Family Guy: Laughing At The Lighter Side Of Life
by: Anita Agrawal
There have been very few shows which have been able to hold their own like Family Guy against a wave of controversies that has been hurled towards them ever since the show’s inception.
An animated take on the modern American family of today, the lead character of the show features Peter Griffin- a fat, lazy, unintuitive husband with an average job who goes more by the heart than his head. Presented in stark contrast is his wife Lois- the attractive, logically thinking wife representing the fantasy of all American males. They have two kids Chris and Meg who different two shades of teenage cravings and the talking dog Brian is the source of illuminating wisdom in the house full of madcap mishaps.
However, the star laurels of Family Guy rest on one and one person alone. Stewie Griffin plays an one year old homoerotic baby who dreams of world domination and plans to kill his mother. His dialogues are laced with layered intelligence and sarcastic humor at its pinnacle making him come in direct comparison to other legendary animated kids like Bart and Lisa from the Simpsons and Eric Cartman from the equally controversial South Park.
What sets the show apart is its approach to modern day life that dabbles in between scathing social commentary and unrelated pop culture gags culminating in a laugh riot parodying modern sensibilities. It night lack character depth like the Simpsons or the intellectual wit of South Park, but has a loyal fan following of its own making it the only TV show to come back after being cancelled by FOX.
Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the show has often come under a line of fire for a number of issues. Peter Griffin has been labeled as a Homer Simpson clone by most Simpson loyalists while several have complained about the irrelevant nature of cut away pop culture shots without any context to the plot.
The biggest issue however lies in the Family Guy vs. Sarah Palin debate that takes the effect of such shows on modern society on a much deeper context. Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska and 2008 vice presidential candidate took on the writers of Family Guy by calling them “heartless jerks” for their portrayal of a girl with Down Syndrome in one of the episodes.
The controversial episode shows Chris wooing a girl called Ellen with the syndrome who replies during a dinner date that her father is an accountant and her mother is the former governor of Alaska, a subtle jab towards Palin herself whose youngest son Trig has Downs Syndrome.
The Family Guy vs. Sarah Palin controversy sparked a huge debate on the portrayal of disability on television and the limit of the “offend everyone” principles such shows are aimed at. Seth MacFarlane commented saying he was proud of the character Ellen who was headstrong and dynamic despite the Syndrome and Andrea Fay Friedman, the women with Down syndrome who voiced the character said she did not find it an insult to have the disease unlike Palin who carried Trig around for sympathy and votes.
Palin and her daughter Bristol launched a verbal tirade against the show making it one of the biggest television controversies in the history of Family Guy and American sitcoms.
About The Author
Anita Agrawal is a freelance writer for online publications and writes for family enjoyment and child education. If you truly want to have some fun and laughter, go to this Kid-Friendly Website: http://www.familyfuncartoons.com A top line resource on clean humor for young families with lots of things for kids to do.
The author invites you to visit:
http://www.familyfuncartoons.com
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Our Need For William Shatner
Our Need For William Shatner
by: Kenneth McCormick
In the old days, well old days to you but not such old days to me, certain actors and actresses would become so popular that they would go on seemingly forever in films, until they were not able to do the job any longer or died. Some of these people were Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and others. This was said to be attributed to their great skill at acting. We would watch one of their movies and say things like, wow he still has it. That was a complement which meant he still was a great actor. These names were so powerful that when they would appear on a movie marquee, many people would rush to see the movie, just because a certain person was in it. I guess you would have to say that this was the golden age of movies. Then something very profound happened. Television started to become popular. With television however, it was much harder to attain this type of status, although in the beginning a few did like Milton Berle and Jack Benny, two comedians. Then it happened, one person came on to the scene in the sixties and his fame is still with us to day.
William Shatner was not an actor that you would put into the class of a Fonda, Taylor, or Bogart. He never claimed that he was. He began his acting career in 1950. He was born in 1931 and kept his real name which is very unusual. His full name is William Alan Shatner and as most people know, he was born in Canada. His grandfather was Wolf Schattner and anglicized the family name to Shatner. Shatner was raised in the conservative Jewish religion. When I said that Shatner was not in the class of Fonda and others, this was not to say that he was not a good actor. He was trained as a classical Shakespearean actor and appeared in the Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. There is something about Shatner's personality that seems to make us like to watch him. I don't know the man since I have never met him, but he does come across like a very likeable person. I remember watching him recently on an interview show that he had on cable and he interviewed Leonard Nimoy. Icouldn't pull myself away from it. Does Shatner have some power over us that we are not aware of?
