Site Meter Media Criticism » Blog Archive » Fox to Continue Family Guy, Demonstrate the Television Industry’s Lack of Integrity

Fox to Continue Family Guy, Demonstrate the Television Industry’s Lack of Integrity

by Nicholas Katers

One of the great success stories in television over the last decade has been Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy. I was an enormous fan of the show during its initial run on Fox in 2000 and was sad to see it go away in favor of the crappy sitcoms that Fox seems to favor. Family Guy has helped spawn a movement within the diehard TV community to protest the early cancellation of favorite shows. The success of the DVD sets of the first few Family Guy seasons helped bring the show back from the depths of television’s garbage pit.

The reason I bring up these points is that Fox’s recent announcement that they will produce new episodes of Family Guy without the input of executive producer/creator MacFarlane is a slap in the face to fans as well as writers. The final new episode of the acerbic series ran this past Sunday and the Writers’ Guild strike has now shut down material for new episodes. MacFarlane has criticized this move by Fox and has a long history of criticizing network television for its various faults.

I don’t understand why Fox is even bothering to try and create new episodes of the show without MacFarlane. After all, it seems that Fox should have a stash of great reality shows like Syphilis Island, Ted Danson’s Journey across America, and What is That? that do not require any creativity or structure. If Rupert Murdoch is so concerned about keeping Family Guy on the air, they should band with other studio executives to resolve the writer’s strike. I would say that Fox is trying to insult the intelligence of the average TV viewer but they already do this by putting shows like Back to You on the air.

I think that this move by Fox signifies a long strike ahead for writers, studios and TV fans. Family Guy may seem like a disorganized mess that relies on pop culture references to function but you need writers and producers to weave these elements together. Fox’s cartoon lineup requires animators and other creative types to make some of their most popular shows function. A Fox-created version of Family Guy will sound like the “wrong sounding? Muppets that were made a subject of a joke on the legitimate version of Family Guy.


Leave a Reply


About Media Criticism

Media Criticism takes a critical look at the media's coverage of news, politics, celebrities, and current events. It is not intended as a replacement for traditional media; rather, it is an analytical lens through which mainstream journalism can be viewed.

Media Criticism Author(s)
    » Nicholas-Katers

Politics & News Channel Posts

  • "Uncle Tom"?
    Ralph Nader Calls Obama "Uncle Tom"? Video And Transcript http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21169.htm Fox News distorts Nader's comments to paint him as a racist Posted [...]
  • Market Mayhem
    Read on Progressive Talk: Markets on Fire By Mumia Abu-Jamal As stocks fall around the U.S., in Europe and in Asia, the dreaded "R" word and the "D" word can now be said aloud. Recession. [...]
  • Center-Right Socialism
    THE PROGRESSIVE POPULIST: A JOURNAL FROM THE HEARTLAND December 1, 2008 -- Volume 14, Number 21 http://www.populist.com EDITORIAL Center-Right Socialism Who was not moved by the sight of [...]
  • On Intelligent Design and the Left
    Cats, Dogs and Creationism By JEAN BRICMONT “The criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism.” --Karl Marx (Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s [...]
  • Rural-Urban Divide and Election '08
    The following article was published earlier this year on the website of the History News Network. A Historian Reflects on the Rural-Urban Divide and Election '08 By Daniel Herman March, [...]
  • Wind Turbine Artists Needed
    Drive east along Highway 50 toward South Lake Tahoe, California and you'll spot some unusual looking pine trees among the tall timbers of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In fact these aren't trees at [...]
  • Worse than 9/11?
    Posted in Progressive Talk: London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi is reporting indications from a Yemeni with "very close" al-Qaeda ties that Osama bin Laden is plotting an [...]
  • Sold: Neverland Ranch
    Michael Jackson, recording artist and entertainer, has reportedly sold his child-like fantasy home The Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara, California (120 Miles Northwest of Los Angeles) for $35 [...]
  • Obama's Impending Tax Increases
    From the right: It's happened. If you're like me, the worst case scenario is being played out in your mind. It's over. With Barack Obama as President, your finances are in bigger trouble [...]
  • Colorado Marijuana Reform Seminar and Activist Boot Camp
    On November 15, SAFER is co-hosting the Colorado Marijuana Reform Seminar and Activist Boot Camp at Regis University in Denver. The first-of-its-kind event is designed to immediately bolster [...]

Hot Off The Press

  • Next Up: NCAA Championships
    No. 24 Arkansas Razorback men's cross country will run at the NCAA Championships, Mon., Nov. 24. [...]
  • So, let's talk about the runner-up
    Listen, I don't know what those folks over there at People were thinking but it certainly wasn't anywhere along the same lines as me.  I mean, Daniel Craig is a Bond man and he has those [...]
  • Silver Giveaway
    Christmas has always been perceived as the season for giving and receiving. ‘Guess it’s no wonder why this is the time of the year when people all around the world is in unison when it [...]
  • Vogue scans, and the New York Times
    The December issue of Vogue has hit stands and with that, I have the scans! Jen looks gorgeous in the photos and comes off beautifully in the interview. Thumbnails are [...]
  • Albuquerque NM Film office
    [caption id="attachment_796" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="Hey, just about anyone can work films in NM...."][/caption] Well not anybody, however the State of NM really keeps offering [...]

  • [caption id="attachment_1225" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Santa Fe Dreaming..."][/caption] Ok this is a funky site that you must go visit,please, if you want to catch the wave (in a [...]
  • people never change
    There is an Introductory Address in the third edition of Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, And Hints to Young Housekeepers. by Elizabeth E. Lea. She also claims that "The Source of Liberal [...]
  • Albuquerque dances all night long? T or F?
    [caption id="attachment_47" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="OK OK, I'll go and listen to some music!"][/caption] Almost all night long. Here's some other event news from ABQarts.org [...]
  • Know Your Noxious Weeds and Invasive Species: Giant Hogweed
    It is true that I am a nerd that enjoys the study of nature and all of its creatures, and part and parcel of living in Portland, Oregon is enjoying nature. So today, I will bring you the fruit of my [...]
  • More Good Ratings
    [caption id="attachment_619" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Photo from DaemonsTV.com"][/caption] Criminal Minds was the #2 show in Canada this week, according to the Canadian Press. [...]