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Hercules Has Seen SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, The New Fox Sitcom From ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT’s Mitch Hurwitz, Jason Bateman & Will Arnett!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
A new animated sitcom about a dysfunctional high school faculty, “Sit Down, Shut Up” is the latest brainchild of “Arrested Development” mastermind Mitch Hurwitz.
It stars the voices of “Arrested” alumni Jason Bateman, Will Arnett & Henry Winkler, as well as SNL vets Will Forte, Kenan Thompson and Cheri Oteri, plus Kristin Chenoweth (“Pushing Daisies”), Nick Kroll (“Cavemen”) and Tom Kenny (“SpongeBob SquarePants”).
How does it stack up against Fox’s other Sunday night cartoons? Not as funny as “King of the Hill” (which it replaces) but far funnier than “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and the current incarnation of “The Simpsons.” For the record, I laughed aloud only once during the pilot, but more during episode two.
I can’t say it made me chortle frequently enough to add it to my already bulging DVRs or let it lure me away from “The Amazing Race.”
The critical reaction makes one wonder if maybe David Cross, Portia De Rossi and Michael Cera might have been the magic elements that made “Arrested” such a cult fave:
USA Today gives “Sit Down, Shut Up” one and a half stars (out of four) and says:
… the end result is unpleasant, sophomoric and — in its string of gay and ethnic jokes — bigoted in ways that are hard to defend in a show this humor-free. If you want to get away with being offensive on TV, you have to be awfully funny, and Sit Down gets much closer to "awful" than it ever does to "funny." …
Entertainment Weekly gives it an “C” and says:
… Sit Down needs to step up. …
The New York Times says:
… “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” do an entirely more imaginative, irrepressible job of ferreting out the drudgeries and provincialism of middle-class life. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… weak -- not hopeless, but given the pedigree, heavily disappointing. … makes no memorable use of the cartoon medium and relies too much on sex jokes and dirty puns, from the name of the school (Knob Haven) and the characters (reluctant P.E. teacher Larry Littlejunk, played by Jason Bateman on down. ("I want everything exposed and out in the open," to give you a newspaper-friendly example.) It's a kind of humor that registers at once as juvenile and geriatric. On the scale of Fox animated sitcoms it's closer spiritually, if that's a word you can apply to an animated sitcom, to "Family Guy" than to "The Simpsons" …
The Chicago Tribune says:
… far less inventive than "Arrested," and "Sit Down's" rapid-fire pace isn't anchored by anything real or relatable. Much of the goofy crassness of the Bluth clan of "Arrested" was balanced by the awkward naivete of the young George Michael Bluth (Michael Cera), but "Sit Down's" cynicism isn't leavened by a similar sweetness. The result is a show that feels brittle and manic. Jokes that would have been funny accompanied by an amusing reaction or a sprightly bit of physical comedy in a live-action show here come off as flat or mean. …
The Washington Post says:
… isn't any good …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… not much to get excited about here, though the second of two episodes sent by Fox was an improvement over the tepid pilot. … there's just no real comedic spark, and the animation, which is mixed with live action, seems to be of an indistinct off-brand Nickelodeon quality. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
There are some truly funny moments in Fox's manic animated comedy "Sit Down, Shut Up," a series that requires almost rapt attention to pick up all the jokes and amusing dialogue that's hurled at viewers. If a TV series ever suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder, this is it. … there's something clever enough about the jokes, not to mention the speed at which they fly, that mutes the show's more gratuitous impulses.
The Newark Star Ledger says:
… The disappointing new project from "Arrested Development" creator Mitchell Hurwitz is mainly a reminder of how much the "Arrested" cast -- several of whom provide voice work here -- added to that show. … I hoped that, at the very least, it would tide me over until the "Arrested" movie became a reality. Instead, it's an example of how genius doesn't come every time out, even with similar combinations of talent.
The Denver Post says:
… passes off painfully juvenile zings as humor and, unlike "Arrested," not in a good way. Sit down, change channel. …
The Boston Globe says:
… completely hackneyed, a dull dropout from the Adult Swim school of looney 'toons. … Aren't we years and years beyond finding politically incorrect situations funny simply because they're taboo? Comedy writers need to go one step further and twist the jokes, milk them for more than simply shock value; that's one thing "South Park" does so brilliantly. These days in animation, shock-value humor is merely quaint.
