'Family Guy' and 'Modern Family' creators condemn Fox News. Why now?
Seth MacFarlane and Steve Levitan, the creators of Family Guy and Modern Family, respectively, have had enough of the steaming bullshit Fox News ladles out on a daily basis.
"Just blindly obey Fox News," MacFarlane (sarcastically) wrote in a Saturday tweet responding to Fox New host Tucker Carlson's absurd claim that any media reports contradicting his own network's reporting were invariably wrong.
SEE ALSO:Remember that time time Fox News said Mister Rogers was 'evil'?MacFarlane continued: "This is fringe shit, and it’s business like this that makes me embarrassed to work for this company."
Levitan concurred with the Family Guycreator in a Monday tweet. "I’m disgusted to work at a company that has anything whatsoever to do with @FoxNews," he wrote. "This bullshit is the opposite of what #ModernFamily stands for."
Former Fox TV creator Judd Apatow took some swings as well in a series of tweets posted throughout the day on Monday.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
(Freaks and Geekscreator and Ghostbustersreboot-er Paul Feig also had words for Fox News.)
This is all great news, right? People in positions of influence actually using their platform to speak the truth to power. The world, and the United States in particular, could use more of that behavior. Kudos, Fox creators. I just have one question for MacFarlane and Levitan.
Why are you only speaking up now?
Don't get me wrong: The Trump administration-authored "zero tolerance" policy that's separating migrant kids from their families is reprehensible. People should be speaking out against it, and against Fox News for propping up ghoulish talking heads like Anne Coulter, who had the temerity to call those poor kids "child actors."
But this garbage administration has been torching the country's moral foundation since our Shithead-in-Chief took office in January 2017. Fox News has been openly filling the role of state-sponsored news service -- the word "news" applies veryloosely when it comes to Fox -- for almost as long.
So why now? Why did guys like MacFarlane and Levitan, the creative forces behind two of the most popular shows on TV, wait so long to say something?
Maybe it's because they can do so without fear now. For more than six months now, word has been flying around that media business interests are interested in acquiring a large chunk of 21st Century Fox -- virtually everything that isn't Fox News or Fox Sports programming, basically.
Why are you only speaking up now, Seth MacFarlane and Steve Levitan?
First it was Disney. Then Comcast. It's a negotiation that's still playing out, and no one on the outside (and possibly on the inside) is clear at this point on who will win. Really, the only thing that seems certain here is a sale is going to happen. Whichever interest ends up paying in the end, 21st Century Fox movies and TV are very likely to soon be divorced from Fox News and Fox Sports for good.
Some might call this a cynical take, but even those people have to admit that it's possibleMacFarlane and Levitan are only speaking up now because there's no one left to offend. If Rupert Murdoch is as committed to making this deal happen as it seems from the outside, Fox brass isn't going to make any programming changes while those conversations are happening.
In other words, MacFarlane and Levitan have nothing to lose.
I'm genuinely glad to see them speaking up, don't get me wrong. But it's hard to cheer them on too loudly when they've had a full year and a half to process Trump's increasingly alarming Fox relationship and are only saying something now, when a deal seems more like a "when" than an "if."
What I'd really like to see is for someone with influence to sever their business relationship with the network. Criticizing a boss doesn't count for much when you're still pocketing a check at the end of every pay cycle. Sure, for someone like MacFarlane to do that, it would inevitably also mean leaving his creations behind.
So what? What's happening right now in the United States, and in the world at large, is far bigger than a popular TV show. A critical tweet is literally the least amount of effort a would-be resistance believer can put forth. It's nice to see from people who wield influence, but seriously folks: Do better.
Getting out of a contract of the sort these two guys are probably locked into isn't as easy as phoning the boss and shouting "I quit!" But there's nothing stopping either of them from taking whatever steps are necessary to ensure that Fox no longer profits off of their work. Even if that means leaving their creations behind. It's hard to imagine a bright future for either of their shows without the creators on board.
You don't need to remain tethered to a company that is actively making the world a worse place on a daily basis. Especially not when you're Seth MacFarlane or Steve Levitan, successful creators who are surely no more than a phone call or two away from making something new for someone else.
