Category: Cartoons & Animation - Movie - TV Shows - Television
Availability: Usually ships in 6 to 11 days
List Price: $39.98 Our Price: $29.99YOU SAVE $9.99!
Buy it
DVD Family Guy, Vol. 4 (Season 4 Part 2)
Okay, let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Family Guy is not, never has been, and never will be, The Simpsons. Nor is it South Park, King of the Hill, or any one of a number of other shows on Adult Swim. But yes, it is in many ways a rip-off of those other shows (especially The Simpsons; let’s not even pretend otherwise). But so what? By now, you either think the show’s funny, or you don’t, and the derivativeness either bothers you, or it doesn’t. Volume 4 is likely to just cement your feelings one way or the other, because this collection features some of the funniest, and the most offensive material yet. It’s also the most cohesive. The show has always been incredibly erratic, turning on a dime to fit in all those jokes from out of the blue that start with Peter saying "Boy, this is worse than that time when..." But by now, the writers and series creator/executive producer Seth MacFarlane have figured out how to more seamlessly integrate them into the show, and that’s just what it needed to really come together. In fact, the extra attention being paid to the show recently in the form of swipes from The Simpsons and especially South Park (which dedicated an entire episode to trying to kill off Family Guy) is evidence that this is probably the peak for the series. This volume is 14 episodes, and stand-outs include "The Courtship of Stewie’s Father," which gives more face time to creepy old man Herbert (brilliantly voiced by Mike Henry), and "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz," in which Peter starts his own church dedicated to Fonzie from Happy Days. Of course, there is still the lingering question of who the real star of Family Guy is: Peter or Stewie? The little football-head gets his moments to shine in "Sibling Rivalry," in which he battles with half-brother Bertram, and... well, pretty much every other episode, as he continues to get many of the memorable lines. Along with the extra features, over 40 deleted scenes, extensive commentaries, and featurettes, you true fans will get more than your share of laughs from this collection, which is what you watch the show for in the first place. --Daniel Vancini
Review(s): DVD Family Guy, Vol. 4 (Season 4 Part 2)
The MacFarlane Show
Definitely a step down from season three, but still worth it. The second half of this volume is particularly weak for 'Family Guy', but I think most of us can forgive it, as we're well aware that MacFarlane had his new-born baby to groom whilst this season of the show laid way (the spawn being 'American Dad').
The main reason I can't be too hard on the show, even amidst a lot of the mediocrity displayed on the DVD here, is because I really do love it. Even though it has been a powerful catalyst in the ever-growing, obscene nature of modern television, it has always to me remained endearing amongst its perverse humor. And by God, it surely is perverse by this point -- while not as subtly cynical as early 'Simpsons' or outrageously crass as current 'South Park', it finds itself somewhere in between the two. Personally, I really dig this fine line they walk; even though it is a completely desensitized, cruel show, one of the main reasons I always boot it back up is because of how much I love the Griffin family -- the show is edgy, but part of that edge comes in its hidden sentimentality. To again bring up early 'Simpsons' for comparison, 'Family Guy' might lack the overt humanity that involves one beyond the comedic aspects, but it still does captivate somewhat because its characters are so likable. To be more specific, the dynamics between Peter, Brian and Stewie form this bond, and it's not surprising that these just happen to be the three members of the household MacFarlane voices.
One very cool feature is that every episode has a commentary now; the first few 'FG' DVD's only had a few select episodes. Yet, there might as well only have been a few. I only listened to a few commentaries on the discs, but they reflect my thoughts on a lot of 'FG'. The first I listened to was the disturbingly bizarre episode where we dive into the old perverted neighbor's fantasies about Chris, because I figured with such an awfully twisted subject, some interesting thoughts from its creators had to come from it... Nope. At one point, one of the guys says "people who listen to these must have too much time on their hands; how could anybody listen to one of these?". He then goes on to declare that the only commentary he's ever listened to was the cast & crew commentary of 'American Pie'........ Need I say more? MacFarlane, at least, attempts to rip him a new @#%h@le on the commentary for saying something as such so shamelessly, but the point is made... A lot of the guys working on this show aren't brilliant -- they're not even that funny; they're not that passionate or respecting of the work, either. If they all had been, the show probably wouldn't float in limbo so much as it does in this DVD -- when one man's dedication is split in two due to outside circumstances ('American Dad' in this case), that of the team should be able to hold the boat above water... But they can't. MacFarlane shouldn't be experimentally improving as much as he can be seen doing here, but you don't really have a choice when you're a one-man army without other creative input (and I don't mean to dismiss a few of the other great minds who DO contribute... something I'm obviously doing to gross effect).
Redemptively, though, there ARE some awesome episodes on this DVD, and enough priceless moments within the collective 13 that I can overlook an enormous amount of jokes that derail completely. Surely Stewie's "uncontrollable laugh", as Brian calls it, is one of the funniest things I've -- ever -- seen (and probably one of those MacFarlane-experiments gone beautifully right). Or when Brian, on his first day as a Taxi Cab driver, nervously bypasses his first potential customer because he's black (Cleveland, who, after the fact, roars and rages in Brian's rear view mirror). There are at least two dozens of these individually beyond-hysterical moments, and it becomes a showcase of how the highest highs can completely overshadow long lengths of lows.
Great stuff
The Family guy is one of the funniest shows on TV, Seth you are doing a great job, keep it up.
