Humor In Family Guy

In the television series Family Guy, there are many episodes that contain different types of humor including: slapstick humor, pop-culture humor, and offensive humor. Because of the use of so many types of humor, Family Guy appeals to a very unique and somewhat split demographic. The demographic is unique because the pop-culture references embedded in Family Guy’s format are primarily drawn from the 1970s and 80s, so only previous generations are guaranteed to get all the references; yet, the humor tactics involved appeal to younger people and can even be called “immature.” According to the show’s creator, Family Guy’s target audience is men between the ages of 18 and 34 years old.

The use of slapstick humor can appeal to a wide range of audiences

and, while it is a rather simple form of humor, it can be entertaining to many age groups. It allows people of lesser intelligence to connect and identify with the humor, thus making it inclusive to a wide range of people. This is crucial for the show as the more people included in the target audience, the more viewers and thus, more revenue the show makes.
Pop-culture humor within Family Guy is used so that the audience can associate with what they are viewing. This is done so the viewers gain a greater connection to the clip and can relate to its content. Many of the pop-culture allusions are followed by cutaways of that specific reference so that the audience can understand it further and can comprehend its humor. Most of the allusions are made with the intention of relating to Family Guy’s target audience of 18-34 year old males. This is done as the writers and main producer (Seth Macfarlane) are of that age group and can easily link the show to pop-culture of their time. By appealing to their target audience with pop-culture references, the humor found within Family Guy caters to their needs and increases program loyalty.
Part of the show’s success is based on the fact that the younger generations who generally watch the show were exposed to much of the pop culture included in it by their parents. Their parents would play the movies and sitcoms of past decades, so the references are not entirely lost on younger people. Many of the allusions used throughout the series are also borrowed from movies or shows that became American icons, with quotes or scenes that people love to quote. This means that even if someone hasn’t watched that particular movie or television show, they can easily follow along because they know where the reference is from, although, knowing where the reference is from can definitely add to the humor of it.
I have chosen to use a specific episode of the series as I find absolutely nothing in this episode to be even remotely funny. "You Can't Do That on Television, Peter" is the eighteenth episode of the tenth season of the Family Guy television series. The title itself is a pop culture reference to a popular 80s Nickelodeon show titled, “You Can’t Do That on Television.” In this episode, the main character, Peter Griffin insults everyone, ignores any interests other than his own, neglects his duties to his children, and is so misogynistic toward his wife Lois disrespecting her and disregarding her opinions and warnings that he ultimately ignores his own as well as his family’s well-being. This is a common thread that weaves throughout many of the show’s episodes, so it is by no means unique to this one.
In this episode’s main focus, Peter decides to produce his own children’s public television show Petey’s Funhouse, a play on the show “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” from the 80s. The content of Peter's show tends to be over the heads of his intended audience, containing inappropriate humor and adult themes. Lois is upset when Peter's success leads to late nights out on the town. Angry that Lois keeps saying negative things about him and upset that she isn't supporting his show, Peter makes a puppet resembling Lois and calls it "Saggy Naggy" presenting it to his child audience as his “cranky new neighbor”. The likeness of the puppet represents Lois as a nasty, aging nag of a woman who complains about everything and hounds Peter to do her work. The puppet's standing on the show impacts Lois's real life when she is attacked by children (including her baby Stewie) at a local retail store. In a blatant display of Peter’s misogyny, he accuses Lois of nagging him with household chores, which he claims shouldn’t fall to a children’s television star who could “have all the 3-year-old girls he wants.” Lois gets so frustrated with Peter that she vows to stop nagging him, even when Peter decides to re-enact a skit titled “Who’s On First” with a live puma, which results in him being mauled to the brink of death. The original “Who’s On First” is a comedy routine made famous by Abbott and Costello in the 1930s. It has been reprised, updated, alluded to, and parodied countless times over the years in all forms of media making it very recognizable to most of the audience of the show Family Guy.
The secondary plot of the show focuses on Peter and Lois’s daughter Meg who is considered ugly, unnecessary, unloved, and unworthy of praise or attention by her entire family.

This episode is no different in this respect and the persistence in this constant, open, unapologetic mockery of Meg as a person has led me to become completely disgusted with this show. Instead of praising Meg for her amazing talent and intellect she is marginalized with rude comments being constantly made about her quite often to her face. In this episode, Meg is found to have an aptitude for biology and her professor sets her up to shadow the completely inept Dr. Hartman at the hospital. Toward the end of the show, as Peter lies bleeding after the puma attacked him, Meg is the only one around with the knowledge to save his life. Later at the hospital, when Peter regains consciousness, he admits that Lois was right and Lois tells him that she only nags him because she loves him. When Meg points out that she helped to save his life, she is immediately shut up by Peter merely asking her to get him a glass of water. Effectively cutting her out of any praise and recognition that should be due to her. This frustrates me to no end because many men in our culture have adopted this type of behavior treating their wives, and daughters with this type of

disrespect.
Overall, in my opinion, Family Guy has run past its prime. The skits are getting redundant and the negative impact it has had on the minds of the audience is deplorable. There is nothing funny at all about people being put down, abused, and ridiculed to the point of threatening suicide. Men should respect their wives and love their families instead of blatantly ignoring all logic and reasoning in order to satisfy their selfish whims. This show has corrupted an entire generation effectively desensitizing them to major political, personal and psychological issues which I find to be absolutely appalling.