Critical Investigation Final Copy

How do Animated Sitcoms, such as The Simpsons and Family Guy represent the ‘family’ and why are these representations considered humorous?

Arguably, Animated Comedy has been one of the biggest entertaining mediums in history. Starting from Mickey Mouse’s power of reviving the population from an economically unstable Europe to Tom and Jerry’s slapstick motions steering the world away from the tragedies of the Second World War and guiding them to a more cheerful outlook on life in the late 40s, Animated Comedy has become a very important form of entertainment and escapism. Whilst a Pluralist would argue that Comedy tends to reflect society and its values and ideologies, a Marxist perspective argues that it is an “Ideological State Apparatus”[1] used to shape the younger generations into forming certain ideologies designed to ultimately be in favour of the institution that created it. Its values have evolved dramatically from a simple and comprehensible genre into the media’s most controversial subject. This has led Animated Comedy to split into many genres, focusing on contemporary social issues such as drugs, gender, sexuality and social backgrounds – all of which are foundations of the sitcom genre.

The social and historical aspects of family life vary between many cultures and religions, yet the ‘traditional’ family is widely believed to be patriarchal. The idea of male dominance within the family has existed for many centuries, being the core to the patriarchal society that, many believe, has been abolished. In fact, the stereotypical representation of family life has, for many years, been seen as out-dated and it has become very common in today’s society for relationships to terminate prematurely with “as many as 2 out of 3 marriages”[2] now ending in divorce. Many cultures tend to accept family as being the most important aspect of life, and therefore are determined to undermine the idea of separation. However, it is argued that the contemporary American family is, in many ways, “not stable”[3], and plays on the idea of divorce as being justifiable even in the silliest circumstances.

It is conventionally known for the father in a family to have a very positive relationship with his son and vice-versa, leaving the mother to bond more with her daughter. The Simpsons tends to enforce this tradition, displaying Marge and Lisa as having an extremely open and positive relationship as well as over-nurturing her youngest daughter Maggie. This is seen in Season 19, Episode 3; Midnight Towboy, where Marge hires a woman to help make Maggie less dependent on her mother and, once this independence was enforced, Marge was not able to accept the fact that she was no longer needed to nurture her child. In Contrast, Family Guy demonstrates a more contentious personality for the main protagonist, Peter Griffin, and focuses on “familial and patriarchal dysfunction”[4]. Peter Griffin’s relationship with his children is one that could only be classified as dysfunctional. Similar to that of Homer, from The Simpsons, he is shown in many episodes to be physically and verbally abusive to his daughter, Meg. Although it is often observed that all of the family have a strong dislike for their unattractive daughter, Peter seems to be the most repulsively disrespectful of them all. An episode that portrays this issue is Season 5, Episode 11; The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou, where Peter “farts repeatedly in Meg's face (following her backwards around the table until she finally trips and then letting out a powerful fart right in her face so that she vomits on the floor at which Peter gets mad with her)”[5]. This sort of behaviour is widely considered to be funny purely for the fact that it is something so out of the ordinary, and not observed on a day-to-day basis in such a Democratic country.

These drastic changes of family life have become increasingly evident when comparing historical texts of a similar genre. A classic animation series of the 1960s, The Flintstones, reinforced the idea of male dominance in the family. Yet, like most comedies, it played on the idea of occasional female power where wife Wilma and friend Betty would to burst out in anger. This is seen in Season 3, Episode 11; Ladies Day, where Betty suspects her husband of cheating on him and exclaims “imagine another woman, and here I am spending the best years of my life slaving and working for him”. It is followed by Wilma and Betty both angrily marching out of the house in hope of catching Barney in the act with his bogus mistress. Actions like these seemed to be a very common humorous aspect for many comedies of the 20^th Century, especially those which aimed to appeal to the older target audience who have been raised with these ideologies.

Furthermore, there are countless similarities in the roles of women in the household and the “angel/whore dichotomy”[6] between The Flintstones and contemporary Animated Sitcoms, which have become more graphic over time. Lois’ care and concern for the family seems to stem from Wilma’s in The Flintstones, although the audience is never shown any intimate side to the relationship between Wilma and Fred, whereas Family Guy does the complete opposite – adding scenes of a sexual nature between husband and wife and playing on the issue of familial incest. Whilst some would find this extremely disturbing in an animated show, a genre traditionally associated with a child audience, others argue that it reflects contemporary social issues and brings to light the concern many families face in today’s society. This would be considered humorous to those who understand the binary opposition between the stereotypically innocent subjects included in cartoons, and those that are completely obscene featured in Family Guy.

