MacFarlane’s ‘Cavalcade’ of Comic Misfires
by Christian Toto
Critics harp on Seth MacFarlane’s use of comic cutaways on his popular animated show “Family Guy,” calling the technique lazy and uninspired. You know the technique – family patriarch Peter Griffin makes an aside, and suddenly it’s blown into a flashback of comic exaggeration.
Now, “Family Guy” fans can sample an entire hour of disconnected snippets with “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy,” out this month on DVD.
Not a smart move.
MacFarlane, a veritable franchise onto himself with “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and various side projects, must have felt the need to go the Full Monty in a new medium. So “Cavalcade” brims with dirty talk, sexually suggestive material and other R-rated fare he can’t get away with on Fox. And MacFarlance gets away with a ton already on his hit show.
But “Cavalcade” reminds us that some roadblocks can inspire comedic minds, and unfettered freedom must be used wisely. Only one time does the naughtiness here work to comedy’s advantage – a micro-gag in which Mario Antoinette tries out a few snooty put downs before settling on “Let them eat cake.”
For the rest of the hour running time, the raunchy bits feel like a teenager letting loose with every curse word his bedraggled parents forbid him to say.The most inspired moment comes when Wile E. Coyote finally kills that accursed Road Runner only to realize his life now lacks meaning.
Smart.
The DVD features a few running themes, like a Scotsman who talks back to movies (not funny) and a series of bits involving various types having sex (really not funny). Worst of all, the bits attack the usual suspects – rednecks, West Virginians, Republicans, pro-lifers and church goers – which makes the collection both lazy and mirth-free. One segment has Dick Cheney punching his lover in the face repeatedly.
Nothing screams an utter lack of edge in 2009 than taking potshots at Republican stereotypes.
And, on one occasion, the humor dips way below the belt, like the inclusion of a shaky Muhammad Ali in one animated sketch. Second place goes to a bit involving Magic Johnson’s HIV positive status.
It would take a master satirist to wring humor from those two subjects, but there’s nothing masterful about this “Cavalcade.”
Gratefully, some of the sketches last only a few seconds. Most linger way too long, like a boorish party guest or a “Saturday Night Live” sketch they put on just before 1 a.m. beckons.
“Family Guy” remains a hit or miss proposition, and MacFarlane’s vocal stylings are an unqualified hoot. But the animator is either stretched entirely too thin or thinks every half-baked comic impulse he have deserves to be seen.
Christian Toto is a contributing reporter for The Washington Times, MovieMaker Magazine and boxoffice.com. He blogs about film at whatwouldtotowatch.com
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90 Comments
I watched Family Guy for most of the first season but the lack of cohesive story and just the feeling that he's trying to hard (like the Wayan's brothers) just made me tire of it. Southpark is far superior and at least has a somewhat cohesive story most of the time, also they did a fantastic skewering of Family Guy a couple years back.
Though if you want a truly inspried and great cartoon you have to get King of the Hill or the near perfect Venture Brothers.
Brian Griffin is the joke killing offspring of Lisa Simpson and Scrappy Doo.
Family Guy was always hit and miss. But when the show worked it was hilarious. But over the past few seasons it has started to wallow in it's own cliches.
King of the Hill was great. But it just went on too long. Can't wait to see The Goode Family.
The Venture Brothers is hilarious. But has become so self referential that it is no longer possible for someone to just jump in and follow it. You have to start from the beginning to understand.
Cartoons are the best things on right now. Aqua Teens are pure incoherent genius. And Southpark is amazing after ten years. it is the only show I've ever seen that recognizes and attacks it's own cliches.
MacFarlane just got a $100 million contract and a third prime time show on FOX… minor details left out of this article.
The first few seasons of Family Guy were funny, but lately it's just trying too hard. Before they found a workable balance of shocking and funny, now it's just pseudo-shocking (because the shock has become predictable) and unfunny. Oral sex with animals… check; concentration camp jokes… check; AIDS humor… check; incest…check; Michael J. Fox shaking… check. Ok, Peter touched his son’s penis. We get it…outrageous…move on.
