Seth Talks About "Cartoon Wars"

[Matt B.]

I found this intersting artile about Seth talking about the South Park episode they did about Family Guy.
daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=20075&reposittory=001_article

[Green_Peaness]

I don't think it's working.

[Faaip de Oiad]

http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=20075&repository=0001_article

[bluemoose]

interesting article


it's nice that he didn't get all upset about the episode, because that would have been hypocritical.

[TriforceBun]

My respect for him raises a tad after reading that.

[Gibbles]

If only he could ditch his alcohol problem.

[Imperciph]

My respect for him raises a tad after reading that.

Yep, really nice to see him take those episodes with a grain of salt.

[Toli]

Good article.

[vox]

dr. cheeks, would you please stop taking the http:// out of the links you post? it's very annoying.

but yeah, good to see his positive take on the episodes. although i'd rather see him take the criticism to heart and ammend the style of his shows accordingly.

[Toli]

I think as long as he's making money he doesn't care.

[SideshowTim]

dr. cheeks, would you please stop taking the http:// out of the links you post? it's very annoying.

but yeah, good to see his positive take on the episodes. although i'd rather see him take the criticism to heart and ammend the style of his shows accordingly.
i think that would show a weakness in him. he makes episodes exactly the way he wants to make them and doesn't care what other people say. you have to admire that in some shape or form.

[Curtis]

I agree with South Park when it comes to how the jokes have nothing to do with the plot and the whole easy writing a Family Guy ep thing but despite that the show still makes me laugh everytime I watch it, so thats good enough for me.

[Semaj]

^Same here. It doesn't matter whether or not it's "stupid", just as long as it entertains.

[Wonderlicious]

If only he could ditch his alcohol problem.

Is Seth an alcoholic?

[Head Bee-Guy]

I think as long as he's making money he doesn't care.
So long as he's making a show he enjoys and is popular, I don't think he cares. I don't see why it's about money since Matt Groening, Trey Parker or Matt Stone don't exactly work for free. I'm not sure if it's what you were implying personally but a lot of people seem to not only think FG is a total rip-off of OFF but that Seth actually revels in planning exactly how to rip them off next. "Ooh let's release some merchandise/comic books/an episode guide since that's exactly what the Simpsons do and I must copy them to annoy their fans".

[Jamie]

My respect for him raises a tad after reading that.I agree, it takes great courage and strength to not be mad at a cartoon show.

[Gay4Moleman]

It's very good to hear that Seth doesn't take offense to South Park's criticism, even to the point of acknowledging that to do so would be "hypocritical". I've seen him speak at Ohio State, and he is a really funny and cool guy. I am in total agreement with Curtis as to FG. Sure, all the best jokes are non-sequitors, but I have never watched an episode without laughing out loud.

[mohammed jafar]

“You want me to insult you?” MacFarlane quipped. “OK, you supported the war in Iraq,” he said to raucous applause.

jesus christ

[Malachy]

Glad I'm not the only one who cringed at that.

[Ryan]

I thought Seth was asked to insult the person.

[mike_donnelly]

I think as long as he's making money he doesn't care.

I'm not sure money is too much of an interest. As long as he makes $30 to buy a bottle of bourbon he should be fine.

[spiritofstlouis]

Is Seth an alcoholic?

Alcohol saved him from dying on 9/11, it's his friend

[thang]

uhm, he's trying to be a hillarious wiseass, but what was said on South Park is real, and seth didnt reply to that. im talking about the fact of the nonstop flashbacks, celebrity trashings, all that without making any sense. the jokes that have nothing to do with the plot, all the things cartman said.

[H Thompson]

Yeah it's not like he seems to have responded to any criticism, he's just accepted the fact his show and it's writers has been criticised and called manatees. So what?

[box elder]

just how is he supposed to "respond" to the criticism?

"we are not manatees!"

if you hate Family Guy's style of writing, don't watch Family Guy. but don't expect Seth to call a press conference and make some serious rebuttal statement regarding what some other cartoon said.

[H Thompson]

I'm not saying he should its just people are saying "wow my opinion of him has really gone up because of how he's taken it" when he hasn't really done anything special.
I actually think Family Guy is ok.

Thinking about that interview though what I don't like is how he say's "they make fun of everyone just like us" implying that actually the two shows are very similar.

[box elder]

i think all he meant by that, though, was that FG takes a lot of shots at pop culture figures (which is a similarity between the shows) and that it would be hypocritical of him to be able to dish it out but not take it (to use a cliche).

[mohammed jafar]

has family guy ever actually "shat on" anything? it doesn't really shit on things, it just sort of bends over, opens its asshole and sprays randomly

[DotheBartman]

I don't really see where the accolades are coming from either. If nothing else, what else is he going to say? He's not just going to start bashing Matt and Trey or trying to make a real serious rebuttal; that would only create bad press. His "response", however well chosen, is to be expected, because to say anything else would quite simply be unwise. It doesn't neccesarily mean that he actually liked it or thought it was funny, or even that he genuinely took it in stride.