Variety says:
… Despite a pedigree that includes “Arrested Development” creator Mitch Hurwitz and many of that program’s stars, “Sit Down” seldom rises above sniggering double entendre. Seemingly preoccupied with impressing teenage boys, the show should possess scant appeal outside that demo. … a disappointingly blunt instrument from creative collaborators associated with better. The development here is arrested, alright, but unlike their last Fox foray, there’s nothing thus far to stand up and shout about.
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… the problem is that the show just isn't funny. It's one thing to make sly nods in the viewer's direction; it's another entirely to stock a series with characters named Miracle Grohe and Sue Sezno and expect people not to wince every time those heavy-handed puns slam home. …
8:30 p.m. Sunday. Fox.
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wasn't this based on a foreign show? mitch hurwitz needs to make his own show. we're sorry about arrested development, please come back to original ideas!
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That's really odd. I've laughed watching The Simpsons and Family Guy this year, but I'm pretty sure that King of the Hill is something they put on the TeeVee so they can torture terrorists without calling it torture. Cause there's no way anyone can sit through that garbage and call it entertainment. Herc though it was funny, eh? Christ, that is fucked up. I don't quite get WHY he would call it a comedy. Is Buffy in it? Is that why it's funny? Cause if Buffy was in it I could see why Herc would think it's funny. Maybe Dollhouse! Yeah, that's it. So King of the Hill is made by the people who make Dollhouse and Herc finds it funny. Okay. I think that makes sense. Because, when you sit down and watch the damn thing, it's a certain fact that it doesn't make people laugh. Huh. Odd.
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"Is King of the Hill a comedy?" 100 people randomly selected from across the globe. I'd betcha dollars to donuts that 85% of respondents would just be like "Really? That show is a comedy?! Get the fuck out!"
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Apr 19, 2009 1:01:12 AM CDT
King of the Hill funnier than FamGuy, AmericanDad?
by the gospel according to bastardface
Uhm, no.
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Not really. Mildly amusing.
And "Family Guy" is hilarious. Fuck you, haters, it's the truth! -
are the same knuckle dragging mouth breathers who think NASCAR is a sport, and that Dale Earnhardt Senior was the second coming of Christ
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i'm very disappointed.
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Apr 19, 2009 1:11:05 AM CDT
"Larry Littlejunk"...? Instant mustn't see right there.
by maxcalifornia.
PENIS NAMES IS FUNNY!
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they cancel arrested development and we got this now.
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It isn't as funny as the initial run of family guy, but family guy has gotten old and recycles the same material over and over. American Dad started off as not funny, but finally hit its stride and is quite funny now much better than most of the current family guy. So I'd say King of the Hill is funnier than current Family Guy, but not as funny as current American Dad.
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And I think KING OF THE HILL is the funniest, most genuine and most sincere of the Fox Sunday night animated shows. It makes me smile. It makes me laugh. The characters are people I know in my real life represented by these animated icons. Best of all, it's not trying to shove down my throat viewpoints about the world I think are completely misguided, without resorting to the kind of dogma you will hear on FAMILY GUY or AMERICAN DAD. It's a very funny show, and I'm going to miss it. Long live KING OF THE HILL!
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So you're saying it wasn't licensed from a (failed) Australian sitcom? Stick to what you're good at Herc, whatever that is.
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fox blows diapers!
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Have you guys ever heard one line Dale Gribble has ever said?
That said, a lot of complaints about Nascar and random Herc/Joss Whedon bashing makes me think none of you have actually sat down an watched the show. So, there's that.
And that said, I think KotH, Family Guy, American Dad AND the current Simpsons are all still very funny. I just don't know why we can't just all get along. But, fish gotta' swim. Birds gotta' fly. Haters gotta' hate.
Based on the talent involved, I'm excited to see this show, based on a foreign show or not (US Office is pretty damn funny, if I remember correctly...). Arrested Development was an amazing TV show, and still sorely missed. -
We all miss Clone High.
Say WHAAAAT? -
A very adroit conclusion; I'd agree with your assessment 100%.
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...laugh about the current episodes of South Park and its "Look, it's [popculture reference]" humor.
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I just remember little things like the guy's legs and the rolled up sock falling down, or three people (one of them Portia de Rossi with her hand on her head) dancing around. Bateman did good in State of Play, and he was one of the shining lights imo in Hancock and Juno, so for him I may give this a try.
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Apr 19, 2009 4:32:17 AM CDT
American Dad is funny, Herc. How many ep's have you actually wat
by the wrong guy
I'm guessing one or two.
But of course...it's McFarlane. So it must be crap.