(Author's note: Shortly after this story published, news surfaced that MacFarlane has donated $2.5 million to NPR and its Los Angeles affiliate, KPCC. That's commendable! But I'd still like to see the influential creators on the entertainment side of Fox do more to bite the hand that feeds them.)
Making noise on Twitter is good PR, but maybe we should demand more decisive action from our industry giants as opposed to commending them for taking zero risk as they do the bare minimum.
UPDATEDJune 19, 2018 6:12 p.m. ET with a link out to Paul Feig's tweet.
Featured Video For You
The iconic works of art you missed in Beyoncé and Jay-Z's 'Apesh*t' video
(责任编辑:新闻中心)
- The Best AMD Ryzen Gaming Laptops (So Far)
- 市教育局调研组到荥经调研教育工作
- 国道318线天全境内 尚未造成断道
- 田家炳中学新生军训圆满结束
- South Korean lawmakers brace for US election as Harris, Trump diverge on North Korea
- 7 Reasons to Explore Boston’s Lesser
- #HaveAWord campaign speaks directly to men and boys about violence against women
- Cheong Wa Dae perks up under new chief
- Trump's mishandling of intelligence secrets could affect cooperation over N. Korea: congressman
- Why Kamala Harris triggers Donald Trump so intensely.
- Would a Tumblr girl ever buy this $68 'I <3 Tumblr' tee?
- Dell's UFO concept is like a Nintendo Switch with the power of an Alienware PC
- These temporary tattoos are helping people living with mental health issues
-
Tesla reveals Cybertruck has sold more than DeLorean
If you want to know how many Cybertrucks Tesla has sold, just wait for the next recall. Two months a ...[详细] -
Straka wins John Deere Classic
WASHINGTON:Sepp Straka's bid for a sub-60 final round met a watery grave at the 72nd hole on Sun ...[详细] -
Cheong Wa Dae perks up under new chief
President Moon Jae-in vowed to do something which his ousted predecessor Park Geun-hye never set out ...[详细] -
Conner O'Malley is the internet's unlikely oracle. And its most deranged comedian.
If you squint your eyes, or maybe you're three beers deep, it's the metaverse. There's some self-imp ...[详细] -
“精致小春姐”顾春芳:华丽白西装、镶钻水晶拖鞋,带来新兴凉果No.1
“精致小春姐”顾春芳:华丽白西装、镶钻水晶拖鞋,带来新兴凉果No.1_南方+_南方plus“欢迎收听广东‘讲错’电台编外节目之广东省第一届农事运动会乡村直播大赛......”来自云浮市新兴县的村播“精 ...[详细] -
Hickling into worlds with Jamaican long jump title
KINGSTON:Tissanna Hickling qualified for her first senior world championships after she won the wome ...[详细] -
雅安日报讯为推动宝兴县教育事业的全面发展,日前,宝兴县总工会举行“金秋助学”发放仪式,为11名贫困学生发放了助学金2.4万元。据悉,“金秋助学”是全省工会系统开展的六大惠民行动之一,帮扶的对象主要是困 ...[详细]
-
MIAMI:Lionel Messi's next club, Inter Miami, announced Friday it will hold a presentation event, ...[详细]
-
How do you make safe, cheap nuclear reactors? Bury them a mile deep
Startup Deep Fission has come up with a new way to deal with the economic and safety problems of nuc ...[详细] -
比赛现场雅安日报讯26日晚,第二季中国藏歌会全国晋级赛第二场在四川卫视火热上演,来自我市石棉县的喜雅勒组合向全国观众展示了独特的尔苏音乐和神秘的尔苏文化。石棉县尔苏藏族和木雅藏族民歌是非物质文化的宝贵 ...[详细]
- 广东超一半的北运淡水鱼来自这里!全链发力打响“南海鱼”金字招牌
- Would a Tumblr girl ever buy this $68 'I <3 Tumblr' tee?
- These temporary tattoos are helping people living with mental health issues
- 荥经首个煤矿瓦斯综合利用发电项目建成试运行
- Essential Apps to Install on your Windows PC or Mac
- North Korea internally promotes 'nuclear statehood' to its people ahead of summit
- 雅安职业技术学院2011级新生入学第一课是军训