Gil's rant...
Where's Jenny... I forgot your LJ name... no one on my friends list seems to be you, do you still have a journal?
To all the people that said Family Guy/American Dad are from the same company/creators as the Simpsons/Futurama... they aren't, Matt Groening=The Simpsons, Futurama. Seth McFarlane=Family Guy, American Dad. Just because they are both aired on Fox and run syndication on various other channels doesn't make them from the same company...
That aside, while I do agree that a lot of Family Guy material is very similar to The Simpsons, obviously it's not a pressing issue. Matt Groening and the Simpsons creators have stated in various commentaries how they like Family Guy, and they aren't bothered by the similarities. Some of the older Simpsons people have gone on to work at Family Guy anyway...
I personally think the Simpsons is the better show. Family Guy, in the original three seasons was really good... because the stories were more character driven, the humor wasn't so over the top, and the parodies were tastefully placed. Now the episodes are littered with ridiculous cut-away gags... I used to like them but now they just get annoying, they drag out the story.
The Simpsons has always been my favorite show, there are so many characters and they are all likable and believable. I'm not saying this isn't true of Family Guy, but it's rare that you see an episode of Family Guy that centers around a minor character. The Simpsons does this quite often, (though there were a few seasons that were pretty Homer-heavy.) What I love about the Simpsons is that they do a good job of making a good story, with good humor. The stories and a majority of the jokes in the Simpsons are universal. The Simpsons has moments that surprise you by pulling you into the story, and can make you really sympathize with the characters. Family Guy has only done this for me very few times, and they were all during the second or third season....
Also, artistically, The Simpsons has Family Guy beat... The Simpsons uses more dynamic composition and staging elements, while Family Guy doesn't stray far from it's sitcom-ish feel unless it's to parody a movie.
Sure some of the jokes in the older seasons of the Simpsons may be dated now, but when they came out they were great social commentaries and greatly reflected the time. Those episodes still maintain a lot of the timeless humor and story quality I've come to expect fro the Simpsons.
After 18 seasons, sure the Simpsons has wavered a bit, it's come a long way... But for a long time the seasons kept getting better and better. 1-12 were really good, especially 5-10. Seasons 7 and 8 are probably my favorites... I still love the show, even though for a few seasons they dipped in quality, the recently aired episodes remind me of the good old days. Family Guy is in it's 6th or so season, and already the quality seems to be slipping in my opinion... I'm not laughing as hard as I used to, because it feels like I'm hearing the same joke but just in a different movie parody... or cut away gag. Family Guy's first 4 seasons were good, but the newer episodes don't hold my attention... I feel like I've seen it before. It just seems that Family Guy is wavering in quality far earlier in it's run than the Simpsons...
The problem the Simpsons faces is that when it first came out the only other animated sitcom was the Flintstones... which had already finished it's run. It had been a while since an animated sitcom had been on the air waves and people thought it couldn't be done. The Simpsons had almost 12 years as the only animated sitcom in the spotlight. People have commended it saying it has defined a generation... Now animated sitcoms are pretty common... the Simpsons has competition, and people are finding something to compare it to... so of course it's going to lose fans, gain fans... The point is, the Simpsons hasn't really declined in quality, it's trying to adapt to a new generation, animated sitcoms aren't as unheard of and the audiences definition of funny has changed. The old formula still works, but they're still testing their options.
Family Guy relies too much on pop-culture and regionalized humor, eventually the humor will be far more dated than even the original Simpsons episodes.
To all the people that said Family Guy/American Dad are from the same company/creators as the Simpsons/Futurama... they aren't, Matt Groening=The Simpsons, Futurama. Seth McFarlane=Family Guy, American Dad. Just because they are both aired on Fox and run syndication on various other channels doesn't make them from the same company...
That aside, while I do agree that a lot of Family Guy material is very similar to The Simpsons, obviously it's not a pressing issue. Matt Groening and the Simpsons creators have stated in various commentaries how they like Family Guy, and they aren't bothered by the similarities. Some of the older Simpsons people have gone on to work at Family Guy anyway...
I personally think the Simpsons is the better show. Family Guy, in the original three seasons was really good... because the stories were more character driven, the humor wasn't so over the top, and the parodies were tastefully placed. Now the episodes are littered with ridiculous cut-away gags... I used to like them but now they just get annoying, they drag out the story.
The Simpsons has always been my favorite show, there are so many characters and they are all likable and believable. I'm not saying this isn't true of Family Guy, but it's rare that you see an episode of Family Guy that centers around a minor character. The Simpsons does this quite often, (though there were a few seasons that were pretty Homer-heavy.) What I love about the Simpsons is that they do a good job of making a good story, with good humor. The stories and a majority of the jokes in the Simpsons are universal. The Simpsons has moments that surprise you by pulling you into the story, and can make you really sympathize with the characters. Family Guy has only done this for me very few times, and they were all during the second or third season....
Also, artistically, The Simpsons has Family Guy beat... The Simpsons uses more dynamic composition and staging elements, while Family Guy doesn't stray far from it's sitcom-ish feel unless it's to parody a movie.
Sure some of the jokes in the older seasons of the Simpsons may be dated now, but when they came out they were great social commentaries and greatly reflected the time. Those episodes still maintain a lot of the timeless humor and story quality I've come to expect fro the Simpsons.
After 18 seasons, sure the Simpsons has wavered a bit, it's come a long way... But for a long time the seasons kept getting better and better. 1-12 were really good, especially 5-10. Seasons 7 and 8 are probably my favorites... I still love the show, even though for a few seasons they dipped in quality, the recently aired episodes remind me of the good old days. Family Guy is in it's 6th or so season, and already the quality seems to be slipping in my opinion... I'm not laughing as hard as I used to, because it feels like I'm hearing the same joke but just in a different movie parody... or cut away gag. Family Guy's first 4 seasons were good, but the newer episodes don't hold my attention... I feel like I've seen it before. It just seems that Family Guy is wavering in quality far earlier in it's run than the Simpsons...
The problem the Simpsons faces is that when it first came out the only other animated sitcom was the Flintstones... which had already finished it's run. It had been a while since an animated sitcom had been on the air waves and people thought it couldn't be done. The Simpsons had almost 12 years as the only animated sitcom in the spotlight. People have commended it saying it has defined a generation... Now animated sitcoms are pretty common... the Simpsons has competition, and people are finding something to compare it to... so of course it's going to lose fans, gain fans... The point is, the Simpsons hasn't really declined in quality, it's trying to adapt to a new generation, animated sitcoms aren't as unheard of and the audiences definition of funny has changed. The old formula still works, but they're still testing their options.
Family Guy relies too much on pop-culture and regionalized humor, eventually the humor will be far more dated than even the original Simpsons episodes.