i didn't see this episode, but i too have stopped watching it because it seems to be getting more and more anti-woman.

I agree with you that the jokes get a little ridiculous sometimes, but at the same time, it's all satirical. It's like South Park, they make fun of everyone.

I lost respect for Family Guy after Peter made a joke about throwing acid on Pakistani women's faces and then a Pakistani corpse came onto him, like it was a fucking joke. This episode was from 2005 or 2006. It's not fuckin funny because it happens every fuckin day.

I'm fucking sick of how the show degrades both Peter's wife and daughter. at least with THE SIMPSONS, Marge and Lisa are held in a higher regard-- Marge as a caring, intelligent mother and Lisa as a feminist.

Family Guy is stupid.

I've just become totally disgusted with the way the show treats Meg. It's really horrible. And like, I don't get why Marge is with Homer, either, but at the end of the day, he does at least appear to love her. Why Lois sticks with Peter doesn't even make sense. Maybe I'm analyzing the cartoon to death, but I'm tired of the cheap shots. I'd stopped watching the reruns awhile ago, and would only see the new eps because my boyfriend loves the show and I'm basically in charge of the TV for the rest of the week:) But honestly, I am done. Too many rape jokes.

I won't watch Family Guy any more because they make violence against Lois (usually perpetrated by Peter) a joke ALL THE TIME.

My boyfriend and I play the "Family Guy Game", which is where, if you notice it's on, you watch it and see how long it takes before you have to change the channel in disgust.

It's usually less than five minutes, and it's nearly always a rape joke.

Agreed. I try to see the funny side of these sorts of things, but Family Guy lost me a long time ago, especually in the way it treats Meg. The big difference between The Simpsons and Family Guy is that Homer seems to genuinely respect Marge and Lisa, whereas Peter is just plain mysoginistic towards Lois and Meg. There are honestly too many rape jokes that don't try to satirize rape culture, but serve to perpetrate it.

Maybe I don't watch enough tv, but the episodes I have seen didn't seem insanely offensive to me. Then again, they were ones from around the first or second season. I guess they've gotten worse with everything.

Sorry if I offended anyone earlier, I really didn't mean to.

My boyfriend and I play the "Family Guy Game", which is where, if you notice it's on, you watch it and see how long it takes before you have to change the channel in disgust.

It's usually less than five minutes, and it's nearly always a rape joke.

My brother actually said something to me about Family Guy. After one of their crappier episodes, he was like, "I think McFarlane has a thing against women..."

And ever since then I've noticed it, too.

They also insulted Portuguese people (some may or may not remember the episode where Peter goes fishing), I should probably find a clip somewhere. I cut off at that point. Coahogg is a real place in RI and nearby, and the fact the show decided, "Hey! Let's poke fun at how dirty Portuguese people are and steal the fishing industry from us!".

Since then, I've cut off from it.

I used to find family guy hilarious but it seems like it has either gone downhill or I just got tired of it. I never found the Meg bits funny. Meg is unattractive and therefore pathetic and disgusting-I get it. I think they ran out of fresh jokes because recently it seems like if you have seen one you have seen them all. South Park is at least more even handed in who they make fun of and still has some original jokes.

Yea, I used to like Family Guy, but it's getting more and more "frat-humor"-esque. Did you guys see the one where Brian's explaining to Stewie that women will like him if he treats them like shit? Even if the joke's trying to be "sarcastic" or tongue-in-cheek, it still fails, and perpetuates the idea that women like to be treated badly. Woohoo.

FG and South Park aren't comparable in any way. SP is truly satire, FG is just for the yukks. Their jokes rarely have a POINT to make.

It kills me because I think Stewie is one of the funniest cartoon characters ever made, but it's impossible to sit through the rest of the stink just to enjoy him.

For those making Simpsons analogies: Homer physically abuses Bart (or at least used to) on a fairly regular basis. So, I'm not sure I'd use the Simpsons as an example of how to do prime-time cartoons better.

For the record, I'm a fan of both shows. I haven't watched the most recent Family Guy episode yet though, so no comment on that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsvq95bfRrs

Also, why couldn't they get actual Portuguese speakers? It looks like a guy who learned the language, and really did a horrible job trying to play the accent.

I stopped watching 2 years ago, although i have the first 3 seasons on dvd, after they made the rape joke out of "16 Candles."

..and Quagmire is basically a walking rape joke.

I agree that there's nothing satirical or subversive about their rape jokes. I think the episode that really hit it home for me was when Peter (to make Stewie laugh) abuses (and tries to kill) Lois. There is a part in which he uses a hose to pin her against the wall with her pants down.

Quagmire's "rape machine," which Peter accidentally stumbles on, gases him into unconsciousness, tears off his clothes, and forces his legs apart.

These are only the most striking (to me) of the constant anti-woman "jokes."

