Have I got some sightly used droids for you! These are the droids you are looking for! (via dann designs)
Previously on Popped Culture...
Showing posts with label Family Guy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family Guy. Show all posts
Gimme Two Homer Jay Dry Lagers And A Popeye Pilsner
In an early celebration of Father’s Day, EveryGuyed and Moxy Creative House have turned eight, iconic, cartoon dads into beers. I was kind of hoping Homer's beer would have been skittlebrau.
Previously on Popped Culture...
Curb Your Famous Pets
Please pick up after your dogs, cartoon or otherwise. (From designer David Soames now on sale at Threadless)
Previously on Popped Culture...
Who Let The Reservoir Dog Out?
They're Dogs... And They're Playing Poker!
Dogma
Yabba-Dabba-Don't
"At this point the dinosaur in the backseat pokes its head through the roof and the driver places two small children on top of it. Now he's not only endangering his own life, but their lives as well. "
(From the Family Guy, episode Quagmire's Baby)
Previously on Popped Culture...
Pop Culture Stoop And Scoop
Please pick up after your pets, cartoon or otherwise. (From designer David Soames)
Previously on Popped Culture...
Who Let The Reservoir Dog Out?
They're Dogs... And They're Playing Poker!
Dogma
Animation Domination
Simpsons vs Family Guy, it's a tough call. Not as shows, of course. That goes to The Simpsons, hands down, but in a fight? (Photo via Mr. Smith Goes to Tumblr)
Homer vs. Peter: Peter can dole out the hurt like nobody's business, but Homer can take any hit.
Result: Draw
Marge vs. Lois: While Marge has proven quite resourceful over the years and has police and MMA training, Lois would fight dirty. Real dirty.
Result: Lois
Bart vs. Chris: Bart is a prankster artiste but Chris has a crazy monkey driving him and far more weight. I don't think Bart stands a chance.
Result: Chris
Lisa vs. Meg: Lisa is brilliant while Meg is, well, Meg.
Result: Lisa
Maggie vs. Stewie: This is a tough one. Maggie has bested the Ayn Rand School for Tots and shot Mr. Burns while Stewie is a homicidal genius and inventor.
Result: Stewie, but only by a slim margin
Santa's Little Helper vs. Brian: SLP isn't the brightest of pets while Brian is literate and urbane, in a fight he'd cower before the alpha male.
Result: Santa's Little Helper
Previously on Popped Culture...
The Mao Is Equal To, Or Greater Than The Word
Find Waldo, Yet Again
So It’s Come To This
Kool-Aid Pop Culture? Oh, Yeah!
Far more than a mere quencher of thirst, the Kool-Aid man has infiltrated deep into our collective pop culture consciousness. In the battle of Western pop culture versus Islamic extremism (and, apparently Cobra) the Kool-Aid man was a loyal (if confused) foot soldier, alongside the Steve Erwin, Waldo, The Fonz, Mr. T, Robocop and Rodney Dangerfield. This, according to pop artist Joseph Griffith's painting The Surrender, commemorating the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown. (Link via culture kills)
Of course the Iranians my see things differently, as they too enjoy a cold glass of sugar water, as judged from this package. Though the Kool-Aid man's smile admittedly a little creepy. (Link via BoingBoing)
The Kool-Aid man also has a surprisingly long history. The Great Wall of China kept the Mongols out for over 1000 years... until one fateful day when some parched Chinese soldier disastrously called out "Hey Kool-Aid!" Spiked Punch from Threadless designer Andy Gonsalves. (Link via Super Punch)
Centuries later, he was still busting down walls. Wanted from Scott VanDenPlas and Joe Van Wetering in Chicago. (Link via Neatorama)
Dane Cook's Kool Aid Skit - Celebrity bloopers here
While I am loathe to spread Dane Cook any further on the interweb, he does capture the oddity of the Kool-Aid man's home destroying ways. And really, why would you want to drink out of an anthropomorphic jug's head?
