The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization (or at least of one of its better shows in recent memory), and the Rise of a New Decadence.
The decline of what is arguably television’s most influential show into self-referential absurdity has not been without its good effects. Indeed, the fact that The Simpsons is but a shadow of its former self has provided an interesting side effect in The Family Guy’s nascence.
Most viewers know this show—it’s essentially a knockoff of The Simpsons seasons 7 or 8 through the present. What distinguishes it from its predecessor is not so much the writing or animation—both of which are more or less comparable—but the fact that it is unburdened by its precursor’s legacy. The Simpsons of today is chock full of omphaloskepsis, a constant self-checking and name-dropping that rewards long time viewers of the show by reassuring them that the writers remember Springfield’s fictional past.
Unfortunately, this is often accompanied by a disregard for said past, and a lack of continuity that bespeaks the decay and fall into decadence that has marked The Simpsons of the past five or so years.
But why should this affect casual viewers? Why does it matter whether or not we remember what Marge’s character used to be like when she would be the conscience of the family, or when Bart had a conscience, or when Lisa was something more than just the annoying character in the family? After all, despite the fact that they haven’t aged in the last decade or so, aren’t even situation comedy families allowed to change? In the end, the answer to all these questions must inevitably be subjective; but the fact remains that it is easier to laugh at the same jokes and absurd shifts in The Family Guy than in The Simpsons.
The disturbance that gnaws at viewers when they see a monkey at the end of a Simpsons episode squawking at the audience with the subtitles, “this made no sense! Tell the people!” is the nagging memory they have of the show’s long-dead conscience.
As Pollyanna-ish as it might seem to believe that a show can still be funny and have some sort of purpose, there were times when The Simpsons came close. The Family Guy has, on the other hand, never aimed much above the cheap, albeit often hilarious, gag. And, in fact, it is the better for it. But before The Simpsons became a half-hour of “watch Homer be a jackass,” Bart was the focus of the show which was about a dysfunctional yet still somewhat plausible family.
Now, the shift in character centre is not necessarily a bad thing, but it accompanied a degeneration of episodic subject matter into the realm of baffling non-sequiturs.
What is great about Matt Groening’s creations is his constant balance of cynicism with optimism, blending both the lowest pessimism and the most outrageous of hopes.
Now that The Simpsons has been reduced to talking animal jokes and random profanity, the bar has been lowered to a point where watching the show is somewhat akin to watching writers masturbate (a very sorry sight indeed).
The Family Guy’s writers have to write well in order to pull off weird and sick gags. The Simpsons writers can just coast on the reputation of a once good sitcom, and, to quote Moe on post-modernism, be “weird for the sake of weird.” And that’s too bad.