It is clear that youth culture has dominated the media for decades, and therefore it is not a surprise that we are made aware that social issues have arisen through this change. Gender roles have become increasingly shifted, reinforcing the values and ideologies that, a Marxist would argue, are Ideological State Apparatuses by those who are socially superior in order to promote themselves as being ‘normal’ and marginalise those groups who are seen as different (and therefore ‘abnormal’ or ‘deviant’). This is visible in many episodes of Family Guy such as Season 4, Episode 19; “Brian Sings and Swings”[7], in which the daughter Meg, desperate to conform to the rebellion of teen culture, announces that she is a lesbian. Even though her efforts at seeking attention were successfully accepted in her school, her family realised that the key to solving the issue of conformity was to ignore the announcement. A Marxist view would suggest that it is a method of pressurising the youth audience into accepting these stereotypically negative Ideologies in order to conform to society’s changes. It would also argue that the public are injected certain ideologies that are beneficial to those who are considered authority-figures, through the use of Ideological State Apparatus. It could be argued that traditional Animated Sitcoms like The Flintstones “demonstrates to our youth our idealized gender roles”[8], suggesting that today’s youth aspire to conform to traditional gender roles, rather than those that have been “manipulated by the creators of media texts”[9]. Therefore, in order to bring out a counter-Marxist point, the disorganised and dysfunctional Family Guy would bring to people’s attention that “life and relations in the traditional family appear to many to be prosperous and orderly”.

It could be argued that the Ideologies portrayed by both The Simpsons and Family Guy about the modern family are negative representations of what is stereotypically expected of a healthy relationship with siblings. Family Guy creates comedy using subjects considered too sensitive to be openly publicised, such as controversies about the stereotypically homosexual actions and gestures portrayed by Stewie Griffin, who is theoretically considered to play the character of a talking infant. It is very often that the audience observe Stewie being criticised by their family dog, Brian – also an ‘unusual’ member of their family – because of his feminine actions. These negative representations are also visible in The Simpsons, where Bart finds extreme difficulty conforming to the norms of his classmates. Similarly, physical issues such as obesity are used in many episodes of Family Guy. Some argue that the issue of obesity is a key tool for humour, as it relates to the majority of the population in the USA, supported by statistics indicating that “3 million”[10] of Americans are considered morbidly obese. This kind of stereotypical representation is most commonly found amongst teenagers, as many are aware of the issues surrounding obesity and the importance in keeping fit from an early age. One of many episodes of Family Guy that reinforce this stereotype is Season 7, Episode 4; Baby Not On Board, where Glen Quagmire says he is stuck behind “some fat-ass driving too slow”. Even though the audience know that the main protagonist, Peter Griffin, is created to be obese and has been so since his childhood, he is often seen to be criticised for his weight and his looks on the show.

Therefore, it is extremely common in shows that are of a comedy genre to criticise this unhealthy lifestyle in a humourous way, which many would find offensive if it were not for the situation in this scene. The Cleveland Show, a spin-off from the original character Cleveland Brown in Family Guy, also makes references to obesity. Yet this character was never criticised for his weight in Family Guy. Even Comedy Sitcoms such as King of Queens also includes an obese main protagonist (Doug Heffernan), who is constantly shown being criticised and teased for his weight. This, in turn, brings to people’s attention that there is a higher percentage of men who are overweight than women. Both texts share these values, presenting Homer Simpson, a lazy overweight doughnut lover, and Peter Griffin, an almost morbidly obese man who hates the idea of doing anything more than is necessary. The idea of obesity being considered humorous stems from the fact that those who are ‘fat’ are stereotypically associated with lack of intelligence. It allows the male audience, on some level, to identify with both Peter and Homer and accept the representation of this contemporary ‘husband’-figure as being a role-model which they should aspire to (according to traditional family values).

