You always say it is like an ...

Question: You always say it is like an "event" when shows like The Sopranos and 24 are on the air, and while I agree with you that both of those shows fit that bill, I also feel that South Park is very eventlike when it comes back with new episodes. And while I feel that no show better deserves the Peabody Award than this brilliant satire, I am not quite understanding their sudden attack on Family Guy. I suppose it is only natural, since these two shows are by far the best comedies out there and since South Park always goes after what is popular, but do you feel that these anti-Family Guy episodes might show a little jealousy, considering that Family Guy is the new hot show that doesn't pull punches and goes wherever it wants to in order to get a laugh? Just wondering what your thoughts are on this little event, because I know you are a fan of both of these shows, especially South Park.
Answer: I thought the two-part "Cartoon Wars" episode was hilarious, a high point for what so far has been a killer season (the opener involving the departure of Chef, the "smug alert" satire of hybrid vehicles, etc). Not only was this a devastating critique and commentary on the hysteria over Muslim protests at cartoons using the image of Mohammed, but it was a pointed dig at Family Guy's cheap-shock method of using sacred cows for punch lines that, when you think of it, tend to lack actual punch. I shrieked when Cartman shrieked, "Don't you ever, ever compare me to Family Guy! When I make jokes, they are relevant to a story." Even the Muslim leader, in his jihad-like warnings to America not to show the episode involving the image of Mohammed: "Seriously, Family Guy isn't even that well written. The jokes are all interchangeable and usually irrelevant to the plot." And that's before we discovered that the Family Guy writing staff was actually made up of manatees in a fish tank, plucking random "idea balls" and putting them into a "joke combine." I don't know if it's sour grapes, though I tend to doubt it. Family Guy isn't likely to qualify for a Peabody anytime soon. The point South Park is making is that there is a huge difference between actual satire and tasteless gag-writing. (And I'll admit I laugh at some of Family Guy's gags, though guiltily. And I don't watch it as regularly as I do South Park.) But the bigger point was to skewer network and media hypocrisy when it comes to picking which targets are allowed to be made fun of. As Kyle said, in one of his "gay speeches" (Cartman's words): "Either it's all OK or none of it is."

At its recent best, South Park is fearlessly profound. I don't imagine you'll ever hear me say that about Family Guy. Which may, however, explain why a Family Guy fan was quoted in the South Park episode saying, "I know it's just joke after joke, but I like that. At least it doesn't get all preachy and up its own [body part] with messages, you know?"

I know.