Warped.
This show is so warped it’s not even funny. I can’t explain to you how many times I’ve seen this show and wondered, “How far can they really go with all of this crudeness? Isn’t there an eventual stopping point where the writers simply run out of things to say?” Apparently not, there is plenty of crude humor, which includes:
Chick Cancer: For the most part, Stewie marries his old love in this episode and builds a cardboard box home in front of the house. What he finds though is how ugly marriage can really get. In the end, his wife cheats on him and eventually Stewie has to burn down the house.
Stewie Loves Lois: Stewie is heavy in this season, and this langs/en.js” type=”text/javascript”> // –> is the episode where Stewie actually ‘loves’ Lois. When a dog takes Rupert from Stewie, Lois wrestles the dog to the ground and retrieves the bear. Sad about Rupert’s mauling, Stewie bareliy eats or shows any sign of happiness. Lois puts the bear back together and wins his Stewie’s cold heart. For the rest of the episode, Stewie begs for Lois’s love and attention until finally she begins to ignore him. His solution? Fall down the stairs and break an arm. Ouch.
Whistle While Your Wife Works: When Peter blows off his fingers in a work-related accident, he has to call in Lois to help him at work. What starts as witty banter ends in a passionate inner-office romance that is just painfully gross. Just gross.
Barely Legal: I could probably consider this to be the most warped episode in a long time. I can’t explain that enough. Meg falls in love with Brian (the dog) after he takes her to prom. Meg then tries to seduce Brian in the most hideous sexual way you could think of. Just hideous.
This volume certainly sets a new bar for warped, as the previous volumes brought with them. I’m not saying that this volume is bad, on the contrary it’s nice to see them putting more effort into the show. Them being the writers and actors. There’s a lot that goes into developing a show and if you have to make 22 episodes a year, it’s tough to find new ways to shock people. What Family Guy does better than any other show, don’t say The Simpsons – it’s on another level than this show, is that it truly sets new ways to offend people.
The problem I do have with shows like this is that there are certain episodes where weaker characters drag down the flow of the story. For example, while Stewie’s whitty banter is good it does grow old at certain points. Going back to the episode called Chick Cancer, he’s just not that interesting in the episode. Kind of a weak story.
Anyway, the overall volume is good.
Special Features that are just so darn special
Let me start off by saying that it’s really quite nice to see a show get a good set of special features. Many television shows don’t get that much love, mainly because people don’t give a hoot about television shows other than the show itself.
The first feature that’s really quite interesting is the making of the Family Guy toys. When it first started, I was pretty sure that it was a shameless self-promotion of Family Guy product, which it sort of is. But, it’s nice to see how the toys are made for shows, which isn’t common knowledge.
Another feature is how Peter is drawn. It’s nice to see, if not a bit frightening, how he comes to life, but the entire segment is not very long. The rest of the special features last for quite a while, they are broken up into deleted scenes and commentary. You can’t beat that, not even with a stick.
Final Thoughts
As more and more shows start to make it to DVD it is becoming quite apparent that more effort is being put into them. Buena Vista is notorious for not including many special features in their television DVDs, with Warner Brothers still leading the pack in this category. I think this volume of Family Guy certainly does the series more justice with the special features and with the show. It’s much better than volume four, by leaps and bounds in both categories.
It’s worth the money, especially if you’re a true fan of the show.