Comments on: Star Wars Family Guy

Star Wars Family Guy

Turtles all the way down — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:12:56 -0800

Family Guy does Star Wars A ten minute sneak preview of an upcoming special, shown at the recent Star Wars Celebration IV convention in Los Angeles.

By: Item

Item — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:30:26 -0800

Why do I feel like I'm watching a DVD I bought on the street in Chinatown?

By: L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:34:56 -0800

Probably all the dead chickens hanging upside down.

By: autodidact

autodidact — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:39:03 -0800

Your favourite reference-laden animation sucks.

By: ford and the prefects

ford and the prefects — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:41:02 -0800

Oh, I get it! Peter, see, he does things that normal people do. Only, he's doing them in extraordinary circumstances. So, it's funny, right?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:44:33 -0800

I want so much to love this but I keep missing jokes because the audience laughs over them and that's driving me nuts. Also, I was struck by the huge laugh the Bush/Cheney bumpersticker gag got. I remember a time when fandom was allergic to (non-theoretical) politics, and I'm not that old. I think it's a combination of the widespread bad feeling about the current US administration and the politicization of the internet. Maybe it's something else, but that was what sprang first to mind.

By: autodidact

autodidact — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:45:06 -0800

Seeing things you recognize from other movies and TV shows is HA HA HILARIOUS.

By: sharksandwich

sharksandwich — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:45:06 -0800

Family Guy sucks.

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:46:22 -0800

Kattullus; see, it's funny because the bush administration is evil.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:51:05 -0800

The audience reaction to the Alderon joke fucking killed me... And reading the miserable comments in here makes me like it even more.

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:55:01 -0800

Wait, it sucks? I never noticed that before. You've completely opened mine and tens of millions of peoples' eyes. I understand it now! Holy shit! (runs to burn DVDs immediately)

By: kryptondog

kryptondog — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:58:45 -0800

I guess I'm just not hip enough to bring myself to dislike it. More, MOAR! The creepy old man as Obi Wan was hillarious.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 09:59:33 -0800

As an immigrant with a pending application with DHS-USCIS to have the conditional status on my green card removed, I have no opinion as to the moral status of the present administration. Oh, the reason I couldn't enjoy the video, slimepuppy, is that I have a slight hearing problem, which makes it very difficult for me to pick out the human voice from other noise. I love Family Guy, especially now that I live in Providence.

By: ob

ob — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:02:25 -0800

Funny

By: ob

ob — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:04:21 -0800

Oh and Kattullus, I'm in the same position as you (although I'm a little behind as we don't file to remove conditions until next year) and thus your comment really made me laugh.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:13:59 -0800

The Alderaan joke was awesome. (I'm ashamed that I didn't have to look up the spelling on "Alderaan.") The couch joke is the reason why Family Guy tries my patience.

By: Benjy

Benjy — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:14:06 -0800

I thought it was great, but my mind has been so fried by years of Adult Swim that I've forgotten that liking Family Guy is uncool now.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:20:11 -0800

Also: Boogie Wars- "Boogie Nights" meets "Star Wars."

By: wfc123

wfc123 — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:32:50 -0800

Your favourite reference-laden animation sucks. What he said.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:39:08 -0800

Let me get this straight. LucasFilm, not a group of fans, throws a "celebration" which is essentially ANOTHER huge over hyped advertiesment for their own fucking product and we aid in the viral promotion of it? A product, that through their own revolting commercial greed, they have strained any of the originating artistic merit from by milking it over and over in mindless bland sequels that the average 10 year old didn't even like all that much. Said formulaic sequels being what alienated the fan base and generated negative reviews in the first place. Thus hampering long term sales. So they return to "celebrating" the original. In hopes to pump a few more 30th Anniversary DVD sales though the gate via nostalgia? The same they shit on with the sequels. What balls. Jesus Christ. Does Karl Rove run Lucasfilm now?

By: empath

empath — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:59:26 -0800

I'm sorry, but that was funny as hell. Even the couch gag.

