I feel like most TV series are like that, especially in the first and last season. Those are the toughest because you have to maintain interest and develop characters/ wrap a story line all within a matter of episodes and when you think about it, 20ish minutes is not that long.
Anyway, found this cool video on youtube with the Parks & Recreation theme done with Family Guy characters. Pretty neat, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtIwZG1kHCM