Was Dan Povenmire the reason why early Family Guy was so good?

[OmegaAlpha23]

Everyone almost universally agrees that Family Guy sucks now. But there was a change of tone in 2008. The show became more random, juvenile, having illogical plots (Brian having a human son, Brian dating Lauren Conrad, Brian being an atheist, Quagmire hating Brian, and having sexual demons because of the girl that got away, Cheryl Tiegs, more jokes about Brian being a failed writer, Stewie taking steroids and a subplot with Connie that ignored Let's Go To The Hop, and mostly acting like the first three seasons didn't happen), preachy, mean spirited, crude for it's own sake, padded out jokes, Brian started to become the main character, the colors got flashy and brighter, became more directed at teens than adults, and the show started to take itself too seriously with episodes like And Then There Were Fewer and Road to the North Pole. Some of these flaws started to creep in early on in the show's uncancellation, but when I watch them again, I couldn't help but notice that despite some mild changes, that the show still had it's identity there and still had some of it's charm. Even though the show got a little more meaner and raunchier than before cancellation, there was still some heart, it was a little more reserved in how edgy it was and you could actually like the characters, even Peter. Meet the Quagmires and Barely Legal being good examples. When I was watching the first five and a half seasons, I noticed that most of the episodes I liked were directed by Dan Povenmire. They had some of the most clever punchlines, setups, gags and jokes, and actually had moments that made you feel for the characters, which is rare now. Most of the episodes that people love are notably directed by Povenmire, and most of the lines people quoted from the show were episodes that he directed. When he left to make Phineas and Ferb, the show became darker, and more anarchist and the characters became jokes with nothing about them you could connect to. The heart was gone and it felt like it was aiming exclusively towards the Disney Channel crowd just with dark humor. Now, I know Seth MacFarlane is the creator of the show and I am not trying to take away anything from him, but I'm starting to think that Dan Povenmire might have been a huge participant in why Family Guy was so good in it's early seasons. Most of the more memorable jokes are his style of humor and the shows that he left to work on have the heart and wit that his episodes of Family Guy had, and Family Guy went in a different direction after his departure. It may be that Povenmire and some of the crew that left for Phineas and Ferb was pulling Seth back from the show he wanted to make, and when Povenmire left, Seth was left to his own devices and the later seasons was more in tune with what he wanted Family Guy to be. He even said in a DVD commentary that he prefers the later seasons to the old.

 

[SweetShop209]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Dan's influence is part of what made Family Guy. Even with it being an adult cartoon, he still knew how to reel things in so that it could be funny and thought provoking that just happens to have some edge.

 

[OmegaAlpha23]

Yeah, that was what worked about the show. It may have been an adult cartoon, but the crass jokes were kept to a minimum and the show still had heart. Meet the Quagmires and Road to Rhode Island were episodes that actually made you cry and aren't episodes you would get now. The other writers don't get that about the show and just play up the crass jokes to where it's nothing but that.

 

[Fone Bone]

I hope not. Because the first two seasons of Family Guy were a blight upon the Earth.

 

[SuperSuck64]

Dan might have helped make old Family Guy as funny as it was, though he probably wasn't the only one.

To me, Family Guy can be funny every now and again when the writer's aren't trying to push their agenda. I don't have a big problem with shock humor as long as it's not overly excessive.

 

[jaylop97]

I will say Family Guy was pretty good back when he was involved, other than that most of the show did well outside of his contributed episodes at least until 2008, after that point the show just took a different direction.

 

[ToonsJazzLover]

I don't think one person made a show great in the first place, but when he involved between seasons 2-5, the animation has some fluid movement.

With that said, if it wasn't for Family Guy, Povenmire wouldn't bring in people like Zac Moncrief, John Viener (to voice Norm in Phineas and Ferb), Bob Bowen, Jim Bernstein (he co-wrote an episode that Povenmire directed in season 3), etc. to his shows.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Dan Povenmire directed some of the best episodes of the series- "Road to Rhode Island", "PTV", "Road to Europe", "Meet the Quagmires"... I won't go so far as to say he's solely responsible for them coming out well, since animation is a collaborative medium, but he certainly was integral.