There are still a few of us around that remember the Howdy Doody Show. It was a very early tv show for children that featured a marionette as Howdy Doody. Shatner played Ranger Bob in the Canadian Version. Shatner did have some experience in the movies and was in the movie, The Brothers Karamazov. He played the younger brother. The film featured many big names of the time such as Yul Brynner, Lee J. Cobb, Richard Basehart, Albert Salmi, Maria Schell, Clare Bloom and others. Although Shatner made many movies other than Star Trek, I do not believe that is where his popularity arose from. It came initially from television. He made at least a couple of the original Twilight Zones, which are constantly being shown on television. He also did many voices, but when he became the fearless Captain Kirk of the star ship Enterprise, his career was really born. As strange as it seems, he probably didn't know it at the time, because the series was canceled after about 90 + episodes, but enjoyed and still enjoys constant re-runs.
Millions of people have grown up watching Shatner perform some hammy acting at times in the series, but there was that something that he had that made every episode enjoyable. The show began to have a life of its own. Star Trek conventions began to appear everywhere and suddenly everything Star Trek became collectable. Kirk (William Shatner) started to appear in small plastic statue form in all different Star Trek toys. People did not seem to be able to get enough of him. Then came the Star Trek movies. Shatner seemed to have perfected his acting ability to the point where it was even more enjoyable in the films than it had been on the tv screen. The first movie was Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Actually it wasn't very good. The next film however was considered one of the best and that was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The other films featuring the original cast were Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, StarTrek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The last Star Trek film that Shatner was to appear in was Star Trek: Generations.
We were all at a point now where we needed to see Shatner again. It had been some time since he had appeared on television. Before I get into that I have to tell you that Shatner received or was nominated for numerous awards for his acting. Here is a list of them:
2005 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Winner
1999 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - Nominee
2004 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Winner
2005 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Winner
2006 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
2007 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
2008 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
2008 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
2009 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
Shatner was featured in several television series. They were the $10,000 Pyramid, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Battle of the Network Stars, Dr. Kildare, T.J. Hooker, The Defenders, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn and the Practice. He also has been the guest star on shows over 260 times and growing. He has appeared in over 52 movies as either an actor or voice. To this we have to add that he produced some shows and directed some episodes of shows.
At 79 years old, as of the writing of this article, Shatner is not finished yet and currently has a new show to fulfill our need to see him, it is called Shatner's Raw Nerve and appears on the Bio channel. It is basically an interview show where a guest comes on and is asked interesting questions by Shatner. It may not be the same as watching Shatner fight a lizard looking alien using only whatever is at hand, but he is getting a little long in the tooth for that. I guess we will just have to satisfy our Shatner needs without the action that used to accompany them. An old Shatner is better than no Shatner at all.
Ken is the webmaster of Http://aboutfacts.net an interesting, free Internet magazine that is suitable for the entire family.
Copyright © 2010 by About Facts Net and its licenseors. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reprint this article as long as the article is unchanged and all links are left intact including the biography.
About The Author by: Kenneth McCormick
In the old days, well old days to you but not such old days to me, certain actors and actresses would become so popular that they would go on seemingly forever in films, until they were not able to do the job any longer or died. Some of these people were Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and others. This was said to be attributed to their great skill at acting. We would watch one of their movies and say things like, wow he still has it. That was a complement which meant he still was a great actor. These names were so powerful that when they would appear on a movie marquee, many people would rush to see the movie, just because a certain person was in it. I guess you would have to say that this was the golden age of movies. Then something very profound happened. Television started to become popular. With television however, it was much harder to attain this type of status, although in the beginning a few did like Milton Berle and Jack Benny, two comedians. Then it happened, one person came on to the scene in the sixties and his fame is still with us to day.
William Shatner was not an actor that you would put into the class of a Fonda, Taylor, or Bogart. He never claimed that he was. He began his acting career in 1950. He was born in 1931 and kept his real name which is very unusual. His full name is William Alan Shatner and as most people know, he was born in Canada. His grandfather was Wolf Schattner and anglicized the family name to Shatner. Shatner was raised in the conservative Jewish religion. When I said that Shatner was not in the class of Fonda and others, this was not to say that he was not a good actor. He was trained as a classical Shakespearean actor and appeared in the Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. There is something about Shatner's personality that seems to make us like to watch him. I don't know the man since I have never met him, but he does come across like a very likeable person. I remember watching him recently on an interview show that he had on cable and he interviewed Leonard Nimoy. Icouldn't pull myself away from it. Does Shatner have some power over us that we are not aware of?
