....but last night's "Family Guy" was funnier than any episode of Futurama up to this point.
The "Homicide: Life on Sesame Street" bit almost killed me. Several layers of humor in that one.
I hope Futurama gets it together. Thus far I'm not real impressed. It's like mediocre "Simpsons" in a sf setting. Likely some of the same writers crossed over.
Thing is, Futurama has so much more POTENTIAL than the Simpsons. I mean, the Simpsons' only have Springfield (with exceptions), while Futurama has the setting to deal with unlimited 'locations' and characters. Guest stars galore, and endless potential for any humorous bit they can think up.
I understand they've already penned the first two seasons. I really hope it gets better.
Homicide life on Sesame Street was very poorly done. It was obviously written by someone who doesn't know anything about Homicide, and thinks that it is just another "edgy" cop show that cusses and uses nudity. It failed to use the two shows effectively together. Why not have some real detectives investigating a murder scene on sesame street with a familiar character's chalk outline on the sidewalk, or something else like that? Hell even that would be lame. The whole idea is just lame. Futurama so far has been briliant. The scene at the Blernball game, where the man hits a multiball blern was just insanely funny. It was so completely absurd, and confusing that I felt exactly like Fry did trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It did exactly what it should by making you feel the exact emotion that the character was feeling, and also being hilarious at the same time. Family Guy doesn't even come close to reaching a hundreth of that one scenes acomplishment. Besides, nothing beats the best parody of all "Star Trek 12: So Very Tired".
In alt.tv.futurama, on the "Re: Hate to admit it..." thread, Dale G. Abersold wrote:
Interestingly, Keeler's work on "Futurama" has been better than on "The Simpsons." My theory is that not only do you have to be a good writer, but there has to be a good match, if you will, between the writer and the show.
FG's humor often seems forced to me-that is, they often will conspire to create a scene purely for the yuk content, regardless of whether it is consistent with the tone of the show or the characters' personalities... That and the talking dog really bugs me too for some reason...
Of course, some of the humor is forced, but sometimes it can be subtle(Ie: "Grand Ol Pube," Peter puts in an "e" so it spells out "Grand Ole Pube" John DiFool wrote in message ...
Listen, if you can't get it through your head that posting binaries to a non-binary group is wrong, could you at _least_ have the courtesy to label the header BINARY, so that one can filter them out?
Sheesh.
But I guess it's a bit too much to expect from someone who _likes_ Family Guy...
Andy Howard wrote in message news:IsbV2.12513$[email]...
Errrmm... it doesn't quite work that way.... the problem is, there are an awful lot of news-servers out there that don't have the bandwidth to handle the massive amount of space that binary newsgroups take up. Others prefer not to offer binary groups because they would rather devote their limited bandwidth to providing high-speed and complete non-binary newsfeeds... but the end result is that if a whole lot of people start posting binaries to non-binary groups, the group could be labeled a "stealth" binary group (any binary group outside of alt.binaries is considered stealth). And if a NG is labeled stealth, then a lot of newsfeeds are very likely to drop it (even this one, which has at least two rmgroups against it already). Personally, I'd be kind of peeved if someone decided for me that my ISP would drop alt.tv.futurama, just 'cause they wanted to ignore the newsgroup charter....
BUT, all is not lost! You've got several options:
A) Family Guy binaries are welcome in lots of assorted alt.binaries.*.misc groups. Sound files especially are welcome in alt.binaries.sounds.cartoons OR alt.binaries.sounds.tv These are all intended to be alternatives to a dedicated alt.binaries.family-guy, until FG maybe drums up more interest in binaries in particular (I haven't checked out ATF-G, but I'm guessing demand is probably relatively high, although I'm not sure how long that'll last).
B) Another perfectly acceptable alternative is to upload your files to a free webserver (like xoom or tripod) and then post links to the files.
C) You can also post what files you have, and then maybe set up an e-mail request thingy like the Wav King used to do.
Yes, I know that the files you posted seemed small in comparison, but if _everybody_ started doing that, it would really clog up a lot of news servers....
...and then when that got to be too much I just broke down, learned a little html and made a web page. I post the text in the newsgroups to get people to go to the site. 1500 hits a month without ever showing up in any search engine.
David Puckett wrote in message ...
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Simpsons WAVs http://come.to/wavking
My personal page http://welcome.to/johnjensen
ICQ number 10176400 -- feel free to add me to your list
AIM "thewavekng"
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If anyone asks, you're my de-bugger.
I don't want anyone thinking we're robosexuals
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That's strange, I enjoy Futurama immensely more than Futurama. Family Guy's humor is more of a disjointed collection of lowbrow humor, while Futurama is denser in dialog and its jokes actually fit together into a plot that actually works. Family Guy just relies too much on sight gags and parodies of other television shows.
...And 'All My Circuits' holds up much better against just about any TV parody Family Guy has shown.
As for the Homicide spoof, that was really whacked just because Homicide has never shown naked asses, that's more of an NYPD Blue thing (and I always knew Bert and Ernie
As do I. Family Guy has maybe one or two good lines per episode (like "..and for every sprinkle I find, I will KILL you"), whereas Futurama tends to have me laughing quite a few Times per show.
I'm actually not all that concerned with plot if it's funny, even if you are correct. I'm just sick of lowbrow, and that's why Family Guy, with it's easy and obvious references and targets, just makes me wince.
And as almost anyone who has ever written humor will tell you there are few things that are easier than parodying TV shows.
That actually worked because it spoofed it in slightly less obvious ways (such as the 'token human')
Unfortunately, Futurama may be just a bit too eclectic to ever really catch on (then again, that's what I would think if I saw The Simpsons for the first time too).
