Lucky there's a Family Guy...

When "All in the Family" was released, it was one of the most controversial shows on television. The creator, Norman Lear, thought that Archie would be a great social critique on many Americans' attitudes, however; many people thought he went way too overboard.

So, today, what's the most controversial show on television? What's the show that the FCC is constantly having to look out for? Well, I'll offer a visual comparison of the opening to "All in the Family" with the intro of that show:

It's obvious in both the similar intros and the show's title that "Family Guy" was heavily influenced by "All in the Family" and is striving to be the same type of show. Both shows are heavily controversial, covering topics such as politics, sexual orientation, racism, and others. Both shows also used a fair amount of language. "All in the Family" was among the first to use "God damn it" on TV, and "Family Guy" drops numerous swear words, including F-bombs on the unedited DVD releases. 

No matter how similar these shows are, though, there are still various differences between the two. For example, "Family Guy" is animated (thank you Captain Obvious!), and features a much different narrative structure (various cutaway scenes and anecdotes). Really, "Family Guy" seems more based on "The Simpsons" than "All in the Family", but it is still the best modern comparison to it. "All in the Family" also uses much more racial slurs, whereas "Family Guy" uses stereotypes but not very many slurs. 

Content-wise, both shows don't really fail to address topics that the other does address, other than "Family Guy" addressing a few modern issues such as abortion or gun rights that weren't as prevalent during the times of "All in the Family". But really, neither show holds back that much. They both go boldly where no show has gone before, and address things that other shows would fear to delve into.