Comments on: Situation Without Comedy http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/11/20/situation-without-comedy/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 By: Michael L. Wayne http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/11/20/situation-without-comedy/comment-page-1/#comment-139325 Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:12:35 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=11360#comment-139325 Cynthia,

I am particularly bothered by the mannerisms of the main character. Allen Gregory as the childish embodiment of a thoughtless and condescending Hollywood mogul strikes me as incredibly unfunny. If the intent is to provide some kind of critique of the industry, then the follow-through lacks the critical edge of Family Guy, as you note.

Mike

]]> By: Cynthia Chris http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/11/20/situation-without-comedy/comment-page-1/#comment-138047 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:42:29 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=11360#comment-138047 Hi Mike. Thanks for your comment and the references to The Daily Show and South Park. I’d hate to rank what I found troubling in Allen Gregory against some of the features of Family Guy that you mention. I’ve frequently found FG wilding entertaining, but I cringe at how the show treats Meg too (American Dad does some of the same stuff, and even’s Lisa’s status as The Simpsons outsider seems on a spectrum of disdain for daughters that runs throughout). There may be a more overtly parodistic structure to FG that Allen Gregory lacked – a kind of criticality, or sense of humor about itself. But I’d be curious to hear what *you* found unfunny about Allen Gregory: I suspect we could make a long list … Cynthia

]]> By: Michael L. Wayne http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2011/11/20/situation-without-comedy/comment-page-1/#comment-137475 Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:04:18 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=11360#comment-137475 Professor Chris,

I agree that the use of the NAMBLA joke on The Simpsons is interesting and in questioning who has access to this joke, you have raised some important issues.

Regarding the joke itself, I have seen it before in two Comedy Central shows. On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, one recurring joke is to replace the acronym of an organization with a long name with the phrase “. . . or NAMBLA.” In South Park, in an episode titled “Cartman Joins NAMBLA,” the FBI mistakenly raids a meeting of the group North American Marlon Brando Look Alikes.

Regarding your reading of Allen Gregory (which I also do not find funny but for different reasons), I have a question: what makes the humiliation and age-inappropriate sexuality of Allen Gregory more problematic than the humiliation (the family’s treatment of Meg) and age-inappropriate sexuality (Stewie) of early Family Guy?

Mike

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