MacFarlane Special Loses Microsoft

Variety writes: "Microsoft has yanked its sponsorship from Fox's upcoming Seth MacFarlane comedy/variety special over content concerns. Fox still plans to air "Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" on Nov. 8, but with another, yet-to-be-named, sponsor.

Almost Live Comedy Show was announced earlier this month as part of a major marketing partnership Microsoft had sealed with a wide range of News Corp. properties to promote the launch of the computer giant's Windows 7 operating system. But that was before Microsoft execs attended the special's taping Oct. 16. The program included MacFarlane and Alex Borstein -- the voice of Family Guy matriarch Lois -- pitching Windows 7.

For most of the special, however, MacFarlane and Borstein made typical Family Guy-style jokes, including riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest. Such material was apparently a bit much for Microsoft."

[edwineverready]

What did you expect it's Family guy. DUUUH

[badz149]

I don't think they can condone this one either, considering the release of Zune HD!

[SL1M DADDY]

Instead of standing on raw talent, people stand on shock and awe and in my opinion, they are losers. If you want to watch stage full of no-talent idiots mocking sensetive issues then have fun but I will be doing something more constructive, like pulling nose hairs or giving my cat a bath.

[Panthers]

Family Guy never shocks me and even if it did, I dont find shocking things funny. Family Guys is just hilarious. I love it. And I see that as talent.

[madpuppy]

You are starting to sound like a Simpson's fan...

:P

[alphakennybody]

I wonder why the cancelled futurama for this garbage, Family guy isn't funny art all. This is how I see it during meeting for an episode; they pick random words from a hat then use em to make an episode. I've never seen a show relying so much on those random scenes to keep it alive.

[Corepred4]

i don't know what your talking about. i think both futurama and family guy are hilarious.

[akaFullMetal]

futurama is coming back, a new season is going to be aired on comedy central, with the original voices.

[TheBand1t]

A better question: Why the hell did Fox cancel King of the Hill for more Seth MacFarlane garbage? FU Cleveland Show.e

[kalebgray92]

but king of the hill sucked dude ... so does the Cleveland show..... the boondocks is the funniest animated show out there

[ReservoirDog316]

Nothing will ever top The Simpsons.

Seasons 1-10 are better than Family Guy could ever hope to be.

Plus, Family Guy's a little preachy sometimes. Kinda annoying.

[XxZxX]

Mcfarlane Joke's are pretty adult based and you have to know what happening to catch the jokes. It's sarcastic around today news and cultures. You have to be well informed to catch it.

King of the hills on the other hand is just poking fun on redneck cultures, and that's about it. It can grow pretty old fast, how much fun you can poke off rednecks.

[cyberwaffles]

the simpsons and futurama kill ANYTHING macfarlane has ever materialized. none of his jokes are witty or special. they're always out of context with their dumb flashbacks, which is just a cheap way to employ a hopefully decent joke into the script, but it deviates from the story. it's nothing but shock value, just like how most of the hits off this site is flamebait articles.

whenever macfarlane can create a good show that doesn't have the same carbon-copy family templates (dad, mom, son, daughter, talking animal, homosexual comedic relief, etc), can stay on topic with the premise of the episode, and actually make a joke that is genuinely funny and not some random chicken beating or whatever, maybe then he'll be a respectable writer. until then, i'm probably going to only laugh once in a blue moon for his shows.

can not wait for the new futurama season. that show had me in tears.

and king of the hill eventually grew on me. it's a more laid back comedy that some of you younger people wouldn't have the attention span to understand.

[Sarcasm]

Wow some of you guys are way too serious. Family Guy is the epitome of "Stop being so uptight" and I find it hilarious. At the same time I can enjoy The Simpsons and other shows too.

[Mr Logic]

South Park FTW!

[Black Maverick]

"Mcfarlane Joke's are pretty adult based and you have to know what happening to catch the jokes. It's sarcastic around today news and cultures. You have to be well informed to catch it.

King of the hills on the other hand is just poking fun on redneck cultures, and that's about it. It can grow pretty old fast, how much fun you can poke off rednecks."

Wow. I laughed hard at that comment. Family guy is the epitome of childish humor. Shows like King of the Hill and Futurama actually use wit and coherent plotlines to make jokes. Family Guy is the Dane Cook of animated shows using random crap, rehashing ideas, and using popularity as a substitute for being funny.

