Eureka (eeka?)(eaka?)

I'm sure that this is not a pressing issue in the hearts and minds of everyone, but either way I have resolved it.

Why is Futurama/The Simpsons better than Family Guy? {If you've already seen enough, then skip down a few lines to where I talk about the Twilight Zone}

I'll tell you why. Because Futurama is primarily a character driven show whereas Family Guy, while having some interesting characters, is completely plot driven.

Case and Point: Movie parodies. The Seths have made their careers (recently at least) on movie/tv parodies. Now, I appreciate it as much as the next guy, but they do it with so little intelligence.
{low-intelligence being the hallmark of a event-driven plot and those that espouse such things as great works of literature, cinema, etc. Dan Brown's made a career of it.}
When Family Guy parodies a movie, their characters bend to fit the scene, taking on what characteristics are necessary {dammit, i'm not sure if that's spelled right} to create an exact replica. Take the blues brothers parody, taken shot for shot from the movie, or perhaps the Indiana Jones parody. They are only funny, or at least construed as funny, because we recognize the action. It is more of a familiarity reaction rather than a humored one.
Futurama on the other hand, and the Simpsons to my rememberance, does it completely differently. Their parodies are funny, and in some ways elevated beyond parody, because they bend the scenes to their characters. We see how these particular characters would fit in a scence from out favorite movies (I would also argue that Futurama's favorite movies are a little more high-brow than Family Guy's, but I'm not one to judge...well, yeah I am). Last night, on Futurama they took a scene from Midnight Cowboy. It was not a direct copy, it merely shared the music and Zap wore John Voigt's costume. The actual action of the scene did not come directly from the movie, but mirrored it in a way that was suited to the characters...hence it was funny.

There, I've put it to rest and I'm done with it. I will never comment on Family Guy or Futurama ever again in critical context on this blog.

Now, Twilight Zone is amazing. Beyond Amazing. I know it's probably not what you were expecting to read, but I thought I would let everyone know that it must be the greatest show on television next to Quantum Leap.

{Disclaimer: Any assertions of anything to be the best anything of anything subject to change based on whim and mental state}

Right now there's an episode where it turns out that som guy's entire life/job/work experience for the last 17 years was some sort of self-induced hypnotic suggestion. Now, it sounds trite, but they reason Twilight Zone does it so well is that it's not the story so much that matter, but the Characters: the people and how these bizarre events effect them. That is what makes Twilight Zone great television.