TV Fight! South Park Vs. Family Guy, The Rematch

Family Guy lost me with the terrible ‘Star Wars’ episode. Or maybe I’m just moving past college frat boy humor.

South Park was about to lose me, but this episode rekindled the fire!

That might be what the split comes down to, Family Guy knows it’s audience and plays to it irregardless (and it has worked very well for them). South Park just has a wider audience that is plays to.

south park. smarter. funnier.

and it’s not even close.

Posted by moe berg:
“south park. smarter. funnier.

and it’s not even close.”

Without a doubt.

Cartoon wars? Now that is a joke. Family guy all the way, giggety giggety.

Honestly, I view this as kind of an apples-to-oranges comparison: the style and structure of the comedy in South Park is so vastly different from Family Guy that it’s tough to declare one difinitively “better” than the other.

On the scale of history, South Park will stand longer because it delves deeper and takes an honest, no bulls**t approach to its themes whereas Family Guy is more of a one-trick pony, but it is certainly still funny.

Overall, I think the creative minds of Stone and Parker exceed that of MacFarlane and co; just because they have such a unique and intelligent way of getting their points across in the most crass, disgusting way possible. I guess it’s that contradictory nature and the feeling of waiting to find out where all the absurdity of South Park is going to wind up in the end of each episode (or trilogy, I guess) is what raises it above all other animated shows (and live action comedy, for that matter) for me.

Family guy is funnier ‘ I love stuff you don’t have to think too much about’.

South Park, all the way! Go Colorado!!

I never liked Family Guy. It seems lazy. The South Park guys lost me when they killed off Kenny for a season or two. I came back a few years ago and loved it again.

I watch both, but I will always be a South Park fan first and forever…Family Guy has some funny bits here and there, and South Park’s Bono-crap episode was weak, but I as long as they stay to stories with the kids, (I love Butters) I’ll watch…

I TiVo SP, I don’t bother to TiVo FG…

South Park. As others have said, it’s not close.

I’ve been saying since the first “Family Guy” episodes that the show is just not any good. Mostly crude, simplistic and not very clever. Sure, there’s some funny stuff occasionally but the old cliche of “throwing stuff against the wall & seeing what sticks” is an apt analogy– Family Guy tosses enough junk out there that sooner or later they’re bound to find something that’s funny but it seems more by accident than any actual skill or good writing. “South Park” is much better– but both shows pale to the first half-dozen seasons of “The Simpsons”.

I think I come in on the apples-oranges side of this discussion. While South Park is consistently funnier esp with its plots, characters and story arcs, those aren’t really the things Family Guy sets out to do. We should probably look at Family Guy as more of a sketch comedy show than and plot/character driven show.

Also after about a two year break from old Family Guy eps (saw them all innumerable times on cartoon network) i have recently started re-watching those original run shows and they show much less of the cut away non sequiturs than the new episodes do and are, imo, funnier than the new ones.

Speaking of which, James is it the 100th total episode or the 100th family guy mark 2 episode.

South Park has better structure and storytelling. However, Family Guy is funnier — there are more laugh-out-loud moments in one act of Family Guy than several episodes of South Park.

We come to a comedy show to laugh — Family Guy accomplishes that far better than South Park. Borat, the movie, for example, was flawed because of its structure. It would have been much funnier had the plot been pared down to nothing. The plot of a comedy is usually the most boring part — it’s the obligatory part we all have to sit through. Family guy is brilliant because it does away with that obligation.

The one show that did both very well (i.e. structure and laughter) was Arrested Development [and perhaps Seinfeld].

Definitely Family Guy – and I’m the opposite gender of a frat boy and also a little older. Family Guy keeps on giving, the shows are funnier every time you watch them.

Posters are generally right: it is not close.

Family Guy is infinitely funnier. Always has been and always will be.

The recent Bono ep of SP is quintessential SP, like the Tom Cruise ep before, it is one bad joke, over and over. Making fun of Tom Cruise is easy and requires no effort. How many times can they say, “He won’t come out of the closet!”? Yes, we got it the first time. Mocking Bono for his humanitarian concerns and efforts smacks of simple-minded misanthropy.

What are the creators of SP doing to help anyone, anywhere? Nothing. But they are of course willing to ridicule those that are trying to make a difference and improve the world in which we live.

