I have not even a grain of hope for this series. It seems like a clone of The Family Guy minus the humor, charm and ingenuity.
And it makes me wonder whether the new Family Guy episodes are going to be any good. :(
Peter
OK, a whole thread and no links for the people that slept through the superbowl?
I will be very pissed if this show is the reason why FOX cuts back on Arrested Development.
:(
This show has now had seven episodes shown.
Has anyone changed their minds? This thread contained a lot of negativity, with a majority of folks left unimpressed by the pilot. What are people’s opinions about it now, with more episodes under our collective belts?
I’ve been finding it entertaining. It really isn’t the same as Family Guy, though it certainly has many similarities (not including the most obvious voice acting). It does get me to laugh out loud several times each episode (which is better than any network sitcom has done in a loooong time).
Differences? It’s hard to put a finger on. Stan is oblivious in his stereotype, not ‘stupid’ (or retarded, depending on whether or not you watched last week’s Family Guy) like Peter.
The children are radically different, too. Haley is nothing like Meg, who is only concerned with popularity and teenage angst. Haley’s primary concern is to oppose everything her father stands for. Steve is also nothing like Chris the lovable dope. Steve is actually intelligent and semi-malicious (though perhaps very selfish would be more accurate).
The goldfish and alien are just amusing filler, and they don’t have anywhere near the entertainment value of Stewie and Brian, but there you go…
I guess I look at American Dad as an amusing animated show that would have stood well on its own, but suffers from the comparison to the reborn Family Guy. Had FG never been renewed, we’d be happy to have AD. Since we have both, we can’t help but find the flaws in the still-finding-its-footing AD and bask in the brilliance of the comfortable FG.
I’m happy to have both of Seth Macfarlane’s efforts around, especially in the television desolation of summer time.
/Eph
Yeah, I’ve enjoyed all the AD episodes to date. As you say, I laugh out load several times in the course of each one. The writing is tight and they’re willing to go far --REALLY far-- for the sake of a joke. Not as far as say South Park, but I was pretty surprised that they joked about abortion last week.
Funny as it is, I think the main problem with AD is that none of the principle characters are really likable. At least not yet. Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson, for example, are morons who sometimes do terrible things, but they obviously love their families and they love life. Stan Smith, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities beyond setting up or delivering jokes. His daughter is kind of obnoxious and his son is selfish and self-serving. The goldfish and the alien are just sort of there, though I can see potential for Roger. The only mildly likable character seems to be the wife, Francine. But she’s a weak character so far.
If the show is really going to have legs, I think it’ll have to go through some kind of evolution to where we can care for the characters more. …Then again, Married With Children was is of the longest running sitcoms to date, so what do I know?
Oh, and I also have to say that the whole sequence a couple of episodes back where Stan is trying to kill the squirrel to impress Francine is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on TV. Every time the little guy would look up and offer Stan his acorn just killed me.
Looks like Bill D. has met his crying-while-masturbating nemesis.