Some argue that it is “human nature to like to see slapstick things happen to people with power or authority, especially if they're pompous or misusing that authority”[11], therefore we must assume that the entire aim of both texts is to entertain the audience. Whether or not the representation of ‘family’ is positive, the ultimate intention for the institutions of both texts would be to allow the audience to believe that it is entertaining and, therefore, seek escapism from their own lives. However, it is fair to suggest that the representation of ‘family’ by Family Guy and The Simpsons are primarily negative – reinforcing stereotypical ideologies from the patriarchal society that Feminism hoped to diminish. Dysfunctional families are subjects that have become so common in today’s society that audiences now conform to the Values and Ideologies presented by Animated Sitcoms, and believe that, through humour, they would be able to solve difficult situations. Therefore, it is a sense of escapism that one would not find if it were not for the Comedy aspect in this genre.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works Cited

Books

Davis, G., & Needham, G. (2009). Queer TV: Theories, Histories, Politics. Oxon: Routledge.

Ferretter, L. (2006). Louis Althusser. Oxford: Routledge.

Marx, C. (2010). Write your way into animation and games. Oxford: Elsevier.

Mittell, J. (2004). Genre and Television: From cop shows to cartoons in American culture. New York: Taylor & Francis Books Inc.

Nelmes, J. (1996). An Introduction to Film Studies. London: Routledge.

Nelson, S. M. (2007). Women in Antiquity: Theoretical Approaches to Gender and Archaeology. Lanham: The Rowan & Littlefield Publishing Group.

Websites

BBC. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2011, from BBC Learning English Web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/britain/070601_family.shtml

Collins, A. (2007). Anne Collins. Retrieved December 23, 2010, from Obesity Statistics Web site: http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/statistics-obesity.htm

Purdue University: College of Liberal Arts. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2011, from Purdue University Web site: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/theory/psychoanalysis/notes/angelwhore.html

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (2010, December 14). Retrieved February 1, 2011, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Sings_and_Swings

Wilson, K. (n.d.). MediaKnowAll. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from MediaKnowAll Web site: http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audience

Health Tree. (2010, August 10). Retrieved January 31, 2011, from Health Tree Website: http://www.healthtree.com/articles/obesity/effects/

Works consulted

Books

Bignell, J. (2004). An introduction to television studies. New York: Routledge.

Branston, G., & Stafford, R. (1996). The Media Student’s Book. New York: Routledge.

Bryant, J. (2001). Television and the American Family. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Charney, M. (2005). Comedy: A Geographic and Historical Guide, Volume 1. Westport CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.

McNally, M., & Schwarzmantel,J. (2009). Gramsci and Global Politics: Hegemony and Resistance. Oxon:Routledge.

Gray, J. (2006). Watching The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality. New York: Routledge.

Harris, R. J. (2009). A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication: Fifth Edition . New York: Routledge.

Holtzman, L. (2000). Media Messages: What film, Television, and Popular Music Teach Us About Race, Class, Gender and Sexual Orientation. New York: M. E. Sharpe Inc.

Howard, M. (2007). Behind Enemy Lines: A Conservative Teacher’s Observations of Generation XXX. USA: Booklocker.com Inc.

Korieh, C. J., & Okeke-Ihejirija, P. (2009). Gendering Global Transformations: Gender, Culture, Race and Identity. Oxon: Routledge.

Magill, R. J. (2007). Chich Ironic Bitterness . USA: University of Michigan Press.

Mazur, E. M., & McCarthy, K. (2000). God In The Details: American Religion in Popular Culture (2nd Edition). Oxon: Routledge.

McNally, M., & Schwarzmantel, J. (2009). Gramsci and Global Politics: Hegemony and Resistance. Oxon: Routledge.

Mittell, J. (2004). Genre and Television: From cop shows to cartoons in American culture. New York: Taylor & Francis Books Inc.

Stoned, I. (2009). Weed: 420 Things You Didn’t Know (or remember) About Cannabis. USA: Adams Media.

Storey, J. (2006). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader (Third edition) . England: Peason Education Limited.

Websites

Ellwood, C. A. (2004). Sociology and Modern Social Problems. Missouri: Julie Barkley.

Family and Child. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2011, from Homemorals.com Web site: http://www.homemorals.com/moral-value/family-values/Modern-American-Family-Values.html

Feasey, R. (2008). Masculinity and Popular Television. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd.

Silverblatt, A. (2007). Genre studies in Mass Media: A handbook. New York: M E Sharpe.

