Discuss the similarities and differences between the family units depicted on The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bob's Burgers, and any other animated shows revolving around an often quirky or dysfunctional family. With The Simpsons and Family Guy, the father is a fat idiot, while the wife is a homemaker who tries to keep her husband's antics in check; there are three children in all aforementioned shows. What is the significance of the similarities and differences between the families on these shows? Is there a pattern that these shows follow that contributes to their successes or failures?
It might also be interesting to looks at how they've affected each other - like Family Guy arguably was very influenced by The Simpsons which was in turn influenced by The Flintstones. Then American Dad/The Cleveland show spawned from the same place as Family Guy and all follow a very similar family dynamic, whereas Bob's Burgers took quite a different turn. There was recently quite an interesting Artifice article related to this which might be worth referring to: https://the-artifice.com/bobs-burgers-familial-love/ – Hannah Spencer10 years ago