I think MacFarlane is just getting older, more bitter and drunk with money and power (David Letterman syndrome).
Never been a fan. I've always thought the show was horrible (and obviously I wasn't alone or it wouldn't have gotten cancelled in the first place due to poor ratings-and yes, I know they brought it back 'cause of DVD sales). I've always thought it was a cheap (and horribly animated) rip-off of The Simpsons (which it is) and it's only gotten worse. South Park crapped all over that show (and hit the nail on the head). The unfunny, repetitive attempts at lefty humor is terrible. At least when The Simpsons make fun of conservatives, it's actually funny.
Futurama. Best. . . cartoon. . . ever. Well, at least since Scooby Doo.
I liked it better when South Park ridiculed Family Guy and their endless non sequiturs in Cartoon Wars.
Family Guy was funny the first season, and that was about it.
Yeah isn't funny that South Park made a better Family Guy episode than Seth MacFarlane ever did?
I've watched Family Guy over the years (truly missed it when it was first cancelled back in 01 or 02). Over time it seems to have lost some of the edge it had when it first came on. A lot of the humour which was at first some very nice satire has become just plain mean. MacFarlane is an unabashed liberal and (sorry to say) has used his show to bash conservatives, republicans, the religeous, well just about anybody who disagrees with the left agenda. Too bad really as the man does have some comic chops. His other show, American Dad seems to be far less infected by MacFarlane's politics and doesn't use the flash back device so much.
He has another show starting on Fox in the fall based on one of the characters from Family Guy (the black neighbour named Cleveland). I hope it's funny but If the show is another Family Guy or American Dad clone I don't have a lot of hope it will be around too long.
Hey Christian, you kinda look like you could be Macfarlane's brother in that picture.
Family Guy kind of lost the edge it started wtih… (back when he really made fun of lots of stuff).. the funny thing is I remember the complaints that American Guy was just the opposite of Family Guy when it started…
American Guy = Way too one-sided in it's political cracks…(aimed at conservatives), then Family Guy just took a pot shot at anyone they felt like, both political and non-political.. then it just sort of flipped to just the opposite… he backed off the politics on AG and let them filter into FG…
OF course, South Park > BOTH of them…
(although what was bad, I flipped over to comedy central and watched Jeff Dunham (usual repeat of his D.C. SHow- and still laughing at the repeats), and every ad was for some upcoming show.. and every ad had a "bleeped" out word in it… When I got to thinking about this line:
"So “Cavalcade” brims with dirty talk, sexually suggestive material and other R-rated fare he can’t get away with on Fox"
Why is the vulgarity and R-talk so necessary anymore for broadcast/cable TV comedy? What happened to the old quote about "Vulgarity shows a lack of creativity" (Or whatever the quote is?)
I dunno… I liked Family Guy seasons 1-3. i.e. the pre-cancellation episodes. When it had its miraculous comeback in season four, the new episodes just felt different. It was as though suddenly Seth MacFarlane felt that his ideas and views were 100% legitimized because "the people had spoken and bought my DVDs." Thus the show rapidly descended into an unending spew of liberal circle jerking.
I think one of "The Simpsons" better episodes was the Homer vs. Bush episode a few years back, with the former president doing a yard job on Homer's front lawn with a secret service SUV.
ahhh yes, Mario Antoinette. He came up with many of Marie's better lines before being spun off into his own adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Family Guy" for me has always been a great example of a sum being less than its parts. Some of McFarlane's non-sequiters are hilarious, but in the end, as "South Park" noted, there is no overall theme to the show–it's just a bunch of one-liners strung together. Sure, every "Family Guy" I've seen has a plot, but they are formulaic, predictable, and hit the viewer over the head with the left-wing Message of the Day.
Good point on Venture Brothers. It has a definite evolving storyline and if you tried to jump in and start watching now you would still find humor in it but would be somewhat confused as to what was going on. Their take on Scooby Doo in season one was comic genius. For those not in the know they had Scooby and the gang as sort of drifters who were always looking to score drugs; Fred was domineering and abusive and Shaggy was criminally insane and was the only person who could hear Scooby talk (ala Son of Sam) and Scooby kept telling Shaggy to kill drifters and school girls. Comic gold.
