Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan were writers and story editors on Family Guy in the early days. For the past 8 years they've been helping Bill Lawrence with Scrubs. Now that Scrubs is over its time for MacFarlene to bring them back.
Sometimes people (SirLemming for example) wonder why Family Guy is so different these days. The answer is simple. It lacks the Goldman-Donovan touch.
Right now I was watching Mind Over Murder on Adult Swim and it's amazing what a big part their humor played on the show. If you've seen Scrubs then you're familiar with Goldman-Donovan's writing and know what is theirs and what is MacFarlene.
Let's look at the cutaways for example since both shows have become famous for it. MacFarlene = Pop Culture. We should all know that by now. Goldman-Donovan, however, used cutaways that actually tie into the plot. Which is exactly what you get on Scrubs. For example, when Peter is put on house arrest, Cleveland tells him that he's lucky that it's his first offense. Then Peter says, "Oh, boy. Just think of all the crimes I've gotten away with" and it cuts to Peter standing next to a No Loitering sign and then to him urinating in a public pool. Then, we get another cutaway where Peter wonders if the woman he punched got his gift. That's when we see her getting knocked out by a Jack In The Box. Later on in the episode we get a cutaway that actually reminded me of a Scrubs one. Stewie is complaining cause he's teething, so Peter gives him some whiskey. He says, "my mother did the same to me" and then we see Peter as a child and his mom throwing a bottle of whiskey to the wall. It reminded me of the episode of Scrubs when JD tells one of his patients that kissing isn't the only way to get the "kissing disease". That's when it cuts to him at a college party and he's sitting next to a couple making out. One of them turns over and sneezes on him.
It's that type of humor that's missing on Family Guy these days. Plus, let's talk story-telling and character development. That's another thing that's missing on the show now but wasn't back when Goldman-Donovan were editing everyones scripts.
Sometimes people (SirLemming for example) wonder why Family Guy is so different these days. The answer is simple. It lacks the Goldman-Donovan touch.
Right now I was watching Mind Over Murder on Adult Swim and it's amazing what a big part their humor played on the show. If you've seen Scrubs then you're familiar with Goldman-Donovan's writing and know what is theirs and what is MacFarlene.
Let's look at the cutaways for example since both shows have become famous for it. MacFarlene = Pop Culture. We should all know that by now. Goldman-Donovan, however, used cutaways that actually tie into the plot. Which is exactly what you get on Scrubs. For example, when Peter is put on house arrest, Cleveland tells him that he's lucky that it's his first offense. Then Peter says, "Oh, boy. Just think of all the crimes I've gotten away with" and it cuts to Peter standing next to a No Loitering sign and then to him urinating in a public pool. Then, we get another cutaway where Peter wonders if the woman he punched got his gift. That's when we see her getting knocked out by a Jack In The Box. Later on in the episode we get a cutaway that actually reminded me of a Scrubs one. Stewie is complaining cause he's teething, so Peter gives him some whiskey. He says, "my mother did the same to me" and then we see Peter as a child and his mom throwing a bottle of whiskey to the wall. It reminded me of the episode of Scrubs when JD tells one of his patients that kissing isn't the only way to get the "kissing disease". That's when it cuts to him at a college party and he's sitting next to a couple making out. One of them turns over and sneezes on him.
It's that type of humor that's missing on Family Guy these days. Plus, let's talk story-telling and character development. That's another thing that's missing on the show now but wasn't back when Goldman-Donovan were editing everyones scripts.
. As for the actual topic, that could be a reason Family Guy is quite different from the original run, but these shows have so many writers that it's hard to pinpoint who was responsible for what. That being said if they were to go back to Family Guy their involvement would probably be noticeable as I think Scrubs is a really funny show.