Treas, J. (1977). The Gereontologist. Retrieved January 31, 2011, from Oxfrod Journals: http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/6/486.short

Buckimion. (n.d.). Family Guy Wikia. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from Wikia Web Site: http://familyguy.wikia.com/wiki/The_Tan_Aquatic_with_Steve_Zissou

SAGE Publications Inc.

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[1]Ferretter, L. (2006)

[2]BBC.(n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2011, from BBC Learning English Web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/britain/070601_family.shtml

[3]Nelmes, J. (1996)

[4]Davis & Needham (2009)

[5] Buckimion. (n.d.). Family Guy Wikia. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from Wikia Web Site:

http://familyguy.wikia.com/wiki/The_Tan_Aquatic_with_Steve_Zissou

[6]Purdue University: College of Liberal Arts. (n.d.). Retrieved January 31, 2011, from Purdue University Web site: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/theory/psychoanalysis/notes/angelwhore.html

[7]Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. (2010, December 14). Retrieved February 1, 2011, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Sings_and_Swings

[8] Nelson, S. M. (2007)

[9]Wilson, K. (n.d.). MediaKnowAll. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from MediaKnowAll Web site: http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audience

[10]Collins, A. (2007). Anne Collins. Retrieved December 23, 2010, from Obesity Statistics Web site: http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/statistics-obesity.htm

[11] Marx, C. (2010)

Bibliography

Marx, C. (2010) Write your way into animation and games. Elsevier : Oxford

"Animation uses motion and misuses the laws of physics. Timing is important. The comedy is exaggerated, often taking reality one step beyond. It may be illogical."

"It's human nature to like to see slapstick things happen to people with power or authority, especially if they're pompous or misusing that authority."

"Experts believe that all comedy contains an impulse of aggression or fear. The fear may be combined with affection, as it is when we tease."

"Shock works well. Repression can contribute to a bigger laugh."

"Who is slipping on the ice? If it's the little old lady, the two frames of reference remain juxtaposed."

Mittell, J. (2004) Genre and television: from cop shows to cartoons in American culture. Taylor & Francis Books Inc : New York

“Not only have scholars followed linkage between parody and postmodernism regarding The Simpsons, but they have also looked at the show’s parody as a sign of the decline of the sitcom genre.”

“It is obvious to even the most novice television viewer that The Simpsons is, on some level, a mixture of domestic sitcom and animated cartoon.”

“Each program…focuses on a family marked by visual styles and characterization as bleak and miserable as those of former TV families has been handsome and cheerful.”

Davis, G. & Needham, G. (2009) Queer TV: theories, histories, politics. Routledge : Oxon

“What interests me about Family Guy is its insistent focus on familial and patriarchal dysfunction.”

“While I am not denying that there are other aspects of Family Guy which do lend themselves to radical and subversive readings, for example the adult-boy Stewie Griffin, I am maintaining a resistance to the possibility that such claims have anything to do with a counter-discourse against the television family as normative.”

Nelmes, J. (1996) An Introduction to Film Studies. Routledge : London

“The contemporary American family, however, is not stable and many families divorce and separate.”

Branston, G. & Stafford, R. (1996) The Media Student's Book. Routledge : Oxon

“Animation often represents worlds which differ from our own: as in the four-fingered, yellow-skinned inhabitants of The Simpsons, with their unlikely ‘local media’, babies that never grow up, far-flung storylines and pain-free violence.”

“Most viewers relish the exaggeration/difference, which partly allows the series its ‘double address’ to both child and adult viewers.”

“They also may enjoy the ways that characters and storylines do relate to ‘our’ world, with bitingly satirical comments on real-life political or cultural issues, relatively unlimited by budget contraints.”

Bignell, J. (2004) An Introduction to television studies. Routledge : Oxon

“While The Simpsons might be interesting and important, it testifies to the success of the Fox television network in producing and distributing a programme which fits the new cultural order of multinational capitalism.”

“The Simpsons is a very important piece of cultural work, at least as important as any contemporary novel, play or painting, because of its intertextual complexity, its self-awareness, its relevance to the fragmented media landscapes and audiences of the present.”

“Much of the comedy in The Simpsons comes from the reflexive parody of the conventions of, among others: other animated series, horror films, television news, children’s television.”

