For a show described as “sick, twisted, politically incorrect,” it seems that Family Guy is not living up to its vexing, heterodox brand.
The Huffington Post reported that the show’s creator, Seth MacFarlane, was frustrated over the Fox TV Network’s relationship with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who recently published an op-ed pointing out that COVID-19 vaccines are not preventing new infections and accusing Democrats of moving the goalposts with their new mask requirements. MacFarlane tweeted in response, “Tucker Carlson’s latest opinion piece once again makes me wish Family Guy was on any other network.”
This is not the first time MacFarlane criticized individuals for expressing contentious positions on the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, he sparred with Fox News host Laura Ingraham over her (perhaps hyperbolic) claim that “The Washington Post is rooting for the shutdown to continue indefinitely.”
MacFarlane also called out talk show host Oprah Winfrey for giving a platform to Dr. Phil McGraw (better known as television’s “Dr. Phil”) and other COVID-19 skeptics. He remarked, “Oprah has done some wonderfully altruistic things with her career, but the use of her platform to amplify the voices of dubious characters rather than legitimate scientists has been a disservice.”
Setting aside the merits of Carlson’s and McGraw’s arguments, it is surprising that the creator of Family Guy, of all programs, sees these individuals as controversial, to say nothing of his criticism of Winfrey giving Dr. Phil a platform.
After all, Family Guy is the show that has not hesitated to wade into contentious political debates on abortion (Season 8’s “Partial Terms of Endearment”), immigration (Season 6’s “Padre de Familia”), religion (Season 10’s “Livin’ on a Prayer”), and even, yes, the anti-vaccination movement (Season 15’s “Hot Shots”).
MacFarlane himself has lamented the rise of political correctness and the aversion (of some on the Left) to open discussion. He famously told an audience in 2015, “Most people are capable of deciphering comedic situations from actual offenses.” And after former President Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory, the comedian accused the Left of losing because it had expended “so much energy over the last several years being outraged over verbal missteps, accidental innuendo, ‘tasteless tweets.’”
Before the pandemic, it would be difficult to imagine that the guy whose program thrived on controversy would be outraged over “tasteless tweets” made by a Fox News host. Then again, hypocrisy has become a fixture of today’s mainstream culture.
