Family Guy and Postmodernism:
The television case study which I have chosen is Family Guy
because it is a very postmodern text and is created by Seth Mcfarlane who
created my film case study Ted 2.
Television represents the cultures of the world and display
some of the postmodern traits which would also dominant other art forms. For
example pastiche is often used in TV to pay tribute in a tongue- in- cheek way
to some pop cultures a good example of this is The Simpsons as it often uses
pastiche to pay tribute to certain art forms. Furthermore spectacle is used by
some TV shows which is a postmodern trait, these types of programmes would battle
for viewers by doing things to get their attention. An example of a spectacle
show is Jeremy Kyle show because they set up guests to fight and embarrass
themselves in bad situations. Next is Faux TV this is a programme which mocks
other shows and produces fake new, for example The Office mocks a standard
office workplace and follows a bad boss in awkward reality TV moments. Another
aspect of postmodern TV is mystery this involves the search for the unknown
involving spirituality, philosophy and technology, a good example of this is
Lost and The X-Files. Lastly another aspect of Postmodern TV is the anti-hero
which is postmodern as it blurs the lines between what is good and evil and
what is black and white for both characters and viewers. A good example of this
is breaking bad. This explains why so many shows can be classed as postmodern.
My opinion on television and postmodernity is that any programme can be classed
as postmodern because most of them have at least one of the traits of
postmodernity however examples such as The Simpsons and Family Guy aim to be a
lot more postmodern than other programmes. However because there is such a wide
range of postmodern programmes I don’t think it can constitute as being a whole
genre because a variety of different TV shows have postmodern traits just all
in different ways, there isn’t one set rules which shows have to follow to be
classed as postmodern. In addition to this I feel that postmodernity in
television shows will remain a popular thing because by using it makes the
programme stand out a lot compared to if it didn’t. For example if popular
shows such as Family Guy and The Simpsons didn’t follow postmodernity and ideas
like the American dream then audiences wouldn’t be able to engage and
connect with them half as much as they
do.
Family Guy:
Family Guy is a American adult animate television programme,
it is created by Seth Macfarlane and produced by: Fuzzy Door productions, Fox
Television animation and 20th Century Fox Television. It was
distributed by 20th Television. It was originally released on Fox in
America and currently being aired BBC Three. There average amount of viewers
per series is about 7.9 million. Family guy have a section on the Fox website
which provides fans with episodes, clips, pictures, tells them latest news,
when it will next be aired and has a shop to buy merchandise. http://www.fox.com/family-guy
The programme focuses on the Griffins family which consists of
parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their
talking pet dog Brian. The show is set in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode
Island, and exhibits much of its humour in the form of cutaway gags that often
related to American culture. It was first aired in 1998 as a seven minute
pilot, Seth Macfarlane was the creator of it and also plays the voices to most
of the main characters in the programme.
It has released many different media products such as: comic
books, books, a film has been announced but Macfarlane delayed it to work on
Ted 2, a Family Guy spin off has been created in the Cleveland Show, a video game has been released, many of the
main characters has featured in other animated TV shows a live performance has
also happened.
Crossover with Simpsons review:
The target audiences for postmodern television programmes
usually like programmes because they are weird, parody something which they
would experience on a day to day basis or something which causes controversy. However
many people rebel againt’s postmodern shows because of what they do, for
example many feminists disagreed with most of Top Gears views however this just
made it more popular with their target audience.
Audience:
In the case of Family Guy the target audience is predominantly
young adults who like to watch controversial programmes, furthermore they also
use pastiche which is a very postmodern thought as they often pay tribute to
things which have happened in the media outside of the programme familiar to
the way which The Simpsons does. Furthermore Family Guy also basis itself on a
normal everyday life however breaks the boundaries of this by having a range of
types of characters, for example the dog and baby talks and are more
intelligent to the older characters, however they also follow the stereotypes
of a American family because the dad goes to work and gets all the money in for
the house while the mum stays at home.
Genre:
Genre covers the generic conventions of one particular sub-genre,
it also includes ideas about how the genres have developed over time, also
institutions use the genre to target specific audiences. The show is a family
sitcom which revolves around a family of a husband, wife, children and a dog. The
show usually is about mis-happenings to the characters and normally this is
resolved within the episode. It uses flashbacks a lot which usually start with ‘I
remember when’ and ‘it’s like the time’which then is followed by the flashback
of another time in their life or in history.
Family Guy is a famous postmodern text and as a result has
created many famous postmodern moments, for example in 2014they mocked the real
estate industry while it was struggling which is postmodern because they are
trying to cause controversy just for the sake of it. Furthermore it includes
many references to popular culture such as other programmes, brands and
celebrities. For example in one programme they merged with The Simpson’s which
shows how they expect the audience to be similar with The Simpsons because it
is similar to Family Guy. They also are able to blur the boundaries between
what they feel is real and what is not, for example the characters talk about
things in the world which is happening however use hyper reality by traveling
in time and into different dimensions. Also the idea that Stewie the baby and
Brian the dog can talk fluently is un normal which makes the audience think it
is far from normal. Each programme which is produced normally doesn’t link so
they normally mock media forms such as films and shows, for example they mocked
Star Wars with a parody episode which have the same story as Star Wars but
their own characters and take on it.
The episode which I am going to focus on is The Simpson’s
Guy which is a crossover between Family Guy and The Simpsons this has many
different postmodern moments, for example product placement is with the idea of
the beer which they drink because they first of all take about the beer which
is used in Family Guy for it to be then be explained as the same as Duff just
with a sticker on. Furthermore they reference many famous films when they jump
over the huge canyon they are parodying the film Evel Knievel which is famous
for the main character Robbie Knievel jumping over the grand canyon, which the
main characters do in the episode of The Simpsons Guy.
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