There are still a few of us around that remember the Howdy Doody Show. It was a very early tv show for children that featured a marionette as Howdy Doody. Shatner played Ranger Bob in the Canadian Version. Shatner did have some experience in the movies and was in the movie, The Brothers Karamazov. He played the younger brother. The film featured many big names of the time such as Yul Brynner, Lee J. Cobb, Richard Basehart, Albert Salmi, Maria Schell, Clare Bloom and others. Although Shatner made many movies other than Star Trek, I do not believe that is where his popularity arose from. It came initially from television. He made at least a couple of the original Twilight Zones, which are constantly being shown on television. He also did many voices, but when he became the fearless Captain Kirk of the star ship Enterprise, his career was really born. As strange as it seems, he probably didn't know it at the time, because the series was canceled after about 90 + episodes, but enjoyed and still enjoys constant re-runs.
Millions of people have grown up watching Shatner perform some hammy acting at times in the series, but there was that something that he had that made every episode enjoyable. The show began to have a life of its own. Star Trek conventions began to appear everywhere and suddenly everything Star Trek became collectable. Kirk (William Shatner) started to appear in small plastic statue form in all different Star Trek toys. People did not seem to be able to get enough of him. Then came the Star Trek movies. Shatner seemed to have perfected his acting ability to the point where it was even more enjoyable in the films than it had been on the tv screen. The first movie was Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Actually it wasn't very good. The next film however was considered one of the best and that was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The other films featuring the original cast were Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, StarTrek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The last Star Trek film that Shatner was to appear in was Star Trek: Generations.
We were all at a point now where we needed to see Shatner again. It had been some time since he had appeared on television. Before I get into that I have to tell you that Shatner received or was nominated for numerous awards for his acting. Here is a list of them:
2005 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Winner
1999 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - Nominee
2004 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Winner
2005 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Winner
2006 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
2007 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
2008 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television - Nominee
2008 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
2009 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series - Nominee
Shatner was featured in several television series. They were the $10,000 Pyramid, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Battle of the Network Stars, Dr. Kildare, T.J. Hooker, The Defenders, The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn and the Practice. He also has been the guest star on shows over 260 times and growing. He has appeared in over 52 movies as either an actor or voice. To this we have to add that he produced some shows and directed some episodes of shows.
At 79 years old, as of the writing of this article, Shatner is not finished yet and currently has a new show to fulfill our need to see him, it is called Shatner's Raw Nerve and appears on the Bio channel. It is basically an interview show where a guest comes on and is asked interesting questions by Shatner. It may not be the same as watching Shatner fight a lizard looking alien using only whatever is at hand, but he is getting a little long in the tooth for that. I guess we will just have to satisfy our Shatner needs without the action that used to accompany them. An old Shatner is better than no Shatner at all.
Ken is the webmaster of Http://aboutfacts.net an interesting, free Internet magazine that is suitable for the entire family.
Copyright © 2010 by About Facts Net and its licenseors. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reprint this article as long as the article is unchanged and all links are left intact including the biography.
Ken is the webmaster of http://aboutfacts.net an interesting, free Internet magazine that is suitable for the entire family.
| The author invites you to visit: http://aboutfacts.net |
Monday, December 6, 2010
Being in Japan in Wintertime Means......
Seeing your breath when you get up in the morning.
Cracking the ice so the tidy bowl man isn't stranded.
The cockroaches no longer try to enter your apartment, they did survive the dinosaurs andthey aren't that stupid, it's
Read More
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Amazingly my friend wasn`t fired after teaching this Lesson (Bottom)
Comedy about Teaching
Be Careful with those Allergy Meds!
Comedy - antihistamine can be very strong!
This is what happened to a good friend of mine. (I love his hair incidentally!) He has allergies and he ODed on his allergy meds. Read More
Be Careful with those Allergy Meds!
Comedy - antihistamine can be very strong!
This is what happened to a good friend of mine. (I love his hair incidentally!) He has allergies and he ODed on his allergy meds. Read More
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