Speaking of depth, "Fear of A Robot Planet" worked on a slightly higher level in that it parodied the entire Cold War in 22 minutes or so. The paranioa, the "elders" working behind the scenes, the blind hatred of the opposition, the insanely campy propoganda films, and we can't forget the Show Trails...
Believe it or not, it is possible to enjoy both "low-brow" and "sophisticated" humor. IMO, a well developed sense of humor doesn't necessarily exclude the simpler forms. I still enjoy the Three Stooges, and Slapstick is as simple as it gets. "Look! He smacked Curly! BWAAAAHAAAA!"
Not sure what this means, since "The Simpsons" does this on a regular basis.
Now this is just silly (as you've handily pointed out). So far, Futurama is "The Simpsons in Space." Hell, up to this point it's been "The not-so-great Simpson's in Space." Just because it has in-jokes and buried references doesn't make it funny. Oooh, they made a reference to BERZERK. That was funny for a second or two. Is that your measure for humor? Mine is involuntary laughter, and the latest Family Guy was hilarious. True, not as many embedded jokes, but at least their jokes were funny.
Well, dangit, I WANT "Futurama" to match, even surpass "The Simpsons" at it's height. I want it to blow away "Family Guy," and reclaim the coveted Sunday timeslot. What disappoints me is that the first 5 episodes, especially the pilot, should have been _stellar_. I don't want to wait 2 or 3 years for "Futurama" to mature. Groening and his group has had years to practice, conceptualize, and put their scripts together. I expected more.
Oh, I don't know. Bender is mostly a low-brow medium. Shitting a brick, the antenna, drunk jokes, etc. Not all that subtle, either. But that isn't a bad thing, IMO.
Hisssss.....backhanded insults again. Not productive. That's what got me defensive in the first place. "If it's OVER YOUR HEAD, well, I guess you won't enjoy it." Regardless, you may be giving them credit for depth that isn't there. Certainly unintended humor is still humor, but it is unintended. I would be interested in seeing the script notes for the "Futurama" episodes.
I must admit, you've made my case better than I could. Some of the best Simpsons' I've ever seen were moral-free, plotless silly fests. I mean, just plain ridiculous. I'd prefer some more pointless, who-cares-if-there's-a-plot humor in Futurama, along this vein. In-jokes and archaic references are great, but they're starting to remind me of "Hidden Tracks" on CDs these days. Futurama needs to shuffle the deck a little.
Without quoting any of the other respondents in this thread, let me just apologize for coming over all smarter-than-thou in my initial post on this subject.
I think both George and Bael make good points, and yes, of course low-brow humor can be enjoyed by even the most intelligent and intellectual of people (and, to an extent, vice versa).
I'm just tired of the recent spate of fairly lauded humor shows that, in my opinion as a former comedy writer, make it _way_ too easy on themselves, and use (again, to me) very _obvious_ ways to get a laugh. South Park comes to mind - when I moved to the US I was all excited about seeing this higly-publicized show that has yet to air in my home country of Sweden. I admit, my hopes and expectations may have been set a bit high, but I was so thoroughly underwhelmed by it, that I wonder if it will work at _all_ in a society that doesn't have as many taboos about 'offensive' references (not least of which is scatology). I've _really_ tried to watch it, because I figured that its success must have _some_ reason, but it just doesn't do it for me at _all_.
Hey, I enjoyed Beavis and Butthead, because, contrary to popular opinion about it, it was (especially after the first lacklustre season) often quite intelligently written. About two idiots, but intelligent nevertheless.
That said, I think one can still say that shows like Full House are stupefyingly inane and aren't likely to be enjoyed by very many clever people. Family Guy is nowhere near as bad as all that, of course.
I think that George has a point in that it has to do with the chosen p.o.v., and Futurama fits mine a _lot_ better.
I should point out that one of the keys to a successful farce is sticking with certain plot "rules" til the very bitter and/or absurd end (e.g. Dr. Strangelove being a PRIME example, perhaps THE prime example).
^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^
get enough sleep this weekend? =)
I think a lot of people have mistaken Futurama's relatively no-nonsense dialogue for a lack of humor. There is quite a bit of dialogue in this show that has nothing to do with getting laughs, and that makes the universe of Futurama more realistic to me than FG's.
Family Guy has just the same kind of desperate rrrreaching for the humor that plagued The Critic - any slightly unusual phrase is an excuse for some cut-away to a sight gag or a forced pun. It is like an animated version of the Fusco Brothers! (brrrr...)
Perfect example: guy in the supermarket says "nice hooters!" and we cut to a shot of the wife with two owls perched on her arm >groan<. It tends to destroy the suspension of disbelief required for any successful entertainment, even a cartoon. Note that the Simpsons' sight gags are usually consistent with the cartoon universe they inhabit as established by previous episodes...(even when we have Homer walk by a window when the "real"(?) Homer is sitting in his chair, it makes sense (especially since Lisa's comment a moment before cuts precisely to the heart of this very topic...).
The ONLY funny character in Futurama is the robot. Everyone else isn't funny. Where as in Family Guy they're ALL funny! Expecially the baby. And the Bert and Ernie bit was holarious!!!!!
Agreed. After seeing tonight's episode, I was like, "Was that it?" Could the ending have been any lamer? I have the highest hopes for this show, but I laugh more at Simpson's episodes I've seen 5 times already. I keep hoping it's gonna be hilarious, but it's just not. Oh well, I'll keep watching it anyway and just hope it gets funnier. A LOT funnier. After this last ep, it's almost not worth watching unfortunately. cas