Family Guy and South Park are two of the most watched and loved animated shows on television today. South Park has been around longer, continuing its tenth season this year, whereas Family Guy is relatively young by comparison. Family Guy also gained notoriety for being canned by the Fox Network, then brought back amidst resounding fan calls for action. Both South Park and Family Guy rely on similar elements to create side-splitting humor, but the question remains, which is the more solid show?
South Park in the beginning was maligned as being little more than crass toilet humor, a show that would pollute the minds of young people with its careless attacks on Jews, the disabled, and religion. However, South Park soon proved itself to be much more than a juvenile show, and has since taken position as one of the wittiest social commentaries on television. The humor is a mix of blatant matter-of-factness and a play on the absurdity of current events, such as 9/11 conspiracy theories. As delivered by a posse of nine-year old kids, these jokes seem even more juxtaposed and hilarious.
Family Guy is a show whose humor hinges on nostalgia. As demonstrated in a recent South Park episode that parodied the show, Family Guy often relies on jokes that have absolutely no bearing on the plot. They usually are brought up when a character says “remember when” or “that’s like the time I…” Although irrelevant jokes can hinder plotlines in most other shows, the majority of the Family Guy jokes hit their mark with often hilarious results. The real strength of the Family Guy style of humor is to take a relic of pop culture usually from the 1970s forward and formulate a joke around it. Thus, Family Guy is able to reach a wide audience who retains a catalogue of dated and bizarre material from decades past.
Both South Park and Family Guy focus their plotlines and humor largely on a central character. In South Park, it is the megalomaniac Eric Cartman, and in Family Guy it is the oafish Rhode Island patriarch Peter Griffin. Cartman’s humor comes from his ridiculous schemes, his undeniable evil, his dismissal of reasonable courses of action, and his unforgettable voice. Simultaneously witty and conniving, it adds a special dimension to the corpulent nine-year old. Griffin is a moronic head of family in the style of Homer Simpson, whose juvenile antics and drastic measures lend his particular brand of humor. Peter is the star of most of the flashback interludes of Family Guy, often with unforgettable results.
Both shows use the humdrum aspects of small-town life as perfect backdrops for bizarre happenings. South Park is a menagerie of rednecks and yuppies, sociopaths and stereotypes. However, it is the group of children that carry the show through its satirical and cynical humor. Family Guy similarly populates the small town of Quahog, Rhode Island with an army of eccentric and cameo appearances. Generally, South Park plays host to much more fantastic events such as alien landings and worldwide conspiracies that Family Guy which generally uses somewhat plausible happenings.
The main question is, which style of humor has more staying power? Personally, I liken Family Guy to a very bright star that will burn brightly but not for very long. South Park is far from subtle, but as it relies more on current events than nostalgia, it will have a continuous store to draw from. It is unclear how long either show will last, but what is evident is that both still have enormous followings.
Which show is better, funnier, or more lasting? Can’t say, I love them both.