Family Guy seasons 1 and 2 were golden. Absolutely funny and deserved the critical acclaim. Everything since has been going downhill spiral of crap and it's sad because I used to enjoy the show. MacFarlane has shown he's just a one trick pony and I see no signs that this special will be any different.

[frostypants]

Family Guy goes over a lot of peoples' heads. Which is good, because the people that don't get it are part of the punchline. They even suckered in the South Park creators.

Jokes and humor have multiple levels. Many people simply can't get beyond the most superficial aspects of a joke. Family Guy plays on this constantly.

[Maddens Raiders]

your comment is dead on center.

[BLuKhaos]

Am I weird for liking Futurama, King Of The Hill, Family Guy, The Simpsons, and South Park?

[Arnon]

MacFarlane's old Family Guy was gold. This new stuff is mostly filler crap where you see a kid dancing or laughing for 5 minutes. Then he has shows like American Dad (Where he even stated that this show would probably be crap) and The Cleveland Show which is a direct replica Family Guy. The man honestly hasn't made anything good in a long time.

Futurama and King of The Hill had a much more structured experience and ultimately were a lot more original. Again, I'm referring to his later work with Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show.

Of course, you have one of those rare occasions now where you actually do more than just smile while watching the show.

[Seven_ate_Nine]

Family Guy used to be one of most favorite shows. I loved how they would have those random flashbacks that actually had some relation to what's going on with the episode. But the newer episodes are garbage, in my opinion. When they take up more than five minutes of my time to look at a motionless tape player of Peter conversing with some lesser known celebrity or have Conway Twitty go up and play an entire song, I get annoyed.

In the ealier seasons, Peter was stupid but he had clever moments. Now they portray him as an eight year old with down syndrome in an adult's body.

[BabyStomper5000]

The Venture Brothers owns all those shows :)

[RockmanII7]

http://www.southparkstudios...

[Gandalf]

Not the first time I've seen "loses" and "Microsoft" in the same sentence.....

[PeptoBismol]

--

[Theoneneo81]

lmao MS just isnt the same after losing netflix to PS3 aww to soon?

[BXbomber]

lmaoo dude that was funny and its actually true. M$ can't seem to hold on to anything these days after they lost netflicks to sony lol

[Pirateogta]

Sony still isn't the same after losing the MGS franchise, the Final Fantasy franchise, and 1st place from the PS2 era.

[Theoneneo81]

ok first of Rising is not even being 100 percent done by Kojima its more of a spin off by other devs Second we still have FF XIII VS which everyone is saying is a better improvment of XIII so try something else.

[NMC2007]

The Simpsons is trash now, has been for about 2 seasons, they may have sprinkles of good eps over those 2 seasons but mostly garbage.

[singhjeet29]

Simpsons has been trash since the people who grew up with Simpsons grew up, where as Simpsons itself hasn't, macfarlane was smart for using more adult based humour to show all these people that Simpsons was out dated and provide the demographic with a good solid amount of laughs ...
<p></p>
both can coexist peacefully ... its like the HD consoles and the Wii ...

[slave2Dcontroller]

Whhhhat'd you do nooooow NMC? LMAO! Thanks for the Last Tab and Ratchet & Clank;TOD BTW XD

[Kisama]

Seth McDouchebag sucks.. Family Guy used to be good, like 10 years ago. New episodes of Family Guy and American Dad just plain blow.

[Godmars290]

I'm guessing he actually pokes fun as W7. I can't MacFarlane not messing with it if its featured in a number of scenes. Its just not in his comedy style to have a "sacred cow."

[Demarco156]

...and that why the american media dont say anything bad about m$

[monkey602]

I loved Family Guy but have to admit the latest season was utter $h!te
They re-used a lot of the same jokes from previous seasons. It was hard to find any genuinely funny moments this time around.
I prefer American Dad. South Park is easily the funniest. The original Simpsons episodes will always be the greatest though.

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

Microsoft was just trying to control Family Guy and limit the writers' vision.

[aueslander]

I mean come on, the Disney universe was funny as he!! as why how human brian got hit by a car at the end.

