9/26/13
View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 2
Episode Title: Heckuva Job, BrownieCurse these network premieres. Almost every major network premiered a few shows this week. I caught some... like Hostages (which sucked btw), Sleepy Hollow (which SUCKED... btw...), Agents of SHIELD (which... well you'll just have to see). I missed a whole lot however, like The Blacklist, Masters of Sex (shut up) and Trophy Wife (SHUT UP... I try to watch everything...shut up). Point is, I got a lot of options... yet I'm here watching another episode of Dads...
I have to admit. This episode was a lot better than the pilot. First off there's actual jokes this time around. Most of the jokes are actually set up and executed. Now for the jokes that aren't setup and paid off... the "offensive" humor. Let me say one thing. After a decade of South Park and... well Seth MacFarelane in general, being offensive and borderline racist is not edgy anymore. Nor is it inherently funny. It takes no effort to "push the line" now. Social norms have changed where really politically incorrect and unpatriotic humor are much more socially acceptable.
So... Family Guy writers... you don't get props for "going there" anymore. Everyone "goes there" now. If you want to really "go there" give us some witty insight to our current society's state. I'll give you an example of how they failed at that. So Seth Green (fuck me if I can remember any of these character's names tbh) needs to come up with a video game idea but he has a creative block. His co-workers give him a pot brownie to see if he can come up with something cool. His dad accidentally eats it. Lo-and-behold, his Dad suddenly turns into this nice pleasant guy. (This joke is executed with so little imagination btw that it feels old...)
Seth Green decides to test his Dad with questions that I guess are supposed to be the jokes themselves. Here's a couple that I remember off the top of my core. 1. What do you think about Obama? 2. I saw two gay people kissing. And his Dad responded positively to both and there's a laugh track....
Wait when did his Dad hate Obama? When was his Dad... homophobic? This was never set up. It's like the writers thought "oh, old people. So old people are inherently Tea Party members right? So we can just throw a joke about homophobia and it'll be fine."
No.
Is the fact that an old dude being accepting of gay people just because he's on pot really that funny? I don't know about you but I don't assume everybody who is in the previous generation is an Ayn Rand worshipping homophobic teabagger. That's just stupid. (And kinda arrogantly presumptuous.) You know what being edgy isn't? Being stupid. I need to say this again. Being politically incorrect does not make you inherently smart! So stop it. Do you want to know why the show Louie is so good? I'll give you a hint. It's because every comedic situation that's not completely PC is followed up by some insightful development. It really turns you on your head and makes you really think about what just happened. That actually makes jokes funnier because if you're audience is thinking that means they are more engaged. But Dads here just thinks it can throw out lame middle school level "offensive" humor and be done with it.No.
Also I realized in this episode that the writers are just pretending that Dads has been around a while. They throw out "character quirks" that aren't established at all... hey guys, this is Season 1 Episode 2 of Dads. This isn't Family Guy Season 40 Episode 20. When you create a new show... you need to actually create characters that are not rehashes of your own work. Stop. Being. Lazy. And cut out all that forced sentimentality bullshit. Actually develop your stupid characters... Because fuck if I knew that Seth Green's Dad actually didn't love his wife and that's part of the reason why they have problems. Seriously, this is brought up... and resolved... just like that...Hmmm... k...
This is going to be a long season...
