I of course have a love-hate relationship with this show, to say the least. While the first three seasons were frequently brilliant stuff and the strangest underdog story you’ll see in animation, the show has kind of gone downhill since its death and resurrection. That being said, I own five different Brian and/or Stewie t-shirts, all the DVDs, and a crapload of other merchandise with Seth’s characters on it, so there must be something going on. I think it’s become the same kind of thing as The Simpsons, where it’s become part of the cultural landscape and people like me keep watching no matter how much we bitch on the Internet.
As we move into this season, the whims of the creators from moved from quick cutaway gags into incredibly long gags that get less or more funny with the length depending on how drunk or stoned you are while watching.
As with everything else, this season was shortened by the writer’s strike, only giving us 11 episodes, spread over three discs. And in the tradition of “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story”, they make you buy another DVD set by omitting the Star Wars episode, “Blue Harvest” and releasing it on another DVD. Which I also bought.
Disc One
– “No Meals on Wheels”. Peter gets a new pair of old-timey pajamas and annoys everyone with the power of static electricity (“Kneel before Jesus!”) but then the plot takes a Simpsons-like turn into left field as they somehow segue into the family opening a restaurant. Unfortunately for Peter, it turns into a hangout for paraplegics, including the angry Vietnam vet who’s seen some things and stuff and wouldn’t recommend it. And of course that leads to Peter fighting the gigantic Crippletron and learning valuable lessons. Pretty weak stuff.
– “Boys Do Cry”. Lois becomes the church’s new organist and wouldn’t you know that the town thinks Stewie is possessed by the devil. So in search of religious tolerance, they go to Texas. Yeah, they even admit on the commentary that it’s a bit of a stretch. The Chuck Norris cameo also gives Seth a chance for a quality Norris joke (“Chuck doesn’t send in a tax return, he just sends the IRS a picture of himself in a crouched position, ready to strike.”). Really, though, the episode is just there for Peter branding the cow, who REALLY enjoys it.
– “No Chris Left Behind”. Lois gets riled up by Chris’s 1896 textbooks (“Negroes: The Nation’s Dancingist Rapefolk”), which results in Chris getting expelled. But that’s just window dressing for the main event, as it’s Peter v. Chicken III: The Revenge. Yeah, it’s getting old, but it does allow them to take shots at Brannon Braga on the commentary, which is always appreciated. Stewie as King Friday is pretty awesome too (“What is this, Mexico?”). As usual, the actual plot wrapped around the flashback gags is the weakest thing, and they even own up to it on the commentary, noting that the six-minute Chicken Fight was put in because they couldn’t stretch “Chris goes to boarding school” into a full episode.
– “It Takes A Village Idiot, And I Married One”. I don’t remember any of the setup for this one, which is weird. The Griffins use Quagmire’s cabin for a vacation and discover that the lake has gone toxic, which leads to our wacky plot of the week: Lois runs for mayor. The gay bee is tremendous (“Oh, done stung myself”) and Lois discovers that 9/11 is the key to winning any debate. And there’s not much else here.
– “Meet the Quagmires”. Death takes Peter back in time to live it up at 18, but of course they do the Back To The Future gag and everything changes back in the present. And since Back to the Future is the #1 movie to reference for the dorky writers, we get a multitude of BTTF jokes (the chalkboard bit is my favourite) and Peter dancing to “Axel F Theme” until it’s not funny. Which is NEVER. Brian finishing with “Never Gonna Give You Up” apparently created the Rickrolling phenomenon, so blame this one. Best one of the season thus far. Which admittedly isn’t saying much for this season.
Disc Two
– “Movin’ Out (Brian’s Song)”. The introduction of Carl the movie-obsessed convenience store owner here, as Chris and Meg get jobs because Chris’ focus on pottery was not working out. This one also has the completely out-of-nowhere ugly feud with the Simpsons where Quagmire rapes Marge and then kills the entire family. No, really, that was the JOKE. Seth launches into a giant story behind it on the commentary, as apparently Fox edited it out of the broadcast and tried to legislate peace between the two shows. Anyway, the total inane movie conversations between Chris and Carl are ONES I’VE HAD WITH REAL PEOPLE. That’s pretty scary. The other half of the story sees Brian (and naturally, Stewie by way of extension) moving in with Jillian, which proves to be uncomfortable for all involved (“Just go ahead and have sex with the very next person you see. Don’t even think about it.”). And thus we bid adieu to Jillian and Brian’s dreams of writing a novel (that reads suspiciously like Iron Eagle) in the same show. The novel would return at least.
– “Believe It Or Not, Joe’s Walking On Air”. The guys get threatened by the women taking over the Clam, leading to a men’s club and Stewie preaching the benefits of Anacin. This leads to the actual plot of a depressed Joe seeking out leg transplant options and Dr. Hartman meeting Carter for the first time. Sadly, Joe with legs is a bit of a jerk and they actually manage to stretch that into a whole episode without doing a B-story. And it’s pretty funny! And they had a plan for the fish-juggling Hitler all along!
– “Stewie Kills Lois”. Part one of the epic 100th episode as Brian buys Lois & Peter a cruise, and Stewie realizes that he’s been all talk and no killing. Peter sitting at the captain’s table and telling a story about a one-handed abortionist is just amazingly filthy stuff. But then, finally, Stewie stows away and murders Lois in cold blood and in graphic detail, so you know there’s no way for the writers to weasel out of it. And once again, there’s actually a plot this time, as Peter becomes the prime suspect in his wife’s murder…until the big twist at the end. CLIFFHANGER. Well, until the second half of the episode.
