Family Guy: Volume Four

Review By: Benjamin Lee
BenjaminLee@TheCinemaSource.com

While never threatening to overtake the sheer mass appeal of The Simpsons, Family Guy continues to excel as the underdog done good. Originally airing in 1999 and continuing until a second season, Family Guy was suddenly cancelled in 2000 due to poor ratings. A shift in power at Fox meant the show was brought back to life in 2002 but yet again cancelled, seemingly for good.

There was of course an outburst from the show’s many dedicated fans who managed to put together an online petition with over 100,000 names. Reruns of the show started on Cartoon Network and became a ratings pull, attracting the crucial young male demographic. When the show was finally released on DVD, it managed to sell 2.2 million copies in 2003 alone, making it the biggest selling TV DVD of the year.

Fox then announced in 2004 that the show would be back in 2005 and while the 5th season currently runs, the second half of the 4th has just been released on DVD. Its success has also led to creator Seth Macfarlane being given another series, American Dad, on primetime Fox.

So while the show still doesn’t receive fantastic ratings (pitted against Desperate Housewives on Sunday nights doesn’t help), its cult following is intact and deservedly so. Family Guy centers around the dysfunctional Griffin family and the town of Quahog where they reside. There’s Peter, the selfish, greedy father, Lois the put-upon, over-sexed housewife, Meg the dumpy, hated daughter, Chris the dumb son, Stewie the malevolent, conniving baby and Brian the pragmatic dog.

The set contains 14 episodes, including “PTV” where Peter is forced by the FCC to make his own uncensored TV channel, “The Fat Guy Strangler” where Lois discovers she has a homicidal brother who hates fat people, “Peterotica” where Peter starts writing erotic fiction, “You May Now Kiss The Uh Guy Who Receives” where Brian’s gay cousin tries to get married and “The Courtship of Stewie’s Father” where Peter and Stewie bond by tormenting Lois.

For anyone who’s never watched an episode of Family Guy, its fast-paced absurdity takes a little getting used to. One of the show’s key comic hooks is to use cut-aways. For example Peter will say “God, this is almost as tense as when the slaves were freed” and then we’ll see a white plantation owner de-cuffing a black slave saying “Okay so I guess you’re free. But we’re okay right?” It’s usually within these flashbacks that Family Guy gets its biggest laughs.

The initial comparison that one would make while watching the show is obviously going to be The Simpsons. But Family Guy relies on a different, and more sophisticated style of humor and ultimately, for me at least, wins out. It’s amazing at how much the show pushes the boundaries, especially given the channel it’s shown on. While Fox News remains one of the most conservative and hateful news outlets in the world, Fox Media still manages to create some of the most ...