In a sense, Family Guy has already won TV. They got cancelled, then uncancelled, then Emmy nominated and basically, all around they came back to win it.

It has a dedicated fanbase, a loyal viewership and overall is in very little danger of being cancelled anytime soon.

Subsequently, Fox execs have to back off. You can’t mess with Family Guy because it works. We know that. American Dad doesn’t get that special treatment.

It’s more confined to conventional television formulas, and as much as we rail against execs meddling in our shows, there’s a certain amount of quality that comes with that.

Once Family Guy hit it big, especially with their cutaway gags, we saw those gags take the spotlight. What was once a great side dish has become the main course and the show suffers for it.

The great episodes of Family Guy, even the great jokes we remember, all seem outside of what we watch every Sunday.

American Dad doesn’t play that way and it’s a McFarlane show.

Every episode has a clear and engaging story built on something concrete in the characters. Family Guy tends to run around on Peter’s immaturity or the family’s revulsion of Meg. Or, alternatively, Stewie and Brian doing something together.

American Dad gives you these characters, throws them pinballing into one another for some classic sitcom action, but also tends to satirize things as well.

Not only is the whole show one giant play against the typical Republican household, it actually portrays them both politically neutral (Family Guy gets more political than American Dad, strangely) and politically charged.

http://www.jhunewsletter.com/arts-entertainment/is-family-guy-truly-the-show-of-our-generation-1.2848468#.T4jp29n1BKE