Freakin Sweet! (Family Guy)

Member Name: tazzywazzy

Product:	Family Guy
Date:	13/06/06 (575 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to follow plots, hilariously funny sitcom!

Disadvantages: none - there aren't enough episodes!

On a bit of a cartoon whirlwind at the moment! This is my all time favourite TV show, although I have never watched it on the TV before, I basically started watching Family Guy because I was bored of the Simpson's it was Christmas and my Momma was getting me a Futurama Box Set, and I thought, instead of having two Futurama Box sets, why not get something different, so I asked for a Family Guy Box Set as well.

At the time, only Season 3 was available on DVD in my local HMV, I had never seen any Family Guy before, but had heard certain Stewie quotes such as "testicular boot-camp" or "Splendid, this calls for a sexy party!" branded around here and there, but in the interests of starting at the very beginning, I am going to start by introducing you to the series and the characters.

Watch out for reviews on the actual series themselves!

~A Little History~

Family Guy originally started out as two short animated films in the 90's, that were created by Seth MacFarlane. Seth studied animation in Rhode Island, as a result Family Guy is also set there. When Seth left college, he started to work for Hanna-Barbera Productions, and later went on to animate and write for well known Cartoon Network Series, such as Dexter's Laboratory & Cow and Chicken (two of my particular favourites!). Seth's shorts were seen by Fox Broadcasting Company and given the job of developing his existing characters, which eventually became the cast of Family Guy, which premiered in 1999, on the Fox network.

Season 1 which I am going to review only consisted of 7 episodes, but when the DVDs for Seasons 1, 2 & 3 went on sale, here in the UK, the first 7 episodes from Season 2 were included on the Season 1 DVD to balance them out - Season 2 had 21 Episodes, giving each DVD 14 episodes each.

The Life of Larry
The Life Of Larry, the first of the two shorts, created in 1995, whilst Seth was still studying. The Life of Larry followed a slob named Larry Cummings and his talking dog called Steve that was rather cynical and smarter than the humans that surround him. Larry also had a family, a wife called Lois and a rather large teenage son named Milt. You can download the video from http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-583730862 7237698010.

Larry and Steve
The following year, Seth was just 22, he is asked to direct a sequel called Larry and Steve for a Cartoon Network Show Case. Basically, this one is Steve recording a message for help asking someone to save him from his "special" owner Larry, followed by tails of unfortunate events. You can get a clip of this video from http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=1 5140

~The Plot~

Family Guy is pretty much based on the same family structure as the Simpson's, and I think they are trying to appeal to the viewers that grew up on the Simpson's. There is a Mom (Housewife), Dad (Big Fat Slob), middle Brother (a la Bart), older Sister (a la Lisa), Baby (Baby Maggie), Brian - the dog (well the Simpson's had pets), but that is where the similarities end. The writing and stories are a lot edgier, a lot more laugh out loud funny and I guess just more modern than the Simpson Family.

The Griffin Family live in a small town (not dissimilar to the Simpson's) called Quahog, regular landmarks include the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory where Peter works on the production line, The Buddy Cianci High School (that Chris attends), James Woods Memorial High School (that Meg Attends) & The Drunken Clam (where Peter spends quite a lot of his time).

~The Main Cast~

Brian (The Talking Dog)
Brian, voiced by Seth Macfarlane, used to be homeless, and one day he tries to clean Peter's windshield, Peter takes him home for dinner and that's the end of that. Brian is a really intelligent character and spends most of his time advising Peter or getting him out of trouble. Although Brian quite often acts very much like a dog, he walks about on two legs, sits on the sofa (like a human), reads "intelligent" books, is extremely well spoken, has a sharp, witty, but, dry sense of humour and talks....pretty much your usual run-of-the-mill family pet!

Peter Griffin
The "head" of the family, also voiced by Seth Macfarlane is married to Lois and Father to Chris, Meg & Stewie. Peter works at the Toy Factory on the production line, so basically putting the toys together. Favourite past-time is watching the TV and drinking with his friends down at the Drunken Clam.

Lois Griffin

Lois is the voice of Alex Borstein, she was born into the filthy rich Pewterschmidt family, she met Peter when he was working as a towel boy at her Country Club. Lois is definitely a looker and has had relationships with the pyro guy from Whitesnake and Gene Simmons (from KISS). Lois is a stay at home mom that teaches piano to kiddies in the afternoons.

Megan (Meg) Griffin

The oldest child of the family, very plain and has an inability to fit in with the "cool" kids at school, this could possibly have something to do with her ugliness. For the first 15 episodes her voice was that of Lacey Chabert (Claudia Salinger from Party of Five), but Lacey was never credited, after the first 15 episodes Meg was voiced by Mila Kunis (Jackie Burkhart from That 70's Show).