I think most of you people are just too uptight. One thing you can take away from the show is to loosen up and not take things seriously.

[typikal82]

Family Guy used to be funny in the 1st Season when everything was fairly subtle and slightly out there. It just seems as the seasons progressed Seth has gone more in a low-brow direction, it's more insulting to what can pass as comedy and be shown on TV now than anything else. I used to be a fan of Family Guy before it was cancelled the 1st time. I just can't be a fan anymore though, I've tried watching it recently and it just feels like I'm losing brain cells as the show goes on.

[Bzone24]

Family Guy is hilarious. Most likely your brain cell loss has nothing to do with the show. :)

[devilhunterx]

How to speak Italian ....

[Magna Farta]

...and I've noticed a lot of artsy-types and purists tend to hate the guy because he got so rich and famous using a simplistic, direct style to reach his audiences.

As of now, he is the highest paid TV producer in the history of television, and has 3 shows (soon to be 4) in prime time lineups simultaneously, he also only 36, and if that's not an accomplishment I don't know what is.

I mean, I love South Park and I loved the Cartoon Wars episodes making fun of it, because it was true, but I also like watching FG when I want a good laugh and feel like I don't need to give a sh*t for a while.

I'm also willing to bet everyone on here saying they hate it would still watch it if there was nothing else on.

If you really hate it that much, go to the Adult Swim boards. There's plenty of artsy drama types and hipster kids there that seem to think FG sucks and yet somehow shows like "Tim and Eric" and that horrendous "The Mighty Boosh" can even be thought of as entertainment.

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

are usually parents who thinks that to teach their kids how to survive in the real world, they must shield their kid from the reality of the real world, and teach their kid to be naive. So that means that their kid must never know the truth of the world: comedy, violence, sex, and other real life issues that they must dealt with sooner or later in life.

[Max Power]

and I think Family Guy is terrible now. The original seasons were good along with the first 'new' season, but it has steadily gone down hill.

[dinkeldinkse]

What are you talking about? Most of the people that dislike Family Guy is because they don't find Dane Cook funny. They think it is childish, stupid, and can't logically think of a reason why other people watch it.

BTW I would only watch Family Guy if I was forced to watch T.V. and the other two choices were American Dad and any of Dane Cook's standup.

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

I don't like Dane Cook's comedy, but I love Family Guy's type of comedy.

[shadow2797]

I like Dane Cook and I don't like Family Guy. *gasp*

[Pillage05]

since when is it cool to hate on family guy? ....ohhhhhh they are south park fanboys....

But yeah seth, matt and trey(spelling?) have made more money off of their comedy minds than most of you could possibly ever even imagine...so I'd say you shouldn't hate and give them credit where credit is due.

[tehk1w1]

Screw Family Guy. Bring back Arrested Development. And Firefly. And tons of other quality shows that Fox has constantly axed in favor of crappy TV.

[Azurite]

in an episode of Family Guy they make fun of Fox cancelling shows.

[MRMagoo123]

If every show had stewie in ide be very happy i havent laughed at a single character in any show so much in my life.I like all the shows mentioned cept for king of the hill which i find rather boring.

[DreamcastFanboy]

Doesn't stop Family guy being the least funniest show on television.

[Vgameman]

There's always some type of war on this site isnt there? Whether it be between PS3 and 360, or Family Vs. South Park.

Seriously. Family Guy is really good, and so is South Park, and so is the Simpsons.

And while I'm at it, both the PS3 and 360 are good >_<

[stigmurder]

This brought to you by the company that fully endorses Grand Theft Auto 4. Not to mention the company that helped bring you inter-species sexual relations in Mass Effect and gutting alien creatures like fish using a chainsaw gun in Gears of War. All available for Windows. I think this is what we call splitting hairs. Although I say that, this is likely due more to the fact that the show, being commercial free, would not have offered Microsoft the heavy advertising opportunity they were seeking for a prime time slot.

[Gago]

family guys isn't even funny

show sucks

[kmartyr]

South Park is hilarious. The Simpsons are classic. Family Guy is neither.

[PS360PCROCKS]

I applaud Microsoft for that. I LOVE family guy, but it shouldn't be mainstream or marketing anything lol. It's for teens and adults

[EdFry]

http://www.starwarfigure.co...