I'm so glad to know I'm not alone in my distaste for Family Guy? Like many other commenters, I used to enjoy the show, but in the past handful of years it's gotten increasingly disgusting. The rampant sexism, racism and ableism is enough to get my blood pressure up, but on top of that there's also unneccesary and completely unfunny graphic violence that's thrown in randomly. What's funny about watching Peter and a giant bird go at it for 15 minutes straight, making each other bleed, throwing each other in front of trains, etc etc? Who's entertained by that, seriously? It terrifies me that people find blood, torture, and pain so hilarious.

I almost cried when they made a joke out of Quagmire raping Marge Simpson. Then there was the time that Peter and Stewie bonded over beating Lois up, Brian said he didn't mind that his girlfriend was bulimic because it made her hot, and Meg was begging burglars to "have their way with her."

I love Family Guy. It's one of my favorite shows. That said, the rape/domestic violence jokes, which seem to have shown up mostly in the past couple of seasons, just go too far for me.

Family Guy has always made shock humor it's stock and trade. Half the laughs are of the "oh my God I can't believe they actually said/did that" variety, which most of the time is fine. Even some of the sexist/racist stuff has been defended by MacFarlane (the creator) as making fun of the speaker, rather than the group being spoken against (a la Archie Bunker of another time), and much of the time he's right. Even some of the racial/ethnic foibles that the show pokes on occasion are usually within the standard, because they are so over the top that what they're actually poking fun at is the stereotype, rather than the group.

I think what has happened in the past couple of seasons is that much of the material used for humor in the earlier eras of the show has become less shocking with time, so the creators feel like they have to go further in order to bump up against real taboos; hence the rape/domestic violence stuff. In my view, though, it just goes too far, in large measure because many of the sequences are so unpleasant, and call to mind such disturbing thoughts/images, that they aren't remotely funny. They're shocking, yes, but in a way that makes you cringe and wince, not laugh. Even when I try hard to turn off my politically correct "filter" and just go with the joke (which you often have to do if you're going to enjoy a show like Family Guy at all), I just find it disturbing.

Overall, I still like the show, and I think they've had some pretty good episodes of late, but the trend towards making light of rape and domestic violence, often in a very direct and graphic way, takes it a notch too far.

I was never a huge fan of Family Guy, but I do like the earlier episodes. As for recent seasons, I'm not up to date, but I'm also not surprised. I took one look at the treatment of Meg and knew it could only go downhill. This won't make me stop how much I love Blue Harvest tho.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to say that I am sick of the satire excuse. It feels more and more like people are getting to say and do whatever they want as long as its done under the guise of satire. As long as the character is ignorant, (s)he gets to be as offensive as the writers want the character to be without having to apologize for it later.

I understand satire, and I enjoy satire, but Family Guy is NOT satire. It was at one point funny, and really I will always love the "cool whhhip" bit, but I don't see the redeeming qualities anymore.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to say that I am sick of the satire excuse. It feels more and more like people are getting to say and do whatever they want as long as its done under the guise of satire. As long as the character is ignorant, (s)he gets to be as offensive as the writers want the character to be without having to apologize for it later.

I understand satire, and I enjoy satire, but Family Guy is NOT satire. It was at one point funny, and really I will always love the "cool whhhip" bit, but I don't see the redeeming qualities anymore.

Family Guy has always been a comedy that relies on shocking and offensive material to be funny. Like racist and 'dead baby' jokes, this kind of humor certainly isn't for everyone.

Just last night we were watching Family Guy, and my husband turned to me and said, annoyed, "Why do they think rape is funny?"

Family Guy has never been as good as it was prior to Fox canning it.

In the early episodes they used Meg being sort of plain to make points about how women were treated unfairly and judged based on their appearance (not all the time but every once and a while). Now they just call her fat and ugly and expect that to be the joke.

Also Stewie and Brian have gotten way out of hand. Seth McFarlen (sp?) is going a bit overboard and not giving enough for the characters he doesn't voice to do. Stewie was a lot funnier in the early episodes, his language has been dumbed down a lot too.

South Park is 10 times the show Family Guy is and could ever hope to be. I'd rather just watch reruns of The Simpsons honestly. Or Futurama, f*** Family Guy, bring back Leela and Fry.

I stopped watching "Family Guy" years ago because I couldn't stand the lack of plot, so I haven't seen all these rape jokes you guys are mentioning but I'm still horrified by them. Some shows, jokes, comics, etc. can have a character saying or doing a clearly bad thing, and the point is for the reader/watcher/viewer/whatever to go, "Oh, wow, what a terrible person! That makes me think of how bad that action is." With FG, the point is to make stoned frat boys laugh. They're not making social commentary, nor are they being satirical, and in the end we're supposed to like Peter, Quagmire, and the other misogynist characters-- or at least think they're funny.

Okay, I have to say I love Family Guy. The jokes are offensive, crass, and overboard. Exactly. Last night while I was watching the new episode I winced at this scene, and also at another one that mentioned rape. And while I look at it critically and realize it's offensiveness, because rape is never funny, that's what the show is. It offends everyone. There is not a single group that is left out. I'm not making excuses for it, and if you don't like it I'm not asking you to watch it, but if you do watch it, you have to realize what it is. In fact, if you don't realize that the jokes are incredibly offensive and are untrue stereotypes, then you aren't really getting the joke.

