Family Guy, Vol. 5 DVD: Review By Dodd

You can say whatever you feel about the series Family Guy. For many, the show evokes feelings of either love or hate. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone clearly conveyed their distaste for the series by writing a two-part episode of their foul-mouthed program that takes aim at Family Guy's nonsensical flashbacks and abstract sense of humor. South Park goes so far to represent the Family Guy writing room as a tank full of manatees that piece jokes together by randomly pushing labeled balls across the water. As a fan of both Family Guy and South Park, I still couldn't help but see where Parker and Stone were coming from. While Family Guy pretty much excels from its unorganized snippets of laughter, the forcefulness is sometimes undeniable and completely misses the funny bone. Looking back on the show's run, it won over its fans by reveling in the absurd. This actually worked by bringing in quirky characters as one trick ponies including a greased-up deaf guy, and a homosexual old pervert named Herbert. Unfortunately the show began to hit a slight downward slope by utilizing these one-joke characters in more than one joke. This resulted in probably the weakest season for the series, which will soon be available as Family Guy: Season 5 on DVD.

The basic premise still remains. Peter Griffin is the oafish, stupid patriarch married to fiery redhead Lois. His son Chris is just moronic as is father, but in a na&#239ve and sweet way. Daughter Meg is a dorky high schooler concerned with popularity who is constantly humiliated, teased, and provoked by her insensitive family members (believe it or not, this mean-spirited humor actually works). Last, but not least, there is Brian the martini-sipping dog, and Stewie the mastermind talking baby. While once a mad scientist hell-bent on destroying his mother in prior seasons, Stewie has evolved into a sexually ambiguous baby with the mentality of a clueless 40-year-old man.

Family Guy has not stooped down to the level on which some critics harshly claim that the series ranks. But if the writers do not stop for a minute to storm up more fresh and winning material, I fear that the series may be heading for a slow death. There was once a time when I didn't know what to expect from the animated series. It was like going to a crazy party where anything could happen. The problem is that this season of the show has gotten predictable in its recycling of jokes. Even the fresh jokes fail to make an impression due to setups lacking punch lines. However, between these problems, there are moments when creator Seth MacFarlane shines through with wrong humor. This is particularly so when the family begins treating Meg more cruelly than any other season. One could ask MacFarlane why he makes such choices, but it doesn't really matter. The man knows how to be completely wrong and this calls for little explanation. It simply just works.

*I was provided with a bare bones and limited copy of this DVD, and the following may not include features available on the final DVD.

Deleted Scenes

These are expectedly hit and miss. Most of these are flashback jokes that didn't make the cut. Some are completely unfunny while others are too offensive for TV. The highlight has to be a promo for a light buddy sitcom featuring a sexual predator and a hot blonde female as roommates.

Animatic Episodes

If you like it rough, then this is for you. Of course by "rough" I mean the rough draft sketches that are used for this feature. Personally I enjoy the finished product so much that I prefer not to watch them again as sketches.

Drawing Peter

In five minutes, an animator shows us step-by-step how Peter Griffin is drawn. I wish I could elaborate more on this, but I really can't.

Toys, Toys Galore

Granted this is more like a 16-minute commercial for merchandise, it is still one of the more enjoyable featurettes here. This takes a look at the various toys that were inspired by the series. The toymaking footage is fascinating, and admiring the products is like thumbing through a Spencer's catalog.

Fullscreen. Nothing has really changed about the animation since the last series. The characters and settings are in brighter, primary colors. This really brings out the color in gross-out gags.

2.0 Dolby Digital. There is not much of a difference between the sound from television and the sound from DVD, unless your cable reception has bad crackling.

I was not provided with the final casing for this DVD.

The fifth season of Family Guy is a good buy for fans, but I personally see a decline in the series after this particular season. There is way too much reliance on gross-out humor and already-used jokes that simply don't fly this time around. After MacFarlane and crew have gathered for a new season to debut this month, I have high hopes that the show will make a decent recovery soon.

Questions? Comments? Just want to talk movies? Drop me a line at dodd@movieweb.com