Yes, at times FG does take some cheap shots at innocent celebrities, but by and large the humor is smart, making witty and intelligent cultural references that only smart and sophicated people are going to understand and appreciate.

Yes, it is simple: Family Guy is the hands down winner in this little ‘war’. This is why it is so popular on BOTH Fox and Cartoon Network, watched by millions every week instead of being relegated to basic cable where SP is watched by literally hundreds of simpletons every week.

I was a South Park fan for a while, but as they themselves admitted in their “Cartoon Wars” episode, the show got too preachy. I got tired of South Park telling me how to think when I want to watch a comedy. In my view, the show started slipping a few seasons ago, as the jokes became less funny and the show started becoming too full of itself. The fact that they released an episode just to trash the “Family Guy” tells me they were feeling very threatened by it.

Also, I disagree with the notion that South Park has deeper characters. Stewie went from dominating and evil to being more silly and effeminite (while still a touch evil); Brian went from common-sense dog to a bachelor dealing with girls and making sense out of life. Lately, they’ve had episodes developing supporting characters Quagmire and Joe Swanson.

On the other side, how exactly has Cartman changed? He’s always been evil and selfish, trying to think of different plans for winning money and/or gaining notoriety. Kyle and Stan are always there to give their “lessons learned’ speech at the end, and Kenny always dies. That’s stale television.

My 2 cents

@gregg- While i agree that the Bono episode was essentially just one joke it was a funny joke, imo anyway. Bono may do a lot of good around the world but he still comes off as a self righteous look at prick. There’s not really 20 min of funny there, but I agree with them about Bono and i found it funny. So I see where you’re coming from there, but i think you’re completely wrong about the Tom Cruise in the closet episode. Firstly the whole thing was an riff on the R Kelly “Come out da Closet” series (?) that has to be seen to be believed. In addition to Cruise Travolta and R Kelly were also mocked as well. Plus half that episode was devoted to pointing out the silliness that is the Cult of Scientology, much the same as what they did with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Are you a Scientologist, is that why that episode bothered you?
You say that Family Guy is the more sophisticated of the two shows but i think most people would agree that South Park is the more structured and demanding of the two shows since Family Guy really only requires that you be just sober enough to catch the “Manatee Jokes.”
I think they’re both funny and enjoy them both, but i find your “Family Guy is Better” argument is flawed. (LOL but how cool is it that Time Magazine has provided us with a place to debate the merits of two cartoons?)

South Park, South Park, South Park. I thought the Bono episode was hilarious. South Park has great comedy. I found myself saying “Nice” all the time after seeing the episode with Ike and his teacher. Nice.

@carlos: The 100th episode overall, I believe. Mind you, I have not researched this at all, but there’s no qualifier and I’m pretty sure FG has not been resurrected long enough to have produced 100 episodes since then.

The episode, btw, is titled “Stewie Kills Lois.” Whatever that implies for the Stewie-no-longer-evil-but-more-silly-and-effeminate theory, I won’t spoil for you.

definitely south park. i dont get the randomn-ness in family guy. but south park is smart, its clever and it makes actual sense.

both funny, but south park can be more twisted, and also aims to make a point. funnier in my opinion.

Another apples-oranges argument from me. Different structures, sometimes differing humor (i.e crass vs witty), different goal. So the ‘better’ conclusion can’t stand… that being said, FG is funnier on average in my opinion. SP has memorable moments, while FG doesn’t I think: there’s just a slew of pop culture references, sardonic commentary by Stewie, etc however it works!

On the frat boy jokes for FG I totally disagree; it takes a much more knowledgeable person to understand and appreciate the references whereas SP is visual humor mostly.

“The episode, btw, is titled “Stewie Kills Lois.” Whatever that implies for the Stewie-no-longer-evil-but-more-silly-and-effeminate theory, I won’t spoil for you”

I believe this comment was directed at my post. I just wanted to clarify that I had a parenthetical about Stewie still being a touch evil, but I feel they’ve put less focus on it in recent episodes in favor of more silly antics.

Even if they go back to their roots for the 100th episode, it doesn’t change the fact that they’ve changed Stewie’s character over the course of the series. Stewie was a one-dimensional character in the beginning (evil only), and can now be characterized by a number of traits (evil, effeminate, silly, culturally out-of-tune for his fondness of bad songs).