@ paigeash: Okay, so...why is that okay? I've never been able to understand what the hell is funny about being incredibly offensive to everyone. On a personal level, that is; I can take a jab at it as an outsider:

There were a coupla Portland deejays who got fired because they aired the audio of the Berg video (beheading, remember) and making jokes about it. So this is the extreme, right--but it's not unusual and it's not different (just more intense) than this "funny" offensive shit that's gotten so popular. And as I was reading this article, I was trying to figure out why the HELL anyone would do that.

My hypothesis is that people cannot confront certain issues in life. A real, live beheading is intense. It's terrifying and gruesome. Fortunately, we live in this happy little entertainment culture where terrifying and gruesome stuff is everywhere, but no worries, 'cause it's all fake. It hurts our owchies by desensitizing us and making us laugh. It has become okay to find pain and humiliation entertaining. Fucking look at Abu Ghraib. Our soldiers were SMILING!

So exactly how different is that from bombarding your audience with offensive jokes about rape and violence? "Yeah yeah," you might say, "but the Berg video was real, and these are just cartoon characters." Doesn't matter. The ISSUES are real. These things HAPPEN.

And whenever someone asks me now why I don't just lighten up, or tells me I just "don't get it," I say, "You're right, my apologies; guess I'm just not as insecure as you."

Family Guy sucks. I hate that "we're so funny because we're offensive" humor.

In one episode of 30 Rock where Liz Lemon is deciding whether or not to dump asshole boyfriend Floyd, she makes a pros/cons list. If you pause it you can read the list and on the pros side it says "likes the Simpsons", and opposite on the cons side "likes Family Guy."

I love Tina Fey.

I don't watch Family Guy because it's a bad Simpsons rip-off and it isn't funny.

Yeah I stopped watching a few seasons of go because so many of the jokes failed to make me laugh and instead pissed me off. It used to be so much into the humour devoid of true meaning, like when Peter fights that giant chicken, which makes no sense at all. They seem to rely far more on cheap shots and going out of their way to offend people.

And I would agree it's South Park is trying to offend people, but they are doing it as cultural satire in some attempt criticize aspects of or society that make no sense or go to far. Family Guy making jokes about raping teenage girls is just trying to shock and offend for absolutely no reason.

Am I the only one that has always found the Family Guy to just be horrible, independent of being offensive? It's shock humor just has always struck me as lazy writing far more than it has as satire. It's just a flashback to talking to assholes from home who say something horrible and then get all "What!? You can't take a joke??" when you don't laugh. Only these are professional writers doing it.

South Park is indicates a lot of the same lazy writing, but they actually will throw a point in there every once in a while.

But there's more to being funny than trying to be as offensive as possible, and then shocking the audience into guffaws. At least for me.

Edit: "it heals our owchies by desensitizing us," that's better.

I have never ever watched Family Guy, from just watching the commercials I knew it was something I wouldn't like, so I could be off on this but this was my take. The title "I Dream of Jesus" and the scene that was describes tells me that its not so much a satire on rape but rather a satire on Christianity, in particular the Old testament. I really don't have time to go dig the verses up but there is a story where a man is willing to give his daughters to the angry mob to rap and kill rather than his house guest, whom the mob is after - hospitality being the end all to be all. No matter what the intent was I still find it disgusting and an example of how violence towards women is acceptable but does anyone else see the old testament connection?

FINALLY! I am so glad that this has come up. I've had a big problem with this show for a long time. Like many previous commenters, I used to like the show (in the same way that I used to like Dane Cook.) I even liked the giant chicken bit. But I can't stand the way the show portrays female characters and makes rape jokes. I simply CANNOT think that rape is entertaining or funny. In college, I used to know a guy who would make racist and sexist comments; later, when I confronted him, he would say "I was just joking!" Like that is supposed to make it okay, and he doesn't have to take responsibility for his comments. Maybe I am just one of *those* feminists who doesn't have a sense of humor. But if I want to watch a real satire, I will choose South Park over Family Guy any day.

I think it's worth pointing out that there is a large amount of violence in general in Family Guy, but no one seems to get upset about that. Rape isn't something to laugh about, and neither is child molestation, murder, racism, etc. Family Guy's style is to take things to extremes, and to show things that are so horrible they're funny. How come a joke about rape is worse than a joke about the corpse of a murdered man rotting in the trunk of a car? It seems like a double standard to me.

(Sorry if it's obnoxious that my name is showing as my website, I'll have to see if that's a profile issue or something.)

I have the same problem with South Park. After the episode where Cartman is trying to make one of the other guys suck his balls for losing a bet, and then watching Butters get a large object shoved in his butt at some bizarre representation of psychiatric testing, I'm more disturbed than amused. What bothers me is that the people who write these kinds of shows think we all want to watch that. I haven't been keeping up with Family Guy, but from what I've read here it's way worse than I realized. I don't think I'll be watching that anymore.

