Family Guy – “Lottery Fever”
God damn you, South Park. I love South Park, but ever since they pointed out the main flaw of Family Guy (that the cutaway jokes are interchangeable as they bear next to no significance to the larger storyline of an episode) I haven’t enjoyed it as much. Seth MacFarlane doesn’t seem to care much when asked about it, but some episodes seem to have dialed back the number of so-called “manatee gags” (other episodes however seem to have doubled down). This shouldn’t bug me as much as it does. In fact, some of the biggest laughs in the episode were cutaways. Specifically, Peter attempting to swim in coins like Scrooge McDuck (which actually WAS relevant to the episode’s main storyline!). Basically, it’s a cartoon and I should stop overthinking it.
The episode started with the theme song being interrupted by a dancer (voiced by Judy Greer from Archer and Arrested Development) who Peter has apparently knocked up. I kind of wanted to see the episode follow through on this for no other reason than the fact that Judy Greer is hilarious, but alas ‘twas not to be. The main plot of having the Griffins win the lottery (twice) and blow it all (thus preserving the sacred status quo that television clings to) was rather funny. Money, unsurprisingly, let Peter Griffin become an even more gigantic asshole than he normally is and that’s always funny. Plus in a world that seems governed by no discernable laws of probability it’s great to see what the family can get up to with (seemingly) unlimited funds.
I feel that Family Guy has probably jumped the shark but its decline is still pretty entertaining. I’m not even sure just how bad it would need to get for me to stop watching. That’s the strength of the manatee gags: even if the structure of the show is in an absolute state of disrepair it can still get belly laughs with a random cutaway. Maybe they aren’t such a drawback after all. Suck it, South Park (though South Park is seriously a much better show).
Persistence of Vision 
By the time Peter shot Joe in the eye I wasn’t laughing any more. I think they crossed the line for the first time; nah! I’m just kidding. They could never cross the line on this show because they just keep moving it little by little so we never even notice there is a line.