By: watsondog

watsondog — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:08:40 -0800

LucasFilm, not a group of fans, throws a "celebration" which is essentially ANOTHER huge over hyped advertiesment for their own fucking product and we aid in the viral promotion of it? Fanboys always believe commercial efforts are more appropriate than non-commercial ones, and always prefer the officially approved to the non-approved. This is what days of hearing people laugh at fandom (and specifically fanfic, which is of course unapproved and non-commercial, and totally coincidentally more popular with women than with men) over the LJ/Six Apart fiasco.

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:17:14 -0800

Even the couch gag. My kids didn't get that part, but I was on the floor, laughing. After moving from apartment to apartment and house to house, I've had those sorts of conversations over and over in my life.

By: muteh

muteh — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:25:57 -0800

tkchrist - are you saying that it's not funny, or that it is funny but it's immoral to laugh at it?

By: Phred182

Phred182 — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:26:41 -0800

Family Guy is derivative, repetitive, and overhyped--but, as Paulene Kael said of Mel Brooks, it can make you laugh helplessly.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:51:14 -0800

The couch gag made me think of Douglas Adams.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:57:02 -0800

The couch gag would have been funny for about 10 seconds the first time and maybe 3 or 4 the second. Some of the jokes I didn't get because I'm not that familiar with family guy. Who was the guy in the suit talking to peter during the tie-fighter battle?

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:04:03 -0800

What's next? South Park doing Lord of the Rings?

By: Benjy

Benjy — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:09:57 -0800

Who was the guy in the suit talking to peter during the tie-fighter battle? Shirley you must be joking... It was a reference to Airplane!, where Leslie Nelson's character periodically pops into the cockpit during moments of high stress to wish everyone good luck.

By: parilous

parilous — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:09:57 -0800

Delmoi: that was a reference to "Airplane!".

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:16:35 -0800

...advertiesment for their own fucking product and we aid in the viral promotion of it? etc. etc. So much cranky dyspeptic outrage over a little cartoon!

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:20:34 -0800

Our popular culture is about earlier popular culture. This leads me to two (2) conclusions: 1. Pop will eat itself 2. This post is eponysterical

By: jaronson

jaronson — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:26:58 -0800

I only watched the first couple of minutes, but what I saw was friggin hilarious. Looking forward to the "upcoming special."

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:35:12 -0800

(runs to burn DVDs immediately) Burn as in make copies or burn as in dispose of?

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:39:43 -0800

I was thinking the same thing about the couch gag. I've had that conversation dozens of times. I loved Meg as the creepy creature in the garbage chute, too.

By: nola

nola — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:47:32 -0800

I don't really like Family Guy but I did laugh at most of this . . . especially the couch joke. *shrugs* humor is a fickle mistress.

By: HeroZero

HeroZero — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:01:10 -0800

Ashamed to admit it, but I laughed hard at this. I found myself enjoying the audience's reaction as much as the silly Family Guy jokes themselves. I can't remember the last time I went to see a movie and the audience had that terrific, uproarious, shared vibe.

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:19:04 -0800

The audience reaction to the Alderon joke fucking killed me... Same here, and the couch joke... oh man. This was excellent. Great find!

By: vito90

vito90 — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:26:10 -0800

Christ that was funny as hell.

By: Ndwright

Ndwright — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:43:45 -0800

Wow. That was hilarious. (I was kind of expecting Stewie and Peter to have their roles flipped, y'know, for geneaological purposes. Of course, that would mean Stewie and Chris would be competing for Lois' romantic attentions. . .)

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:45:48 -0800

Family Guy: The Comic

By: i_cola

i_cola — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:05:59 -0800

Damn! If they'd've done Episode I some of the reaction here would have been even funnier.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:08:33 -0800

I stand by my assessment of the couch joke. Far too long for such a brief medium. It's like the awful "chicken fighting" joke from the series. It goes on and on and on and on...And what was briefly funny becomes nothing but filler. I am prepared for people to say that the "chicken joke" is hilarious. You are wrong.

