Out with the Old and in with the ... Old

The fascinating journey of Family Guy came to a conclusion, or rather a beginning, last night when the show re-premiered on Fox. Fan non-fans or those who haven't been following along at home, the show was cancelled three years ago after struggling for viewers for most of its run. Cartoon Network picked it up, growing a new batch of fans, and the show's DVDs flew off the shelves.

So Fox brought the show back from the dead after three years, based almost solely on its ability to sell DVDs. In interviews, Fox execs have more or less admitted it doesn't matter what kind of ratings the show gets on the air. They expect to make their money back and more in what they call "ancillary markets."

This is probably the greatest victory for a group of TV fans, who now tend to mobilize after any show is cancelled. At least Out Here, where such things make the news, every week or so we see a group of a dozen people standing outside a studio gate, pleading for the life of some show that nobody is watching. I respect these folks commitment - I wish more people cared so strongly about art or entertainment or whatever TV is. But there is often a depressing futility to it, and I'm sure the Family Guy saga will only add fuel to the fire.

Watching the first new episode in three years, I was struck by how old fashioned Family Guy really is. The show is known for its shock value, which sometimes has a strained juvenile quality, and sometimes has an ingenious juvenile quality. But the structure of the show harkens back to early TV comedies and variety programs. Is there a story to a Family Guy episode? Yes, but it is only a loose structure that allows for maximum jokes and pop culture references. We watch Family Guy wondering "what is Peter going to say?" the same way we might wonder "what is Jackie Gleason going to say?" We don't expect to be drawn into a hilarious, insightful story (the way we might with The Simpsons). Instead, we're just watching for some good schtick.

Congrats to devoted fans on bringing back their favorite schtick.