Family Guy

Family Guy is an animated television program created by Seth MacFarlane and shown on the Fox television network. It documents the life of "the Griffins," a fictional family who live in Quahog, Rhode Island. The show, like The Simpsons and other cartoon shows on television, explores—from an extremely liberal angle—cultural and political themes that are important in the world today, as well as taking humorous approaches to past and present television shows. It takes an unfavorable view of creationists, focusing instead on the theory of evolution. Family Guy is known for its constant use of rude and profane speech, violent and crude humor, and liberal deceit. In that vein, the show has made numerous off-color jokes about teen pregnancy, bestiality, abortion, homosexuality, the Holocaust, mental illness, suicide and religion, among other topics.

One notorious episode entitled When You Wish Upon a Weinstein, was banned due to its offensive stereotyping of Jews. Another likened McCain-Palin supporters to Nazis. The show frequently uses jokes referencing Hitler and the Nazis, relying on shock tactics over genuine comedy.

Another episode introduced a girl with Down Syndrome. During a conversation, she remarked that her mother was the governer of Alaska, an obvious attempt to smear the reputation of the sacred Republican Party.

Another episode featured a repeated catchphrase "Laura Bush Killed A Guy!" This was a misleading statement, mocking a tragic car accident which occurred when she was 17 years old. Laura Welch, as she was known then, ran a stop sign and crashed into another car, killing its only occupant, 17-year-old Michael Douglas.

Unoriginality

Family Guy and its creators have been savaged by media and fans for its lack of originality and, in some cases, outright plagiarism, particularly from the vastly more popular show, The Simpsons. The basic model of the family - a fat, drunk, stupid, yet good-hearted husband with an attractive, yet nagging wife - is a direct copy of Homer and Marge Simpson. The show has stolen numerous plot ideas from The Simpsons, including the wife developing a gambling addiction.

The character of Stewie is a well-documented theft of the comic book character Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on Earth.

The Simpsons and South Park have openly mocked Family Guy for its lack of creativity and frequent derivative sequences. One episode of South Park portrayed Family Guy as being written by manatees who would randomly select balls inscribed with a noun, verb and pop culture reference, thus creating all the jokes for the show.