Oh, no! I would never drink that man's Kool-Aid. Or maybe Kool-Aid ever again. (Link via LOL Factory)
Yep, the Kool-Aid man had his own comic book — in the 80s, naturally. His superpower appears to be the ability to break through walls (naturally) and quench thirst. Still, it beats Aquaman. (Link via Forces of Good)
Even more bizarre, there was also an origin story, "The Hasty Smear of My Smile...", purportedly written by Alan Moore that talks about his birth, his beginnings as a spokespitcher and his eventual meetings with Ken Kesey (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) and Jonestown death cult leader Jim Jones. "I wish to Christ I could stop grinning."
I don't know if this was really done by Moore, but the the full four panels posted at Again With The Comics are hilarious. (Link via Super Punch)
Sure, he denies being present when the phrase "Drink the Kool-Aid" took on it's deadly meaning, but with those glasses the Kool-Aid man does bear a striking resemblance to Jim Jones. Get Kult-Aid at Loiter.
5 Most Awkward Koo-Aid Ads
While it is great having the ability to break through walls, not knowing what is on the other side can have some very serious repercussions.
Family Guy Kool-Aid
In TV ads, kids all love it when the Kool-Aid man comes bursting through the wall, but in reality it's kind of annoying.
Of course if you keep smashing down people's walls, at some point someone is going to make you fix it back up. Community Service available at AntiClothes. (Link via Adventures of Accordion Guy)
You'd figure being made of glass and hanging around kids, this sort of thing would happen more often.
What Do You Think About That, JFK's Foot?
Seth MacFarlane domination with 612 different Seth MacFarlane shows! Fat dads. Hot moms. Awkward kids. Mean babies. Eccentric supporting characters that would normally have the ability to talk. Hmm, which one of these was fake?
Previously on Popped Culture...
The Mao Is Equal To, Or Greater Than The Word
Whoa, Freakin' Sweet!
The Geek Prince
The Mao Is Equal To, Or Greater Than The Word
Poppa-Oom-Mao-Mao
Peter: Brian, can I see that paper for a sec? Huh, that's odd. I thought that would be big news.
Brian: You thought what would be big news?
Peter: Well, there seems to be an absence of a certain ornithological piece. A headline regarding mass awareness of a certain avian variety.
Brian: What are you talking about?
Peter: Oh, have you not heard? It was my understanding that everyone had heard...
Brian: Heard what?
Stewie: Brian, don't! (Link via The Daily What)
Previously on Popped Culture...
Popaganda: The Pop Culture Revolution
Some Throws Are More Equal Than Others
Whoa, Freakin' Sweet!
Everything's Drawn And Super 80s
See more funny videos at Funny or Die
Is there an a-ha resurgence in the air? Could be, it's been awhile since there's been a big Norwegian band (barring, of course, my current lack of musical knowledge).
Anyway, I love the literal take on a-ha's Take On Me video. Worth a watch if you haven't already seen it everywhere else.
It reminded me of a Family Guy episode Breaking Out Is Hard to Do, where Chris is sucked into the a-ha video while in the supermarket, for the same reason anything happens on Family Guy.
It also reminds me that I listened to a whole lot of soft pop when I was in high school. Still, it's better than Glass Tiger.
Find Waldo, Yet Again
Waldo's back and, well, he's not exactly hiding this time. The candy-cane coloured dork is making a comeback, with a new book and a campaign to return him to the world of pop culture. Expect to see him showing up at unusual places, like New York's Fashion Week (see above).
Of course he's not really been hidden all that well. While Waldo books may not be flying off the shelf, he's been making regular appearances in other pop culture icons.
Waldo has made three appearances in The Simpsons through the '90s, including Bart's Comet and Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder.
Homer Simpson: “Waldo, where are you?”
Bizarro cartoonist Dan Piraro's Zen Waldo
In Sibling Rivalry", Stewie and Brian find diversity in an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog with an African-American man dressed like Waldo hidding in an one of the images.
In Imaginationland Episode III, the good imaginary beings fight the evil imaginary creature and Waldo is speared in the chest multiple times.Of course, there is another explanation of where Waldo has been hiding. He may have lost his memory and now he's out for revenge...
I'll keep my eye out for where else he appears. Many thanks to the Waldo Wiki for all the help.
Previously on Popped Culture...
Suddenly Last Supper
Popaganda: The Pop Culture Revolution
Would You Like Fries With That?
Come as You Are: Nevermind The Parodies
Whoa, Freakin' Sweet!
Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Family Guy Matrix mashup is. You have to see it for yourself.
Save the Writers, Save the World!
Leave it to Hollywood to produce such an entertaining strike. With all the machinations, scheming and backstabbing, it’s like one of the reality shows they are so worried will take over the airwaves if the writers stay out for months. Which, it seems, could very well happen.With everyone’s heels dug in, some nastiness is emerging. Fox aired a new Family Guy today, but without the participation or approval of creator Seth MacFarlane, who joined the picket lines when the Writers Guild went on strike on Nov. 5. There was only one complete episode in the can at the time, but three that were near completion. So the network, which has cancelled the show before, is moving ahead without MacFarlane, who also voices Peter, Stewie, Brian, Glen Quagmire and Tom Tucker. Ingrates.
Not surprisingly, this is not going over well with MacFarlane. "It would just be a colossal dick move if they did that," he told Variety. "They've never done anything like this before, in which they've said, 'We're going to finish a show without you. It's really going to be unfortunate and damaging to our relationship if they do it."
Obviously they know that and clearly they don’t care. The networks and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have known this strike was coming and they are prepared for it. If that means stepping on a few writers and creators, then so be it.
On the other side of the picket line is the cast of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live, who are staging live performances at a New York improv theater and donating the proceeds to production workers who will be out of work while the strike continues. Doesn’t get much more black and white than that, does it?
Some other interesting tidbits:
- My friend Nik, a TV blogger extraordinaire, is speculating that if the strike goes long, it could mean the end of Lost.
- Another friend, who works at a Toronto production house, says there is renewed U.S. interest in Corner Gas. Already airing on the cable station WGN, it seems the strike has at least one of the big four networks sniffing around.
- Perhaps they’d better settle this strike soon, or my pals at Dose will have to keep pumping out their replacement versions of 24 and Ugly Betty.
The Geek Prince
Seth Green is the coolest guy in Hollywood. Sorry Johnny and Brad, you can't hold a candle to this scrawny, pasty geek.It all crystallized for me during Family Guy’s subdued version of the original Star Wars. At the end of the episode Peter Griffin (voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane) bickers with son Chris (voiced by Green) about Robot Chicken's take on the series.
Chris: Didn't Robot Chicken already do this three months ago?
Peter: I wouldn't worry about it, Chris. I don't even think people are aware of that show's existence.
Chris: Well, I don't know, Dad. I think a decent number of people watch it.
Peter: Oh, really? Define 'decent'.
Chris: I think it's the highest rated show on Cartoon Network, and the Star Wars episode doubled that audience.
Peter: Well, yeah. But double ten people is like twenty people. So, uh, what kind of numbers are we talking about here, you know?
Chris: Don't be glib about this stuff, Dad. It's a legitimate show and they beat you to the punch.
It was a fantastic piece of meta comedy that got me thinking about how many cool projects Green has been involved in.The first time I saw Green was as Scott Evil, the reluctant son of megalomaniac evil scientist Dr. Evil. The disbelieving Scott voiced everything I have yelled during a James Bond film: “Why don’t you just kill him?” Why not indeed? It was a great character that managed to hold up against all of Mike Myers’ mugging.
That same year Green appeared as the werewolf Oz in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was laconic and sarcastic and so much cooler than Michael J. Fox’s Teen Wolf. There haven’t been many positive pop culture portrayals of werewolves and Green’s should have made lycanthropes the “it” supernatural being.
Green got his next badge of cool by starring in a cancelled Fox sitcom. The network is infamous for green lighting cutting-edge comedies and then killing them off before the season is over. Green earned his stripes with Greg the Bunny, a show populated by a group of foul-mouthed puppets. It was dealing in bad puppets before Avenue Q and Wondershowzen and was hilarious. So naturally, it was killed off.
The next time I saw Green, or at least heard him, was on Family Guy. Though I think the show slips over the line from sharp to mean more often than not these days, it broke new comedy ground, constantly making me wonder how they could get away with what they aired. Chris is a wonderfully stupid/smart, horny teenager, who is getting notably better story lines so far this year.Then of course there is Robot Chicken, a brilliant cornucopia of pop culture parodies acted out by stop-motion-animated action figures. Co-created by Green it is one of the funniest shows on TV. It mines all the TV and movies of my youth and asks what happened to the characters when the cameras turned off. No childhood memory is sacred – the Care Bears engage in ethnic cleansing; Masters of the Universe sex tapes; Apocalypse Ponys! It’s the most fun you can have playing with toys
Buffy, Austin Powers, Greg the Bunny, Family Guy, Robot Chicken – the guy has impeccable instincts in picking his projects – and has made geeky cooler than ever.
