When Family Guy originally premiered back 2000, my initial feelings towards the animated show were that of extreme adoration. I was an immature high schooler who soon began spreading the phrase relating to this new "Simpsons-esque" cartoon that was somehow falling through the cracks. Following the show was cancelled, I was one of the thousands of people who purchased the initial two DVD volumes, which ultimately lead to Fox resurrecting the show.
I'd both a Peter Griffin t-shirt along with a Stewie one, and I wore them with pride. At parties, my friends and I'd play "Drink the Beer" where if we drank our beer, we won...another beer! When Family Guy premiered on Fox again in 2005 after that initial cancellation, I was happier then Quagmire in a Vietnamese brothel.
But ever ever since then, I slowly started to drift from Family Guy. Episode after episode, the writing started to suffer and the show lost more and more structure. Once a great blend of outrageous humor, offensive material and vulgarity, Family Guy now appeared to be more dedicated to being absurd then being funny. I grew tired of the epic battles between Peter and the Chicken or the musical numbers by the child-molesting elderly neighbor, Herbert. And I truly learned to loath the out-of-nowhere live-action Conway Twitty performances. kickassanime (Seriously, does any Family Guy fan locate 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 may even though his stupidity can get so overbearing that she feels like she's wasting her time. Sure, she can perform better and sometimes wishes she did. But ultimately, the great times outnumber the bad times, which results in her decision to faithfully the stand by position his side.
And that's precisely how I feel about the recently released Family Guy: Volume Seven. A number of it's good, some of it's bad, however when it's all said and done, you'll laugh more than you'll sigh despite these episodes being a far cry from the classic Family Guy that I fell in love with.
Of Volume Seven's thirteen episodes, not as many of them stand out as great television. Due to the show's structure, you are able to only really expect funny moments and dialogue to pop-up sporadically throughout each episode. The infamous cutaway gags/flashbacks that Family Guy is so well known for may 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 definitely miss out 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 purchasing this DVD rather than just watching the in-patient episodes on television is the profanity that gets sprinkled in all the episodes by the creators. I have to admit, it's pretty hilarious hearing each member of the cast drop an F-bomb at least once, 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 with a number of the show's most widely used characters take us on a tour of their house (How funny could Quagmire's have now been?). Instead, I obtained a genuine documentary on Family Guy's production offices in Los Angeles and the people 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 the language right out of my mouth. "What the hell? He's getting his own show?"
Regardless of Family Guy's slow decline in quality, I still find myself laughing aloud at these newer episodes. The characters remain enjoyable to watch and I will be keen on the show's immature nature. Family Guy: Volume Seven is not really a waste of time in the slightest, I just hope that by enough time Volume Eight comes around, we view a Family Guy that doesn't have to spend an entire episode of Peter singing The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" merely to squeeze fun out of us.
