Serious ?: Why is Family Circus so hated?

[mrboba1]

I really know nothing about it, yet I see it degraded quite a bit.

tia

[name not needed]

1. Cause it sucks?

I don't know, nor do I like it.

[Sporadicus]

2. Because It's Incredibly Lame? n/t

[mrboba1]

7. So there's no "the cartoonist is a freeper" thing?

n/t

[Sporadicus]

10. I Haven't Heard One Way or the Other

but I'll check on it.

[No2W2004]

17. yes, the cartoonist IS a freeper ,

and thinks nothing of interjecting his religious views into it.
But it's the most lame cartoon since Marmaduke (Oh, look! Its a big fucking dog!....every day).

The guy has to be ancient by now, and hasn't had a new idea for the cartoon since the 70s. That's why it sucks.

[Lorien]

80. I KNOW Bill Keane personally

I was his son Glen's assistant for a number of years at Disney, and met he and his wife at the National cartoonist awards about seven years ago. Yes, they are Christians, but NOT fundamentalists. In fact, the fundies at our studio would laugh at his son, saying "he's so left, he probably thinks Jesus was a woman"!

I think Bill knows his stuff is corny, but he has his market (mostly people in retirement homes). He MCs the National Cartoonists awards, and he's incredibly funny onstage! Hard to believe, but his onstage humor is pretty raunchy and biting. I've known a lot of people that do G-rated material for a living, and they often balance it out by being incredibly lewd in their off hours. Bill wouldn't make anyone here blush, but he sure as hell would shock his regular readers if they heard one of his monologues!

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

83. Doesn't he spell his name with only one "l"?

As in Bil?

Coulda sworn.....

[Lorien]

88. Yes, he does

my misspelling.

[BigMcLargehuge]

84. They spoofed him about ten years ago in Mad Magazine

and ran a bunch of Disfunctional Family Circus strips. The next issue HE wrote a letter to William Gaines about how funny they were! I think he's a cool guy for that alone. Having a sense of humor about yourself and life's work makes for a long and happy life.

His comics are amusing enough, and compared to some of the crap we get in the Manchester Union Leader, Family Circus is like Boondocks compared to Mallard Fillmore and like Dilbert compared to Nancy.

[Lorien]

89. He loves those Mad magazine guys

I met a bunch of them once, but I can't remember their names (I'm TERRIBLE with names)! I think one was Sergio Argones?

[aden_nak]

3. It is the schmaltziest, corniest comic strip I have ever read.

Imagine putting four or five Stepford Wife Sugar Coatings onto a Normal Rockwell painting. . . you're still not even close to Family Circus.

[jobycom]

4. I don't know if there's a bigger motive, but it's just bad

It's never funny, never insightful, and it's as banal as John Ashcroft's songwriting.

[Blue-Jay]

5. Same reason most people hated Creed.

sucky

[Worst Username Ever]

6. It's just not funny.

It's "cute," and that I guess gets a chuckle from a lot or people. I personally think it makes me want to vomit.

It's also overtly christian.

[AngryAmish]

8. Because Jeffery shot up that crack house while on Angel Dust

It was totally covered-up.

[Radical Activist]

87. LOL

thank you. that was hillarious.

[JVS]

9. Lack of nudity

[mrboba1]

12. Ahh. I see.

You like B.C. then, right? They are all half-naked...

:evilgrin:

[JVS]

16. No. they're ugly. I want to see the family circus mom naked. What a MILF!

[Hawkeye-X]

50. what's MILF stand for?

Thanks!

[JohnKleeb]

52. mom I'd like to fuck

or something in that variation.

[JohnKleeb]

11. I didnt know it was hated

When I read the boondocks every mornin, I see the family circus, and get a glance read and I really dont find it funny.

[skypilot]

13. The kids are cloying...

...the mom never smiles and the dad is dull as dirt. A real low in American popular culture.

[Speck Tater]

14. There are exactly four Family Circus gags...

and they get used over and over and over and over and over and over... ad nauseum.

[mrboba1]

18. I have noticed their

pathway dotted across the yard thing in the Sunday comics quite a bit...

[HarveyBriggs]

64. Bingo, and the four jokes are ...

1, As other poster noted, Kids leave dotted lines to show where they have been.
2. Kids misprounounce words.
3. Kids are haunted by two ghosts, "Not Me," and "I Dunno."
4. Kids are protected by the spirits of Grandma and Grandpa, who now wear robes and live in the clouds.

Then the bonus joke is -- even though Jeffy has to be in his 30s by now, he still hasn't learned to draw when he guests for his father.

I do believe though, the comic is culturally important, because it gives us insight into the narrow, and sheltered life of the average clueless righty.