I haven't seen much King fo the Hill the last couple years but have the first 8 seasons on DVD and they are timeless. 50 years from now that cartoon will still be great.
If you want to talk about best Simpson's episodes you have to look at the Homer buying a gun episode as one of the greatest. The line where the gun salesman (at Blood Bath and Beyond) told him he had a three day waiting period and Homer responded with "Ahhhh, but I'm angry now." Simply awesome.
The opinions of what is funny are varied as the types of humor presented. If a show is successful, then someone likes it. Myself I cannot understand the appeal of Idol, yet there it is. I have had little use for the opinion of critics since Siskel and Ebert panned Fast Times at Ridgemont High. They insisted there was no humor in it. When actually it turns out to be a classic comedy. My advice for folks is. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Allow me to also assist. The folowing groups will not like Family Guy: Republicans, Conservatives, Evangelicals or other devout religious people reguardless of religious affiliation, Career Politicians, Womens advocasy groups, PETA, MADD, advocates of abstainance only, the sexually repressed, people who have kids with upsidedown face and of course anyone with a show in the same timeslot.
The cutaways took me a while to get accustomed to.
Apart from Brian and Stewie, the show is a waste of time. I want it to be better than it is. I usually watch it as i wait for the Simpsons.
American Dad is not as bad, The Cleveland Show begs the question: Why?
Wrong, oh cartoony one. The best cartoon series ever done was: Duckman. It couldn't have been any more politically-incorrect. In fact, in one episode Duckman's partner in the detective business decides he would rather be a standup comic. Cornfed (the partner) does a whole routine of politically-correct jokes, and bombs completely. Message: Political correctness isn't funny.
Based on the few times I watched "American Dad", I have to disagree with those who say it is less ideologically-driven than "Family Guy", and given crap like the Nazi wearing a McCain-Palin button, that's saying something.
Whereas "Family Guy" takes overt shots and obvious low blows at the right with every other sight gag or line of dialogue, "American Dad" is nothing less than a twenty-two minute caricature of patriotic Americans. The father on the show, Stan, is a blustering dimwit who opens every show with a salute to the flag and a tribute to "the American Race". The plots I saw always served to ridicule the beliefs of the conservative whipping boy Stan, who not coincidentally is employed by the CIA.
I will sometimes suffer through the left-wing sniping of "Family Guy" because some of the jokes are funny. I do not recall ever laughing during an "American Dad".
"The Family Guy?" The trolls report that it is popular at freekazoid, circle cherks.
I hear a lifetime loss of 20 I.Q. points is mandatory, too. (no wonder Obama got elected.)
Either way, the very fact that such an asinine spew has an audience is proof positive of devolution.
I respectfully disagree with both of you. If you want to honestly talk abou best cartoon ever it has to be either Disney's vastly underrated Gargoyles or Nickelodeon's brilliant Avatar the Last Airbender. No contest.
I did like one of McFarlane's Cavalcade cartoons: "Barry Gibb on a Roller Coaster". The rest were just what Nolte said, comic asides he couldn't fit into a Family Guy episode, or were just too vulgar for TV.
The show is heavily padded. The only reason they do a 5 minute musical routine or a 10 minute fight with a giant chicken is because they don't have the writing skills to maintain a cohesive plot for a half hour. I swear the writers must have ADD.
The last Family Guy episode I watched was the one where Meg found Jesus, started to gratuitously burn books and Brian convinced her to renounce God because He made her life lousy. Good riddance to bad comedy.
Homer's had some really good lines in the past and the setups for them are always spot on.
Duckman was very, very funny. But in that vein, I do like South Park better.
While those are indeed excellent cartoons, classic Scooby Doo remains my personal fav (forget that PC garbage they made a few years ago).
On Nick, I used to like Ren and Stimpy.