Becca - you're talking about Judges 19 (which is what my name would be if I could sign in right, haha). I doubt that this episode is referring to a biblical story (mainly because hardly anyone would get the joke), but it certainly wouldn't be far from the truth if it were.

So, what is the solution? If Family Guy is awful because of these offensive jokes, should we try to get it off the air? Personally, I find a lot of the jokes on the show funny. When they criticize patriarchy, organized religion, and stereotypes of all sorts I love it. I don't like most of the jokes about rape and I think they're offensive. But isn't that me having a double standard because I'm not a part of the fore mentioned categories? I agree with Sophia G.

I don't think it's fair to get rid of something just because I don't find it funny. I understand that these jokes can be seen as propelling the rape culture we live in, but more often than not I really do believe it's satire. And actually, as a survivor, sometimes it's nice to be able to laugh at something that has caused so much personal pain. I realize that this is just my opinion and totally agree that lately Family Guy has been crossing the line, but when I don't like it, I change the channel.

Family Guy sucks. I never watch it. And the rape joke thing is yet another reason why I never watched Family Guy and never will.

Sophia G.--

" How come a joke about rape is worse than a joke about the corpse of a murdered man rotting in the trunk of a car? It seems like a double standard to me."

What if we think that is kind of shitty and unfunny and lame, too?

Taking everything to extremes and trying to make it funny without some sort of deepr satricical point just isn't funny to me. It's lazy, horrible, and pointless, and often offensive.

I'm still surprised so many people enjoy this show. My ex-boyfriend got a DVD set of the first season for Christmas and it was the first we'd watched of it. We sat through about 2 minutes before we turned it off, put it back in the box and put it for sale in Amazon. You can't escape it though, and I've had so many friends try to win me over to the charms of it, but I don't get it at all. It's very lowbrow, misogynistic, and homophobic as well.

I have a friend who volunteers at a homeless shelter for HIV positive men who thought the episode where the Dad is singing, "You've got the AIDS," to the homosexual-looking gentleman in a hospital bed was hysterically funny, and couldn't understand why her gay brother found it offensive. WTF?

I think people like this show because it make them feel clever when they get all the non-sequiturs referencing the 70s and 80s. A random 70s image generator would be more entertaining.

That other show "Robot Chicken" is offensive in the same non-funny way. It's very childish, like "lets take characters from the Peanuts, only Lucy is a prostitute and Linus is a pimp and he slaps her around and then Snoopy fucks Woodstock up the butt with a football. Isn't that funny!! You didn't expect THAT, did you???"

I used to make up similar trash when I was 11.

"So, what is the solution?" -- paigeash

Glad you asked! Taking things off the air is like putting a band-aid on your flu. Only worse, because people get all up-in-arms about it and whine about your lack of sense of humor, and get lots of attention. Of course, we have some nice radio stations that will in fact fire people who are offensive in the extreme, like the DJs in Portland, but has anything really changed in the big picture?

Because this isn't just a lot of isolated incidents...it's a huge problem. It's risen up as a tidal wave in our society, especially when things are rough and when instant news (like the Internet) makes info and even footage of terrible occurrences readily available. People have to block it somehow, so they pretend it isn't real and they laugh at it.

Ultimately, widespread change in what is socially accepted as funny starts with individuals. As an individual, this is what worked for me: first, you THINK. Ask yourself WHY exactly offending everybody is funny. And then, if you can overcome the insecurity that makes you laugh at terrible things, you STOP SUPPORTING THOSE SOURCES.

And tell people why you don't support them. Explain why offending everyone is not funny to you, and don't let them write you off as having no sense of humor.

"Psh, that's a drop in the bucket." So? What are you doing to help?

Yeah, Family Guy used to be a whole lot funnier... as did South Park and Robot Chicken.

All these shows had twisted, offensive humor, and an almost innocent stupidity, which made them great in the beginning, but I guess when you run out of material all you can do is get into stuff that is offensive and twisted, but not necessarily funny. Unfortunately, the creators are stuck in a mindset of "If it's offensive and disturbing and people don't like it, it means we're doing a good job!" South Park used to have all sorts of positive reviews from varying magazines and papers in one of its ad campaigns. Now its ads just talk about who hates it.

So... how can one complain when a complaint is basically a complement and an angry audience is pretty much looked down upon as unfunny and uptight? I wonder if some people are ashamed to not like something that's popular in that way because it would imply that.

I tend to like intelligent humor more than anything. I don't know why that's so hard to find on American television. I also got fed up with the "jokes" on Family Guy long ago, and it just got too painful to watch. I used to sit through it because sometimes my friends would want to watch it together, but I finally just started telling them "you know what, this sucks". Something I also noticed awhile ago, in addition to the rape "jokes", they also make a lot of "dead hooker" jokes. Has anyone noticed that as well?

As far as the misogyny, I think the thing that did it for me was the episode where Quagmire was keeping a bunch of strippers (or prostitutes? I dunno), anyway, he had like six of them in the trunk of his car, dressed in bikinis of course, and Peter accidentally crashed the car and the trunk accidentally opened so they all got out and started running around, and Quagmire was like "that's okay, I'll catch them later"...or something to that effect...But, just the image of him keeping a bunch of women in his trunk, referring to them like a bunch of caged animals and the way the animation showed them running around like chickens with their heads cut off. There was something in that, that really pissed me off.

