Family Guy Has Worn Thin

Family Guy is back and bigger than ever, and creator Seth Macfarlane is rolling in money, influence, and spinoffs. Sounds like just the right time for a major backlash, Natasha Vargas-Cooper writes for Radar. “Just a few years after thousands of American tastemakers demanded Family Guy be resuscitated from cancellation,” Vargas-Cooper writes, “many of those same arbiters of culture have deemed MacFarlane's humor puerile and brainless.”

And for good reason. The trademark cutaway gags have grown "forced and tired," she says, while the subtle satire and harmless potty humor have turned into liberal preachiness and unimaginative gags. Vargas-Cooper sees the cause as “lethargy,” and draws a stark connection between Macfarlane’s success and his funnybone. “There is a staggering inversion between the quality of MacFarlane's work and his cash bonanza.” (More Family Guy stories.)