bites the Dust".  Now the writers could've taken the cheap way out (which is what you see on "Friends", "Will and Grace", etc.) and just say the title of the song.  


That's why Family Guy is very popular with people who enjoy biting satire, including a lot of british comedy.


*end of rant*