I used to like Family Guy. The episode where Brian finds his Mom is kind of funny and Stewie can be hilarious as well but for the most part its not funny. Its sort of stupid. MacFarlane thinks wayyyy tooo much of himself. A dose of humility would help his comic writing. But I can see the Coyote feeling his life has lost all meaning because he finally caught the freaking Road Runner. That does work in a way.
South Park summed up Family Guy best. So much so, writers from The Simpsons and King of the Hill sent Stone and Parker flowers after their infamous Muhammad episode.
MacFarlane is also an ideological hack. He claims to be libertarian, he's nothing close. His targets are the usual stereotypes and his heroes range to intellectual frauds like Gore Vidal and the rest of the academic left. He's horrendously liberal with a nihilstic bent that's sickening. The only thing staggering about his imagination is his lack of it. Attacking Wal-Mart? How original, and done better, by others, including South Park. Gay marriage? He is pugnaciously profane and vulgar, but relentlessly politically correct, just like the Stewarts and the Colberts. Religion? Another new brave target. He hides behind a litany of pop culture references and the masochistic joy he takes in his humanless characters. Sure, the shock and awe of it was great for half a season, but then most moved on. How he suckered Fox into letting him carry three verisons of the same drivel at the same time, all the while chasing away Mike Judge, is beyond senseless. A complete parody of himself.
MacFarlane is no different then the fake talking heads on Comedy Central, Bill Maher, or the rest of a generation of so called "comics" who believe in nothing while chastising those who dare to. Forgotten in less than five years.
I used to like this show a lot. Then McFarlane's politics started leaking into it.
Then McFarlane's politics started to dominate it. Ok I get it you doosh, you hate republicans. Enough already, do something funny.
The last straw was when Stewie went back in time to WWII and wound up in a nazi SS uniform with McCain\Palin pin. Haven't watched it since that. When he ridicules Obama like that, call me I'll watch it again.
But for now the show is nothing but left-wing whackjob masturbation.
I cut Family Guy a lot of slack. McFarlane is probably the best voice actor working today. Lots of clever use of music in the show. The evolution of Stewie beyond a one-note megalomaniac helped greatly. The show goes through a lot of writers; many episodes are forgettable, but a few are profound. Yes, much of the humor is aggressively stupid, childish, and deliberately offensive. And of course, McFarlane's politics aren't shared by me or most of us Big Hollywood lurkers. It will never please the Brent Bozells or other bluenoses. I do hope it keeps going, and I have the Cavalcade on top of my Netflix queue.
McFarlane originally presented as an irreverent iconoclast but, it turns out, Obama and his freak show are just a sacred to him as they are to what passes for journalism on MSNBC.Another liberal phony
Family guy has so many edges one can get cut easily; furthermore, I find the humor humorless. The guy has a huge chip on shoulder aimed squarely at Middle America. The man is just not funny. I suppose his target audience is uninformed teens for the most part…
I only have one thing to say about Seth MacFarland shows: Manatees
Even manatees could write a better show than Macfarlane and his "comedy" writers.
Libertarian???
That's probably the funniest thing to come out of that guy in a very long time….
Truth be told, he just another cowardly little puss*. It's "safe" to ridicule republicans and Christianity. If he had any grapes he'd devote an entire show to making fun of Mohammad and Islam. He's too chickensh!t to make fun of Obama even though there is a ton of material ripe for the picking.
He's weak, just really, really weak….
I heard he's a maniac to work for, mean as hell. He pays you, he owns you.
My 14 year old son can write funnier jokes than Seth McFarland! Talk about over-rated!! His shows are at the "I know-you-are-but-what-am-I" level of comedic writing.
You are soo right! AG & FG are Kindergarten-Level shows – South Park is Masters-Level in comparison!
I love "Family Guy"! End, period!
Me, I loved Beavis and Butthead. Plus the wonderful Oblongs. I like the crude, rude and quirky in my cartoons. I have to go with Andrew though, Futurama was great. Oh, and King of the Hill, truly inspired. Family Guy has always been hit or miss with me. Mostly miss.
One thing Brian and Lisa have in common: if it's one of "their" episodes, I turn it off.
That's interesting to learn about "American Dad," Mark.
