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 phrase relating to this new "Simpsons-esque" cartoon which was somehow falling through the cracks. After the show was cancelled, I was among the millions of people who purchased the first two DVD volumes, which ultimately result in Fox resurrecting the show.
I'd 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 after that initial cancellation, I was happier then Quagmire in a Vietnamese brothel.
But ever since then, I slowly started initially to drift far from Family Guy. Episode after episode, the writing started initially to suffer and the show lost more and more structure. Once a perfect blend of outrageous humor, offensive material and vulgarity, Family Guy now was more dedicated to 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 locate them funny? I'd like to know.)
Which brings us to 2009, where my estimation on Family Guy can best be described by that of Lois Griffin's opinion on her behalf husband. She loves him and always will though his stupidity will 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 good times outnumber the bad times, which results in her decision to faithfully stand by his side.
And that is the way in which I feel about the recently released Family Guy: Volume Seven. Some of it's good, a few of it's bad, but when it's all said and done, you'll laugh 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 stand out as great television. Due to the show's structure, you are able to only really hope for 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 like the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion getting pissed at Dorothy because she admitted she would miss out the Scarecrow primarily right facing them are hysterical. But then you definitely get ones like the Shouting-Arab Gram Business that completely fall flat.
An enormous perk of purchasing this DVD rather than just watching the individual episodes on television could be 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 one time, especially Stewie. Other special features which 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 some of the show's hottest characters take us on a tour of their property (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 folks that work there, which only left me wishing I worked for Family Guy. Finally, Volume Seven includes 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 their own show?"
Regardless of Family Guy's slow decline in quality, I still find myself laughing out loud at these newer episodes. The characters remain enjoyable to watch and I will be partial to the show's immature nature. Family Guy: Volume Seven is not just a waste of time by any means, I simply hope that by enough time Volume Eight comes around, we view a Family Guy that doesn't have to invest a complete episode of Peter singing The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" simply to squeeze fun out of us.
