Family Guy Creator Unpacks How the Show Tackles Offensive Comedy
Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane unpacks how the show handles its offensive jokes in the modern day.
Family Guy is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and the creator behind it all has unpacked how the animated series has been tackling its offensive comedy in the changing landscape! Family Guy made a standout from the rest of the animated sitcoms on FOX for how differently it approaches its comedy. Often going for blue jokes or more raunchy, potentially offensive humor, Family Guy has managed to stay the course and never really change up the way it tells what kinds of jokes it wants to despite how long its been running and how differently comedy is viewed in the current day.
With Family Guy celebrating 25 years of its existence, series creator Seth MacFarlane was asked by the LA Times about how the series has maintained the way its told its irreverent jokes despite the increase of outrage from outlets and audiences over the years. But MacFarlane notes that because Family Guy approaches its offence in a genuine and earnest way, audiences are able to see through the potential outrage and focus on the humor of the bit itself.
How Family Guy Handles Offensive Comedy
"I was about to make a joke about the fact that, well, they've just caved to popular opinion and it's worked great," MacFarlane began. "But I really do think that's not what most people are thinking when they watch 'Family Guy.' Audiences can smell the difference between social media virtue signaling and real offense. If it's real offense, you didn't get away with the comedy."
Elaborating futher, MacFarlane explained that the truth of their offensive comedy comes from their stance of being able to defend their reason behind the joke itself, "One of the things that 'Family Guy' has really tried to do every step of the way is to look at every joke and say, 'OK, if we were called on the carpet, could we defend this in an intellectual way, and say, this is the point we were making?' There's an earnestness to that approach that I think has created sort of a shield around the show that continues to this day."
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