I watched the first couple of episodes and decided it wasn't for me. It was nothing but cheap shots. So, I continued to watch "Family Guy" until I found I was turning that off five minutes into every other episode. I just figured that if "Family Guy" was getting that bad, I didn't want to know what "American Dad" was now like.
Maybe I'll give it another shot.
The show stopped being funny when it got political.
McFarlane had a lot of support from people like me in getting the show back on the air, but he threw all that away by climbing into bed with the Democrat Nazis.
"Cleveland" will fail, "American Dad" is already a massive failure and "Family Guy" ratings haven't merited renewal since "Blue Harvest" where he went off the rails for Obama.
Or people who don't like the taste of horse semen.
All right, we get it: ' "Family Guy" is not for the squares. The unenlightened need not watch.'
It must feel good to be you!
Okay, Rambler, you and Mark S (above) need to talk it over and figure out if I should watch "American Dad" or not.
I don't have all day to be moving it on and off my Netflix queue!
I like when they do a joke that isn't funny. And they do the same joke and it still isn't funny. And then they do it again, and it's still not funny, but maybe it will be funny soon. So when they do it again, you're still not amused but you're wondering if you might be in a minute. Then they do the same joke again, and you're like, "Nope, still not getting the humor here." So then they do it again, and now you're just getting annoyed—but not really pissed off, just a little aggravated. And then they do it once more and then you turn off the television 'cause life's too short.
I was a fan of Family Guy for the first three or so seasons, but after the show was brought back thanks to the aformenetioned DVD sales, something just seemed lost.
I'm a big fan of the Animaniacs. smart, wickedly funny show, with maybe the best sendup of Apocalypse Now ever.
Oh and I like Conway Twitty, too.
Written by manatees.. Genius.
You know what's funny about Futurama is that Fox did everything they could to kill it, and yet it grew a huge audience. Even though I wanted to see it, I think I probably saw fewer than five episodes in it's first two years on the air. But once it got into syndication, suddenly I got to see them and I was hooked. Now I've got the DVD and I live my life according to their teachings.
I never cared much for Beavis and Butthead until I saw the movie, then I really got into them.
Here's another one I really liked — Rocky & Bullwinkle. And, of course, the classics — Looney Tunes.
as a big seth fan the cavalcade was pretty bad. i have to agree that it seems like a bunch of stuff really not worthy of prime time or dvd.
I liked Family Guy until I saw that South Park episode, now I can't stand it. The Sea Manatees with idea balls pretty much summed up the writing style!
Cavalcade strikes me as a wanna be Robot Chicken. As for the American Dad discussion, I don't know, I've seen s couple of episodes lately and none of them had any real gotcha moments. I'd say try a more recent episode seems like the political stuff has died down a bit there.
I love family guy and all of the cartoons talked about here and i love the daily show and guess what im a republican ! Politics in cartoons is exactly what it should be FUNNY! I dont get my politcs from comedy.
I used to like Family Guy, have the DVDs for the first couple of seasons too. It may not be as fresh as it was, but I'd probably still watch it if not for the nazi-McCain/Palin episode. That did it for me.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force is pure randomness, but unlike McFarlane's work it's randomness done right.
Well gee he has all the earmarks of an immature metrosexual….so that would automatically make him a phoney and a little p*ss. Everytime I see him on the Hulu advert I start gagging. HE reminds me of the nerdy kid from high school who is finally getting his revenge on all the bigger jocks and preps who used to tease him and lock him in his locker in high school.
He looks like a jerk….
"Best voice actor"? Really? I think Frank Welker or Tara Strong may have something to say about that. And MacFarlane has hired them both many times for his show.
"I dont get my politcs from comedy."
Unfortunately liberals do.
I just wish I could have married a Lois Pewterschmitt. She's the most interesting character on the show.
There is a "Family Guy" Bingo out there that you fill in as you watch the show. It's impossible to lose because of how repetitive the lazy show is.
freddy- ted bundy
daphne- patty hearst
thelma- valerie solanis
shaggy- charles manson
scooby- the son of sam dog
i think that episode was written by the guy who created the Tick.