– “Lois Kills Stewie”. The strange focus on plot continues with the police searching for Stewie, who is on a killing rampage as it starts to become apparent that something is way off. So it’s a weird Stewie & Brian roadtrip that leads them to the CIA and a crossover with American Dad. And of course the whole thing was a dream sequence, or computer simulation in this case. Yeah, it’s a big screw you to the paying customer, but I think the show worked well enough that you could guess it was coming anyway.
– “Padre De Familia”. Patriotic fervour sweeps Peter (being this week’s wacky thing for him) which naturally leads to patrolling the border for immigrants. Michael McDonald singing backup for everyday conversation and sacrificing goats to Toby Keith are bizarre but hilarious non-cutaway gags for once. Peter’s heritage is questioned yet again, as now he’s a Mexican and has to take the citizenship test. Peter working as a maid (“Housekeeping?”) is a bit that gets quoted around our house often for some bizarre reason. Quite a few extra bits in here like Peter acting like a VCR for Carter, and the family buying badly translated DVDs from Mexicans. The addition of Gregory Peck taking a crap is less impressive, however. The commentary is pretty much dominated by the writers geeking out over Phyllis Diller.
– “Peter’s Daughter”. A flash flood leaves Meg in a coma, which is the only circumstances under which Peter will actually treat her like a human being. The B story sees Stewie and Brian flipping a house, so blame them for the economy being in the state that it is. Meg dating a doctor sets off Peter’s protective instincts (maybe he’s just two dwarves in an overcoat wanting to know what big people sex is like!) and her possible pregnancy gives us a coat hanger gag that I didn’t think we’d possibly ever get on network TV. This one’s all about the ancient vaudeville routines, like Brian & Stewie on walkie-talkies and Neil tricking Chris into letting him into the wedding.
Disc Three
– “McStroke”. Peter’s wacky thing of the week: Growing a moustache. Stewie’s wacky thing: Going to high school and becoming the most popular kid. Added for the DVD: Peter attends a meeting of the Mustache Club. Sadly, before they can milk that Wacky Thing for 22 minutes, Peter loses the mustache and gains lifetime burgers at McBurgertown. Peter with a stroke may be the most disturbing image they’ve ever done. Stewie’s hatred of Myspace is really a bit dated what with Facebook taking over the social networking scene, but no less hilarious. Another historic moment with the introduction of Meowsy McDermitt, CAT LAWYER. I don’t know why, but it just kills me every time. The commentary outs Trey Parker as gay during Stewie’s visit to Anal Point (“Ow! Ow! Ow!”), which I honestly had never heard before. I don’t know if it makes the endless gay jokes on South Park more or less funny, actually. The plot is all over the place as usual, but Ricardo Montalban plays a COW and rocks it, so it’s easily my favourite episode of the season.
Video & Audio
Well, this is something of a problem, as Fox didn’t actually send me the real set, they sent me a “Special Screener Copy” which is three burned discs. And single-layer discs at that, which are apparently transferred at a bitrate lower than what you could find on the Internet. And yet this is the studio that sticks preachy ads about not pirating DVDs at the beginning of their DVDs! They sent me what is basically a PIRATED DVD to review! Anyway, the upshot is that the video quality is pretty ugly here, which I guess discourages me from copying these things and selling them to my Hong Kong connections or something. So I’m just assuming that the video transfer is about the same as on the other seasons, which is your typical bright colors and original full-screen ratio.
The audio is presented in Dolby 5.1, although it’s a dialogue-centric show so it’s really just the music sequences that give the speakers any kind of a workout. Again, the version sent me was more compressed than the real one, so the final release might sound different. I’LL NEVER KNOW. Unless I buy it. Which I probably will, because I’m a dork already.
Bonus Features
Although the set is short on episodes, there’s actually a ton of extra content.
First up, commentaries from Seth and the gang on all the episodes, as 6 volumes of DVD has finally gotten them to the point where they’re really good at them. Most of the episodes are also uncensored and feature longer versions with filthier jokes, although you can also select the original broadcast version if you’re a big pussy or you’re an idiot who lets your kids watch. From there, the third disc has the rest of the content, including…
– 18 minutes of deleted bits, most of which are cutaway gags that they couldn’t fit into the show. There’s actually some really funny stuff here, like the corpse of River Phoenix on a date or Stephen Hawking’s family dinner at the restaurant. The Swedish bakery would actually make it into the next season.
– Animatic versions of five episodes, with additional commentary from the production staff.
– The 100th episode special, not to be confused with the actual 100th episode (Stewie Kills Lois), which unfortunately doesn’t have commentary.
– A 70 minute “Family Guy Live” performance from Just For Laughs, as Seth and the cast do a live table-read at the Just For Laughs festival. Frankly given the length and Fox’s predilection for milking this series for money, I’m surprised they didn’t do this as a separate DVD release.
– Animator Peter Shin demonstrates how to draw Lois.
– The making of the 100th episode, which runs 24 minutes. Same kind of “making of” deal they’ve done on other season sets.
– “Favorite Scenes” sees various production members introducing their favourite scenes, of course.
– Music video for “I’m Huge (and the babes go wild)”, which is another 3 minutes of Peter highlights.
Final Thoughts
Yeah, I’ve seen them all 100 times each, but the addition of the commentaries and extra footage makes them worth watching again for me, even if it’s not the strongest season to say the least. Bitch as I might, I still buy them and watch them in syndication and wear the Blue Harvest shirt I got with my ridiculously overpriced Blue Harvest Deluxe Edition, so I guess that’s a glowing recommendation from me not matter how much I complain on the blog.
