Families in Animated Sitcoms

The main topic of this post is analyzing the structure of Families in animated sitcoms, mainly Family Guy and The Simpsons.

Let's keep in mind what we already said on the Gender Equilibrium, it might come in handy.

It's always a question of balance.

(Side note : I'm writing this post while listening to Yo-Yo Ma plays Ennio Morricone, awesome to the max!)

The Simpsons

     As the basis of animated sitcoms, I will take a look at The Simspons. There have been others before but the success of The Simpsons makes it a pretty interesting Sitcom model.

Homer Simpson (Male) : the Father. Getting himself in all kinds of shenanigans. Frustrated family man that is never full.

Marge Simpson (Female) : the Mother. Naive and protective. VERY understanding of Homer's crazyness.

Bart Simpson (Male) : the First-born, Son. Trouble-maker extraordinaire. Underachiever/Idiot.

Lisa Simpson (Female) : the Second-born, Daughter. Vegetarian Buddhist/Jazz saxophonist. Overachiever/Genius.

Maggie Simpsons (Baby) : the Last Child. Mute. Homicidal tendencies.  

     How does the family work ? Well, it doesn't. It gets by, always falling back on its feet with a family value lesson at the end of each episode. The family has its Gender Equilibrium balanced : may it be Homer and Marge or Lisa and Bart, the characters balance each other out quite well. They are not too extreme, although Homer is pretty out there, but, compared to Peter Griffin, Homer is rather "normal". 

     You may have noticed that I put Maggie as "Baby" although we all know she is a baby girl. The fact is that, since she is mute and has very little character particularities compared to the others, she does not need a balancing character.

     The Simpsons are a pretty good example of perfect role balance which made the animated family a model for many others. 

Family Guy

     The Simpsons have been a major influence on Family Guy which reproduced the same family structure but with a different outcome.

Peter Griffin (Male) : the Father. Official declared as retarded. 

Lois Griffin (Female) : the Mother. Not naive, but protective of her children nonetheless.

Megan Griffin (Female) : the Daughter. Unpopular. Despised by her family and friends if she had any.

Chris Griffin (Male) : the Son. Like is father, but not officially. 

Steward Griffin (Baby) : the Last Child. Matricidal maniac/genius. Has homosexual tendencies as the seasons go by. 

     The Griffins have the same Gender Equilibrium as the Simpsons, but the characters don't balance each other out. The morals set at the end of certain episodes are completely off topic making the series a densely absurd mayhem, and that's why we like it. Peter and Lois do, from time to time, work things out by completing one another, but for Meg and Chris... yeah, I don't know. There are very few episodes where both really are a part of the same plot. The only one that comes to mind is S09 E08 - "New Kidney in Town". If you have others, please tell me.

Oh, but I know what you are thinking ! What about Brian ?

Brian Griffin (Dog, Male) : Alcoholic. Thinks he is much more intelligent than he really is.

     What does Brian bring to the family structure ? Stewie's side-kick ? Just another drinking buddy for Peter ? Lois's unwanted secret lover ? Well, he may have several roles to play in each episode. But, as much as he was the most "human" character in the first seasons (having psychological deepness and getting the main role in the first two-parter of the series : S03 E01-02), his "normality" gets more and more unstable up to the point where he is in love with a moronic bimbo and actually supports Rush Limbaugh just to go against the tide. Does Brian balance out Stewie ? They are very much alike and that may be their way of forming a kind of unity, for with balance comes unity. But it is true that Stewie and Brian share a lot of episodes and adventures, so for the sake of this demonstration let's say that they do balance each other out.

So we can see how the model (The Simpsons) has been used and altered. Now, with Family Guy's popularity, the question will be : has the alteration become the model, or are The Simpsons still the most important reference for future animated (or non-animated actually) families ?
If we take a look at American Dad and The Cleveland Show, since they were created by Seth MacFarlane just like Family guy, obviously the alteration has overruled. 

I would like to talk about other Animated Families, but for this post, it is the end. Don't hesitate to comment if you disagree on anything and share with me what you think about other Animated Families.

Thank you,

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TRJ