The Family Guy is a cartoon about an average dysfunctional US family and their talking dog. It has been the subject of controversy and censorship in the US and was dropped by Fox. In the pilot episode, Stewie, a talking baby with a British accent, was openly contemptuous of his loutish dad and already hatching a plan to kill his sweet-natured mother in a quest for world domination. Sounds weird right? But worth a look if only to see what the US censors were so outraged by. Up until now I had managed to completely miss The Family Guy. In fact I’d never even heard of it until a mate offered to lend me the Season 3 DVD box set. I accepted coz I’m always on the look out for free entertainment, as the variety when I’m away at work is limited. I work on a survey vessel, currently in the Gulf of Mexico, so nipping down to Blockbuster ain’t an option.
The show itself is ruder and cruder than normal cartoons, hence the 15 certificate. Make no mistake, this is not a childrens cartoon. There’s some mild
swearing and some very non-PC jokes. The irreverent humour doesn’t pull any punches. Everybody is a target; cripples, homosexuals, nudists, teenagers, parents, porn stars, lesbians, transsexuals, red-necks, old people, young people,…well, just about everyone really although it’s not malicious. Just very funny.
I started watching The Family Guy DVD’s about a week ago and have, for the most part, enjoyed them. Each episode has raised a few laughs and the more I watch them the funnier they become. Some of the jokes are a bit contrived and you can spot the punch-line coming a mile off whilst others are delivered with perfect comic timing. It doesn’t matter though, I can’t help laughing at it all! One of the best things are the flashbacks which occur after a set-up line like “Well, it couldn’t be worse than that time……..” Flashback to a previous bizarre incident. Very funny! This series benefits from a great ensemble voice cast, with surprising contributions from big-name guest stars. It has a predictable pop at big names as well as some lesser well known ones. UK viewers may well miss some of the more obscure ‘1%er’ jokes but that’s ok, since there are plenty of others to keep you laughing.
The main characters are: Peter Griffin; the Dad, bit of a slob, works at a local toy factory his wife Lois; she loves him and her kids despite their faults their kids: Chris; a typical thick teenager boy, and Meg; nerdy teenager who desperately wants to be popular, a surprisingly articulate baby called Stewie bent on world domination, and a talking dog called Brian who gets addicted to sex, booze and cocaine at different times. Other characters include a cop in a wheelchair, a couple of nudists and some equally dysfunctional friends.
The makers aren’t afraid to rip off scenes from movies and even intersplice the odd bit of proper TV footage which all adds to the fun. It doesn’t strike me as particularly original, however the scripting and animation are particularly good and once you get used to the characters it becomes quite funny.
Inevitably comparisons will be drawn with that other great dysfunctional American family, the Bushes, ermm I mean the Simpsons. Whilst other cartoons have tried to emulate the success of Simpsons so far Family Guy is the only one that comes close to proper satire. It’s at times edgy and verges on bad-taste but manages to redeem itself by making you laugh in spite of yourself.
Right now, I’m not gonna rush out and buy the other episodes, but if they come my way I’ll definitely watch them.
The extras on the DVD box-set are not great, although the fact that you get 21 episodes should be enough.
There are 7 episodes per disc including 3 short ones suggested by the fans. The menu’s offer the usual subtitle and language options but that’s it. Perhaps Season 4 might include some background on the shows creators?
( I was gonna list each episode here but I’ve noticed that ‘ReviewDude’ has already done an excellent job so I would recommend checking his review “Meet The Griffins” for an outline of each episode)
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Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Director: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Carol Cleveland, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
The third season of Seth MacFarlane'sFamily Guyfinds television's most dysfunctional ... more
cartoon family even more animated than usual. As MacFarlane himself noted, he was inspired to go for broke, thinking that the series--already juggled like a hot potato...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The third season of Seth MacFarlane'sFamily Guyfinds television's most dysfunctional ... more
cartoon family even more animated than usual. As MacFarlane himself noted, he was inspired to go for broke, thinking that the series--already juggled like a hot potato...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
All the episodes from Season 3! Episodes comprise: 1. The Thin White Line 2. Brian Does ... more
Hollywood 3. Mr Griffin Goes To Washington 4. One If By Claim Two If By Sea 5. And The Weiner Is... 6. Death Lives 7. Lethal Weapons 8. The Kiss Seen Around The ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Season Three; All 21 Episodes on Three Discs! On Disc One; The Thin White Line, Brian Does ... more
Hollywood, Mr. Griffin Goes To Washington, One If By Cla, Two If By Sea, And the Wiener is.., Death Lives, Lethal Weapons. On Disc Two; The kiss Seen Around The ...
![Family Guy, Season 3 [DVD] [1999]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78521203.jpg "Family Guy, Season 3 [DVD] [1999]")
Dec 6th, 2004
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