The kpop group SISTAR appeared on Family Guy to mixed reactions from fans.
Kpop (Korean Pop) is huge in South Korea and its popularity has been steadily growing in the United States as well. In 2012, Girls’ Generation performed their single “The Boys” in English on David Letterman. The Wonder Girls also tried to enter the American market and even made a Nickelodeon movie called “The Wonder Girls.” Just recently singer CL, from the kpop group 2NE1, came to Los Angeles to film her music video for her single “Hello Bitches.” CL worked with Parris Goebel and ReQuest Dance Crew for the video.
It seems like Kpop is really catching on in the United States since even Family Guy took notice. In the recent episode of Family Guy, “Candy, Quahog, Marshmallow,” Peter, Cleveland and Joe find a Kdrama (Korean drama) on VHS that Quagmire starred in. The Kdrama, “Winter/Summer,” had the guys hooked but there was just one problem – the last episode was missing! Since the last episode was only available in South Korea the gang travels to the East Asian country to see how the show ended.
During their visit to South Korea, the guys end up watching a clip from SISTAR’s “Touch My Body” music video. Check out the Family Guy SISTAR cameo below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnBRpfGkJ-k
This is not the first time Seth McFarlane has featured Asian pop music on one of his shows. During an episode of American Dad, a song from the Japanese pop group Perfume was featured in the background.
While in South Korea, Quagmire reunites with an old lover and it’s up to Peter, Cleveland and Joe to convince their friend to return home with them. Of course, the only way they can convince Quagmire is in a kpop song!
Peter, Cleveland and Joe record a kpop music video of their own that perfectly parodies the dances and styles of many famous kpop groups. There is even a “confusion dance break” in the middle of the song that any kpop fan would laugh at knowing full well that dance breaks are all too common in the genre. The three friends also performed dance moves from KaARA’s “Step,” Crayon Pop’s “Bar Bar Bar” and PSY’s “Gangnam Style” throughout the music video. The song itself is a parody of HyunA’s famous “Bubble Pop!” single.
However, in true Seth McFarlane fashion, the song quickly becomes a bit offensive. There is a Kim Jong-Un joke thrown in, of course. At one point in the song, Peter sings “Who wants to live in Korea? / Their name sounds like Gonorrhea”. There are other sexual jokes throughout the song and episode such as the reference to Korean women having smaller breast than American women. There was even an offensive reference to Koreans eating dogs in the parody song.
The episode received mixed reactions from Kpop fans. While some thought the parody was funny, others were offended by the jokes told throughout the episode.
