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Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators, writers, and pretty much everything else of South Park, recently gave an interview to the Montreal Mirror. One of the topics they touched on was the rivalry with Family Guy:
M: How do you feel about Seth MacFarlane’s empire?
TP: There’s more and more stuff every day finding its way onto American television that I think is really great, but then you get this bubblegum shit that’s just, like, by the book, what we call 9-to-5 comedy writers…..
They mostly have families and kids and that’s the most important thing and then they go in to work and write comedy and when it’s five o’clock, it’s time to go. It’s gag humour, and gag humour drives us crazy. Where it’s just, like, “Here’s a gag, here’s a gag”—it’s got nothing to do with what’s going on in the show, just like, “Here’s a gag.” And anyone who writes comedy knows that that is the very easiest, simplest thing to do and you don’t really need any talent to do it, you just learn the craft and do it.
MS: Yeah, Family Guy’s just not a show I like. It’s funny, when we did that [Family Guy parody] show, it was more to point out that the similarities between our two shows is that they’re animated, and it stops there. They feel like very different shows. Family Guy, to comedy people, it’s kind of what that band the Offspring is to real punk rockers.
TP: The biggest thing is that you essentially kill yourself for a show—it’s like, you’ve got to die for it. When you’re an artist, you’ve got to say to yourself, “This is all that matters, and if it kills me, so be it.” And then you have the Family Guy writing staff who come in 9-to-5, write their gags and go home. But what I absolutely must say to you is that this totally, purely 100 per cent completely, comes from a place of jealousy. Because when we’re sitting there in our room, it’s three in the morning and we’re 12 hours from having to air and we don’t have, like, a third act, wondering why we do this to ourselves, we’re just totally jealous of their job. Seth MacFarlane is basically in the same position as us except he hasn’t written a fucking thing in four years. I wish I was him. – source
Honestly, I think there’s plenty of room for both shows to succeed; it just makes them look silly when they try to do rivalries like this.
Ghost D: Your comments sound a bit elitist itself. “Americans have bubble gum shit on their TVs and if anyone says anything different they get mad because the person saying it obviously has more right to make an opinion.” That just sounds pompous and arrogant.
FamilyGuyGotLamers: You can’t even see the similarities between Bush and Hitler, so you’re obviously one of those morons Ghost D was talking about without realizing it.
I, however, don’t feel like MS or TP were being elitist. They even admitted it was out of Jealousy. They were also asked a question. They have the right to answer honestly without being called elitist.
As for the shows themselves: they’re both funny. With the exception of Season 1 of South Park and Season 5 of Family Guy, I laughed hard at both shows. Both shows appeal to a different side of the comedic spectrum. South Park points out how most people are just mindless sheep following the crowd doing idiotic things, and often it’s only Stan and Kyle who can see that everyone else is stupid. As where in Family Guy, Peter is the idiot and it’s usually everyone else who is more intelligent.
One interesting point though is that in the Cartoon Wars episodes Stan and Kyle both liked Family Guy. It was Eric Cartman that hated it. Parker and Stone often make reference of Stan and Kyle being their alter-ego characters. So wouldn’t this suggest that Stone and Parker both liked Family Guy, but the envious side of theirs (Cartman) can’t stand how McFarlene gets away with something they can’t. At least that’s how I took it.
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First of all, both shows are great. It’s pretty obvious that they are completely different in their humour, but i believe MS and TP crossed a line in saying that the writers of family guy do not work hard on their comedy. Comedy on family guy may not always follow the story line, but it still entertains a very large audience. The writers are thinking of this whenever they write a joke. To say that they are ‘9-5′ writers is saying that they do not put an effort into thier work, but they obviously do if they keep drawing in a crowd. And let’s keep in mind, it takes a mere 2 weeks or so for TP and MS to produce an episode while family guy takes 6 months for a single episode. South park does this to keep up with issues and to offer their view point on current events with their brand of comedy attached; the show is very issue and story driven. The family guy writing staff is more concerned with character, animation, and composition (keeping some fresh music in each episode). That’s my rant, but here’s my point- It is unfair to say the family guy writing staff is not dedicated to their work. They might not be for all i know, but they are the heart of a very successful show and should not be harped on for adhering to the guidelines given to them by Seth MacFarlane (who was obviously on to something with his humour), they are still excellent writers who know what they are doing. TP and MS are obviously talented writers, but they shouldnt harp on a shows writing staff- they should simply make fun of the show itself.
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You never head Seth Macfarlane bash South Park because he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if he tried.
South Park, since its inception, has been the cutting edge of satire in America.
Family Guy’s schtick was entertaining for the first three seasons but, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, fish and sight gag comedy shows tend to stink after three years.
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Stop throwing that work (elitist) around, its getting to be bothersome. Family guy in my OWN opinion has its moments like the fighting with peter and the chicken lol. But Southpark has so much more to offer a GOOD story line that you can follow. You see I learned something today, its not right for us all to fight over who’s right and who’s elitist. Its our own opions and beliefs and we all have a right to them. Maybe Matt Stone and Trey Parker are being unreasonable but still they were just expressing their beliefs. Here I have a song that might be able to help. Im gonna make love to ya woman! Im gonna lay you down by the fire and caress your womanly body make you moan and perspire. Now do you understand?
