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They’re not standing around the watercooler, but Cheryl Sadler, Mark Meszoros, Mark Podolski and Nicole Franz are talking about what they’ve been watching, listening to and playing during their free time.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Even for "Family Guy," this went a bit too far

"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane is never afraid to toe the line - so to speak - when it comes to sensitive subjects.

Over the years, the show has poked fun at A-list celebrities, religion, politics, AIDS ... you name it. Nothing is off-limits for this clever and hilarious cartoon show.

The reason they have been able to do it is because it's funny. Simple as that. But "Family Guy" is not for everyone. It's certainly not a kids show, either. Especially if you watched the March 15th episode.

If you missed it, main character Peter Griffin meets and befriends none other than O.J. Simpson, setting up an ending anyone could have predicted. Just guessing here, but most of America had to be scratching their collective heads afterward thinking, "Did you really have to go there?"

At least that's what I was thinking.

A quick rundown of the episode: Peter claims a prize he won way back in 1989, a round of golf with O.J., and before playing the round his friends concoct a way to get Simpson to confess to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, of which he was acquitted in 1994.

O.J. finds out Peter's ploy and is disappointed in his playing partner. Peter takes sympathy on O.J. and spends the rest of the episode convincing the town of Quahog that O.J. isn't a bad guy after all.

In the hit-or-miss aspect of TV comedy, "Family Guy" hardly ever misses. This episode was a big miss. Making matters worse, the episode ends with the town's residents now convinced O.J. isn't a bad guy, thanks in part to Peter. O.J. then pulls out a knife, stabs two people, chops another's head off and runs away.

Even for "Family Guy," that was way beyond poor taste.

Let's hope the show hasn't officially jumped the shark.

- Mark Podolski

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