Fox Not So Freakin’ Sweet
Why can’t Fox take a joke? The network’s overpriced lawyers are throwing their weight around and coming down heavy on Swiss Family Guy Robinson, a small stage show by Canadian Brian Froud, that blended the characters of Family Guy with the 1812 novel Swiss Family Robinson.Froud’s one-man show debuted at the Toronto Fringe Festival and was an immediate hit with fans and critics alike. He turned it into a regular performance and started touring the show. All good, right? Not exactly. Despite Family Guy being the king of the meta reference, Fox didn’t see the humour in the show.
"When we learned that this production had made unauthorized use of the Family Guy characters and material, we asked that the producers cease and desist and they have complied. Protecting our intellectual property and copyrights is something we take very seriously at Twentieth Century Fox Television," says Chris Alexander, vice president of media relations for Fox Television.
It seems the network that is famed for broadcasting and then canceling creative shows – Arrested Development, Futurama, Greg the Bunny, Titus, Undeclared, Action, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Firefly and Family Guy twice – is now concerned about protecting its artistic integrity (investment). The oddity of this is Family Guy wouldn’t exist without the plundering pop culture’s past. Each episode is a pastiche of other people’s movies and TV shows that if the same cease and desist was applied to the show it would never have made it on the air.
Froud doesn’t get it either: “We are huge fans of the show ourselves and would never do anything to harm it's stellar reputation. We simply want to frolic within the hysterical realm of the freakin' sweet madness created by Mr. Seth MacFarlane,” states the comedian on his blog.
Seems that Fox doesn’t want anyone else getting a piece of the pie now that the show is lucrative.
Operation Enduring Occupation
The Simpsons have never shied away from politics – they have pilloried politicians left and right, taunted and fought presidents. Mr. Burns runs the Springfield Republicans and Mayor Diamond Joe Quimby embodies the worst of Democratic corruption, but I’ve never considered the show to be particularly partisan. Tonight’s Treehouse of Horror episode changed that.In the final segment, The Day the Earth Looked Stupid, my favourite aliens Kang and Kodos invade Springfield after a War of the Worlds-esque radio show leaves the townsfolk with their guard down. Three years later, after the pair has reduced the town to ashes, they begin to have second thoughts:
Kang: "The earthlings continue to resent our presence. You said we'd be greeted as liberators."A less than subtle message, airing just days before the U.S. mid-term elections. The message was loud and clear and was likely the reason producers left out the line: "This sure is a lot like Iraq will be,” was left out. It wasn’t necessary.
Kodos: "Don't worry. We still have the people's hearts and minds." (Holding up a heart and a brain).
Kang: "I don't know. I'm starting to think 'Operation Enduring Occupation' was a bad idea."
Kodos: "We had to invade. They were working on weapons of mass disintegration."
Kang: "Sure they were."
Seeing as the Treehouse episodes take a year to produce, it’s amazing to see such a blunt political message – I would have been surprised to see something like this air in 2005. It is an indicator of the mood of a nation that has been at war for years.
The Simpsons weren’t the only primetime-animated family to take on the Iraq war. Family Guy enlisted Stewie and Brian and sent them through basic training, in full Stripes style. After arriving in country, they end up shooting each other in the foot to get sent home with Purple Hearts. No luck, until remarkably democracy kicks in and Abu Ghraib prisoners turn into frat boys and burka-clad women turn into bikini-wearing car washers.
The next scene shows George W. Bush “the one guy who predicted this” trying to get a slinky to work on the White House stairs. Two popular shows directly tackling the war on the same night? It is quite an indicator of the mood of a nation that has been at war for years.
