I loved Family Guy in the first six seasons. I know it is cliché for a fan to become disenchanted with a show after a while, but to me, (and to most others it seems), Family Guy has declined into an unfunny and lazy show.
This Episode has become popular for involving the death of Brian, a move which aggravates me in a way seemingly ignored by most people. This episode was incredibly unfunny and uninteresting. Many people are crying and even (pathetically) petitioning for Brian to come back to the show. Why aren't these people mad because the episode contained no funny jokes, or even attempted to make the audience laugh.
It is not impossible for a TV episode about death to be without laughs, I draw your attention to the quirky 'Twin Peaks', but more importantly to the South Park episodes "Stanleys' Cup" and "Kenny Dies". These South Park episodes examine a wholly tragic and depressing subject matter whilst also being hilarious and a little provocative. They did this by transcending the depressing elements of death prominent in other shows or films that deal with death in an overly melodramatic way.
Family Guy's new writers are not smart or witty enough to use humour to lighten-up a dramatic moment, instead, lazily having the Griffins cry and mope for the majority of the episode to no humorous effect. Family Guy main objective is to make the audience laugh, and in this episode they failed. In fact, this episode was hypocritical, as often family guy uses humour to invert the tragedies of life (Anne Frank, WW2, 9/11) yet when it came to Brians' death, the writers just said "That'll be enough, we don't need to make this interesting or funny".
To me and other fans, 'Family Guy' died when Seth Macfarlane lost passion for the show and declared it has gone on too long. This is why they have to pull attention-seeking publicity stunts like this, and judging from the reaction, audience members have eaten it all up, showing that they are happy to be easily manipulated by hacks. I do not care Brian is dead, he hasn't been interesting or funny for over 5 seasons, just annoying. That is the tragedy.
This Episode has become popular for involving the death of Brian, a move which aggravates me in a way seemingly ignored by most people. This episode was incredibly unfunny and uninteresting. Many people are crying and even (pathetically) petitioning for Brian to come back to the show. Why aren't these people mad because the episode contained no funny jokes, or even attempted to make the audience laugh.
It is not impossible for a TV episode about death to be without laughs, I draw your attention to the quirky 'Twin Peaks', but more importantly to the South Park episodes "Stanleys' Cup" and "Kenny Dies". These South Park episodes examine a wholly tragic and depressing subject matter whilst also being hilarious and a little provocative. They did this by transcending the depressing elements of death prominent in other shows or films that deal with death in an overly melodramatic way.
Family Guy's new writers are not smart or witty enough to use humour to lighten-up a dramatic moment, instead, lazily having the Griffins cry and mope for the majority of the episode to no humorous effect. Family Guy main objective is to make the audience laugh, and in this episode they failed. In fact, this episode was hypocritical, as often family guy uses humour to invert the tragedies of life (Anne Frank, WW2, 9/11) yet when it came to Brians' death, the writers just said "That'll be enough, we don't need to make this interesting or funny".
To me and other fans, 'Family Guy' died when Seth Macfarlane lost passion for the show and declared it has gone on too long. This is why they have to pull attention-seeking publicity stunts like this, and judging from the reaction, audience members have eaten it all up, showing that they are happy to be easily manipulated by hacks. I do not care Brian is dead, he hasn't been interesting or funny for over 5 seasons, just annoying. That is the tragedy.