Who likes 'Family Guy'? Matt Groening, that's who

March 9, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN
Chicago Sun-Times
Cartoon fans know the score. Two years ago, "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said the meanest thing fans can do is utter "Family Guy" in the same breath as their show.
Then for two episodes of "South Park" last season, Cartman tried to get "Family Guy" canceled.
"I am NOTHING like Family Guy!" Cartman screamed. "When I make jokes, they are inherent to a story! Deep, situational and emotional jokes based on what is relevant and has a POINT! Not just one interchangeable joke after another!"
"The day after that episode aired, we got flowers from 'The Simpsons,' " Parker told IGN.com's Eric Goldman. "We got calls from 'King of the Hill,' saying we were doing God's work."
I still love "South Park" (which started a new season Wednesday) and the better episodes of "The Simpsons." But Cartman's complaint that "Family Guy" is shallow and jokey could just as well have described the Marx Brothers and the "Naked Gun" movies.
One person who doesn't agree with Parker and Stone is Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons."
"At the beginning, there was probably some competition going on" between "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy," he says. "But certainly not from me.
"I know how hard it is to do an animated TV show. ['Family Guy' creator] Seth MacFarlane is a good friend. And 'Family Guy' is funny. It's got its own style. The more the merrier. I want more cartoons on TV," Groening says.
MacFarlane confirms the friendship with Groening, but he thinks some "Simpsons" people do hate his show.
"Because I know so many of those guys as well as I do ... you forgive anything. It's a good-natured jab," MacFarlane says.
"With 'South Park,' it's a little different," he says. "They spent two half hours of their airtime talking about us, which frankly, I f---ing love. It's like a free commercial. With them, I get the sense there's definitely some anger there. I don't know where it's based. But they're angry guys."
"Family Guy," which averages about 600,000 fewer viewers each week than "The Simpsons," also has been called a ripoff because both shows focus on a nuclear family -- as if "The Simpsons" invented the format of a dad, mom, kids and a dog.
I suggest to MacFarlane every show owes a debt to some previous series.
"Right," he says. "You could almost say 'The Honeymooners' or subsequently 'All in the Family' laid down the ground rules -- everything structurally -- for a live-action sitcom.
"And I think it's the same thing for 'The Simpsons' regarding subsequent animated shows. They reinvented the process. A lot of things worked. So of course you're gonna use that as a springboard."
There are yet more haters lurking. In an episode of "30 Rock" -- my favorite show on TV at the moment -- Tina Fey's character Liz broke up with a boyfriend partly because he liked "Family Guy."
MacFarlane knows all about it.
"I saw that!" he says. "Yeah. We always thought Tina Fey was a fan, so we always avoided making fun of [her mysterious facial] scar. But we may have to revisit that."

MATT GROENING, 'SIMPSONS' GUY
On the hand of Milhouse's dad getting cut off: "It was so heartless. It was a really mean gag. But what was good about it was you certainly couldn't see it coming, and it was an underreaction -- 'Ow.' "
On animation styles: "We've done Claymation versions of 'The Simpsons,' and any possible version we can. We'll probably at some point do a parody in the 'Shrek'/Dreamworks/Pixar style. ... My problem with CGI is it's so rich in texture, my eyes get tired. Everything is focused down to the littlest leaf. A masterful version of that was [former 'Simpsons' director] Brad Bird's 'The Incredibles.' He knew exactly where to limit the detail."
On the "Simpsons" movie, set for release in July: "Whoever you don't want to see naked on 'The Simpsons,' that's who you're gonna see [naked]."

SETH MACFARLANE, 'FAMILY GUY' GUY
On whether pervy neighbor Glen Quagmire has any basis in Larry from "Three's Company": "Maybe a little. As a sitcom archetype, he fits into that, always having a hot tub party with Swedish stewardesses. That '70s image. Quagmire's a little darker. You get the sense he might have roofied some girls."
On the gag that made him laugh most: "It was 'Jaws 5: Fire Island.' There was a voice that was soft-spoken, kind of effeminate. ... It was just that classic image of 'Jaws' looking up at the two swimmers, and he's just like, 'I'm gonna eat y'all. I'm gonna eat that hairy leg. I'm gonna eat that one, too.' Every time I see that, I just [soil] myself."
On an upcoming guest voice: "Rush Limbaugh agreed to do the show, believe it or not. That's in our 'Star Wars' episode, which airs in the fall. He's playing himself, and it's a neutral gag. [Bill] O'Reilly turned us down."
On the possibility of a live-action "Family Guy" movie: "I saw the 'Flintstones' movie, and that's all the argument I need not to do it."