Seth MacFarlane Doesn't Buy Into The Critiques About Family Guy's Style Of Humor

"Family Guy" has been a successful, adult-skewed, animated series on Fox ever since 1999. It hasn't come without its bumps in the road, however. The show was canceled twice before going on to be the pop-culture juggernaut it is today and certain characters and episodes caused controversy. Further, some longtime viewers can't stand the modern incarnation of the show, and "Family Guy" was even called out by a competing adult animated program.

"South Park," in a series of episodes from 2006 titled "The Cartoon Wars," came straight at "Family Guy." In the episodes, "Family Guy" is mocked in true, absurd "South Park" fashion, with the Fox show described as one that relies on random cutaways and flashbacks that don't make sense for a joke. Most of the satire was taken in stride by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, but he did express opinions about viewers who criticize his show's overall style of humor.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane wrote off some of the critiques of his show's style of humor. He said that he thinks that a portion of that criticism comes from people who haven't even watched the show and are just going off of what they heard about it second-hand. Similar comments over the years have been made about such shows as "South Park" and "The Simpsons." It seems a few folks have an idea of what "Family Guy" is supposed to be and maybe an awareness of its more outrageous moments, but without the context of actually watching the show, they seem to lose the nuances of the comedy.

"The show itself contains a degree of frat-boy humor ... But we try to include an equal amount of intelligent humor," MacFarlane told Rolling Stone. "If it makes you laugh, what's wrong with that? There's room for both highbrow and lowbrow."

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Seth MacFarlane attributed the success of the edgier comedy in "Family Guy" to the fact that it is animated, once again comparing the show to "South Park" and "The Simpsons." He said that most of the outrage towards more controversial shows exists primarily online and not in real life. "But in terms of comedy, I don't think I've ever talked to a single person in the real world — outside social media and outside think pieces — who is really upset about the state of edgy comedy," MacFarlane said. "If anything, I hear about the opposite. People want to laugh."

The funnyman and former Oscar host acknowledged the less-than-favorable comedic moments for "Family Guy," a show that at times goes too far in the eyes of fans. Regardless, MacFarlane stands by his writing team. In fact, he thought the "South Park" team went too far with their comments about his show around the time of "The Cartoon Wars" episodes of "South Park."

After "The Cartoon Wars" episodes aired, "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker continued to drag the writing of "Family Guy," calling it lazy, and spit venom at the show's writing staff (via YouTube). While Seth MacFarlane took the episodes in stride and complimented them in an interview with Howard Stern (via YouTube), he took exception to the duo criticizing his writing staff. That, apparently, is where someone crosses the line for MacFarlane.