DMV and Family Guy

So I went this weekend to get my first driver’s license and, predictably, it didn’t happen. I was there on time, I took my written and visual tests, but they decided to close the driving tests and hour and fifteen minutes before closing time. When I asked the polite, latino man/woman behind the desk he/she told me it’s at the manager’s discretion—they can close down whenever they see fit. Other than that it was relatively quick, for a major bureaucracy, anyway.

Then yesterday on Family Guy Peter told the story of how the black man had his revenge against the white man for slavery: the DMV. Then they go into one of their trademark flashbacks where a white guy is in front of a counter at the DMV while a black Peter tells him to get into another line. The guy complains, they keep going back and forth, talking over each other (another Family Guy staple) until finally the black Peter just says, “I’m on break,” puts a sign up, and disappears. Pretty funny stuff.

Although I must say that, after reading some criticism about the show, I think they have a point. Family doesn’t really have “stories” in their episodes. As much as I like their flashback usage and the many random things they throw out there (and yes, they’re funny), it’s much harder to be funny and stay within a story. What they do is more like a comedy routine with flimsy connections between the jokes.