Certificate: 12

Year: 2005
Starring:
Seth MacFarlane ; Wendy Schaal ; Scott Grimes ; Rachael MacFarlane ; Stephen Root ; Eddie Kaye Thomas ; Patrick Stewart ; Ron Livingston ; Gina Gershon ; Matthew Lillard ; Bill Murray ; Billy West ; Josh Groban ; Natasha Melnick

Special Features:
Audio commentary
'Behind The Scenes' featurette
Deleted scenes
TV spots

This programme is the reason I used to always be tired on a Monday morning. From the creators of Family Guy, BBC 2 decided to put this brilliantly written cartoon on incredibly late on a Sunday night! It revolves around Stan Smith - the hugely patriotic/ borderline psychotic CIA agent and his family - comprising of his bored housewife Francine, Nerdy son Steve, Eco warrior daughter Hayley, oddle effeminate alien Roger who saved Stan's life at area 51 and Klaus - the goldfish with the brain of a German Olympic Skiier! This is a clever, witty show that many people will have missed due to poor scheduling,but this box set contains the first 13 episodes of series 1 - the second half is available for about £15 in most places. If you like The Simpsons and Family Guy this is for you - it has jokes on every level. There is almost 5 hours worth to treat yourself to here with one of the most annoyingly catchy theme tunes ever!

Episodes:

1. Pilot - Stan tries to help Steve win the heart of Cheerleader Lisa ( Carmen Electra) by rigging the school election. Francine puts Roger the alien on a diet so unable to leave the house he bribes Hayley to smuggle in sweets in exchange for doing her homework.

2. Threat Levels - After accidentally drinking toxic waste and being told they only had 24 hours to live, Francine is forced to reassess her life - so decides to get a "hobby" in real estate. Disgusted that she now earns more money Stan decides to make homeless men fight in order to regain his manhood.

3. Stan Knows Best - Hayley comes home with green hair so Stan decides to shave her haid in her sleep. She decides to move in to her boyfriend Jeff's van and become a stripper to pay for her school tuition. In Hayleys absence Steve persuades Roger to pretend to be his disfigured sister (after a kinky chlorine accident) in order for him to pull a girl.
4. Francine's Flashback - Stan forgets his wedding anniversary so wipes what he thinks is 20 hours of Francines memory. When he realises he has actually wiped 20 years and she has no idea who he is he has to make her realise her love. Meanwhile Steve gets a date and persuades Roger to go along with her hideous friend

5. Roger Codger - After an argument with Stan, Roger falls into a stress induced coma. So Stan throws him in a skip. When Roger wakes up he tries to make his way home but inadvertly gets put on a bus with a OAP's day trip. When the CIA realise Roger is on the loose Stan must get their first before Roger tells who has been hiding him.
6. Homeland Insecurity - Francine holds a block party but Stan ruins it when the new Iranian neighbours show up and he detains them for terrorist activity.

7. Deacon Stan, Jesus Man - In an attempt to outdo his Nemesis Chuck White, Stan uses potato salad made from Rogers breast milk to win over the community and become the Church deacon. Roger accidentally gets Steve Pregnant after a mouth to mouth incident.
8. Bullocks To Stan - Whilst trying to get a promotion Stan tells his family to be nice to his boss Bullock (Patrick Stewart.) Hayley gets a little too well acquainted and a shocked Stan tries to break them up by making Jeff more assertive. Bullock is devastated and decides to have Jeff killed.

9. A Smith In The Hand - Stan takes offence to Steves sex education class so decides to teach him himself. He teaches his son that masturbation will be punished with melted eyes and hairy hands and the best way to avoid this is by hobbies. Following a soldering iron incident Stan must apply lotion to a very sensitive area.

10. All About Steve - Stan realises his son is a geek so decided against taking Steve to a father-son ball game. When a terrorist threat written in Elvish comes in it is down to Steve to save America
11. Con Heir - Stan realises the man he thought was his father has died and that his real father is a super CIA agent. When the FBI turn up looking for an International jewel thief Francine gets suspicious

12. Stan Of Arabia (Part 1) &
13. Stan Of Arabia (Part 2)

Following an argument with Francine Stan uproots the whole family to Saudi Arabia. As Francine refuses to do what he says Stan gets a second wife, Roger gets sold to a Sheik, Hayley falls in love with a "Suicide bomber" and Steve sees God in the desert.

Overall:
I never really got into the whole Family Guy thing but after I accidentally stumbled across this programme I was hooked. It is irreverant and totally bonkers and for me the only serious rival to the Simpsons (I know I am alone in that Family Guy/ South Park fans!)
There are some brilliant one liners and the scripts are brilliantly written. Roger the Alien's desperate attempts to escape the house are brilliant and the dynamic between the completely disfunctional family just works.
Stan Smith represents everything we find idiotic about Americans, he is gung ho, trigger happy and assumes everyone foreign is a terrorist, but in spite of this he is hilariously funny - and what other show are you going to get a fish with the brain of a horny German skiier!
If you haven't seen this and have a silly sense of humour then this could be for you. If you were a fan of Family Guy though you might not like this.