Final Post!!!

When I first started watching Family Guy it was during the time when it was no longer airing new episodes on FOX. I saw it on DVD at my friend’s house and immediately fell in love. Not only was the show hilarious, it referenced everything from Star Wars to Christianity. I think I first liked the show so much because it used a unique type of humor not as commonly used in other popular television shows. The random interchangeable jokes used during the show made it easy to watch and kept me wanting more.
The show displays many social norms that I think may have had something to do with my initial interest in the show. Because the Griffin family seems to represent the typical American family it could have helped to interest me in the show. Other social norms that are prevelant in the show are the suburban housewife, the socially awkward daughter, and the obese young male. The show’s minor characters also help to sell the show because they poke fun at many of the negative things in our society. Such characters include the old man who likes little boys (Herbert), the sex crazed male (Quagmire), and the controversial politician (Mayor West).
When I first decided to do Family Guy for my blog I didn’t think that my opinion of the show would change much. However over the course of the semester I realized why Family Guy was rated one of the top 3 worst family shows by the Parents Television Council. While I don’t necessarily agree that the show is a bad show for people to watch I do understand why it can be considered that. They poke fun at everything from AIDS to Christians and offend theses groups in doing so.
My opinion is that Family Guy rarely goes to far and people need to lighten up and take more responsibility for what they and their familys watch. In fact, in the most recent episode of Family Guy, the family is sitting at the table and Lois says “Values come from inside, from your own beliefs” and Peter responds, “I agree Lois, like for instance if your watching a TV show and you decide to take your values from that, you’re and idiot. Maybe you should take responsibility for what values your kids are getting. Maybe you shouldn’t be letting your kids watch shows in the first place if you have such a big problem with them, instead of blaming the shows themselves……. Yeah.” As he stares into the camera as if to tell the country to relax and stop blaming television shows for its problems.