The Family Guy premier last night was weirdly awful. The rape motif threaded through the episode was unsettling and disrespectful rather than funny, the normally hilarious pop culture references lame and off-key, and Stewie was infantilized and annoying. Short Jesus was pretty funny, but that was it. I really, really hope McFarlane isn’t losing the magic.

Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.