Well, thanks for posting about this. I always wondered why a bigger deal wasn't made about the sexism/racism that is presented on this show under the guise of "satire". It's not satire and it's not funny. For some reason I think that a lot of people still watch the show because it used to be a little better than it is now, but I don't know how anyone can sit through it now and not cringe. And for the record, I'm not an "unfunny feminist that can't take a joke" and I won't excuse myself for thinking family guy is crap.

I am so glad you brought this up. I am sick of these dumb jokes as well. It started with the Lois Runs For Mayor episode where Joe (the cop) threatened to tell the court that a rape victim was drunk (like that matters?!?) unless she voted for Lois. And then they seem to stick a damn rape joke in EVERY episode.

I have a very sick sense of humor and I think South Park is brilliant, but they handle sensitive material in a VERY different way than FG does. It's not even satire or "Hey they make fun of everyone" schtick - it's just ridiculous... I don't see what point they are trying to make with these "jokes".

I can appreciate anything well-crafted and FUNNY. But again, I don't understand what they are getting at with these references.

And if anyone tells me I am a humorless feminazi, well, I don't like John McCain, but I also think the joke they made about The John McCain Experience (with Peter locked in a cage poked by sticks going, "Waaaah, I want to be PRESIDENT") was also unfunny and made no sense at all.

It's like they are not being clever. Just... stupid? I would love to ask Seth MacFarlane about this.

I've noticed this portion of the male college-age population who find graphic descriptions of rape and domestic violence incredibly funny. Take anything violently anti-woman and they will laugh at it like crazy. I don't get it. It's not like these are jokes involving rape or involving abuse - those topics ARE the joke, entirely.

I'm guessing Family Guy is just trying more to appeal to this audience, which in my experience is quite large.

I think the issue with humor boils down to a very simple thing: is it funny?

Can I laugh at the most terrible, racist things? Heck yes I can, if they're funny. Comedy is a very deep art form, and part of the human condition. I'm not going to say a well-crafted joke can't be laughed at because it may offend me.

Almost every joke is offensive to someone, and that's the issue. I think a lot of people put themselves in comedy "camps" where they try to decide what can and can't be laughed at, which just stuns me. Some of the most "progressive" people I know have no trouble making POW jokes about John McCain, or alcohol jokes about GWB, even though it's obvious they're offensive.

My issue with Family Guy isn't that the show makes jokes about rape, or race, or any of a slew of other things. My issue is that the humor is increasingly poorly crafted, and has degenerated into "bits". But if a show makes a funny joke I'll laugh, no doubt about it.

At some point denying the obvious humor of something for the sake of some grand moral point that nobody else is considering doesn't do much good except to come off as sanctimonious. In an ideal world a lot of things wouldn't seem funny. This isn't an ideal world.

triggers in this comment

The worst incident of Family Guy making light of rape I've ever seen was actually with respect to Peter. It's early in the show (somewhere in season one or two, I think) and Peter decides to be celibate. This ends in Lois dragging him off camera and there are graphic sounds of screaming protest as she rapes him. At the end, of course, he is glad. I found that scene INTENSELY triggering and just horrible.

If you make not drawing a line anywhere the whole point of your humor, you cannot but become a terrible asshole. The abyss, yadda yadda.

I personally don't care whether or not the show stays on air, as I have stopped watching it. I do care that such scenes as described in this post are permitted to air. I see nothing satirical about them.

From Fox's Website:

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The address for requests of autographs, correspondence and other questions to the stars and producers of the FOX Show you asked about:

Paper Mail address only:

(NAME SHOW HERE)
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# 8. How do I call/write/E-mail my local FOX Network Affiliate?

ANSWER:
Go to the FOX Website main webpage at fox.com. Then click on the LINKS icon for your LOCAL STATION's Paper Mail address, Phone Number and/or E-Mail address (if applicable). I cannot guarantee they have an E-mail address, but it is a good place to start with your comment/question.

I think sometimes we need to question the funny, davenj.

Sometimes laughter is a baring of the teeth. Have you noticed the way some people act when they hear a mean joke whose spirit they agree with? It's a sort of loud, aggressive bark.

This is not to say that I support banning offensive humour -- rather, I think we should add more voices to the public discourse, asking "Why do some people think this is funny?"

I usually find myself laughing at family guy, but parts like shown above where they are way over "the line" is unacceptable! I know that each race, religion and sex is made fun of in a Family Guy series, but seriously, this is too much. As time goes on, people's sensitivity weakens and the jokes get more and more blunt, but the young people of the world need not to laugh at rape jokes. Rape is not funny and no one should be laughing.

Sure, ShifterCat, in a perfect world we'd all be educated enough and have the desire/ability to elucidate why we find funny things funny, but the truth is that for many people comedy works on a lot of levels. Without serious critical analysis it's hard to determine why people find things funny, and even then there will be disputes about this.