I think I watch Family Guy a few times. Then I stopped smoking pot — and there is simply no there there for a fully engaged brain.

South Park, even when its bad, is interesting. And when its good, its very very good. (and Wednesday night’s episode was simply amazing…. I would suggest that the reason that the first episodes were so sub-par is that Parker and Stone decided to do something magnificent with this trilogy….and kinda threw together the rest of the season.

Seems all in good fun here but describing SP as ‘structured’ and ‘demanding’? Both insightful and irreverent at times but neither will cure cancer; they are just cartoons. Thought I had seen it all when visiting a Running blog and found Running Snobs – Cartoon snobs take the cake.

Giggety

South Park all the way. I like Family Guy but South Park makes me think more. Plus Cartman is way more twisted than Stewie, the chili episode anyone?

Seth McFarlane hasn’t had an original idea for years. He just keeps recycling the same material. Now he uses the show to promote his pro-gay, anti-gun agenda.

South Park by a mile. In a time where everone is so worried about offending people SP is refreshing. Snata Clause getting shot down over Iraq and then getting rescued by Jesus Christ. Priceless. The Hybrid episode. Too Funny.

Family Guy seems to be more geared to people who aren’t up to date on current events. While it can be funny I prefer the highly offensive humor on South Park.

South Park. How can you consistently combine such crass humor with such…um, I suppose “uplifting” story lines? Any given episode of South Park can be watched 3 different ways.

Remember “All About Mormons”? Frat humor + hilarious and informative attack on Mormon beliefs + pointing out that good people are good people, regardless of their religion. FG may have more laugh-out-loud moments, but they’re soon forgotten (except, for some reason, the image of Quagmire fishing for his “keys” in his robe pocket).

Also, I can’t agree with the statement that Cartoon Wars indicates that the SP writers are threatened by FG. If they criticize shows they feel threatened by, how do you explain “The Simpsons Already Did It”?

@gregg – well I wouldn’t say South Park is for simpletons.. it does sound like you are a little bitter about it.. touched a nerve perhaps?

However I would say that Family Guy is an endless stream of ‘manatee’ jokes but some do actually hit the mark, so its not too bad.

Family Guy is hillarious, But South Park gets my vote because they have successfuly pushed the envelope!

The way I see it, Family Guy has hit and miss jokes, South Park has hit and miss episodes.

I like both, but Family Guy just makes me laugh more.

@Seven
I’m not being cartoon snob, as i said i like them both. I was merely saying i felt SP was more structured and demanding than FG, which is to say not that structured or demanding. SP has story arcs and, imo, jokes that sometimes require more mental effort than FG jokes (again not that high a standard).
I think both styles can be funny and i was simply responding to the claim that SP was for “simpletons” which i disagreed with.

Don’t forget to bring a towel.

I find it really grating to see people dismiss an entire art form or medium because it’s “JUST a cartoon/comicbook/videogame/TV show/movie/song/painting/book/whatever”. An explanation, please; why exactly are cartoons not worthy of critical discussion?

South Park any day of the week. Parker and Stone’s collective sense of humour is beyond anything the creators of Family Guy could aspire to let alone reach. Having said that, I do like Family Guy and I am pretty sure that Stewie is single-handedly responsible for that.

I don’t understand how anyone could hate the Family Guy Star Wars episode. It was hysterical! Also, after I stopped smoking pot, South Park became less funny…which is opposite from the guy who posted earlier. I think Family Guy is a much funnier show and definitely more enjoyable, especially with the drinking jokes (like how Peter and Brian get smashed while trying to find the silver ticket inside a random pawtucket patriot beer)

Plus Cartman’s act gets old really fast and soon enough you can’t stand hearing his stupid voice anymore. Peter, Brian, Stewie, and Quagmire are hands down better characters than any on South Park (who have developed ONE Character in 10 years: Cartman). While Stan and Kyle are basically the same characters and personalities.

Speaking of crude humor, how can people say that Family Guy is crude, when Cartman sprays diarrhea all over his mom in the World of Warcraft episode?

Family Guy by a landslide.