The jokes on the show sometimes go on for too long. overdone. Best scene was when Meg fell in love with Brian and made a pie for him and put soem of her hair in it – then told him. Brian went to tell Lois that eat ate Meg's hair pie – it was actually pretty funny as the mom beat the crap out of Brian (obviosuly thinking what Seth "lowest common denominator" MacFarlane wanted "us" to think). Regardless, the show is a waste.
And speaking of the genius of South Park, anyone remember the episode with the homeless that invaded south park? the kids thought they were being so good giving money to the homeless guys, but the homeless guys not only never went away, they multiplied. WOW – talk about hitting the nail on the head on why I'm a Republican, that episode was it. Useless human beings – not evil – just useless – being a drain on everyone around them that works for a living.
there is a place for the shocking and the vulgar. Drawn Together was nothing but that. and it worked on it's own very base level.
family guy fails because it doesn't recognize it's own ignorance. brian and stewie think they're being smart when they making a joke about the military being composed of the bottom ten percent of your high school class.
MacFarlane is just another arogant limosine lefty that has gotten very full of himself – FG has gone from being funny as hell to being just stupid, its like listening to an aging shock jock who will say ANYTHING just to keep his ratings going for a little longer. AD was always stupid and boring. I hope his 15 minutes are up soon.
every few seasons they do a future episode where they look at the characters twenty years on. lisa is in love. or lisa is president. if they followed the characters to their logical conclusions, it would be lisa at 30, fat hairy legged and manless.
I heard Gargoyles. That used to be appointment viewing for me in elementary/Middle school, and Dini's Batman:TheAnimatedSeries.
*MissQuinn*
what doesn't stop being funny when it gets political and preachy?
"But when the show worked it was hilarious"
Every comedy is hilarious when it works. That's tautological. The question is: how often does Family Guy work? I'd so no more than once an episode. But that's one man's opinion. I realize 14 year olds eat it up.
when "two and a half men" works, it still isn't funny.
I thought a bunch of manatees wrote Family Guy?
Venture Brothers = comedy genius
When will the people making "the Simpsons" just die already? Hasn't been good for about 15 years now. Hasn't even been mediocre for the last 10. But hey, they sure can land those celebrity cameos!!!
Not if you take their giant balls away.
God, that didn't sound right.
I can filter out McFarlane's liberal crap fairly easily. I like the show, basically. Most of the cutaways elicit a chuckle or two. Besides, I like cartoon characters that I can laugh with one minute then want to punch the crap out of the next.
This is a disgusting show. I can't imagine wasting my time for something so ugly. I find no humor in this type of sickness. Watching cartoons in for children, now imaginative animation is entertaining but this does not meet my mark for that. Bring back Heckle and Jeckle for a hoot.
except for some of the Stewie bits, watching Family Guy is like getting a root canal. the nastiness of MacFarlane's political jokes in the show cannot be denied. see for example,
http://www.wowowow.com/post/laura-bush-killed-guy...
Family Guy assaults free speech by abusing it with vulgarity
http://www.huntfortruth.org/family-guys-assault-o...
I hated this show from the first time I saw the talking baby. Utterly retarded and a cynical insult to it's audience.Who would ever buy into such stupidity?
Batman:tAS is the greatest cartoon ever. (well Samurai Jack was good too) It's hard to measure how much of an impact that show had on pop culture.
No, sorry. Billy West, Stephen Bloom, and so many others are far better voice actors than McFarlane.
BTW: anyone seen the speech Seth gave at a graduation ceremony? He actually took time to bash religion in it.
Comparing it to the high school graduation speech Conan O'brien gave only demonstrates how much more of talent Conan has.
Darkwing Duck, Scooby-Doo, and TAILSPIN!
and South Park!
Me too!!!
Tailspin, gotta like Tailspin. Don Carnage (pronounced: Car-naj) — what a great name for a bad guy!
I think the show is hilariously lowbrow. I watch it. Seth is a coward and knows what he needs to do to not be targeted by the powers that be. Funny show!
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