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September 12, 2006
The Stantis Monopoly
Sometimes I wonder if I'm devoting too much of my time to writing about Prickly City. Today's strip is a perfect example. I could pick it apart, frame by frame, and analyze why it's simply unfunny. There is no joke here. There is no sensible punchline. There is no funny.
In writing that above paragraph, I'm convinced that I'm spending more time thinking about Prickly City than creator Scott Stantis is.
Today's "joke" reminds me of the South Park episode where we find out that Family Guy (which is, somehow, even unfunnier than Prickly City) is written by manatees who simply push "joke balls" into a shoot and those balls form a bit. Today's balls would be "Homeland Security," "Dancing With the Stars," and "Karl Rove." Obviously none of these have anything to do with each other. But there it is - sitting there, waiting for you to laugh because apparently the image of Karl Rove ballroom dancing is supposed to be funny. It's not, especially considering that Karl Rove helped to out an undercover CIA agent and still has security clearance in the White House. Not to mention it was just announced that he's about to launch the most aggressive smear campaign in the history of politics to help the Republicans win in November.
To me the obvious joke here is that Carmen is upset with Homeland Security because they couldn't prevent her loverboy Tucker Carlson from getting on Dancing. Why wasn't that obvious to Scott Stantis, a guy who gets paid to write this strip?
Comments
No you DIDN'T. Now you're ruined the credibility that Shrubville had slowly accumulated over time, all with a slam on Family Guy. By calling it unfunny. By way of referencing South Park. Which you call funny. Which it is not.
Posted by: FredN. at September 12, 2006 09:43 AM
South Park is funny sometimes, while Family Guy is never funny to me. This is my own opinion - I have no clue what CJo and Sacki think of Family Guy and American Dad, it's just as unfunny sibling.
Posted by: The Furnace at September 12, 2006 09:52 AM
Family Guy is quite funny, if you appreciate humor of the absurd. American Dad is not really that funny. It tries to take the Family Guy asthetic but none of the "thats almost as bad as the time you..." cut-scenes. And those cut scenes are where the humor lies.
South Park can be funny at times, but it can also be really shrill and preachy. Parker and Stone really seem to get off on showing the world that they know better than everyone whereas MacFarlane seems to get off on making obscure references and in-jokes.
Posted by: willie lee at September 12, 2006 12:15 PM
The obscure references and in-jokes are where Family Guy totally dominates the Simpsons. American Dad sux. South Park is a clever concept, but the average episode is not typically worth watching.
Posted by: FredN. at September 12, 2006 01:16 PM
The Simpsons suck now because they're trying too hard to be like Family Guy (well that and they're just cruising on the rep). I'm sorry, but I don't think of them as obscure/absurd references - they're things that guys who are in their early 30s get because they grew up with that stuff. Again to each his own, but no one's ever going to convince me that Family Guy is funny. I am in total agreement on South Park - it can be amusing, and they get away with some ballsy stuff, but they ride their high horse a few too many times at the expense of being funny.
I'm just glad Futurama is coming back...
Posted by: The Furnace at September 12, 2006 01:33 PM
I think Stantis did us all a favor today by not showing the missing fifth panel featuring Karl Rove dancing with Jeff Gannon.
Posted by: jackmac at September 12, 2006 01:51 PM
