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Family Guy, Vol. 2 (Season 3) Customer Reviews (16 - 18 of 32 Reviews)

All in the Family
An equal-opportunity offender, "Family Guy" took the standard sitcom family, added an erudite talking dog and a leather-fetishist baby set on world domination, and let the jokes fly at a dizzying pace. It's an acquired (bad) taste that rewards the few, the willing with big-time laughs.

"Season 3" comes in a three-disc set that looks and feels like the studio's splendid "Simpsons" boxes. (Fox' ani sets are a lot like TV itself -- slick presentation, familiar formats, few sudden turns).

Creator Seth MacFarlane and his work buddies render commentary on selected episodes, sounding like they're in the middle of a beer bust, or recovering from one. Fox adds an adult-material warning, for good reason.

Bonus features are a lot more generous than on volume 1. Two decent featurettes, "Uncensored" and "Series Overview," will orient disoriented newcomers. Animatics revive 28 deleted scenes, some pretty funny. MacFarlane's animated pitch, a rough version of the pilot episode, unspools in its entirety.

Fans get their holy grail with "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," an episode rejected by Fox. The story, about the Family Guy's imbecilic beliefs about Jews and money, made it to post, but then Fox "chickened out," MacFarlane says. Archie Bunker never would have made it onto the air in the PC era, he and his pals conclude.

Finally
I wonder if getting cancelled was the best thing that could have happened to the Family Guy, Fox's brilliant animated series. The fact is that the Family Guy wasn't cancelled for lack of interest or ratings problems - it was cancelled for being too edgy and the humor maybe too (gulp) sophisticated for the average television viewer tuning in to watch two strangers get married or to see a person eat a bug.

You will find esoteric references to popular 70's and 80's television commercials and sitcoms (the Kool Aid guy busting through the wall is my personal favorite) as well as irreverent digs on everyone from the Make a Wish Foundation to the Pope.

If you've seen the show or even just heard about it, buy both volumes. You'll get addicted and annoy your friends and family by trying to reenact the plotlines while doing a poor New Englander dialect. If you're an ardent fan, then definitely buy it. Several episodes have commentaries by Seth Macfarlane, Seth Green, and various writers giving insight into the show on every level. There are also featurettes included that take you behind the scenes. I promise you'll love it, and

Family Guy, we barely knew thee!
With the release of this boxed set, you can now own the third and final season of the short-lived but outstanding cartoon series "Family Guy." The 22 episodes from this season are, overall, quite hilarious. The commentary is frequently as enjoyable as the episodes, as various members of cast and crew discuss the creation process, animation, writing, censorship, etc. The last two episodes in this set are very memorable. The last aired episode explores three pieces of "viewer mail" -- three bizarre scenarios like wishes from a genie in a bottle, superpowers from toxic waste, and "Little Rascals," Quahog style. The last episode didn't make it on the air. Tasteless but side-splitting jokes about Judaism obviously didn't please censors and network officials. It's well worth it to own all three seasons (two boxed sets) of this show. The writers constantly push the boundaries of taste, tact, and television censorship. Television wasn't ready for "Family Guy," but you should be ready to own every episode!

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