'Family Guy' shouldn't work. It's as simple as that. Surely an animated series about a dumbwitted male, his attractive wife, their hopeless son, their clever daughter and a baby sounds familiar? Yes, we are talking about 'The Simpsons' here. But the comparisons can stop there. Instead, 'Family Guy' walks into territory that 'The Simpsons' never dared to tread. Plus, the family of 'Family Guy', The Griffins, have a talking dog and baby hell bent of world domination...
That final sentence in my opening paragraph may already deter some people into thinking that this programme is too far-fetched and idiotic for their cultural palate. On the contrary! This 'cartoon' is an intelligent piece of humour, with precise writing and excellent visual gags contained along with sometimes surreal flashbacks which help punctuate the episodes.
Created and developed by Seth MacFarlane, who personally provides a number of the voices, this first season DVD gives us an instant insight into the life and times of the people of Quahog, Rhode Island, through fourteen excellent episodes, focusing on the Griffins primarily, led by
Peter - the 'man' of the house, his wife Lois, son Chris, Daughter Meg, baby Stewie and dog Brian. Along with a number of appearances from neighbours such as Cleveland - the local black deli owner, Quagmire - a pilot and sex addict, and the Swansons.
Right from the word go, the first episode 'Death Has a Shadow' revolves around a somewhat surreal scenario - Peter losing his job and applying for benefits, which results in him accidentally receiving $150,000 a week! As one would expect, things turn out alright, but the foundations are there to suggest that this comedy can and will turn into a huge success.
Other episodes include 'A Hero Sits Next Door', where Peter becomes jealous of Joe Swanson, a disabled man who moves in next door. 'Chitty Chitty Death Bang' involves Meg unknowingly joining a cult whilst Stewie attempts to destroy 'the man in white'. 'Holy Crap' includes the appearance of Peter's father, a stern Catholic, with Peter kidnapping the Pope of all people, to convince his father that he loves him and that he should quit working at Peter's toy factory. The final episode of the season is 'The King is Dead' which involves Lois making a local production of the King and I, which eventually Peter turns into a cyborg battle with bikini-clad daners. Yes, surreal is Family Guy's middle name!
The roots of the humour rely on plays on words, references to films/tv, surreal answers and scenarios and simple dry-wit. A few of my favourite quotes from this series include:
"Peter: Sorry Meg. Daddy loves ya, but Daddy also loves Star Trek, and in all fairness, Star Trek was here first."
"Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.' Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios"
"(Peter and Brain are in jail) Brian: Uh, how was your shower? Peter: Oh, I tell ya Brian, all the rumors about dropping the soap are true. Brian: Really? Peter: Oh yeah, you can't hold onto that thing to save your life. Oh, it was slipping all over the place. Guys were laughing. "
"Brian: And remember that time you had an Irish coffee the day we went to see Philadelphia? (Scene cuts to Peter in the movie theater and everyone is crying, except him.) Peter: I got it! Thats the guy from "Big," uh--Tom Hanks! Funny guy Tom Hanks, everything he says is a stitch. Tom Hanks' Character: I have aids. Peter: hahahaha."
As you can see, Peter is very much the 'Homer Simpson' character, and is often the butt of or catalyst to many of the jokes.
The last one I've listed here, to some extent, may be too passé for some people, but that's what enables Family Guy to be seperated from the likes of The Simpsons - it's somewhat borderline jokes on 'taboo' subjects such as race and religion give the programme a 15 certificate here in the UK, but due to it being merely a cartoon, and with the characters making constant fools of themselves, often with regards to the jokes, little fuss is made of the punchlines.
With ongoing storylines such as Stewie's attempt to destroy the world, and Lois for that matter, ever since he escaped from her 'ovarian bastille', Brian's obsession with Martini, Meg's desperate need for a boyfriend, there is enough background detail to appreciate this as an ongoing series, rather than just individual episodes. This becomes even more pronounced in seasons two and three.
The DVD is available on Amazon for £17.99. Unfortunately there are no real 'special features' on the DVD, just basics such as interactive menus and scene access. But with no extra 'padding' on the DVD, it enables you, the viewer, to just simply sit back and laugh yourself silly at one of the world's genuine unfound jewels in animated and comedy television.
How and why did Fox drop this from their schedules?? With the unimaginable success of this DVD, they brought it back with the fourth series now being shown in America as I type...when it returns to the UK, I know I'll be watching, and I sure won't be the only one.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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Family Guy is sooooo funny. I have all of these on DVD myself, and love them lots. Great fun to watch, and better than the Simpsons I think, even though more contravercial too.... Keep smiling, Alastair :o)
RICHADA 02.02.2006 14:39
You do come up with some wonderfully "off centre" review subjects! Not one that I've heard of, not being a Simpsons fan, I'm not sure that this would be for me either, but if it re-appars on TV at some stage I'll give it a go. Richard.
rosillew 29.11.2005 22:37
I have to admit I have never heard of this before, probably not my kind of thing as I don't go much on the Simpsons either......but a very enjoyable read. Heatherx
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Family Guyshouldn't work at all. Even by the witless standards of modern television, it is ... more
breathtakingly derivative: does an animated series about the travails of a boorish, suburban yob with a saintly wife, a hopeless son, a clever daughter and a bab...
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![Family Guy - Season 1 [1999] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78534219.jpg "Family Guy - Season 1 [1999] [DVD]")
Oct 11th, 2005
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