And now, the confessions of a guy who used to hate 'Family Guy' but now admits it's probably funny

The conversation's the same every time: tell someone you don't like Family Guy, and they'll express shock.  They'll suggest that you give it another shot, or that you might've been in a bad mood while you watched it.  You try and tell them that that's not it, that Family Guy simply isn't funny, but they just don't get it-- it's right in line with "your sense of humor".  After years of having this conversation, I can finally say that it's over: I think Family Guy is funny.  Read on for the commentary, my gentle Examiner readers...

Over the years, I've found myself admitting that I don't like Family Guy to an absurd amount of people.  They express shock at this confession, sometimes outrage, sometimes something that borders on anger.  It's strange: the people that really like Family Guy are very outspoken about it, and they don't like it when someone else tells them that it's "not (their) thing" (which is how I'd started referring to the show after years of arguments following the phrase "I don't think it's very funny").  Weird.

But that's not what we're here to discuss.  Today, you've been gathered here to watch a man eat crow.  After years of resisting Family Guy, after so many attempts to "give it another shot" and figure out what the hell everyone else thought was so funny about the show, I've found myself enjoying Seth McFarlane's series quite frequently lately.  I assure you that no drugs were involved in coming to this conclusion, though I could see how they might help.  Family Guy isn't the funniest animated show on TV, but I realized last night that I could now speak the words "I like Family Guy" without having my fingers crossed behind my back.

For the record, I've found that the early episodes of the series are far less funny than the newer ones.  It should also be noted that my enjoyment of Family Guy does not extend to McFarlane's other series, The Cleveland Show (which I actually watched once, stunned at how stupid it was) or American Dad.  It's taken me nearly a decade to warm up to his first series, and maybe in time I'll be able to tell you that American Dad is funny (though I can say with some certainty that I will never find The Cleveland Show funny, ever, even if all other comedies ceased to exist), but let's just take baby-steps on this whole thing.  I'm relatively sure that McFarlane will be able to continue paying his mortgage without me being a fan of his every show.

My problems with Family Guy were best summed up in the "Cartoon Wars" episodes of South Park, where it was revealed that Family Guy's writers were nothing more than a tank full of manatees who wrote their "jokes" by randomly selecting subjects and mashing them together.  Family Guy has always been scattershot, and most Family Guy fans would tell me that these throwaway moments were there favorite parts of the show, but for me they always fell flat, dying on the floor with a miserable whimper before crawling on to the next lame aside.  If you've ever seen an episode of Family Guy, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  The writing just seemed lazy.

But for whatever reason, I've stopped being so annoyed by these moments.  In fact, I've discovered that I've been entertained while watching Family Guy lately, something I never thought possible.  Eventually, "giving it one more chance" paid off.  I'm completely mystified as to what brought about this sea change, but after watching another episode of the show last night-- "Breaking Out is Hard to Do" (there's a clip from that very episode below), if that kinda thing matters to you-- I realized that I couldn't live the lie any longer: I no longer hated Family Guy.

It happened all at once: one day, I could be found rolling my eyes at every other joke that failed to hit its mark during an episode of the show; the next day, I found myself chuckling at the absurdity of it all.  This chuckling has progressed-- over the past few months-- to some moments that could only be classified as true laughter, and no one's more shocked about this development than I am.  I've spent years telling people that Family Guy isn't a very funny show: could I possibly have a change of heart this late in the game?

I think so.  I've changed my mind about things before, but rarely on something that I've been so passionate about (or dispassionate, depending on what side of the argument you're on).  I still wouldn't bother purchasing any of the seasons on DVD, I suppose, and it's not likely that I'll be going back through the entire series to get caught up on everything up to this point (as I've done with other shows that won me over late in the game, like Battlestar Galactica), but as far as "Good Shows to Throw on While Doing Something More Important Than Watching Said Shows" goes, Family Guy's right up there with anything The Simpsons has done in the past five or six years.

And, yeah, I know: them's fightin' words.  Comparing The Simpsons and The Family Guy is generally like comparing South Park and The 700 Club, but in this case I think it's fair:  The Simpsons fell off in terms of laughs-per-minute after its seventh or eighth season (or even sooner, depending on who you're talking to), and I think it's about as funny as Family Guy is these days.  That's saying more about The Simpsons than it is about Family Guy, but them's the breaks. 

Admitting defeat is always difficult, but it's only fair, especially when you've taken as many cheap shots at Family Guy over the past year as I have.  I wouldn't go so far as to take anything negative I've said about the show back-- what would be the point?  Besides, it's not that I don't feel "that way" any longer, it's just that I feel less "that way" about the whole thing than I used to-- but I'll probably quit beating on it so mercilessly anymore.  There's no telling what brought about this change (something I ate?  Maturity?  De-maturity?  Confused sexuality?), but I can't ignore the fact that I'm laughing at Family Guy from time to time anymore. 

So, what about you folks?  Ever hated a show and then decided that you actually kinda, y'know, liked it a few years later?  Ever hated a show, thought about not hating it anymore, and then continued hating it because you didn't want to admit that you were wrong?  Love or hate Family Guy?  Got any episodes to recommend?  Sound off in the comments section below, my precious snowflakes: we wanna know what you think about all this nonsense!