By: i_cola

i_cola — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:14:40 -0800

ColdChef, I respect you and stuff but you are talking out of your arse. That chicken joke was funnier than you offering to go down on MetaFilter. But thanks for reminding me of it...

By: zarah

zarah — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:19:25 -0800

What balls. Space Balls?

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:32:31 -0800

*furiously shakes cane at MetaFilter* Overall, I enjoy the family guy series. I like the tasteless stuff, the "inside" jokes, the cheap jokes, the brainy jokes. But for some reason, that "keep on beating the dead horse" joke is like Kryptonite to me. There's the "chicken fighting" joke, the "stubbed my toe (knee?)" joke, this couch joke, and I'm sure there are others like it that I've just blocked out. Am I the only one who hates these jokes? Is it just me? Hello? Is there anybody out there?

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:34:20 -0800

And, yes, I understand the irony of ME (of all people) bitching about a certain joke going on and on forever, long past the point of being funny. Still don't like it. No, sir.

By: Gungho

Gungho — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:36:12 -0800

The couch gag isn't overly long- by Family Guy standards. Remember when Peter tripped and skinned his shin. He sat on the sidewalg holding his shin and grimacing for a good minute and a half... The overdone 'bit' is an FG trademark.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:43:50 -0800

So when does this air for real? In the fall as part of the new season?

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:51:45 -0800

which is essentially ANOTHER huge over hyped advertiesment for their own fucking product and we aid in the viral promotion of it? Yes. Because Star Wars really need 'em some viral marketing.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:57:04 -0800

For the record, Family Guy has never been relevant to me. It's on FOX. Why are people still clicking to FOX? Star Wars stopped being relevant somewhere after Darth Vader told Luke he was his father and before Lucas retconned that Han Solo didn't shoot first. I know that's terribly geeky of me. Read the above with a braces lisp if it helps you.

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:02:08 -0800

Also, this did get me thinking... That "Hold your fire," guy is at least somewhat responsible for the downfall of The Empire. Think about that the next time you say, "Hold the green peppers..." (No, I'm not stoned.) (Or drunk.) (Yet.)

By: furtive

furtive — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:08:13 -0800

It's things like this that make my internet bill seem worth it so much more than my tv bill.

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:08:35 -0800

LucasFilm, not a group of fans, throws a "celebration" which is essentially ANOTHER huge over hyped advertiesment for their own fucking product and we aid in the viral promotion of it? My God! A landmark of American pop culture with a fanbase in the hundreds of millions across the planet and they want to celebrate it? And they do so with a funny cartoon that's enjoyable to watch? Those motherfuckers! Can someone come get me when there's an agreement on what the magical catch-all epithet of "viral promotion" actually means? Because I swear to god it was like, two years ago when what I thought I just did was called "sending something funny I saw on the internet to my friends." I would really hate having to e-mail the five friends I just forwarded this to, knowing they'll love it because they're huge Star Wars and FG fans, apologizing because it turns out the cartoon wasn't funny but actually just a deceptive attempt on LucasArts' evil strategy to sneak their product into the homes of the eight people on the fucking earth who haven't seen the movie yet.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:15:55 -0800

One minute, forty eight seconds on that fucking couch. That's over 15% of the entire clip. I'm just sayin'.

By: nola

nola — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:16:09 -0800

XQUZYPHYR that really cracked me up.

By: Hat Maui

Hat Maui — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:42:07 -0800

as a former professional furniture mover, that couch gag was the best thing in a pretty funny clip. and i say that as someone who's not really a family guy fan.

By: stenseng

stenseng — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:44:36 -0800

"One minute, forty eight seconds on that fucking couch. That's over 15% of the entire clip. I'm just sayin' The bit that just goes on and on, to the point of sort of making the audience uncomfortable, is a standard move in the modern comedic tradition... These aren't great examples, but they're the first off the top of my head... Think Paul Reubens in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer getting staked through the heart, and going "oooh, aaaaah, ow, aaugh," for like a minute straight... It's the whole idea of funny, then not funny, then it's gone on so long that it's hilarious again...