Personally I found the Star Wars FG episode hilarious. But I’m a Star Wars geek. For long time I’ve been a SP fan, and it just seems smarter. SP is also more unique. Futurama is much more alike FG, in terms of structure, and I’ll watch it over FG anyday. SP doesn’t have character developement? Please explain Mrs./Mr. Garrison.

What’s interesting about the cartoons we choose to watch is the need it fills. After a long day of working on difficult problems (one might even say, “quagmires”) I do enjoy a little FG for the simple reason that it does move so frenetically from joke to joke. It’s like that one friend you could always count on to do everything they can to entertain, and keep the party going, if that friend was actually funny most of the time. I love all the sort of mood commentary that FG does, and for those of us who are basically mcfarland’s age, all the outdated references are really a fun little, “remember this!”
I keep crossing my fingers for a “Krull,” cut-away (I mean they did a Legend reference for god sakes!).

South Park. Family Guy is lame and talentless with one pointless joke that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. South Park is creative and hilarious. South Park is genius, much less than anyone could ever say about Family Guy… South Park 100% hands down.

Just look at the movies. Family guy movie: SUCKS South Park movie: A+

South Park is savage satire in a long tradition of savage satire that goes back to Jonathan Swift in the 18th century. There is some intellect behind the show, as low-brow as it might be.

Family Guy is a mindlessly stupid abomination that depends almost exclusively on ridiculous pop culture references that will be question marks five years from now. Its rerun shelf life is very limited because of this. You can still watch an 18-year-old Seinfeld episode. You won’t be able to do that with FG. Once FG finished ripping off the Simpsons (somewhere around the second episode), it had nowhere else to go.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are two irreverant (to put it midly) satirists who choose to skewer those with chronic cases of self-importance. The list is a long one, and the targets are seemingly infinite. This is particularly true in this age of truly stupid and egregiously offensive pop culture, where intellectually barren celebrities, most of them with questionable REAL talent and far more questionable intellect, are canonized in tabloids, entertainment talk shows, on red carpets, babbling with all the sincerity and articulation of gum-thwacking 16-year-olds.

It’s probably fanciful thinking on my part, but Parker and Stone are, I would hope, following a long tradition of slamming the pretentious yobs who thought they were far above the quivering masses. They owe a great debt of gratitude to such seemingly dispapate writers as Aristophanes in Greek comedy to Francois Rabelais (a REALLY vicious satirist), and Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quixote), both in the 16th century, and Volaire (the hysterically funny Candide) in the 17th, and Jonathan Swift in the 18th. That tradition carries into the 19th and 20th century with Shaw, Wilde, Joyce, Thurber, and many others who pilloried precious self-absorption.

To mention the truly appalling and relentlessly mindless ‘Family Guy’ in this company is the grossest of insults. FG appeals to the urges of the intellectually bankrupt, and is a glaring example of a society gone mad.

[...] would disagree, but how you answer says a lot about how you watch TV: whether you think, say, South Park is better than Family Guy. And many weeks it determines how you react to the styles of comedy on [...]

Oh my god this is HILARIOUS. South Park is JUNK in comparison to Family Guy. South Park takes an entire half hour to sit on their high horse and get preachy about Walmart or Canadians or the economy. Yeah, that’s great and all, but I watch comedies to LAUGH. Stop pushing your agenda at me.Family Guy does very well at commenting on social issues WHILE making you laugh. For example, the sketch on Peter’s stroke and Stem Cell Research – AMAZING.

In the grand scheme of things, South Park will be a blip on the radar but Family Guy will be remembered for years to come. No one cares about Cartman or Kenny or Kyle/Stan (essentially the same character, no?).

There’s a big difference between the two shows.

One is funny as hell. The other is Family Guy.

The thing that bothers me most about Family Guy is how formulaic it is. It’s all cutaways and random pop culture references. I mean, how many times can you start a joke with “this is just like the time when…” and “remember when [blank] happened?” Family Guy has the comedic craftsmanship of a Mad-Lib. It can be funny, but in the end it’s lazy, haphazard comedy. When the jokes are interchangeable, why even bother to create a plot?

Also, the characters are all lame rip-offs of mostly Simpsons characters.

South Park at least works for your laughs. I agree it can be hit-and-miss at times, but when it hits it is side-splittingly funny.