Christopher (Chris) Cross Griffin

The middle child of the family and voiced by Seth Green (Buffy The Vampire Slayer & Dr Evils son from the Austin Powers Series), Chris is a rather cumbersome, dim character, he almost seems stoned most of the time and has a bit of a dim slow voice. He does however have a couple of hidden talents.

Stewart (Stewie) Gilligan Griffin

The youngest child of Lois and Peter, it is also suggested that he is the only biological child of both Lois & Peter. Stewie is another voice done by Seth Macfarlane and he is definitely my favourite character. Stewie has super-genius IQ levels and talks, although it is not clear whether the family can actually hear him or not, he does however regularly converse with Brian. Stewie also for some reason speaks in an English accent, and his sexuality is also a bit dubious. Stewie's main goal in life is world domination & matricide. In episode 1, Stewie's evilness is attributed to the fact that Lois smoked mara-ju-wacky when she was up the duff with him! Stewie finds Lois intolerable, but he does accept the fact that he needs to rely on her for such things as feeding, bathing and changing.

~Other Regular Characters~

Jo & Bonnie Swanson

Jo & Bonnie are Peter & Lois' next door neighbours, Jo works for the Quahog Police, and was transferred from New York, as he was looking for a quieter life, after being shot and falling from a building whilst on duty. Jo and Bonnie have a son named Kevin (who Meg has a major crush on) and Bonnie is expecting her second child, although she has been pregnant since the show began and this is often mentioned by other characters during the show.

Cleveland & Loretta Brown

More of Peter and Lois' neighbours, Loretta is clearly the man in the house whilst Cleveland just accepts whatever it is Loretta tells him. Loretta & Cleveland are very proud of their black heritage and won't allow any white literature into their house! Cleveland owns a Deli, which is very rarely seen in the shows, but quite often spoken about, Loretta is a housewife. Cleveland & Loretta have a son named Cleveland Jr Brown who speaks in a really high pitched voice and is a bit hyper!

Glen Quagmire (Quagmire)

The neighbour on the other side of the Griffin house, he lurrrves his women and spends a lot of time chatting them up and "entertaining" them in his house, works as an airline pilot and has a massive crush on Lois. Quagmire is what I think makes this series unsuitable for younger viewers as he often refers to sexual adventures, fantasies, or diseases he has. He has a catch phrase which is said at the end of most sentences "giggity, giggity, giggity" or a quick short sharp "ohh!"

Death

A very regular character on Family Guy, he doesn't have a girlfriend and still lives with his momma (a sort of principle skinner from the Simpson's type). Stewie Griffin idolises him!

The Channel 5 News Presenters

From Series 1 there are 3 main news presenters, another one appears in Season 4, but I will deal with him when we get there (so look out!). The anchor people are Tom Tucker & Diane Simmons. Tom Tucker has a son with an upside-down head - so his eyes are where his mouth should be and vice-versa! Trisha Takanawa is the Channel's presenter that goes out into the field and sends the reports back, and she is always introduced by Tom & Diane as "Now over to our Asian Correspondent Trisha Takanawa". There is also a weather guy who is a mime-artist, complete with a painted white face.

~My Thoughts~

This show is hilariously, laugh out loud funny, my sister and I used to watch episodes over and over again, my most favourite scene is one where Peter Griffin is walking down the road and trips up, he is sat on the pavement clutching his let going "hsssssssss, owwwww, hssssss, owwwww" this continues for a good minute! The comedy is extremely clever and since a lot of the character's lives revolve around popular culture, there are many references to famous actors, or events that are currently in the media. Family Guy is much more satirical and pokes fun at the Americans, the Portuguese, the British, the disabled, basically it pokes fun at everything it shouldn't.

Sometimes, my sister and I gasp in amazement at some of the jokes and wonder how they were never censored. I would not recommend viewing for anyone under the age of 12, as there is a lot of adult content and unlike the Simpson's the adult jokes and references are a lot more blatantly obvious. Lois refers to smoking weed when she was pregnant with Stewie, Stewie may be the only biological child of Peter and Lois, the name of Meg's biological father is even revealed in an episode. Also language is, although not unpleasant, not really suitable for the younger viewer.

Unlike Popetown (see previous review) my boyfriend totally loves this series and finds it hilarious, as does everyone else I know who has seen it.

Thanks for reading, sorry it was a bit long, just wanted to introduce you all to the concept and the cast before I submit my first review on the Season 1 DVD!

Summary: disfuntional, everyday, modern american family unit!