All of which is impractical because so many people take refuge in comedy, and therefore want to do the exact opposite.

It's interesting to know if people even think this is particularly funny, something we have taken for granted thus far. Because as far as I can tell FG is decreasing in popularity. We'd need to find out what parts of the show people find funny, not just "the show" in general, and thereby every joke contained within.

As for saying "this is too much", denmardl, really? Is THIS too much? Or is this too much FOR YOU? Because to be honest before a lot of the rape jokes FG used a ton of handicapped, religious, and racial humor to similar ends. The uproar? It just wasn't there.

Jessica,

As a huge fan of animation, I recommend Futurama (made by matt groening of the simpsons), Avatar the Last Airbender (the awesomest anime, featuring a kickass blind little girl), and on a lighter note, Spongebob Squarepants (written by marine-biologist surfers).

I still like the simpsons better than both family-guy and south park (where girls have cooties).

I can't imagine Lisa Simpson growing up to be anything like Lois.

@ davenj: Let me finish this sentence properly for you:

"so many people take refuge in comedy"

...at other's expenses.

So let's protect the poor insecure people who can't handle violence on a realistic level and can only laugh at it to dull the blow. Obviously it would be much worse for them to get a reality check, than for those of us who are the butt of sexism/racism/rape/ableism etc. to be respected. You honestly think the fantasy is more valuable than human respect?

'Family Guy' on the whole is satire, just as 'The Simpsons' is (ie., we KNOW Marge can do better, etc., it's making fun of what the worst of gender roles can do). The difference is that at the end of the day, 'The Simpsons' are good people confronted with and internalizing these societal ills and overcoming them yet pointing out it's what we have to live with.

'Family Guy', on the other hand, ARE the societal ills and unlikable people. We're looking at the worst of us and I think Seth McFarlane has wisely and bravely used his platform to say things people would never have the guts to say. For example, I clapped and whooped when Peter said, "the US military - all the brown people I can rape", yet many on here disliked it a lot. I saw it as MacFarlane shoving soem truths in our face and acknowledging out apathy towards it. Plus when Chris went off to an island to escape his loserdom in highschool; MacFarlane made some real great points about classism and how pathetic Angry White Man'ism is (which reminded me of sexpats who buy impovrished women in thrid-worl countries and whatnot). But yes - those rape jokes were not in ANY way, shape, or form satiricle and bashing rape/violence culture. It was just to say, "haha, no look edgy I am!" (which yeah, nobody has ever joked about rape before, ass). And unfortunately just as I think MacFarlane still hits the mark with soem things the shittiness outweights it. Not to mention as somebody else pointed out that Stewy and Brian are over-taking the show. Fonzie Effect, as it would.

And I have a boen to pick: 'South Park' does NOT make fun of everybody. It makes fun of everybody (or at least tries to, but much of it is usually tired tactics when it comes to the right - and I LOVE making fun of the right - and based on straw-man arguments when it come to the left) who doesn't gel with Parker and Stone's Libertarianism. Not to mention that they're a couple of whiney brats and everything they do I just see a couple of douch-bags patting their own backs going, "gawd, I'm SOOOOO funny".

My 2 cents. :)

I used to really like Family Guy, and I agree with what some of you are saying- it's offensive all over. How can it be ok to joke about one thing and not the other?

My problem is that the show has gotten so.friggin.tired. They're just lazy at this point. They don't bother crafting jokes anymore, they only throw in random, shocking things to get a rise and Seth MacFarland sits back and gets big fat paychecks. Bringing that show back actually killed it.

I think shock-humor has it's appropriate place and can even be considered an art form when done well. If it's well constructed it usually becomes satire and begs the question "what in our society makes this funny." Think Sarah Silverman (who also, btw, jokes about race, AIDS & rape ALL THE TIME). The problem is that the writers of Family Guy have absolutely no point to their humor. It's just mindless and sad at this point. Give me South Park any day.

I got burned out on Family Guy a while ago. The *endless* abuse of Meg, the fact that Lois is smart, rich and sophisticated and yet she can't get the husband who supposedly loves her to actually pay attention to a damn thing she says, Stewie's virulent hatred of Lois for no good reason... I just couldn't take it any more.

Frankly I find the rape jokes more amusing than the pretty much endless repetition of "Lois is smart, and wants to do something cultured, but Peter is a boor and ruins it because he has to dominate every aspect of Lois's life. Hilarity ensues!" And while the evil baby was funny at first, he's gotten old. Plus, the bashing of Meg. Chris is *much* more unattractive than Meg and is apparently a special needs kid, but because Meg is a girl, she is treated like garbage, while her brothers get all the attention... and while sometimes the show satirizes this, at other times they play right into it.

Even in the episode where Lois came back from the dead all badass ninja and ready to throw down with Stewie... she couldn't kill him. Peter had to do it for her.

The whole thing just grinds me down. I don't watch it anymore. And I don't need my shows to be perfect icons of feminist sensibility to enjoy them -- I do love Robot Chicken. But Family Guy... it's not that it's offensive. The offensive stuff is trying to be funny. It's that its basic characters and premise are just so misogynistic, that rape jokes don't even register on my radar anymore.

