Why Comedy is Funny and Family Guy Won't Freak People Out (Plus What Jane Austen Movie to Avoid)

There is no such thing as a good Jane Austen movie that uses saxophones and electric guitars as part of its score.

http://www.amazon.com/Northanger-Abbey-1986-Katharine-Schlesinger/dp/B0007OY2P8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1281035506&sr=8-4

I couldn't get through it.

Last night on CNN's "Larry King Live" was an interview with Seth MacFarlane. Two questions on my end: one, why do viewers have to delve into the aspects of comedy like it's actually threatening?; and two, why, in response to these questions, did I only hear the word "satire" once?

"Family Guy" is stuff we think, stuff that occurs to us and WE WON'T SAY IT. Because it's buried underneath the veneer of polite humanity. But it's there, and everything's okay when he brings it out. There is no shying away from anything, so that when something changes (as in the love-it-or-hate-it episode "Brian and Stewie"), it can work. And it's interesting. Also, when something humongous happens, nobody is nervous.

I remember watching "The Simpsons" and feel uneasy when something out of the ordinary (for the Simpson family) occurred on the show: i.e., a bunch of holes in a security guard at the bank. "Whoa!" my mother said. "I don't wanna watch that! Why would I want to see that?" Because it's tame and subtle most of the time, pushing the boundaries a little didn't always work for a show like "The Simpsons". But with something uncut and wild, you can still get your sense of intellectually-driven humor when things branch off or out.

How did I go from complaining about the BBC Jane Austen movie to ranting about comedy? CRAP, I'm one of those viewers who over-analyzes.

No. No, wait, I don't have to be. I LIKE it. It's funny.

The end.

Lihua