Did family guy go too far ?

[Kantria]

Has anyone who posted actually seen the episode, or did they just blow their top after seeing that a person with Down syndrome has made an appearance on a show that's famous for its offensiveness?

I'll say it again: the character is sympathetic right up until she starts displaying traits that have absolutely nothing—NOTHING—to do with her disability and everything to do with the people she grew up around. If there's anything FG is trying to say about people with Down syndrome, it's that they're pretty much like anyone else—that is, they can be good people or they can be assholes depending on their environment. It's a slam against the Palins, not their son.

If Chris told Stewie she had Down syndrome and Stewie immediately decided not to help him get a date with her, I think you guys would have a better point. But he didn't—and you don't.

[2nd PLT]

Okay, Honestly I had NO idea it had ANYTHING to do with Palin, or a member of her family, It to me made NO hints that it did.

[Kantria]

Okay, Honestly I had NO idea it had ANYTHING to do with Palin, or a member of her family, It to me made NO hints that it did.

The kid said her mother was the governor of Alaska.

I can't remember the exact line at the moment, unfortunately, but it was while she and Chris were having dinner.

[Gravlen]

Okay, Honestly I had NO idea it had ANYTHING to do with Palin, or a member of her family, It to me made NO hints that it did.

The kid said her mother was the governor of Alaska.

I can't remember the exact line at the moment, unfortunately, but it was while she and Chris were having dinner.

"My father is an accountant and my mother is the ex-governor of Alaska", said the teenage girl. How anyone can see this as a swipe at Palin's son is beyond me.

[Blouman Empire]

No, what they stated in the episode was not even that offensive if at all, and really it was just one line. Sarah Palin attacks family guy because they are liberal, and in another case, where Rush Limbaugh called people "idiots", she DEFENDS him. Palin is practically the new Bill O'Reilly.

I will not have you attack Bill O'Reilly.

[Ashmoria]

Has anyone who posted actually seen the episode, or did they just blow their top after seeing that a person with Down syndrome has made an appearance on a show that's famous for its offensiveness?

I'll say it again: the character is sympathetic right up until she starts displaying traits that have absolutely nothing—NOTHING—to do with her disability and everything to do with the people she grew up around. If there's anything FG is trying to say about people with Down syndrome, it's that they're pretty much like anyone else—that is, they can be good people or they can be assholes depending on their environment. It's a slam against the Palins, not their son.

If Chris told Stewie she had Down syndrome and Stewie immediately decided not to help him get a date with her, I think you guys would have a better point. But he didn't—and you don't.

WORD!

i keep trying to make this point... NO DS PEOPLE WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS EPISODE. the only person that got mocked was sarah palin herself. no one else.

it wasnt particularly funny but she is fair game.

[Coccygia]

Yes. I don't think it's funny to mock the retarded (I know that term is un-PC but I don't care to mince words), or their parents, not even a doltish right-wing dingbat like Sarah Palin. I switched channels as soon as the DS girl showed up, so until I read this, I didn't know about the Palin "joke".

[Gauthier]

You know, I thought Republican dimwits promoting a television show through vocal criticism was a one-time fluke, but this is starting to make me think it might be a regular phenomenon.

Anyone remember when Dan "Potatoe" Quayle was griping about how Murphy Brown supposedly promoted single parenthood?

[Chrobalta]

You know, I thought Republican dimwits promoting a television show through vocal criticism was a one-time fluke, but this is starting to make me think it might be a regular phenomenon.

Anyone remember when Dan "Potatoe" Quayle was griping about how Murphy Brown supposedly promoted single parenthood?

Those damn Hollywood liberal elites are out to get them!!!

[Grave_n_idle]

family guy is running out of jokes so they go after the disabled now,

Um.. have you seen Family Guy?

[Kantria]

family guy is running out of jokes so they go after the disabled now,

Umm... Joe Swanson. And, technically, Peter himself is mentally retarded.

Hell, even Joe's portrayal is usually sympathetic, even though they make a lot of jokes at his expense. You know, just like they do with blacks, whites, Indians (both kinds!), Italians, Mexicans, Asians of all stripes, the English, the Irish, Americans, Protestants, Catholics (especially Irish Catholics), Muslims, Jews, atheists, anti-atheists, potheads, pothead haters, rednecks, yuppies, Southerners, Texans, New Yorkers, The New Yorker, college graduates, college dropouts, white trash, black trash, rich people, poor people, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, FDR, intellectuals, anti-intellectuals, racists, U.S. soldiers, non-U.S. soldiers, terrorists, Nazis, neo-Nazis, homosexuals, gay bashers, the porn industry, opponents of the porn industry, the tobacco industry, opponents of the tobacco industry, cats, dogs, oodles of actors and singers, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Ted Turner, Osama bin Laden, Lynndie England...

[Ashmoria]

You know, I thought Republican dimwits promoting a television show through vocal criticism was a one-time fluke, but this is starting to make me think it might be a regular phenomenon.

Anyone remember when Dan "Potatoe" Quayle was griping about how Murphy Brown supposedly promoted single parenthood?

you are showing your age!

yeah. what a dipshit.