And I agree with Jafar, incidentally. That Iraq line was baaaad. And yeah, it's not like Family Guy is ever really all that genuinely harsh on anything.

[barfly]

has family guy ever actually "shat on" anything? it doesn't really shit on things, it just sort of bends over, opens its asshole and sprays randomly

they shat on the FCC in the peter tv episode

[TriforceBun]

I don't know, I just expected him to take a few shots back at South Park. Considering the general attitude of Seth and Family Guy, it'd really be the expected (and easy) thing to do. I was a bit surprised that he didn't take it to heart or with a bitter attitude (considering South Park did throw some major criticisms at the Family Guy, however long overdue they were).

[DotheBartman]

I don't know, I just expected him to take a few shots back at South Park. Considering the general attitude of Seth and Family Guy, it'd really be the expected (and easy) thing to do. I was a bit surprised that he didn't take it to heart or with a bitter attitude (considering South Park did throw some major criticisms at the Family Guy, however long overdue they were).

Yeah, but no one's going to retaliate or respond in that way in public. It would just make him look bad, especcially if it was clear that he was genuinely bitter about it. He may very well have been, but at this point he's a public figure, and he would clearly just "know better" than to say anything too divisive. It's kind of like his statements about The Simpsons. At one point he actually did say some harsh things (apparently not realizing he was on record, he responded to the "rip off" allegations in an interview by saying "well, we certainly wouldn't rip off anything from the last five years", or something to that effect), whereas now he always kind of dodges it and always says something like "well, you know, at it's best The Simpsons has put out some of the best episodes of any show..." and doesn't say anything really strong anymore. He obviously learned his lesson. And I'm not really faulting him for that either. It's just being smart about it (look at Tom Cruise lately as someone who's really hurt his reputation by not being careful in public appearances).

[TriforceBun]

Hm, you make a good point. Though I'm curious because this is the first I've heard of it, what did he say about The Simpsons?

[DotheBartman]

Pretty much just that. In later interviews he always says things that almost sound pre-prepared, ya know, "they changed everything", and "their best episodes stand up to the best episodes of all the other classic sitcoms" and that sort of thing. But in just that one interview he made that "well, we certainly haven't ripped off anything from the last five years" crack, and then completely backtracked once he was aware that this was on the record. I haven't seen this interview in a long time, but I think it was from around when the first dvd set came out. But I don't think anything else was said beyond that, other than that in the same interview the questioner informed him of Jean's comments on the S3 Simpsons set and McFarlane said something about how he would check those commentaries out, and then said (to Jean, who the questioner didn't correctly cite) "I will find out who you are, man."

[TriforceBun]

Hah, that's interesting. Thanks.

[bob lobster]

but jean prasied family guy on the critic dvd

[Gay4Moleman]

I think fans make more of the supposed Family Guy-Simpsons rivalry than the writers of either show. I've read interviews with both Matt and Seth and each claim to have a great amount of respect for one another.

[TheFlandersMan]

Yep, Seth was on Jimmy Kimmel last night, and he said that him and Matt are friends. He also said that The Simpsons have taken some shots at them and that he ha a few shots at the Simpsons up his sleeve in future Family Guy's. So there ya have it. They're not enemies, it's just a friendly back-and-forth kind of thing going on.

I still get the impression that he's full of himself though....

[Kamerica]

i dont understand this brooding hatred for seth. i mean, you might dislike his show, but it's not like the seth himself is a complete asshole to everybody. you guys need to put down your fists and realize that although he does have a popular television program, he hasn't shown any behavior that seperates him from any regular shmuck.

[H Thompson]

Well as I said I think Family Guy is ok but I don't really like what I've seen of Seth. I don't have any real evidence to back it up so maybe I'm just being completley irrational. but I just don't really like what I've seen of him. His behaviour just come across as very "salesmanship" like to me and he just seems very smug, just because he can make some self-depricating jokes doesn't mean he isn't arrogant.
Anyway I guess it's pointless me trying to argue this.

[Jamie]

i dont understand this brooding hatred for seth. i mean, you might dislike his show, but it's not like the seth himself is a complete asshole to everybody. you guys need to put down your fists and realize that although he does have a popular television program, he hasn't shown any behavior that seperates him from any regular shmuck.
On on the DVD commentary track for the episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", people on the cast joke about how Seth seems to love the sound of his own voice and he gets really defensive

[Gay4Moleman]

I've met him, and he's really a great guy. He answered all my questions, signed dozens of autographs, and hung out with us way longer than he was scheduled to. Of course Family Guy has used ideas The Simpsons have, but for all those critics I say watch South Park's "Simpsons Already Did It".