Jess and Josh Talk About Stuff

Whether or not you think that members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences truly believe in Family Guy’s quality (as opposed to simply nominating it to create buzz for the ceremony, in which case, job well done), you have to admire Seth MacFarlane’s gutsy decision to submit his show for Outstanding Comedy Series in the first place. It’s a risk that has clearly paid off, and frankly, he deserves the recognition.

But the Internet is divided! Some people praise Family Guy’s achievement, gleefully pointing to the nomination as another sign that “Stewie Griffin will indeed take over the world.” Other people have a stick up their ass.

Which, you know, is fine! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and one man’s According to Jim is another man’s Arrested Development. Besides, I’m certainly in no place to critically dissect the annals of television politics any more than the next blogger. But let’s look at two of the other Outstanding Comedy Nominees and see if we can’t draw some parallels in Emmy reasoning, hmmm?

The Office and 30 Rock: While I can’t say I’m a huge fan of either program, I admire them for stepping outside the boundaries of typical network fare and giving viewers a drier, more original kind of comedy. While one could argue that these shows are just Arrested Development in an office and in Rockefeller Plaza, I’d be hard-pressed to think of anything else like these shows currently on TV. And no, there is nothing else like Family Guy on TV right now either. Appropriating The Simpsons‘ basic formula—dumb dad, resilient mom, underachieving older brother, ostracized younger sister, dog, and precocious baby—wasn’t the most original move, you’d also have to possess a terrible memory to think that The Simpsons was the first show to mine that family setup as well. It’s a basic TV comedy template—it’s what you do with that template that counts. And FOX’s two cartoon darlings are actually quite different. I challenge you to find another show on which Lauren Conrad would so willingly—and hilariously—make fun of herself. She only did it for the Griffin family, and for good reason, too.

Besides, it’s not like The Office is the first form of entertainment to go after office humor. And 30 Rock isn’t even the first show about behind-the-scenes television with an unmarried female lead character. So really, if you want to play the “new plot or else” game, then The Office and 30 Rock both lose as much as FG. But so what? They’re funny! They make people laugh, and that is the primary goal of an outstanding comedy series. Just because FG isn’t your particular brand of humor doesn’t give you the right to dismiss its fans as “regular potato chip-strewn boob tubing idiots,” and it certainly doesn’t make its Emmy nomination any less legitimate.

Speaking of which, don’t criticize Family Guy for its lowbrow humor. Not every show has to come layered between context and subtext, ya know, and sometimes just being able to laugh at a fat guy doing ridiculous things is entertaining enough! Sarah Silverman scored an Emmy nod as well, and nobody’s complaining about that (in fact, many are praising the nomination as a sign of the Emmys lightening up a bit). I like my TV to be introspective and thought-provoking, but I also welcome some simple, what-you-see-is-what-you-get gag humor, too. And if it makes you laugh, then doesn’t that count for something?

Why yes, yes it does. It counts for an Emmy nomination. But what do you care? You don’t even like the Emmys anymore; man, remember when it used to prize sophistication? Too bad, dude.