I think a person would have a hard time proving that this show is sexist. Sometimes, in comedy, ya have to be show “sexism” in order to expose sexism---you have to be show “racism” in order to mock racism. I think there are two types of people that don’t realize that this show is ridiculing that stuff---hicks and visceral creampuffs. I want to live in a non-violent, non-sexist world---NOT in some hermetically sealed, exclusive gated community.

Question: is it the show everyone has a problem with, or some of the dullards that might be watching?

I think a person would have a hard time proving that this show is sexist. Sometimes, in comedy, ya have to show “sexism” in order to expose sexism---you have to show “racism” in order to mock racism. I think there are two types of people that don’t realize that this show is ridiculing that stuff---hicks and visceral creampuffs. I want to live in a non-violent, non-sexist world---NOT in some hermetically sealed, exclusive gated community.

Question: is it the show everyone has a problem with, or some of the dullards that might be watching?

Family Guy is my guilty pleasure. It makes me laugh out loud, which few shows do these days. And I've always thought the Meg abuse was more directed at showing how horrible Peter and Lois are than actual sexism against Meg. In fact, the show seems to point out how in real life parents tend to be harder on girls than boys about their looks. Chris is huge but Peter and Lois rarely comment about his weight except out of genuine concern, while Meg is probably meant to be about average size but gets mocked about it all the time. I know a lot of families like that and my best friend grew up in a home where she was constantly criticized for her weight even though her younger brother was much more overweight than she was.

I find South Park incredibly offensive especially when it comes to gay people and transsexuals. The only thing that's ever really bothered me from Family Guy was a joke about Elizabeth Smart where her parents said "She's brought music back into our home, only it's all about rape." That really did bother me and almost made me want to stop watching the show because I could only imagine how Elizabeth Smart might feel if she saw that.

Okay random question that I have always wondered about...regarding Meg and Lois.

Here goes: Meg is supposedly the fat, ugly one, and Lois is supposedly the hot, sexy one. Yet Meg and Lois, except for the glasses and hair color, look exactly alike?!....So what's up with that. Is that part of the "joke"? (well, anyhow, the result is the same...I'm still not laughing)

Did anyone watch the new South Park episode last night? Thoughts?

i'm guessing you're talking about the indiana jones episode Chartreus?

if so...they just totally turned me of south park as well. i never got big into the show but would watch it sometimes if i saw it was on... but they actually showed a rape scene and made light of it. not to mention totally trivializing rape.... bullshit.

I think shows that mock the abruise of women and rape in a comical sense should be banned television. Rape is a crime and to display it in such a way as it was on 'family guy' only makes it seem okay rape people, especially women.

First off i started an account on this website just to stand up for family guy. I just want to say that the point of the show is to get a lot of viewers and money. They do this by being offensive. Offensive is funny. eg I'm a catholic and they had a whole episode is just bashing the religion but i laugh because none of it is true or just completely blown out of proportion. Oh and another thing, Family guy doesnt make that many rape jokes. If you watch the episodes the "rape jokes" are much fewer than the religious jokes or the celebrity jokes. One more thing many people say that they hate how peter treats meg and louis like crap because mcfarlane has a thing against women. That is simply not true. He just picked meg to be that character that everyone hates and he never gives her a break. This isn't because he hates women, it is just funny when one character has all the bad luck. Also Peter treats louis pretty badly sometimes but it really is making fun of the typical Male more than louis. Most people understand that women arent just stupid objects and that is why it is funny because it about a stupid sterotype. If you watch the show, you will realize that louis is one of the voice of reason usually which is definitely not an attack against women.

You shouldn't have been watching it in the first place. You should have been in the kitchen making your husband a sandwich and doing the dishes.

If you people believe this show is so offensive there is a simple way to avoid it. The way to avoid it is to simply not watch it. I find some people saying they just watch the show to just criticize the faults they find. Most of the show is just some good funny stuff. Sure their are some horribly disgusting scenes, (But not as much as South Park or Robot Chicken) but that is the minority part of the program. In fact, out of all of the 100+ episodes, there are only a few rape jokes. The reason it's so offensive is because the producers want to appeal to everyone. I'm not a huge fan of racial slang, but some of them make me giggle. I may just be some dumb fan of the show, but c'mon! Just take it as it is... A cartoon!

This thread clearly died a while back, but is a worthwhile discussion - on this site at least.

Simply speaking, you guys are taking yourselves too seriously. Quagmire _is_ a walking rape joke - of course he is. Most totally absurd characters like that are based entirely on a single concept: 'THAT IS THE WRONG THING TO DO.' He is intended to be funny as an example of a personality that could never really exist. I was acutally surprised at that one episode where Lois called him out since it was such a departure from the normal "abnormality" of the FG world.

I understand that feminists find rape to be a brutally innappropriate concept and I don't mean to argue that. But to state that the show is unwatchable because they "go too far" proves Andy Kaufman (and all humor derived from him) right - the joke is on you...

