Little Sitcom of Horrors

Is pedophilia ever funny?  "The Family Guy" seems to think so.

I am a big fan of the Fox show, but rarely am I more uncomfortable laughing than when it features creepy Mr. Herbert, the walker-assisted oldster who takes too much of a shine to the neighborhood boys, Little League players, etc.  But I have to confess that I still do laugh, a little.

In last night's episode, young Chris Griffin accidentally breaks a window in Mr. Herbert's house and works off his debt by doing odd jobs for him.

This leads to an extended fantasy sequence cribbed directly from one of my favorite musicals, "Little Shop of Horrors."  (On a related tangent, I was surprised they didn't call Robbie's plant the "Audrey II.")  That it never crosses the line from being a fantasy is the only thing that helps me watch without needing a cleansing shower afterward.

[Watch video – 2:32, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 2:32, WMV format, low bandwidth]

Comments

[Serra]

Guess you don't want to see a copy of the new DVD out from these folks.

[Yum Yum]

Far from laughing, the people in my dorm were dead silent when we watched that episode. (Watching Family Guy is a Sunday night tradition.)

[Gus]

Mr. Herbert has always been bit unsettling to me as well. (Actually, I just learned that he had a name.) Last night was kind of over the top. From time to time, the FG crew seems to flog a dead horse to the point of sadism. However, Chris always seems to know just how to handle the situation, so maybe they feel they are addressing this issue responsibly.

[SHUT UP! I KNOW!]

I was channel surfing when I saw this. I stopped and watched the whole thing in awe.

Did I like it? I don't know.

Did I hate it? I don't think so.

I was simply in awe.

[Larry Bernard]

My roomate and I believe it may have been the single most disturbing thing ever on Family Guy

[Tony]

Anyone that watches Seth Mcfairlane's the "Family Guy" (or oven "American Dad") should know that the show very rarely takes anything seriously. They take a taboo subject- pedophillia, slavery, rape, the brutality caused by military governments in Africa, you name it -and take it lightly with the intention of shocking it's audience. People in a dorm of all places should know that by now. They push the envelope on all sides, thats why it's revolutionary. And lets not forget about Glen Quagmire and his situation with "Meghan's Law."