The Four Color Media Monitor

In the aftermath of the jihadist attack at the Boston Marathon, it turns out the cartoon series The Family Guy has been stooping to the bottom again. I never liked it, because the jokes struck me as even more vulgar than what the Simpsons increasingly sank into over the 2-plus decades it's been airing, and that includes a repellant episode attacking the Tea Party (H/T: The Blaze).

Now, Fox has pulled one of the latest episodes from broadcast because of the following:

NEW YORK (AP) - Fox has pulled from websites a recent episode of "Family Guy" that depicts mass deaths at the Boston Marathon, and has no immediate plans to air it again.

Fox spokeswoman Gaude Paez said Tuesday the episode has been removed from Fox.com and Hulu.com.

In the episode, which originally aired March 17, protagonist Peter Griffin is asked by sports announcer Bob Costas about his performance at the marathon. A flashback shows Peter mowing down runners with his car.

"I'll tell ya, Bob, I just got in my car and drove it," Griffin says. "And when there was a guy in my way, I killed him."

Later, Peter befriends a terrorist who, unbeknownst to him, is plotting to blow up a bridge. When Peter dials a cellphone the friend has given him, explosions and screams are heard. On some websites, an edited clip has been circulating that fuses the two scenes, making it seem - incorrectly - as if the explosion was at the marathon. Some commenters have implied that the show "predicted" the bombings.

"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane took to Twitter on Tuesday to vent anger over the edited clip and offer condolences to victims of Monday's bombings at the marathon.

"The edited 'Family Guy' clip currently circulating is abhorrent," MacFarlane tweeted. "The event was a crime and a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the victims."

Even if the clips edited together don't tell the exact story, I think this article still tells quite a bit about how bottom of the barrel the writers' sense of humor is, and why the series never deserved its success in the first place. The ideas the series coughs out would be offensive at any time. Griffin runs down people with a car? There's nothing funny about that. Why did they even approve it for animating? The part where he dials an explosion is also repugnant. Nobody in the right frame of mind should bother about such a tasteless exercise in phony humor, and it's about time The Family Guy was canceled by the network.

All the Family Guy's done is give cartoons for grownups a bad name, and the Simpsons has also committed that very error.

Labels: animation, politics, terrorism, violence