Why James Woods Has Family Guy Fans So Divided
"Family Guy" doesn't take half measures. When it goes all in on a joke, it goes all in.
There are certain gags "Family Guy" loves to repeat ad nauseam. The most notable example of this is Peter getting into an epic fight with a giant chicken. It's happened multiple times over the years, often taking up precious minutes of an episode's 22-minute runtime. And the thing about these kinds of long gags is that they either work or don't. Fans either enjoy sitting through something unrelated to the plot for five minutes or just want it to be over.
Another gag that's come up repeatedly on "Family Guy" is James Woods. He's been at the center of several episodes where he causes mischief and trouble for the Griffin family. From being Peter's overbearing friend to stealing Peter's identity, James Woods can be a real jerk. And similar to those giant chicken fights, fans either love James Woods episodes or hate them, at least if Reddit is any indication.
Some people wouldn't watch a James Woods episode on any given Sunday
The discussion started when Redditor u/Redditors_are_weebs began this thread, "I hate all the James Woods episodes. I think he is [an] unfunny and annoying character. Also I disliked all the episodes surrounding him, especially the first 16:9 episode. He is just as unnecessary and annoying as the giant chicken fights." This kickstarted quite the debate on the social media platform, with people going back and forth between liking and disliking the character. One user who was in agreement with the initial statement mentioned, "[I] do not consider this unpopular at all. I think he sucks. Brian's TV Show is an always skip for me."
Then there were those who made compelling points that the James Woods episodes of "Family Guy" have some pretty funny moments. As u/alexamerling100 reminded us, "The ooh piece of candy was pretty good lol." Someone else had another fond James Woods moment: "I agree, except there is one James woods moment that makes me laugh out loud every time. When they're doing the Simpsons crossover, they're all in court and James woods is talking to James woods and says, 'oh they're going to lose.'"
"Family Guy" also appears to want to distance itself from James Woods due to controversial opinions the actor has shared in real life. For starters, the show renamed the high school Chris and Meg attend from "James Woods Regional High School" to "Adam West Regional High School" (via IndieWire). While part of the reason for the change was to pay tribute to Adam West, who voiced Quahog's mayor for many years on the show, it was also to "stick it to James Woods," according to star Alex Borstein.