Knowledge Waits is a feature where I just share part of the story of the comic strip that interests me. Today, I examine how Seth MacFarlane was influenced by the distant side of Gary Larson in the creation of Family Guy and American Dad!, And how American Dad then paid tribute to Gary Larson in an unusual way.
As I noted in a recent article on influence On the other side had on Family guy,, Family guy Creator, Seth Macfarlane, appeared On Marc Maron Podcast WTFAnd when Maron asked MacFarlane which comics were influences on MacFarlane growing up. MacFarlane explained how Gary Larson On the other side was the band that involved it the most (while credit Mad Magazine), “I liked Mad. On the other side It was the thing that was really revolutionary for me. It has just changed all my perception of … and God, you look at these panels now, they are so tall and they are so classic. But you remember at the time, if there had been bloggers, then if there had been pieces of reflection, they would have torn them. People were like: “It’s horrible. It’s offensive ” and … yes, but they were also brilliant. “”
As I also noted, MacFarlane would note that the format of Family guyWith the constant jokes in the cup, it was fundamentally like jokes of Monty Python or On the other side Comics in the series as much as possible. He explained In an Ama Reddit That it was very difficult to do because you must essentially write a new comic strip from far every few minutes, “the couetays are actually the most difficult to write in the series. The jokes centered on the story are a little easier, but when you have to design and invent a small whole independent sequence in an episode.”
American dad!, Of course, another Seth MacFarlane series was made in the same vein as Family guy (MacFarlane co-created the series with Family guy Writers Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman), so On the other side The influence was also present in this series (the cup gags are similar), and in an episode, the main character made the influence very clear by talking about how much he loves Gary Larson!
What is the American father! about?
American dad! was originally designed in 2000 as a parody of a certain super patriotic conservative settlement segment in the United States, and following September 11, this kind of patriotism was even more important in the United States, so American dad! was a clear answer to this kind of thing, Stan Smith being a CIA conservative agent who believes that America is the greatest and that nothing will dissuade his reflection. He lives in the suburbs of Washington DC with his wife, Francine, and his two children, Steve and Hayley. Hayley is an ultra-liberal girl, who often comes up against her conservative father. The rest of the case is Klaus, a goldfish with the brain of an East Germany, and, the most famous, Roger, an extraterrestrial who saved Stan from a black CIA site, and who is now hiding in the Smith Attica (but, of course, he regularly leaves the house in disguises and developed personalities).
The program ran on Fox, as part of its range of animation domination shows, before being canceled after eleven seasons. He was then picked up by TBS and ran there until season 19, how canceled he was canceled by TBS, but returned to Fox for a long -term agreement, keeping him in the waves for at least season 25.
How did Stan Smith’s love for Gary Larson come into play on the American father!?
In season 12 in 2016, the episode “Portrait of Francine’s genitals” opened with the Smith family (including Hayley’s husband, Jeff, whom we learn in this episode took the family name, Smith) having breakfast when Roger learns that the Langley Falls Museum acquired the paintings of Reynolds Jaspertian, a famous artist. Roger tells how good he is, and Stan replies: “Do you know who is the best artist? Gary Larson. He took us all on the other side and made us laugh.”
Francine then reveals that she really posed for Jaspeterian, which shocks Roger. Smiths therefore go to the art museum. A funny meta -fictional song is that, of course, everyone assumes that Roger is actually Reynolds Jaspertian, because Roger has many different personalities and professions via his disguises (one of his most twisted was the children’s beauty contest, Bonnie Ramirez, who, of course, “disappeared” when Roger was tired of playing and playing, and as a result Roger.
During the museum, Stan is surprised to find a long line to see a special exhibition. He asks the person at the end of the line to what the line was for, and the guy said that he is Jaspeterian’s masterpiece. Stan asks: “Does it have two funny animals and a joke? A big kid wearing glasses and a hilarious observation below? Otherwise, I’m like that T. Rex looking at the asteroid to head towards the earth.” Uh, check, please. “”
Then, the torsion of the episode comes, because Stan learns that the masterpiece of Jaspeterian is “portrait of the genitals of Francine”. Stan is shocked, and hilarious, once we discover that painting is an abstract representation of the genitals of Francine, Stan is always disturbed that everyone can see the genitals of Francine in painting.
He ends up stealing painting (with a character of Roger’s art thief), but when he learns that Francine loves the fact that so many people admire and love painting, he turns it over.
There is a last reminder of Larson when Roger (in his art Persona) said to Stan: “Flying it with art is the greatest art of all”, and when Stan does not react, Roger shouts, “Oh, you screw, Stan! If Gary Larson drew a cow with curlers in his hair saying that you would die!” Stan then thinks of the band to “check please” and laugh.