[Maurepas]

You know, I thought Republican dimwits promoting a television show through vocal criticism was a one-time fluke, but this is starting to make me think it might be a regular phenomenon.

Anyone remember when Dan "Potatoe" Quayle was griping about how Murphy Brown supposedly promoted single parenthood?

you are showing your age!

yeah. what a dipshit.

Old people,



<----Has never heard of Murphy brown,

[Kantria]

You know, I thought Republican dimwits promoting a television show through vocal criticism was a one-time fluke, but this is starting to make me think it might be a regular phenomenon.

Anyone remember when Dan "Potatoe" Quayle was griping about how Murphy Brown supposedly promoted single parenthood?

you are showing your age!

yeah. what a dipshit.

Old people,



<----Has never heard of Murphy brown,

Hey Murphy, blah blah blah blah blah John Sununu.

Murphy, blah bluh-blah blah blah blah blah Tipper Gore.

Hey Murph, you can't blah blah bluh-blah blah the Ayatollah!

Blah bluh-blah Bishop Desmond Tutu, blah blah.

[Ashmoria]

You know, I thought Republican dimwits promoting a television show through vocal criticism was a one-time fluke, but this is starting to make me think it might be a regular phenomenon.

Anyone remember when Dan "Potatoe" Quayle was griping about how Murphy Brown supposedly promoted single parenthood?

you are showing your age!

yeah. what a dipshit.

Old people,



<----Has never heard of Murphy brown,

how old ARE you?

you arent oneathem furriners are you?

[Uptight Prudia]

If finding humor about a girl with Down syndrome is to be considered "wrong", then that is stating that those with Down syndrome are somehow "different" and should be treated not as equals but as something we tread lightly around. Thus, those that find this topic offensive are, in fact, the ones that make it offensive. Those with Down syndrome are just like anyone else. And Down syndrome is just like any other disability (or any trait that makes us as human beings "unique", such as red hair or a stuttering problem). If we can laugh at these things, we are accepting them as part of normal society. This is how I believe it should be.

[New Manvir]

You know, I thought Republican dimwits promoting a television show through vocal criticism was a one-time fluke, but this is starting to make me think it might be a regular phenomenon.

Anyone remember when Dan "Potatoe" Quayle was griping about how Murphy Brown supposedly promoted single parenthood?

you are showing your age!

yeah. what a dipshit.

Old people,



<----Has never heard of Murphy brown,

I remember Murphy Brown, but I don't remember the plot, the characters or really anything about it.

[Querinos]

I remember Murphy Brown in bits and peices. Also the actor who played the painter comitted suicide a few years ago.

As for Sara Palin, and forgive me if someone else has brought this up, I believe she is being overly sensitive. Which leads me to think she dose not see her child as a blessing. Perhaps, even blames herself for his condition. All the show did was toss out a few quick jokes, which were vaguely aimed at her. However, Family Guy showed no real negitive side other than Chris' date having the personality defect of being a bitch. Gods save us, if she ever watches a South Park episode.

[Gravlen]

Ooh, Andrea Fay Friedman - the actress with DS who voiced the character with DS - seems to have written a scathing letter concerning Palin and her objections to the episode.

[New Manvir]

This episode was boring, changed the channel halfway through.

[DrunkenDove]

Ask Joss Whedon he seems to be the main victim of the whole Fox TV show pulling thing. It happened to Family Guy once before.

They shafted Bryan Fuller as well, but he should be used to it, every show he's ever made had garnered massive critical acclaim for the first season, and then been immediately canceled. Dude must have a gypsy curse on him.

[Gauthier]

Ask Joss Whedon he seems to be the main victim of the whole Fox TV show pulling thing. It happened to Family Guy once before.

They shafted Bryan Fuller as well, but he should be used to it, every show he's ever made had garnered massive critical acclaim for the first season, and then been immediately canceled. Dude must have a gypsy curse on him.

It makes me think of what Jon Lovitz said about Fox when they cancelled The Critic:
"They should have spelled it with a U!"

[Coccygia]

If finding humor about a girl with Down syndrome is to be considered "wrong", then that is stating that those with Down syndrome are somehow "different" and should be treated not as equals but as something we tread lightly around. Thus, those that find this topic offensive are, in fact, the ones that make it offensive. Those with Down syndrome are just like anyone else. And Down syndrome is just like any other disability (or any trait that makes us as human beings "unique", such as red hair or a stuttering problem). If we can laugh at these things, we are accepting them as part of normal society. This is how I believe it should be.

I did not know that red hair was a disability. Or that laughing at people with Down's syndrome would make them feel accepted. Are you perhaps one of those people who think it's "wrong" to do research into spinal cord injuries as that would imply that there is something "wrong" with not being able to walk?

[Natapoc]

Ooh, Andrea Fay Friedman - the actress with DS who voiced the character with DS - seems to have written a scathing letter concerning Palin and her objections to the episode.

Can you give me a link to the letter?

[Inertina]

Ooh, Andrea Fay Friedman - the actress with DS who voiced the character with DS - seems to have written a scathing letter concerning Palin and her objections to the episode.

Can you give me a link to the letter?

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/family-guy-voice-actor-says-palin-does-not-have-a-sense-of-humor/?no_interstitial

BAM!