Now, we aren’t even going to mention The Simpsons because…while I’m sure it’s still on in some bizarre format…I think it is now created in the manner one would recreate Shakespeare (with luck) using a million apes on keyboards. That’s over and done and simply bland corporate filler now. It’s like an infomercial for sanitized comedy.
The fight for absurdist satire has been between Family Guy and South Park for quite some time. The great irony, of course, is that the script has basically completed flipped in terms of which is edgier. Up until around 2012-2016 South Park held the title — I mean you can’t forget the “We will fucking draw Mohammed and you will fucking like it,” episodes. Then a slight decline when streaming hit for South Park…and then a brick wall for them in 2016. SMASH
Since then, ironically, it’s been the show that was once mocked as too mainstream and “big network” that has been delivering the sharp, punchy satire — Family Guy — in pithy single episodes, while South Park became mired in hyper-topicality (how will those shows ever air in reruns?) and serialization. I know the ratings hold steady but, having had a father who worked in TV — you can manipulate ratings a lot of ways, and with streaming, I’m sure it’s being done.
Now, while I did not watch last season of South Park, I did hear that the last episode crashed everything into a wall and set the stage for as hard a reset as could be done. I applaud the effort and wish it well, but I do have to say it’s been bizarre, especially since 2016, watching South Park implode on a massive scale while at the same time seeing Family Guy sharpen up its cultural satire to a point that is competitive with even some of the early South Park.
Good luck to both sets of creators. I’m not here to tear anybody down. South Park got somewhat locked into the hyper-topicality through no fault of its own (though serialization is just a godawful idea — I mean a multi-parter, sure, Craig as the Chosen One is hilarious in Pandemic, sure, but full-on? Ack!). And good luck to South Park on the reset — people have become so tired of politics and all things political (a lot of people, at least) that yes, okay, you had to throw a weirdass Jesus Ex Machina in there, but — fuck it, it might work, right? As for Family Guy, I’m just enjoying watching them hit their stride — you would think they would have gone New Simpsons by now but nope, the writing has sharpened way up, and it manages to deliver pretty sharp cultural comedy while avoiding the Trump bait but still occasionally giving MAGA a jab or two, along with everyone else.
Fuck punch up, punch down, fuck all that. Punch at shit. Punch at random shit going on outside the window. Punch everywhere. Punch and Judy. There ya go, my two cents on the two heavyweight animated sitcoms still around.
