(CU Independent/Sara Fossum)
During the chilly afternoons this winter, many students are turning to adult cartoons to pass their time. “Family Guy,” “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” “The Simpsons” and “Robot Chicken” are just four of many animated shows that are capturing some students’ attention with their humorous one-liners and quirky characters.
Eli Lieberman, a 22-year-old junior political science major, said he is one such individual.
“I watch ‘The Simpsons’,” Lieberman said. “’Family Guy’ has cheap humor because it gets its laughs mostly from flashbacks, whereas ‘The Simpsons’ has witty jokes driving the plot forward.”
Lieberman also said these witty jokes are aimed at guys.
“A lot of college students watch these shows,” Lieberman said. “They are targeted at males though, because a lot of the humor is based on drinking and fart jokes.”
In this clip, that same humor is demonstrated by Peter Griffin, the protagonist of the cartoon “Family Guy,” as he tries to teach his daughter Meg about dating men.
The networks that these cartoons air on could also explain some of the male appeal they have. Adult Swim, which launched Sept. 1, 2001, airs “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and “Robot Chicken.” According to animationinsider.net, a Web site dedicated to researching cartoon trends and schedules, the demographic for Adult Swim viewers is males ages 18 to 34.
This clip from Robot Chicken displays Adult Swim’s nab for racy topics.
“The Simpsons”—the longest-running comedy in television history—and “Family Guy” are both aired on Fox. Fox airs 15 hours of primetime programming every week as well as “late-night entertainment programming,” and describes its demographics as being all adults ages 18 to 34 as well as younger male and female teens age 13 and up.
Some students said they disagreed with these demographics.
Jessie Byers, a 19-year-old freshman open-option major, said the cartoons are created for an older audience and that they aren’t appropriate for younger viewers.
“I think the age demographic for shows like ‘Family Guy’ and ‘Robot Chicken’ is 16 [years-old] and above,” Byers said. “They aren’t really appropriate for younger age groups because of the characters’ language and the topics discussed.”
Alex Abel, a 19-year-old freshman pre-journalism major, said she thinks the shows are funny to watch, but that they aren’t targeted at females to enjoy.
“These cartoons were really made for teenage guys, or guys in their twenties,” Abel said. “I don’t know any girls that regularly watch them because of [the shows’] crude humor and their masculine topics.”
Byers said she doesn’t watch any of the adult cartoons listed for just this reason.
“I don’t watch those shows,” Abel said. “The humor doesn’t appeal to me and so I’d just rather do other things.”
Whether students indulge in some animated humor from time to time or not, hopefully CU’s students are smarter than “collegiate” Homer Simpson.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jenna Fredrickson at Jenna.fredrickson@colorado.edu.
