Family Guy: Volume Three DVD Review:

It doesn’t even seem possible for this show to be on television. That is all I can think of as I write this review, because it is all that I could think while watching it. It is baffling to think that this show is actually on television. For years after The Simpsons was on television, there were complaints by many people. Those people must have had heart attacks when they first saw Family Guy; the most offensive show in every possible way. Nothing is sacred for the writers of Family Guy, so that it is at least equal in what it pokes fun of. Everything about this show is striving to be either obscure or offensive, and often times they succeed.

Family Guy: Volume Three is the third installment of the fourth season of the show. This is one of those miracle shows that was cancelled, and actually came back when the fans complained loud enough. It doesn’t usually happen that way, but in this rare case, it did. The show is outrageously hilarious, despite the fact that most of the jokes are rudely crossing many lines of decency. It follows a family which is supposed to resemble an American family. Peter, the father, is another wonderful example of what a man shouldn’t be. Like Homer Simpson and many others that have followed, Peter represents the way that fathers are looked at in our society; as screw-ups and idiots. Lois is his faithful wife and Meg, Chris, and Stewie are the children. To add to this wonderful dynamic, the family dog, Brian, can talk. Brian is perhaps the only intelligent one in the entire family, which is why he is the one who watches the kids most of the time.

Volume Three promises a great deal of memorable moments for the family. When Brian is sucked onto a reality dating show, he finds himself falling in love with “The Bachelorette”. Chris has a pimple that takes on a life of its own, and strongly resembles the same behavior as the plant in Little Shop of Horrors. Stewie continues the usual angry ramblings and plots, at one point he helps Brian with discipline when Peter and Lois are out of town.

There are thirteen episodes newly available in Volume Three, and they are all packed into three discs which are in slim disc cases and put together in this neat little package. The artwork is rather simple, and actually looks fairly harmless. The individual cases all hold the same artwork, with just a color difference to distinguish them. The menus on the discs have quick little excerpts from some of the episodes. Usually some of the more offensive or hilarious moments are put on the menus.

There are a number of great special features on each disc. Ten out of the thirteen episodes have commentary tracks with directors, writers, and cast members. There is almost always a reason to listen to one of these commentary tracks, even though the show is obviously more entertaining. There is also a featurette on the show’s success, entitled, “World Domination: The Family Guy Phenomenon”. There are also deleted scenes, and although they are not completely animated there are still a few moments worth checking out. There is also a music featurette which seems slightly out of place on this DVD, and footage of table reads with the cast. It is really interesting to watch the actors say the lines and actually see the people who are behind the voices. The last special feature is a storyboard comparison to how the cartoon is animated.



Ryan Izay