Harvey Briggs

[neuvocat]

15. It has way too much schmaltz and schtick

and its pretty cheesy.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

19. He's always preaching at people using those icky kids

I hate how the grandfather up in heaven has those great big feet. And the parents always look like they are completely dead inside.

[Magrittes Pipe]

23. Although the bordello shootout that claimed Grandpa's life...

...was indeed one of the few high points.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

43. I keep wishing his sandal would fall off and

crush the whole sickening family, but it would probably just obliterate some third world country instead.

[Magrittes Pipe]

20. It jumped the shark...

...when Dolly started selling herself for crack.

[JohnKleeb]

22. oh damn

thats sad.

[AngryAmish]

25. I saw Dolly in the parking lot ...

of Carm's Italian beef in Cicero, IL. Real skinny, darting eyes, the whole bit. I wasn't interested in what she was selling. One of her front teeth were broken. Really sad and creepy.

[Magrittes Pipe]

27. Oh, her tooth isn't broken.

She just sold her fillings.

[JohnKleeb]

29. how did she get addicted to coke?

[Magrittes Pipe]

31. Well, she was invited to a party with Fred Durst and the Vivid girls...

...it gets a little confusing after that.

[JohnKleeb]

33. well Fred Durst is a douchenosal

Has she been to Bologa, Columbia to sell her product yet?

[Magrittes Pipe]

37. Her "product" being her ass?

No, she can't even afford the bus fare out of Newark.

[JohnKleeb]

44. no cocaine man

Ive been through Newark, seems like the place for a coke whore to be.

[Magrittes Pipe]

45. No, she BUYs the coke.

She'd sell it, but you know -- there's none left.

[JohnKleeb]

46. ahh hah

Really sad how she's become addicted to coke. I hear the power rangers are now all addicted to meth.

[Magrittes Pipe]

51. Yellow Ranger is dead:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0870962/bio

[JohnKleeb]

53. see what happens when you sleep all the time

actually I knew that.

[Magrittes Pipe]

61. There's a lesson for you, John:

Don't drive on meth.

[JohnKleeb]

65. but I dont drive period

but thanks, meth is no good.

[Atlas Mugged]

21. OMG! My first thread spin off!!!

Do I get royalties??? And don't say it ain't a spin off - I checked the time. :)

[mrboba1]

28. It absolutely is a thread spinoff!!

But I had noticed in other 'comics' threads that people rail on about Family Circus.

Oh, and here is your royalty payment:

and


Enjoy!!!

:evilgrin:

[Atlas Mugged]

54. Why, thank you!

I've never tried that brand. How's it compare with Cottonelle plus aloe vera?

[mrboba1]

57. It chaps my ass!!!!

[XNASA]

24. Because of Barfy.

Any cartoon with a character named Barfy deserves to be hated.

[jmowreader]

95. Come now.

When I read the Family Circus, I feel all barfy. Don't you?

[GR]

26. I Like It And Read It Every Day...It's Great....nfm

[Heddi]

30. This makes it better

[mrboba1]

32. LOL!!!

Getting looks from my cube-neighbors...

[Heddi]

34. and this

and this

[JohnKleeb]

35. haha

thats good.

[southpaw]

41. One more...

[JohnKleeb]

42. ok call me immature but I laughed at that

[Heddi]

48. And this

[Heddi]

55. And this too

[JohnKleeb]

56. hah

these are dirty.

[Heddi]

59. yeah they are

go to drivenbyboredom.com and click the link on the right that says "family circus" and that's where I get all these wonderful treasures from. I swear to goodness I'm going to make t-shirts out of these

[JohnKleeb]

63. I'll do that sometime

[Itchinjim]

36. Say what you want about "Family Circus" but,

when I was around four or five years old it was one of the things that helped me to learn to read. (maybe that's Keene's intended audience) So I'm always going to have a soft spot for F.C.

[BlueJazz]

38. The amazing thing is if you ask 100 people...

..what they think of the Family Circus, Probably 90 percent thinks it sucks.

I don't understand why it's even being published...

[BloodyWilliam]

39. It's so cloyingly saccharine that

I have to turn on Leave it to Beaver to get the taste of lame out of my mouth.

[JohnLocke]

40. Because it's not funny or even heartwarming.

[UTUSN]

47. I Quit It 10 or So Yrs Ago over ONE Wingnut Reference

A couple of the posts above reference an overarching freeperness and a couple of others, Xtianness (did they mean B.C.?). It was always BLAND, but I quit it with just ONE homage to LIMBOsevic:

This was in the 5-10 years when LIMBOsevic had already hit big and was getting noticed by "Liberal media" types like G.E. RUSSERT.