3.5; step-down from the first 3 seasons
There was a time where I would've defended Family Guy has one of the more funnier shows on television. Sure Simpsons has a formula(unrelated first half which leads to the major story) like this show has the cutaways but at least many of them were just outright funny. After they were resurrected from the 8th layer of Hell known as Cancellation, it seemed as if the trip back scared them and now they're just resting on their laurels. Sure there's jokes throughout this season that's funny but many of them don't even have the hilarity they had from previous seasons. This review will center on set highlights:
Set opener "PTV" has Peter getting offended by the FCC's control over vulgarity and starts his own TV station filled with it, prompting the FCC to try to censor Peter himself. "Brian Goes to College" has him having to of course, go back to school, so he can get his job back at the New Yorker. "The Father, The Son and the Holy Fonz" has Peter starting a church dedicated to the Fonz when his dad shows up while Stewie's trapped in a Bubble Boy situation.
"Brian Sings and Swings" has Brian becoming a hit when he sings with Frank Sinatra Jr only to find himself hitting the bottle hard. Stewie's brother from Emissionary Impossible comes back and they both declare war on each other in "Sibling Rivalry". "D*** Throats"(not sure if they'll censor it so...) has Brian trying to expose Mayor West as a fraud while Peter and Lois try to rekindle their musical days with marijuana.
"Peterotica" has Peter writing erotic novels but having to help his father-in-law when a lawsuit bankrupts him. "You May Now Kiss the...Uh... Guy who Receives" has Jasper trying to marry his boyfriend only West proposes a ban on gay marriage. In a great parody of Poltergeist, "Petergeist" has Stewie sucked into the TV when Peter finds a native skull and defiles it.
One of the main selling points of the show was the random cutaways. Phrases like "this is worse than that time than..." or "remember when..." are very commonplace and they were pretty fun season 3 and before. Now it's as if they're random for the sake of being random. The show has this idea that by the joke's nature it should be funny. An example is Soundwave from Transformers showing up. He actually doesn't make a joke but it's as if just the very idea of Soundwave is supposed to be funny enough. Also the show seems to develop a taste for jokes that go on for too long. Fat guys in "Fat Guy Strangler" are featured for quite awhile and the scene itself wasn't even funny to begin with. Then we have Stewie violently going after Brian or barbershop singers singing about sexual harassment: the former was just not funny as a principle while the latter WAS funny until they focused on it excessively.
Now if it sounds like I'm naysaying, I'm not. Many of the scenes were funny but many of the jokes just fell flat, just plain odd or repeated well beyond the funny zone. But if you're into the show, it's worth picking up anyway.
Related DVD's Family Guy, Vol. 4 (Season 4 Part 2)
Family Guy lives! That's great news for the devoted fans who watched in record numbers the reruns on Cartoon Network and made the Family Guy DVDs bestsellers. It's bad news for Mel Gibson, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon, Rob Schneider, Skeet Ulrich, Corey Haim, My Two Dads, and other pop-culture detritus this show's writers take infinite delight in kicking when they're down (or up, for that matter). The long, long, awaited fourth season begins with a bravado broadside at Fox, which canceled Family Guy in 2002. Peter Griffin (voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane) recites a litany of 29 doomed replacement shows beginning with Dark Angel and ending with Greg the Bunny. From there, it's like the Griffins never left. The 13... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 29 November 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $39.98 Your Price: $31.99YOU SAVE $7.99!
Buy it
To quote Bad Day at Black Rock, a man is as big as what'll make him mad. By this criteria, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are giants. Fanaticism of any stripe, steroids, vapid pop culture icons marketed as role models for impressionable youth, and mass merchants encroaching on small town life are just some of the hot button issues tackled in South Park's eighth season. Of course, South Park is not above (or beneath) stooping to conquer, as witness "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset," which climaxes in a "whore-off" featuring--you guessed it--Paris Hilton. Sure, Paris is an easy target, as is Michael Jackson (portrayed in the episode "The Jeffersons" not as a child molester, but as an infantile parent who needs to grow up). But just as a segment... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 29 August 2006 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $49.99 Your Price: $31.99YOU SAVE $18!
Buy it
The third and final season of Seth MacFarlane's late, lamented Family Guy finds television's most dysfunctional cartoon family even more animated than usual. As MacFarlane notes in a bonus segment about the controversial series' censorship battles, he was inspired to go for broke, thinking that the series, already juggled like a hot potato in the schedule (at one point, it aired opposite the mighty Friends), had been cancelled. Just as Spinal Tap walked the fine line between "clever and stupid," so did Family Guy gleefully mock the line between "edgy and offensive." Case in point is this set's holy grail: "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," not aired during the series' original run, in which clueless Rhode Island patriarch Peter Griffin is convinced that if his... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 09 September 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $49.98 Your Price: $37.49YOU SAVE $12.49!
Buy it
To the ranks of shows too brilliant and outrageous for prime time (The Ben Stiller Show, Andy Richter Controls the Universe), add Seth McFarland's Family Guy. This animated series, which debuted after the 1999 Super Bowl, simply sparked too much controversy and offended too many sensibilities to survive (Entertainment Weekly dubbed it "the Awful Show They Just Keep Putting on the Air"). That the Fox network also played hackysack with its schedule, ensuring viewers would not be able to find it, sealed its fate (it was cancelled in 2002). This boxed set containing all 28 episodes from the first two seasons is payback for the show's devoted cult following, who may be moved to echo the words of infant Stewie Griffin, the megalomaniacal 1-year-old bent on matricide... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 15 April 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $49.98 Your Price: $25.99YOU SAVE $23.99!
Buy it
