Cartoon Wars

In “Cartoon Wars”, a recent two part episode of South Park, Trey and Matt took on Family Guy and its writing staff. Not only did the episode feature a fake translated terrorist threat video which said “seriously, Family Guy isn’t that well written,” but it also had Cartman screaming that his sense of humor was better than Family Guy, and it claimed the Family Guy writers were manatees. The feud between the two controversial animated shows has been legendary for a while, but this was the first time it was directly addressed by either party. I found that after the episode aired, a line was drawn amongst my friends between those who were South Park people and those who were Family Guy people. As someone who likes both shows, I think there's really no way to compare them.

Family Guy is a great network TV show. It’s funny, the characters are interesting and some of the jokes are really smart. Who doesn’t love Stewie and Brian? How could anyone not laugh at the Hope/Crosby parody “Road to…” episodes like “Road to Rhode Island” and “Road to Europe”? Seasons 1-3, the first set of DVDs, were excellent. At that time, most of the jokes had some significance within the plot and the absurdity was new and funny. Even into the fourth season, as the jokes started to become more obscure and irrelevant, the show maintained a pretty good level of humor. I really liked the Discovery Channel bit they did with fire trucks and ambulances competing for food out in the wild in the “Petarded” episode.

The only complaint I have with Family Guy is when they claim to be “controversial”. Let’s be honest, the show is tame. Even network shows like Arrested Development touched on more controversial subjects that Family Guy. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s ok to not be controversial. I only wish that I didn’t have to hear Seth MacFarlane claim that their show is so risqué in every single interview. It’s like he took old articles about South Park from 1998 and just scratched out South Park and jotted in Family Guy. I think Seth should be proud of the show he has without making it seem like his show is so important for stirring things up. Like I said, it’s a great network TV show. It’s not a cable show like South Park, so it’s a whole different ball game.

Cable shows can take on subjects that network shows could never imagine. Just think, would we have ever heard the word “shit” 162 times on Family Guy? Would there ever be an episode in which Christopher Reeve sucks the stem cells out of aborted fetuses, or one where a statue of the Virgin Mary squirts blood out of her ass? Those were all incidents on South Park, but there’s no way that Fox would ever take on subjects like that. Again, that’s fine. Fox doesn’t have to talk about aborted fetuses and bloody Mary statues. But please, Family Guy people, don’t try to say that your show is the most controversial cartoon.

Aside from the completely different medium, you can’t compare the shows because of the time frame it takes to make each episode. One episode of South Park takes only four days to make compared the Family Guy’s nine months. That allows South Park to take on current events while they’re still current. South Park’s speedy production gives it news qualities. It’s at least as relevant as an editorial. The show becomes a social satire, Matt and Trey’s own op-ed piece. Family Guy just can’t take on this genre because it takes so long to produce. That’s why Family Guy remains a sitcom. Sitcoms are good too, look at Seinfeld, but they can’t claim to have news value or be real social satires.

I TiVo both shows, and they air on different nights, so I never have to choose between them. If I was absolutely forced to watch only one, I’d choose South Park. That’s because at Trashwire we support our dudes and Trey and Matt are, most certainly, our dudes. At the same time, I really enjoy Family Guy too. As fans, I don’t think we should have to pledge our allegiance to one show or the other. So to all my friends who are now living in fear of admitting they like Family Guy too: let your freak flag fly and watch Family Guy whenever you want, just make sure you watch South Park too.

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