The dad was in his hammock with a portable radio. Of course, he was in his complete costume (no shorts or flip flops), the black slacks, white shirt, shoes/socks, and glasses, with a blissful expression. The little girl was shooshing the boy, saying, "Shhh. You KNOW we can't make noise when Daddy is listening to Rush (LIMBOsevic)!"

That was it. I had never seen any other wingnut or fundy elements before.

And my lonely, ineffectual boycott continues to this day.

[Iris]

96. Maybe he was listening to Tom Sawyer

BTW - I like your "Limobsevic"!

[SiouxJ]

49. I drew funnier comics when I was 10

it's just so bad!

[underpants]

58. Because it is forwarding the gay agenda

:bounce:

[AngryAmish]

60. Family Circus haiku

Dolly sells her ass
Jeffry pulls trains all the time
Why won't they shut up?

[Khephra]

62. I read somewhere (so no link)

that the creator of the strip actually finds parodies of his work to be funny. If true, then he's at least a fundie with a sense of humor about his own work, unlike the BC guy.

[JohnKleeb]

66. BC guy?

[Khephra]

67. The BC strip with the cavemen

He's a MAJOR fundie.

[JohnKleeb]

70. fundies are gross

morons to the extreme.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

68. Johnny Hart

B. C. Used to be a riot in the 70's and early 80's, then JH became a "born again", and everything tanked.
Both B. C. and The Wizard of Id now stink becuase he interjects his beliefs and hatred of Islam in his strips nearly every week.

[JohnKleeb]

69. ahh I remember reading about that

Well as a Catholic, I can tell you 99 times out of 100, born agains turn out to be assholes, only one exception to that rule and its Jimmy Carter.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

72. Carter's a born again?

I did not know that.
And I have personal experience with a "born again". He was one of my best friends, but this election has driven a permanent wedge between us (of his doing, not mine.)
Funny thing is, he says he's a born again, but he loves to download porn from the internet. A lot.

[JohnKleeb]

76. yeah he is

My philo teacher was telling us about a friend of his who is just born again to be safe heh.

[Lorien]

81. He's not a fundie (see post #80)

and yes, he thinks the parodies are funny.

[Commendatori]

71. It sucks, but "Rose is Rose" is ten times worse. Worst. Comic. Ever.

Ten random of this violation of my basic human rights:

[mrboba1]

73. uhhhh.

Gee thanks.

That brain drain was excruciating.
:hurts:

[Commendatori]

74. Sorry, but you needed to be warned. You can never be too careful. (n/t)

[JohnLocke]

75. Stop. Please, stop.

[SmileyBoy]

86. Wow. Who does that shitty cartoon???

No sense of humour.

[Westegg]

92. Yes, you may be right. There are worse, more offensive comics...

...There are dumber comics, more badly drawn ones. There are more boring comics. Some comics are more cringe-inducing in their awfulness. Some manufacturers of some comics should, quite appropriately, be killed immediately. Many others should suffer sad, lengthy torture sessions, dying only later after much pain.

And yet...and yet..."Rose Is Rose" is somehow the Worst. Comic. Ever. Truly just numbingly bad. Thanks (I guess) for proving your point. BUT AT WHAT COST, FRIEND? MANY HERE HAVE SUFFERED TO NIGHT BECAUSE OF YOU!

Think about this before you post the likes of this again.

Shit. Now I'm going to have to read the last six months' worth of "Gasoline Alley" just to get the stench out of my head-space.

"Dondi Forever!"

[SmileyBoy]

93. I can just feel the synapses being shorted out in my brain.

*shudder*

[Selwynn]

77. Because "it lurks at the bottom of the page, just waiting to suck!"

"Then just when your starting to enjoy your comics there it is - family fucking circus just waiting to suck."

[Kat45]

78. That sounds like something Beavis would say:

that it's "just waiting to suck." I love it!

[Selwynn]

79. It's from the movie "Go."

[CanuckAmok]

82. Who's entertained by Family Circus? "Not me".

[enigmatic]

85. The Family Circus....

is alot like Clowns to me; I get completely creeped out by both, but can't tell you why..

[slutticus]

90. WTF is Family Circus?

?

[SmileyBoy]

91. Are you kidding??

???

[jmowreader]

94. Best real Family Circus ever written!

This is from just a few days ago...



If those little brats were my kids, I'd medicate too.

I glance at all of the comics, even the ones I don't like, and when I saw this panel I thought, "what, doesn't she want the kids to see how she shoots up?" I know I wouldn't want MY kids to learn how to shove heroin from watching me do it even though those little brats would drive a sober man straight to smack. And then I remembered that cutesy little lisps are Keane's form of humor, so to speak, and thought..."ohhhhh...she means MEDITATE! It was better the other way!"