Feasey, R. (2008) Masculinity and Popular Television. Edinburgh University Press Ltd : Edinburgh

“Since the continued success of both The Simpsons and King of the Hill, we have seen the arrival of Family Guy, another animated series situated within the working-class situated comedy tradition.”

“Family Guy represents an outrageously irreverent commentary on all aspects of contemporary American culture, with particular emphasis on changing gender roles and the role of organised religion.”

“In the same way that Homer refuses to attend Bart’s little league games because he finds them too boring, so too, Peter is uninterested in his daughter’s school play because ‘Meg sucks, everything she does is so freaking terrible and depressing’”
“The bond between father and son is less sacred and more an easily overlooked inconvenience for the male.”

“It is not only Stewie that Peter lets down, but the whole Griffin clan; in fact this failed patriarchal routinely takes the family to the verge of financial and social disaster, and seems surprisingly proud of the moments when he, usually unwittingly, saves the day. Lois makes this point herself when she comments ‘Oh Peter I’m so proud of you, once again you brought our family to the edge of the abyss and at the very last minute you saved us all.’”

“One might suggest that those men who refuse to find gainful employment or take on the breadwinning role are simply aware of the danger of being diagnosed with coronary heart disease, or what the medical professions termed ‘the burden of responsibility.’”

“Nine out of ten fathers involved in divorce leave the family home to become non-resident and approximately 8 per cent of all birth certificates in Britain…do not reveal the identity of the father.”

Harris, R.J. (1989) A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communication. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc : New Jersey

“The basic message here, as true for The Simpsons or Family Guy in the early 21st century as it was for Leave It to Beaver decades earlier, is that one’s family is more important than money, power, greed, status, or career advancement.”

“When Homer Simpson lost his job, the whole family pitched in to help save money.”

“One may ask if such family solidarity is a realistic reflection of our society. It clearly is for many families and just as clearly is not for many others, whose troubled family dynamics would more typically be characterised by vicious backstabbing, betrayal, and generally putting oneself above other family members.”

“The conventional wisdom is that media have a negative influence [on the quality of family life], but that conclusion is by no means certain or simple.”

“A uses and gratifications approach to studying family TV use looks at motivations for watching, which may vary greatly depending on the program or the individuals’ moods.”

This book features a Psychological study into the differences between the reasons why men and women watch TV. It is called Morley (1988):
“In terms of uses and gratifications, women saw TV viewing as more of a social activity and we also more likely to be doing other activities (e.g., housework) concurrently, whereas men were more likely to devote full attention to the program. Men saw TV watching as ‘earned recreation’ whereas women saw it as a ‘guilty pleasure,’ a distraction from homemaking duties.”

Tueth, M. (2005) Laughter in the Living Room: Television comedy and the American home audience. Peter Lang Publishing Inc : New York

“The Simpsons and Family Guy have turned the television medium into a repository of cultural trivia and popular folklore. In the process they encourage an oppositional reading of much of the mediated messages.”

“The Simpsons family may represent skewed variations on the American middle class, but they are surrounded by members of minority groups or other relative outsiders.”

“The Simpsons offers a full display of inept and hypocritical wielders of power.”

“Meanwhile, the esthetic distance of the cartoon medium allows mainstream viewers to discount the grotesque if they so desire. As a consequence, the presentation of the family is ambivalent. In its animated incarnation the discourse is reassuringly comic for some viewers and boldly subversive for others.”

Casey, B. & Calvert, B (2008) Television studies: the key concepts. Routledge : Oxon

“The resulting product was The Flintstones – the first family-oriented animated sitcom, premiered by ABC in 1960. Based on the classic situation comedy structure, The Flinstones’ influence can be detected across a wide range of contemporary cartoons such as Daria, American Dad, Family Guy, The Simpsons and King of the Hill.”

“Given the prominence of intertextuality along with the use of irony, parody and pastiche, some theorists have cited animated sitcoms such as The Simpsons as exemplifying postmodernism in television programming.”

“Cartoons, it would seem, have ‘grown up’, both in terms of their content and in terms of audiences that they attract. In this respect, some theorists have drawn on the concept of double coding to explain the ways in which a text like The Simpsons appeals to both adults and children.”