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:46:01 -0800

Y'know what's relevant to me at the moment? David Armand and Natalie Imbruglia performing together to her song "Torn" at last year's Secret Policeman's Ball. And that was almost a year ago, but still, it's relevant to me cuz I saw it for the first time only a couple days ago. So. Relevancy is relative. I'm sure Star Wars is still relevant to George Lucas. I'm happy for him.

By: churl

churl — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:56:23 -0800

Guys could we please stop arguing what should or shouldn't be funny and go back to talking about why youtube sucks I also can't help thinking the target audience for this will make it the most bittorrented thing ever

By: uosuaq

uosuaq — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 16:09:35 -0800

"The couch gag would have been funny for about 10 seconds the first time and maybe 3 or 4 the second." I disagree, in this sense at least: the length *is* the gag. If it's not *way too long*, it's not the couch gag as they conceived it. Of course, the whole "this joke is *way* too long" concept is only funny if you're in the right mood for it, so I can understand people not liking it. I'm not going to attempt to defend it; for my part I find it pretty funny if used sparingly. If it's an episode I've already seen, that might be when I take a short break to see what else is on TV... Anyway, this looks like it's going to be a truly classic episode...

By: the other side

the other side — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 16:27:31 -0800

I laughed at a lot of that. I especially liked the commentary essentially asking, "why the hell wouldn't you shoot the escape pod?" (even though the joke itself wasn't exactly hilarious). Oh, and I sometimes like when Family Guy does the awkwardly long joke thing to which stenseng alludes, but they really, really need to kill the chicken joke (which really isn't even of the "awkwardly long variety, and more of the "running in joke" variety.

By: Clave

Clave — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 16:35:06 -0800

Everything that isn't completely funny sucks.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:03:10 -0800

It's the whole idea of funny, then not funny, then it's gone on so long that it's hilarious again... I'm familiar with the concept. The Paul Reubens thing in "Buffy" is a good example of it working.* I was just saying that, in my opinion, Family Guy uses it entirely too often, and to diminishing results. *Two other times I think the funny-notfunny-then funny again works: Austin Powers taking a piss in the first film, Spinal Tap getting lost under the stage.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:03:52 -0800

Anybody else want some of these delicious beans?

By: signal

signal — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:04:16 -0800

Everything funny also sucks.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:25:37 -0800

Oh, man! They actually took the fucking couch!!!! PERFECT! * falls over laughing, dies *

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:30:53 -0800

* falls over laughing, dies * See, there's proof right there that you're all wrong. Wrong, I tells ya.

By: gompa

gompa — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 19:38:43 -0800

One minute, forty eight seconds on that fucking couch. That's over 15% of the entire clip. I'm just sayin'. It's the whole idea of funny, then not funny, then it's gone on so long that it's hilarious again... 1) Though it's surely older than this, the "overextending a gag till it loops back into funny again like a snake feasting upon its tail (or an ADHD kid upon Ritalin)" gag can for convenience be dated to the I think 11 rakes Sideshow Bob steps on and is thus thwacked in the face by in the Simpsons "Cape Fear" parody. (This using the academic standard of dating all things prior to the Simpsons' debut as BCE - Before the [modern] Cartoon Era.) 2) I'm hit and miss with the Family Guy, but this I liked. Especially the couch gag. 2a) Kind of like that chicken fight. One of the show's finest moments. Gutsy. Stoopid. Awesome. 3) ColdChef taking the time to measure the length of that couch gag? Turns the couch gag up to at least 11. Laughing not at you but near you, ColdChef. I feel your pain, but it's a chacun-a-son-gout thing, and you belabouring it makes it, y'know, awesomer.