American Dad is so much funnier than South Park it's ridiculous. -
to be funnier than family guy but less funny than king of the hill. Unless we're talking about a multi-dimensional deal.
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when it got cancelled. FINALLY the weak link in the FOX Sunday lineup is gone! How could such a boring piece of crap that felt like it was written by retarded Larry the Cable Guy Fans get 13 seasons? It sounds like Judges new animated comedy "The Goode Family" is a "worthy" replacement. He should stop doing that and concentrate on doing movies. ...although Idiocracy felt like a very poor Futurama live action movie. Maybe he should just try a Office Space Tv-series.
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"Sit Down, Shut Up was a short-lived Australian sitcom...The series followed the staff and students at a dysfunctional fictional high school called Carpen Heights Secondary College, and focussed on the life of the teachers in and out of the staff room."
- From Wikipedia -
When you say things like "not as funny as KotH, but way funnier than Family Guy" I can't trust your judgment...the sky ain't blue in your world.
I'm off to ogle ScriptGirl's titties again... -
Fuck that. I have super high expectations going into this, and I better laugh a ton tonight. So is King of the Hill done now? Because to remove it, with NO reference to it being finished would be beyond insulting...
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You're welcome to not like KOTH, but do not equate its viewers to the NASCAR folk, you could not be more wrong. It's satirizing those people. Sure, KOTH may not make broad jokes, it's almost entirely character based humor, but it is smart, and it is consistent, and it actually spends time developing a story.
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It may be repetitive, but pairing those two up, and watching the chaos is incredibly enjoyable.
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I defy anyone to tell me that that isn't a Tobias line.
Fuck the reviews. I'm watching "Sit Down, Shut Up".
Also, "American Dad" *is* funny. Deal with it. -
than once or twice during even American Dad.
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You know, loud noises and moronic characters, rampant woman-bashing and mentally retarded authority figures, annoying, abrasive attitudes from all concerned, the usual foul slurry of insipitude passing itself off as comedy. Bleh. Has Wanda killed Cosmo off yet? Should totally happen. As for this new Fox toon, I have to force myself to watch The Simpsons now, so I should exert myself for this?
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Family guy has made me laugh alot. King of the hill is more like a class room. Simpsons is just cheesetastic lame. So this show probably will suck going by what you say.
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Apr 19, 2009 10:44:04 AM CDT
'far funnier than “Family Guy,” “American Dad” and the current i
by jacklint
It's like describing someone's beauty by saying they look way better than the elephant man.
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I tell you what.
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Does this show actually have a laugh track?
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Looks like just some promos have it
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that happens like once in 20 years. I wouldn't even bother comparing it. If it stinks then it stinks, but don't expect the same vibe just because the same people are working on it. It's kinda not fair going in with high expectations.
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Apr 19, 2009 12:14:16 PM CDT
King of the Hill is funny mostly if you lived or live in a small
by terry1978
Because most of that shit anyone from any walk of life can say, "that is just how that happens, man."
If you grew up in a larger burg, stuff like that may not really hit you, but the wordplay is still clever. -
Was the least effective element of AD. The only reason he ever worked for me was that he elicited some hilarious reactions from the other characters ("Stop licking my hand, you horses ass!). I always found Cross to be trying too hard - or maybe I just didn't find the character funny. But I'm sure his absence from Sit down, Shut up is not what is driving the negative reviews.
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King has been just as well-written and consistently amusing in this last year as ever. The episodes hold up in repeats, unlike Family Guy's one-joke "Spot The Reference" humor. And how many times this season has FG kept dragging out the same old tired jokes (Stewie's mispronounciations, or the Conway Twitty clips)? And what was with that mean-spirited dig at Shatner's wife that FOX made McFarlane pull from repeats? King has been far better than FG this season.
But this show....looks like crap. Cancelled in 5 episodes. -
then it may actually be funny! Very good news!
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There is a sort of mental generational leap between people who like Simpsons & KotH and people who like Family Guy. And it's not a leap up. It has to do with a kind of simplification and ADHD-appeal in the new shows. Much like the Oceans are simplifying from a complex food web with amazing primary predators into a bunch of eels and jellyfish.
The twitter generation will be the end of media longer than 2 minutes and meant for screens larger than a cellphone. And that will suck. -
Apr 19, 2009 2:09:36 PM CDT
That new CGI version of Erin Esurance in the Trek banner
by nasty in the pasty
Who thought that looked good? She looks like a dude in a wig. Bring back sexy 2D Erin, pleaseAnd, for the record, King Of The Hill is funny. It's not the Family Guy OMG shock shit that kids will be repeating on the jungle gym the following day, but it's quietly amusing with the occasional laugh out loud moment ("POCKET SAND!"). And it'll still be relevant decades from now, while FG's cultural references are already insanely dated.