I agree.. I used to love Family Guy so much, that back when I had some disposable income, I collected the box sets and movies.

Now, every episode either has a rape joke, a truly beyond offensive slap at women, or - animal cruelty - that is both graphic and has no redemption at the end of the episode.

Example - when Lisa on the Simpsons cats kept dying, it was done in a non-graphic manner, and she got sympathy from her family.. it was still funny, but not funny like you were laughing AT animal cruelty or the death of a pet.

On Family Guy - the latest episode where the somehow getting dumber by the day Peter decided, along with Cleveland and Joe, to shave Quagmire's cat - he uses a straight razor and hacks the cat to death.. somehow, on the Simpsons even the violence of the Itchy and Scratchy sequences don't compare to this - perhaps because Itchy and Scratchy are portrayed as cartoon characters on an animated show(I know, I can't quite figure out how my mind knows the difference, but it does)..

That was the episode that basically ended my interest in this show.

And I agree, the constant disgusting abuse of Meg and Lois putting up with Peter has gotten way worse.

AND - its NOT funny.. I still watch some of the older episodes when they are on - and they are hysterical. Maybe Seth should stop doing Family Guy episodes.. although remember - Alex Bornstein, who I believe, like Seth is so talented to - writes for the show as well. Now, she IS a woman, so I don't get where she might either contribute to the increasing rape jokes, or lets them go in without saying something!

I really think American Dad, despite a mediocre start, has become WAY funnier than FG now.

Yes, they are both offensive on so many issues.. but before it was sort of an 'equal opportunity' offense.. I just find the stuff lately not funny, just offensive, and yes, targeted more toward women.

I think the show is hilarious, and so does most of America. Get a sense of humour.

Life is good for 'Family Guy' creator
By ALICIA RANCILIO – 2 days ago

NEW YORK (AP) — The recession has been good to "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane. So good that he's bought a plane.

The 35-year-old inked a reported $100 million contract last May that keeps him with FOX through 2012.

The deal makes him the highest paid writer-producer in television.

He's also the creator of "American Dad" and its upcoming spinoff "The Cleveland Show" but MacFarlane says he's received something else out of the deal: help.

Listen for some familiar voices on "The Cleveland Show" including columnist Arianna Huffington. She'll play a talking bear (also named Arianna) whose family lives near the Browns. Kanye West has a cameo as a rapper.

"The Cleveland Show" debuts on FOX in September.

I realize this post is old... but! For all of the people out there who are convinced anyone who finds Family Guy offensive is humourless -- no, I don't think I am humourless! I like a lot of dark humour and satire! I will even admit that some stuff on family guy passes off as satire! And jokes about violence and even rape can be funny, if they are done right -- if they do not sound like they are made by the rapist, but are rather made by the people who have experienced it, gallows humour, I guess. I believe they had a post on Jezebel about that a while ago... anyway. Family Guy does not make good jokes on that topic! When Quagmire goes about dragging drugged up women into his house to rape them, that's not particularly funny... it doesn't make any commentary on society, it's not satire. It's just stupid, it has no point other than, "Look, Quagmire is doing typical Quagmire things, i.e. raping. Isn't that funny?" Ah, no.

The most offensive episode I've seen of Family Guy is one in which Peter is giving his daughter a COAT HANGER to get an abortion! How interesting the timing of this article today:

Fox Decides Not to Air 'Family Guy' Abortion Episode
PRINT| E-MAIL|MORE Fox says it will not air an upcoming 'Family Guy' episode that deals with abortion, the Live Feed reports.

The network announced its decision in a statement released earlier this afternoon, adding that Fox executives "fully support the producers' right to make the episode and distribute it in whatever way they want."

Series creator Seth MacFarlane appeared ready for the decision when he spoke during 'Family Guy''s Comic-Con panel discussion on Saturday. "20th Century Fox, as always, allowed us to produce the episode and then said, 'You know what? We're scared to ******* death of this,'" he said, according to the Live Feed.

MacFarlane later clarified via e-mail, saying, "Clearly my sarcasm doesn't come across in print. I completely support whatever decision Fox makes. We were allowed to take a crack at this controversial story and that's enough for me."

Not much else was revealed about the episode, titled 'Partial Terms of Endearment,' except that it may still be released on DVD.

He didn't give her a coat hanger to get an abortion, she was laying on his shirt which he needed to put on a hanger. Family Guy is hilarious, and if you dikes can't take a joke on a cartoon because you are such stuck up bitches that think everyone is against you, maybe you should not watch tv or interact with other people. That's the show, it makes fun of everybody and everything. If everybody and all opinions that the show made jokes at were so stuck up as feminist dikes, nobody would be able to watch the show. Take a fucking joke.

And what about the ones of you who say you use to watch the show when it first started? The show was making fun of people then too, usually religion, stereotypes, or the handicapped to name a few. Why is ok to make fun of handicapped people and religion but not women? I guess in your opinions its not its just your heads are so far up your asses that you can only think about yourselves. You dikes are almost as bad as PETA.