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God damn it family guy sucks ass..seriously.
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I grew up watching South Park so I’m pretty fond of the show. It’s part of my childhood. I remember when the Family Guy phrase in my school started, and I hated the show. I thought it was unbelievably stupid, and sort of a gay rip off of the Simpsons. After a while though, having to watch it often at friends houses, it sort of grew on me, my opinions changed, and I began actually enjoying it. The new seasons made me go back into hating the show again. It has it’s funny moments but it’s mostly just annoying garbage (in my opinion). It’s repetitive and mindless.
For an example: the constant musicals, Peter in general, and the worst part, the stupid pointless scenes where Peter fights a large chicken… It’s like they can’t come up with anything else and have to throw in a random chicken. Peter reminds me of a really annoying homer. Or like Jacqui stated,
“It reminds me of that obnoxious kid on the school yard who would cackle at his own jokes chanting ‘hahaha get it?! GET IT?!’”
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obviously the creators of south park are exceedingly talented in quite a dubious manner. they just use their sense of practicaltiy and transform some of the most simplistic imagery into poetic motion. i agree that family guy is an unjust show to be compared alongside something containing intellegence (ie south park and the simpsons, both fucking ingenoius cunts). i wouldnt mind smoking a few cone-daddys with those hometown chills
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I have to totally agree With Stone & Parker (as per usuual). How could anybody dispute thier superiority in the world of comedy? Thier dipiction of hummanity and philosophy is undisputedly flawless. They create a certian ettiquet that true South Park fans can appreciate. Others find South Park harder to digest and therefore concede to accepting ” 9-5, gag, bubblegum shit.”
Family guy is forgettable. Inhibited, spiritless and coldblooded. where is flow, ease, structure?. “Remember the time… and then… So I…”
Who could forget South Park’s anialation of the likes of Mel Gibson, Kanye West or Hilary Clinton? “Mrs clinton, Im afraid terrorists have snuck a snuke up your snizz” Tell me that’s not funny. (sez- who apparently believs “South park is’nt funny anymore” do You have a gun to your head? Or are you actually as foolish as you comment?)
They expose ignorence on principle then take it to its most severe,(and accurate) riddiculousness. Central to all of this, though, is the warmth, affection and gratitude they have for the essence that allows them thier comedy.
If your preference is an insignificant, irrelevant and, quite frankly, worthless machine gun of uncomfomfortable and selfconcious punchlines, well then be my guest.
At leatst you now know the reason for your lack of cultured mind.
There really is no comparison to be made. Family guy is bone idol. South Park is God’s gift to the thinking person.
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I don’t know what everybody is talking about!! As an American young adult, I have no idea what the concept of smart humor is! That’s what I like about Family guy. I don’t want to have to follow a storyline, which is great because family guy has none! South Park is stupid because their jokes actually has to do something with the plot… i know.. dumb. O well, my other favorite show the cleveland show is on.
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I like Family Guy because it makes me chuckle.
I like South Park because it’s edgy and makes me laugh my ass off.
I also like other animated shows that are considered “Funny”
Well fuck, according to Matt and Trey I am a “bandwagon fan.” (I’d put money down that the “n” in fan is really a “g” when their talking in private.)
Well damn, I’m SO SORRY if my interests in comedy stretch farther than South Park.
SO SORRY you guys, that I actually enjoy OTHER SHOWS too.
Guess I’m just not a REAL and TRUE fan.
Guess I’ll just go sulk in the corner due to my OBVIOUS lack of understanding of what is actually funny and what isn’t.
Or…
Anyone who thinks they know better than me when it comes to what makes me smile, grin, chuckle, snicker, laugh, LOL, ROFL, LMAO, ROFLMAO, etc. can kiss my ass, I will continue to like both shows and they will just have to stick their heads up their asses and cry like babies knowing that I have OTHER INTERESTS like any normal sane person.
*ahem*
Thank you Matt and Trey for making a funny show. Go fuck yourselves. *smile*
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take it easy deeznynuts i dont think trey and matt are reading your comments. i like family guy more than i like south park. i dont no why i just do. but people are right in saying that south park has more of a story to it than family guy. for example in the “gingers” episode of family guy it was all about “gingers” but in the “joe gets new legs” episode (it wasnt called that that was just the plot) it starts of with peter and his m8s building are mens club because their wives go to the drunken clam and then joe cant dance so he gets new legs. see what i mean? but i still enjoy that humour more than i enjoy south park humour, i mean i still really like it but just not as much. the simpsons it is really really funny as well probaly even more so than family guy. REMEMBER THIS IS MY OPINION SO DON’T START SAYING “OH UR WRONG SOME GUY SHUT UP” BECUZ YOU DONT HAVE TO LISTEN (or read) TO ME ITS YOUR OPINION THAT MATTERS. (to you anyway)
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also im an irish pre-teen
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