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If you don't find it funny, then that's just your bag, but I think it's outrageously funny, and it's actually about something, unlike some of FOX's other shows. (Don't worry, I like the rest of the "Animation Domination" too, but KOTH gets short-changed far too often.)
And as KOTH isn't done YET, Sit Down Shut Up is not technically replacing it. There's a new KOTH tonight at 7:30. It just got shifted. -
Your statement demonstrates an astonishing ignorance of the iceberg of satire under the redneck surface of KotH's humor and renders your opinion on anything outside of "fire hot!" a pointless waste of even the tiny bandwidth it takes to transmit it.
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God, I despise this show. Whoever is responsible for it being placed in new rerun time slots needs to be anal raped with broken glass, because everytime I hear that theme song come on... it's like I'M being anal raped with broken glass. I also am just seeing how many times I can type anal rape with broken glass.
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The man made the funniest tv show ever, this can't be that terrible
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There is no justice in this world when Futurama, THE AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD, Arrested Development, Firefly and KORGOTH of Barbaria are not on the air, yet King of the Hill is.
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The Simpsons- I've said it before, I'll say it again: officially open the show up to all of Springfield or put it to rest. There are officially no more stories to tell about the Simpson family.Family Guy- Is frequently quite good, actually. The key is Brian, who can be funny, but is also relatable. (which is more than I can say about anyone on The Simpsons in the past decade). The pop culture "manatee gags" are hit or miss and sometimes they abuse the tactic of letting jokes play out way to long. It sometimes works, but other times smells like a lazy time fill.American Dad!-About as carbon copy of Family Guy as FG was of The Simpsons in the beginning. Unfortunately, everyone on this show is a caricature. It lacks a grounded Brian type.King of the Hill-This show neither promotes nor demeans southern culture. It is set in Texas and is about Texans, but doesn't really have an agenda one way or the other. I think Hank Hill is hilarious, his b&w view of the world and how easily he is made uncomfortable in a situation. The minus on this show is that it is frequently depressing. Many episodes involve one character (frequently Bill, Bobby, Peggy, or Luanne) putting their dignity aside while trying to achieve some tiny bit of recognition from the town, ending in humiliation and defeat. Those episodes play like the movie "Shallow Hal" (they make you laugh and then make you feel guilty about it.)This new show-The art design isn't very engaging, I don't know how many adults are going to want to look at it week after week. The jokes in the ads failed to crack my smile. I agree with the one reviewer that said we're years past shock-for-shocks-sake comedy. But it's not fair to judge until it comes out, then, isn't it?And Herc, the greatness of "AD" didn't lie in one or a few of the talents involved. It was all the actors and writers that resulted in that great alchemy.
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I should have said it took all the actors and writers to get that stew going! That would have been witty!...alchemy...what was I thinking?
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guess I hit the nail on the head, huh?
fuck NASCAR, fuck KotH, and fuck you, bubba -
... it seems like most of you don't. I don't watch it as much as I used to, but KOTH has been consistently funnier than the Simpsons for a solid 5 years. As for Family Guy... I can stand it in small doses. Haphazard sight gags and disjointed, meaningless plots only hold my attention so long.
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KOTH would work just as well as a live-action sitcom. Can't really say that about the rest of the Sunday line-up, except maybe the Simpsons back in the glory days (before Jerk-Ass Homer.)
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It has more heart and more character work, but that does not equal funnier.
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And unfortunately, most of you seem to be missing it. Also, I don't think it's out of the question to expect similar quality from shows, if the same creative staff is behind it. Obviously they won't be identical, but I think you'll see more than a few patterns happening. It may not apply with Hurwitz, but you definitely see it with a ton of writers who have done more than one piece of television. I say it's completely reasonable going into Sit Down, Shut Up with high expectations due to AD (although it may not be the best idea...)
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They cut away to Kanye Twitty (sic), and stayed on him for AT LEAST 3.5 min. Sure, this was funny because they stayed on him for so long, but as a writer myself, you relish any time you have in a script, and this was simlply THROWING AWAY time. I know this is nothing new for Family Guy, but to hold on this for so long was really too much. Any casual viewer would easily have changed the channel. Sure, Family Guy will make me laugh, but there is absolutely no way that is a "funnier", better written program than any other piece of animation currently on FOX. There's a difference between making someone laugh and being a good comedy.
