Family Guy and Don Imus – are they similar?

There’s an interesting article in the New York Times about the similarities between shock jock Don Imus and Family Guy; basically, the point of the article is why does family guy get away with the same stuff the Imus was censored for? Here’s some reasoning as to why, exactly:

1. Imus is human and Family Guy is a cartoon.

2. Imus is non-fiction and Family Guy is fiction (although it often has non-fiction elements).

3. Imus aspires to some level of intellectual sophistication while Family Guy is brazenly juvenile.

4. Imus is live talk while Family Guy is taped entertainment.

5. There is no real difference between the two, but the kind of big public storm that resulted in Imus being fired is essentially a random event, unpredictable and nearly inexplicable, and it typically arises when political, social, and media pressures all align just right. It can’t be concocted, or controlled. It happened to Imus because it happened; and it hasn’t happened to Family Guy just because it hasn’t.

The article does bring up some interesting points; I think that the bottom line is that Family Guy doesn’t take itself seriously (or expect anyone ELSE to), yet on the other hand, Don Imus truly believes what he says and thinks that he’s actually saying something that is not full of complete ass-hattery. What do you think? Let’s hear in the comments.