By: squidfartz

squidfartz — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 19:46:58 -0800

That was sweet!

By: danb

danb — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:01:55 -0800

Clip: funny. Couch gag: funny. ColdChef timing the couch gag to illustrate that it's not funny: comedy gold.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:29:17 -0800

I just watched and the couch bit wasn't even that long?! It wasn't just repeating something for over a minute, like I had been led to believe by some unnamed people here. (Not that family guy hasn't done that before.)

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:34:30 -0800

It's far too long. You bastards won't sway me. I stand alone against the hurricanes of your collective ignorance.

By: the other side

the other side — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:19:40 -0800

*trembles at the sight of Hurricane Squidfartz*

By: i_cola

i_cola — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 05:58:15 -0800

* falls over laughing, dies * See, there's proof right there that you're all wrong. Wrong, I tells ya. I think you're just looking at that purely personal commercial terms...

By: i_cola

i_cola — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 06:01:41 -0800

"...at that in purely..."

By: mcstayinskool

mcstayinskool — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:01:04 -0800

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those that think Family Guy is hilarious, and the sane.

By: AV

AV — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:01:30 -0800

I'm with ColdChef on the couch gag. Although it was better than I expected, given my waning enthusiasm for Family Guy in general.

By: Fuzzy Monster

Fuzzy Monster — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:13:07 -0800

It's the whole idea of funny, then not funny, then it's gone on so long that it's hilarious again... See Also: David Letterman.

By: Ber

Ber — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:23:29 -0800

What's next? South Park doing Lord of the Rings? They did do that. And it was hilarious.

By: pepcorn

pepcorn — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:59:21 -0800

Family Guy seems to have run its course recently, but this was fucking hilarious. I think it caps off all their star wars references in all the other episodes quite nicely.

By: autodidact

autodidact — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 08:54:58 -0800

I decided to watch the whole thing and try to reserve judgement. I laughed at the couch joke, and "Don't get penis-y". The couch joke is actual humor, not a lame reference. I found the "Deal or No Deal" and "Airplane" references to be total groaners and the exact reason I think the show sucks and don't enjoy watching it.

By: blucevalo

blucevalo — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:27:16 -0800

It occurs to me that this thread is exactly like an overlong Chicken Fight-ish "Family Guy" gag.

By: LordSludge

LordSludge — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:13:03 -0800

Kattullus:...I was struck by the huge laugh the Bush/Cheney bumpersticker gag got. Family Guy has been laying the anti-Bush on pretty thick lately. I'm not sure how to feel about this. Oh, and they also addressed the origins of the Chicken Fight.

By: LordSludge

LordSludge — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:17:37 -0800

And since you're all such big fans, here's the Complete 10 Minute Chicken Fight Compilation.

By: Dantien

Dantien — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:27:19 -0800

News Flash: Some MeFiers lack a sense of humor. Story at 11.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:19:32 -0800

Huh, first time on MetaFilter I've been accused of lacking a sense of humor. Yeah. Those clips weren't dull and repetitive at all.

By: Uncle Ira

Uncle Ira — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:55:42 -0800

The important question nobody seems to be asking is, how are they going to work the chicken fight into Star Wars?

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 20:57:24 -0800

Yeah. Those clips weren't dull and repetitive at all. Nope. Not at all. It's the recursive future of comedy. I wanted to laugh. I will laugh at anything. I think Benny Hill slapping that old bald guys head in fast motion is a laugh Olympics. But this shit was so forced. I sounded like half those people were paid to laugh " HA. HA. HA." My first comment was more about the number of posts here and everywhere about this stupid fucking Anniversary. Which is all marketing hype I'd rather not participate in - not without a check from LucasFilm anyway. You'll get another chance to help out Lucas in five years for the 35th Anniversary release.

By: The Monkey

The Monkey — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 23:54:44 -0800

That was awesome. Suck it, haters.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:40:00 -0800

Star Wars Meets Robot Chicken (no, not THAT chicken...the Seth Green show)