This Had to be a Fun Night… October 17, 2011

This Had to be a Fun Night…

By Hemant Mehta
October 17, 2011

So this happened over the weekend…

Photo by Meredith Keffer

Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and its clones, accepted the award for Harvard Humanist of the Year. More pictures from the event are here.

Someone get me video or transcript of his talk ASAP. Please…? 🙂

***Update***: Here’s a rough video of the event. The official video will come out soon:

(via Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard)

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  • Anonymous

    Finally. Isn’t this the award they’ve been trying to give him for like a year and it kept getting postponed for various reasons?  But in all seriousness, show-biz is very lucky to have Seth.  We need more like him writing, speaking and making good, thoughtful entertainment.

  • Skeletal Dropkick

    Just listened to him on Fresh air, While I don’t watch the show, he is fantastic!

    Apparently he was supposed to be ont he flight that went into the WTC on Sept. 11th, Terri asked him if he felt like every day is a bonus and a blessing, and what does he say? He pulls out a quote from Sagan about human desire to add significance to everything. He totally has a new fan 🙂

  • Just listened to him on Fresh air, While I don’t watch the show, he is fantastic!Apparently he was supposed to be ont he flight that went into the WTC on Sept. 11th, Terri asked him if he felt like every day is a bonus and a blessing, and what does he say? He pulls out a quote from Sagan about human desire to add significance to everything. He totally has a new fan 🙂

  • Just listened to him on Fresh air, While I don’t watch the show, he is fantastic!Apparently he was supposed to be ont he flight that went into the WTC on Sept. 11th, Terri asked him if he felt like every day is a bonus and a blessing, and what does he say? He pulls out a quote from Sagan about human desire to add significance to everything. He totally has a new fan 🙂

  • Skeletal Dropkick

    want to delete this comment, but can’t  🙁

  • Skeletal Dropkick

    want to delete this comment, but can’t  🙁

  • This is as close as I can find:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GIOa4oad1g

  • Kods

    Am I the only one who thinks Family Guy is dumb and misogynist? How is writing a new rape joke every week deserving of a humanist award? 

    Granted, I don’t know what other work he does, but FG is the most prevalent. 

  • Bob

    is this a video of the event??

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GIOa4oad1g

  • Thanks!

  • dauntless

    Good point, and people have made it before. Family Guy is not representative of humanist values. MacFarlane’s supporters will be quick to point out that Family Guy is satire, making some ironic point about how people think vs. how they should think, but is that what the fans are laughing at? The irony? Or are people laughing at the punchlines, and the easy targets of rampant misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia? As talented as MacFarlane is, it’s a pity he doesn’t have any integrity, especially considering how he’s been awarded here.

  • Depends on the fan. I like the irony.

  • MacFarlane is so much funnier and interesting person than any of his shows. His shows are so damn boring, they make me want to seriously disrespect anyone involved in writing them. Then I watch Seth do events like the Comedy Central roast or go on Real Time w/Bill Maher and he’s absolutely hilarious. I don’t think he does stand up comedy but he really should.

    I’m not entirely sure why he’s getting an award like this. I know he’s a humanist atheist but I almost never see him talk about those things. The most he’s done is use his shows to mock religion.

  • People had the same argument about “All in the Family” in the ’70s. The show was considered crass by conservatives, and liberals thought people wouldn’t get that the show was making fun of Archie Bunker’s racism, not endorsing it. And of course the most hardcore racists thought Archie was showing up Meathead and everybody else on the show, just like some hardcore misogynists won’t realize that the characters in “Family Guy” aren’t supposed to be role models. The thing is, you’ll never persuade those people anyway, and it’s no reason to stop writing satire.

  • And I’m not saying this because I’m a fan of the show. In fact, I think the quality is uneven at best.

  • Anonymous

    MacFarlane is a love/hate guy.  Either you love him and his work or you hate him.  Accepting the humanist award is a great honor, regardless of his sometime over the top jokes on Family Guy.  His overall world views are very humanistic and having met him before during his tour last year for his jazz music career, he is really a down to earth guy.

  • T-Rex

    Love Seth and all of his shows, except The Cleveland Show. Of course, you have to have a healthy sense of humor to enjoy his creations.  Obviously, many of you are offended by cartoons. Just because I laugh at the outrageousness, raunchiness and sexism, doesn’t mean I live by those standards. Sounds like some of you need a stiff drink to unpucker your sphincters.

  • Exactly my point at the beginning of this whole thing, I even sent a letter in to the Association speaking pretty much the same. Family Guy may be satire, but it’s mean-spirited and truly not at all representative of humanist values. Its hero is a misogynist, it’s full of homophobia and transphobia, and it’s disgusting to see this kind of attitude paraded as the echelon of humanist values.

    There are doubtless many others more deserving of the title of Humanist of the Year than Seth McFarlane, seems to me like they wanted a big name to parade in front of the award.

  • I don’t like his work but I really like him. He’s hilarious and witty in person, but his shows aren’t.