When Family Guy originally premiered in 2000, my initial feelings towards the animated show were that of extreme adoration. I was an immature high schooler who soon began spreading the word about this new "Simpsons-esque" cartoon which was somehow falling through the cracks. Following the show was cancelled, I was among the huge numbers of people who purchased the very first two DVD volumes, which ultimately cause Fox resurrecting the show.
I had both a Peter Griffin t-shirt as well as a Stewie one, and I wore them with pride. At parties, my friends and I'd play "Drink the Beer" where when we drank our beer, we won...another beer! When Family Guy premiered on Fox again in 2005 next initial cancellation, I was happier then Quagmire in a Vietnamese brothel.
But ever since that time, I slowly begun to drift far from Family Guy. Episode after episode, the writing begun to suffer and the show lost more and more structure. Once a perfect blend of outrageous humor, offensive material and vulgarity, Family Guy now seemed to be more centered on being absurd then being funny. I grew fed up with the epic battles between Peter and the Chicken or the musical numbers by the child-molesting elderly neighbor, Herbert. And I must say i learned to loath the out-of-nowhere live-action Conway Twitty performances. kickassanime (Seriously, does any Family Guy fan see them funny? I'd want to know.)
Which brings us to 2009, where my opinion on Family Guy can best be described by that of Lois Griffin's opinion on her behalf husband. She loves him and always will even though his stupidity could possibly get so overbearing that she feels as though she's wasting her time. Sure, she can perform better and sometimes wishes she did. But in the long run, the good times outnumber the bad times, which results in her decision to faithfully the stand by position his side.
And that is the way in which I experience the recently released Family Guy: Volume Seven. A number of it's good, some of it's bad, nevertheless when it's all said and done, you'll laugh a lot more than you'll sigh despite these episodes being fully a far cry from the classic Family Guy that I fell in love with.
Of Volume Seven's thirteen episodes, not as most of them stick out as great television. Due to the show's structure, you are able to only really hope for funny moments and dialogue to appear sporadically throughout each episode. The infamous cutaway gags/flashbacks that Family Guy is so well known for will also be pretty hit-or-miss. Ones such as the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion getting pissed at Dorothy because she admitted she would miss the Scarecrow primarily right in front of them are hysterical. But then you definitely get ones such as the Shouting-Arab Gram Business that completely fall flat.
A massive perk of buying this DVD rather than simply watching the average person episodes on television could be the profanity that gets sprinkled in each of the episodes by the creators. I need to admit, it's pretty hilarious hearing each person in the cast drop an F-bomb one or more times, especially Stewie. Other special features that are included on the DVDs are deleted scenes and commentaries by the show's creators.
A featurette entitled "Family Guy Cribz" got my hopes up that they would parody the MTV show Cribs insurance firms a few of the show's hottest characters take us on a tour of their house (How funny could Quagmire's have now been?). Instead, I acquired a genuine documentary on Family Guy's production offices in Los Angeles and the folks that work there, which only left me wishing I worked for Family Guy. Finally, Volume Seven comes with a sneak peak of Fox's new spin-off series The Cleveland Show where Stewie takes what right out of my mouth. "What the hell? He's getting his own show?"
Aside from Family Guy's slow decline in quality, I still find myself laughing aloud at these newer episodes. The characters continue to be enjoyable to view and I will be keen on the show's immature nature. Family Guy: Volume Seven is not just a waste of time in the slightest, I recently hope that by the full time Volume Eight comes around, we view a Family Guy that doesn't have to spend a complete episode of Peter singing The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" simply to squeeze fun out of us.