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where Roger tries to ruin Stan's telethon because he won't give him credit for the idea. This is a fantastic episode.
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Sir, we have very different definitions of the word 'funny'.
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American Dad is the best show on Fox's Sunday lineup. King of the Hill was second though.
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seriously i'm in pain on the complete lack of funny this show is containing...also is it drawn on lined paper? Because i'm getting the same vibe as when i was tortured by watching the "sein-amation" segments on the seinfeld DVD's
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Tonight's episode reminded me why I love the Hills (Hank, Peggy and Bobby)
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That is a word that can be used in relation to King of the Hill. Family Guy and American Dad aren't familiar with the term. I liked older FG and I've grown to somewhat like American Dad. But King of the Hill actually tries to deal with a reality based world where each joke is not designed to make you fall on the floor laughing. It isn't a show for rednecks, either. The character of Dale Gribble aka Rusty Shackleford alone is classic.
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disappointed with sit down, shut up.
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I have faith in Hurwitz. I'm sure this is gonna be funnier than that family guy shit
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I thought it was starting next week.
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I found the premiere funny considering it pilot and look forward to it next week.
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Herc, you have odd tastes, that's for sure.
Current Simpsons is miles better than it's been for years. And after the HD switchover, every episode looks like the movie. -
I need a discernable talent!
Last time I checked, comedies were supposed to be funny. Get Canceled, Shut up. -
Why complain about Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad (had some funny episodes lately), KOTH, Sit Down, whatever when there's always Venture Bros to come back to.
That's a good show. -
Shut up Optie, I have cancer, and my mother was killed in a laugh riot.
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The antecedents to Family Guy are flicks like Airplane and The Naked Gun films. I guess if you don't care for that kind of humor, you don't like Family Guy. But if you do it's hilarious. Honestly, I don't know how anyone can't find it funny. I think a lot of people thinks it makes them hip to hate on it, so they do. The South Park hatred of Family Guy was obviously brought on by a large degree of envy for the popularity of the show--but the real irony was the two-part South Park dedicated to mocking the show was not even all that funny.
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Apr 19, 2009 10:46:56 PM CDT
The worst of the worst Family Guy eps are better than this
by juansanchez
The character names alone make me want to slit my wrists in the bathtub. And I'm not a bathtub guy. Bad jokes don't suddenly become funny when you animate them.
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Humor (indeed entertainment) is subjective.
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People say I'm nuts when I say that King of the Hill is (currently) the funniest of FOX's Animation Domination.
The new show didn't knock my socks off, but I'll take it over yet another fucking Seth McFarlane abortion. (Oh ha ha ha! Peter chopped up a cat with a razor blade! How fucking witty!) -
22 minutes of my life (no matter how sorry it is these days) that I will never, ever, get back. What a fucking waste of time 'SDSU' was -- a little "we are experiencing technical difficulties" card during one of the commercial breaks would have been awesome. Heads should roll at FOX's network programming unit if they show the next episode...is Rothman running that, too?
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Didn't they want a hit show? SIT DOWN, SHUT UP makes ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT look like EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND.
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I can't believe this actually went to series?! I think it got 2 bemused smirks and 1 half chuckle out of me over the whole 22 minutes.
This comes from the same creative team that made the brilliant AR... I guess lightning didn't strike twice.
I hope this is a case like the Simpsons pilot... kinda crappy... but as everyone knows, it took a couple of seasons for that show to find its legs.
Somehow I'm more pessimistic about the outcome of this one though. -
that was also from arrested development pedigree.
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I think this is one of the funniest shows on television. Far better than Family Guy. I laugh like a maniac during every episode.
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from the AD pedigree?
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really good
daring in how downbeat and moody this episode was for a season premiere?
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'Cause that's what I kept thinking when I saw SDSU last night. Just another American ripoff of a Britcom.
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I watched it online yesterday and thought it was good. I don't know what those critics are on about.
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Apr 22, 2009 5:26:51 PM CDT
Hey Herc, "The Simpsons" Has Been One Of The Best Things On TV F
by the_first_rule_of_fight_club
to put it in the same paragraph as this new turd is a sick joke. this shit was so incredibly unfunny that i'm surprised i sat through it. never fucking watching it again.
the same goes for "parks and recreation", another "comedy" that herc raved about last week which made me want to kill all involved and then kill myself.
and on top of it all, herc hates "my name is earl"? dude, where did you develop your sense of humour, in a cave?
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