Johnston, C.B. (2008) Screened out: How the Media control us and what we can do about it. M.E. Sharpe Inc : New York

[Family Guy]
“The cartoon humour is based on bigotry, hate, and total lack of respect for all people not conforming with the designated ‘majority’.”

“The argument for ‘The Family Guy’ cartoon was the argument that free speech should not be silenced. A difficult line to draw in our culture is the dividing point between free expression of diverse viewpoints and spreading hate that results in physical harm to people.”

'Other Media' [n.d. Online]. Wikipedia.
Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Guy [Accessed 23 December 2010]

'USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions' [n.d. Online]. Obesity Statistics.
Available: http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/statistics-obesity.htm [Accessed 23 December 2010]

'Mental Health Effects of Obesity' [n.d. Online]. Health Tree.
Available: http://www.healthtree.com/articles/obesity/effects/ [Accessed 23 December 2010]

Textual Analysis

Connotations of the “middle finger” gesture – swearing and being inappropriately rude to a fellow driver. It was censored, as are most swear words and inappropriate gestures in Family Guy, to make it (somewhat) appropriate for children.

Long shot of the family sitting in the car – gives indication of it being a family vacation as they are all traveling together.

Medium shot of Peter talking on the phone – emphasising the fact that the family are not involved in the conversation. Also shows the mirror clearly in the top right side of the screen which gives an indication that the object will be in use in this scene.

Extreme long shot of both cars driving – for the audience to visualise the situation from both characters’ points of view. Then another extreme long shot of the cars parking as both characters come out to fight, audience realise (if they hadn’t before) that it was a misunderstanding between the two friends.

Clothing worn is normal everyday casual clothing that is seen being worn by the characters in most episodes – connotes a casual atmosphere.

Facial expressions are typical of all characters. Meg and Brian both look bored as they are clearly not enthusiastic about this family trip. Chris’ face is typical of his character as he is known to be slow and misunderstanding a lot of the reasons behind why the family do things. Lois’ facial expression is also quite typical of her character, as she is smiling, connoting her optimism about the family trip, yet the audience know that something is going to happen to ruin it…as it is often that she is seen smiling before getting angry.

The sound in most of Family Guy is mainly diegetic. There are very few scenes where non-diegetic sounds are used, but both have their purpose in the narrative. E.g. when non-diagetic sound is used, the audience are aware of something action-packed going on, like music during a fight, which usually fits the movements of the characters. However, in scenes like these, diegetic sound is used to add to the tension of something that is going to happen, or a slapstick joke/action.

In terms of transitions and fade-outs, Family Guy take good care in ensuring none are used, purely for the fact that most scenes cut to others sharply, for example, thoughts and memories of certain events. Therefore, canned laughter is also not necessary in making the audience laugh, as the narrative is constructed in a non-linear form and scenes are short and slapstick.

This text is produced by Fuzzy Door Productions, as well as 20^th Century Fox Television for the episodes that are available to watch on TV.

Even though the show is not available in cinemas, it still fits all three areas of the contemporary media landscape. It is available on Broadcast channels in the UK on BBC3 usually at a late hour after 22:30, on FOX in the US and available both on SDTV and HSTV formats.

A film is not yet available for the show, but the director/producer Seth MacFarlane announced in an Interview with The Hollywood Reporter on 22^nd July 2007, that he is working on a feature film. He also confirmed this in an interview on TV Week on 18^th July 2008.

A spinoff of Family Guy includes The Cleveland Show, which was launched in 2010 by Appel and Fox, introducing one of the protagonists of the show, Cleveland Brown, and his Black-Comedy humour.

There are also video games available for the show on PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Xbox. They have all received varied reviews for the game, even though they have been praised for the humour but criticised for their “short gameplay”.

The creator, director, developer and executive producer of the show is Seth MacFarlane. He also voices the characters of Peter, Brian, Stewie, Glen Quagmire, Tom Tucker and Carter Pewterschmidt. Alex Borstein voices Lois Griffin, Loretta Brown, Barbara Pewterschmidt and Tricia Takanawa. Seth Green voices Chris Griffin and Neil Goldman. Mila Kunis voices Meg Griffin. Mike Henry voices Cleveland Brown, Herbert the Pervert, Greased Up Deaf Guy and Bruce the Performance Artist.