So It’s Come To This
The Simpsons is out of ideas and has been for years. Family Guy is pointlessly cruel. American Dad is derivative. Is this where the state of animation is these days?It’s not that bad, but cartoons have certainly seen better days. The Simpsons has begun its 18th season, which means the show has been on air for the entire life of anyone in high school. With that kind of longevity, the quality was bound to decline, especially as at its height it was the best comedy on TV. I now view each new season like Saturday Night Live - it will always be on and some years will be better than others. It’s still better than most shows on TV, but it suffers when compared to its prime (Seasons 4-6). The Simpsons is my first animated love, but even a true believer like myself recognizes that it hasn’t been on the cutting edge for years.
Family Guy once was that edge. When it debuted in 1999 it was genuinely shocking, breaking taboos and pissing off many people. It was off the air in two seasons, a victim of poor ratings. I was a huge fan and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing in primetime and thought it was a travesty when Fox pulled it (as they do with most innovative shows). With constant reruns on Teletoon and the Cartoon Network and massive DVD sales, Family Guy got a reprieve. The first few episodes had the old flare, but something has changed. Now it’s just as likely to be cruel than funny. They continue to draw out scenes, repeating phrases and motions over and over and over again. It’s not funny. I get it, but it’s not funny.
As for American Dad, the less said the better. It is clearly a redo of Family Guy that Seth MacFarlane created when Family Guy was pulled off the air. It has grown more into its own lately, but the comedy bits are few and far between. I like Roger the alien though. I don’t see it breaking any longevity records.So what’s working? South Park is going strong, still managing to generate headlines after 10 seasons. Last year they managed to infuriate Tom Cruise, Scientology and Muslims. They are equal opportunity offenders and still surprisingly sharp, if occasionally a little heavy-handed with the moralizing. I never thought Trey Parker and Matt Stone would be around for so long – and neither did they – but I’m glad they are.
This decade has produced some new and innovative shows that while they will never make a major network, are the cleverest work I’ve seen in years. Aqua Teen Hunger Force is a surreal show about a life-size Happy Meal – Master Shake, Frylock and Meatwad. They don’t really do much except hang out in their house and bicker while annoying their neighbour Carl. I think it is hilarious, but that may say more about me than the show.
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is, like the Aqua Teens, a creation of Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network in the U.S. Harvey is a former superhero who had a show in the ‘60s and now acts as a criminal defence lawyer for a roster of Hanna-Barbera characters. Shaggy gets busted for drugs; The Jetsons sue the people of Earth for screwing up the planet; Grape Ape is charged with steroid use. It’s a show that you need to have spent your youth on a couch on Saturday mornings to appreciate fully. Luckily, I am well prepared.In the same vein as Harvey Birdman but more a friend of those with ADD is Robot Chicken. Creator Seth Green and pals make minutes-long pop culture vignettes using stop animated action figures. Each episode is only 10 minutes or so long, but they pack a lot into each show. Jesus is The Bride in Kill Bunny; Emperor Palpatine gets a collect call from Darth Vader (see below); The Superfriends are the new Real Life cast; Santa is murdered in Christmas Town. This has only begun airing in Canada and I’ve only caught a few episodes, but I’m hooked. It’s like all the non-sequitur moments of Family Guy without the loosely written plot to slow it down. It’s great stuff and I encourage any pop culture fan to check it out.
Fox Giveth and Fox Taketh Away
There may be a future for Futurama. Fox is reportedly in talks to bring the Matt Groening animated series back to TV, after its success on DVD and reruns.Shades of the Griffins! Fox performed a similar resurrection on Family Guy in 2004, which they had killed off before its time. I always felt that Futurama was more deserving of a return and was a show that had been shuffled around, preempted and never allowed to find its audience.
Seems like the execs at Fox aren't above making complete u-turns on their programming decisions, so it really makes me wonder about Arrested Development. It has a cult following, is selling well on DVD and critics love it. Naturally, it is slated for cancellation. Perhaps it is a strange marketing plan to sell more DVDs and get tons of free ink, before bringing the show back.
I've never understood Fox. They program such trash, but they have also launched (and cancelled) more cutting edge comedies then most of the other networks combined -- Action and Andy Richter Controls the Universe, but to name two. Maybe they should put the people who develop the shows into the scheduling department.
Anyway, if Futurama can come back after a couple of years off the air, perhaps there is a chance for Arrested as well. Save Our Bluths!
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