It is not clear whether Family Guy’s genre is Hybrid, or whether it is a sub-genre. In theory, it is known to be an Animation Comedy. However, it has elements of sitcom in the series, especially as the narrative mainly revolves around family life.

In terms of iconography and settings, it could be said that the genre of the series is a sitcom. This is because, even though the narrative is non-linear, elements within different episodes suggest it is nevertheless a sitcom, for example: the introduction of contemporary social issues like drugs, gender, sexuality, social backgrounds – are all foundations of popular sitcoms.

However, the styles and themes that are portrayed by the characters in the series suggest there is a huge element of comedy in the show. As Christy Marx suggested in her 2010 book Write Your Way Into Animation and Games, "It's human nature to like to see slapstick things happen to people with power or authority, especially if they're pompous or misusing that authority”. Therefore we must assume that Family Guy is as much a Comedy as an Animated Sitcom, because without these slapstick effects, the audience would not find the show so inappropriately humourous.

Glen Quagmire’s quotes that there is a “fat-ass” driving slowly, suggests that obese people are being stereotyped in a negative way in this scene. Even though the audience know that the main protagonist, Peter Griffin, is naturally obese and has been so since his childhood, it is often that he is criticised for his weight and his looks on the show. This brings out the dominant ideologies that obese people are more prone to mental health disorders as stated by HealthTree under The Effects of Obesity on August 10^th 2010: “Low self-esteem is common among the severely obese. Rates of depression and anxiety appear to be higher; a Swedish study found that severely obese people are three to four times more likely to exhibit symptoms of anxiety and depression, as compared to those with a healthy weight.”

This kind of stereotypical representation is most commonly found in the youth of today’s society, as communities are made aware of the issues surrounding obesity and the importance of keeping fit at every stage of your life. 2010 Obesity Statistics states under USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions that “58 Million” are overweight, “40 Million” are obese and “3 Million” are morbidly obese in the USA. Statistics also prove that “Eight out of 10 over 25’s” are overweight in the USA.

Therefore, it is extremely common in shows that are of a comedy genre to criticise this unhealthy lifestyle in a humourous way, which many would find offensive if it were not for the situation in this scene. The Cleveland Show also makes references to obesity, which is a spin-off of the original character Cleveland Brown in Family Guy. Yet his character was never criticised for his weight in Family Guy. Even Comedy Sitcoms such as King of Queens also includes an obese main protagonist (Doug Heffernan), who is constantly shown being criticised and teased for his weight.

Furthermore, the behaviour of Peter and Quagmire in this scene seems to negatively stereotype today’s male drivers and their impatience. Some could argue that it reinforces this stereotype of male drivers being aggressive behind the wheel, yet others could argue it challenges this by bringing it to the audience’s attention of how silly it is through the use of comedy. Consequently, it is a positive ideology as it is informing the audience of the stupidity of these kinds of actions and thus educating those to use this approach while driving, to be less aggressive behind the wheel. It does this by showing these kinds of drivers how pointless it would be if they were to make a pompous mistake like the one in this scene.

The primary audience for this particular text would probably be adults, aged 16 to 40. This is because the scheduling time for this show is quite late, surpassing children’s bedtimes.

In terms of the gender and ethnicity, the text would be aimed primarily at male drivers. This is because it reinforces the stereotypes of men driving the family car and getting into quarrels with other men on the road. Therefore, males would be able to have a sense of personal identification, especially if they know that they behave in this manner when they are driving. It also allows the audience self-gratification, so that they are able to use humour in difficult situations. Therefore, it allows males to be able to repel their misogynistic attitudes and possibly inform those in this patriarchal society how they can conform to this post-feminist era.

As mentioned before, the show itself follows a non-linear narrative as it contains many flashbacks and short scenes that relate to characters’ thoughts and comparisons. Yet, solely focusing on this one text, it follows a linear narrative as all events happen in order of expectation. The narrative structure for most episodes follows Todorov’s Equilibrium theory, beginning with the Equilibrium, Disruption in Equilibrium, Recognition of Disruption, Attempt to restore Equilibrium, New-Equilibrium.

The show itself contains very little enigma codes. It is possible that this has been deliberately created in this way in order for the audience to be surprised at every episode, as almost all plots in Family Guy are extremely outside of the audience’s expectations and their way of solving problems.