Adam_Reiter
Second Unit
- Joined
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Family Guy
Volume Two Season 3
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2003
Rated: N/A (I am sure it carries a TV-MA)
Created by: Seth MacFarlane
Film Length: 495 Total Minutes
Aspect Ratio: Full Screen 1.33:1
Audio: English Dolby Surround, Spanish Dolby Surround, French Stereo
Subtitled in English and Spanish
Bonus features:
-Never-Before-Seen Unaired Episode: “When You Wish Upon A Weinstein”
-Commentaries on selected episodes by series creator Seth MacFarlane, producers, directors, writers, and cast members.
-28 Deleted scenes (Animatics)
-Original series pitch (Cut-down of pilot episode)
-2 new featurettes: “Uncensored” and “Series Overview”
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Release Date: September 9th, 2003
Episodes...
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Oh my God! I just have to start out, HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THIS KICK ASS SHOW THIS ENTIRE TIME??!!?!! I cannot believe that I never caught an episode of Family Guy! This is my kind of show. I like this cartoon better than The Simpson’s. This show is much funnier and full of adult humor that I just can’t get enough of. What a major bummer that Family Guy was cancelled. I am sure it is sadly missed among the devoted fans.
Here are the comments from the back cover of the DVD:
Family Guy Volume 1 sees the return of America’s most outrageous animated family with all 21 Season Three episodes, plus one never-before-seen episode- “When You Wish Upon A Weinstein” banned from TV, and only available is this collection!
In this hilarious final volume, the Griffin family faces all-new dilemmas, including Brian’s unintentional foray into directing porn, Stewie’s rants on national TV, Meg’s date with a nudist and Lois’s Yuletide insanity.
Meanwhile, Peter is surprised to discover Lois, was once a groupie, and his son, Chris, is more “endowed” than he is.
I am only reviewing my favorite episode so far, which just so happens to be the first episode on the Disk #1 entitled "The Thin White Line". I also included tidbits from the commentaries on the two episodes on Disk #1. I did watch the entire disk, and do plan on watching the rest of the season, but I felt as thought my "Simpson’s" review was a little overkill in reviewing every episode on Disk #1. All of the other episodes will get the "Box Treatment", as in I will list the short episode synopsis from the back of the disk cover.
Disk 1
Thin White Line
Episode #1
Air Date: 7/11/01
Written by: Steve Callaghan / Directed by: Glen Hill
After becoming addicted to cocaine while working as a drug-sniffing police dog, Brian goes to rehab only to find Peter, faking an addiction, is his roommate.
This episode was my favorite of the first disk, as it starts off with Brian at the psychiatrist’s office. Brian feels trapped in his life. His Dr. suggests volunteer work. Brian tries his hand at being a seeing-eye-dog, so he takes blind guy to the theater and explains the entire movie. Next, he tries volunteering at a hospital. This old lady tricks Brian into pulling her life support cord. Just when he's about to pull it, she calls security on him for trying kill her. Funny stuff. Meanwhile, Peter and family are at a company picnic. The first game they play is "catch the greased deaf guy". I about fell out of my chair it was so funny. Peter's boss starts shooting employees with a tranquilizer gun for the next game. Last one standing gets a week’s paid vacation. He finally takes Peter down with about 20 darts. Very funny.
Joe, the neighbor cop, is so impressed with Brian's "super-smeller” that he ends up offering Brian a job at the airport as a narc. Brian quickly starts busting cocaine smugglers. He inadvertently snorts some coke on his first bust. It's all downhill for him from there. Next up is a church full of "students". They rip down a Jesus poster on the wall, only to find an entry in a cocaine processing room. Apparently the "students" are drug slinging midgets. A fight ensues and Brian and Joe kick everyone's ass. Instead of taking the "payload" from the bust to evidence, Brian makes a pit stop in the bathroom to "play in the snow". The family starts getting suspicious about his drug use when Brian comes home that night all strung out and talking a million miles an hour.
Brian then becomes an anti-drug speaker at elementary schools. Of course, we see him doing lines in the bathroom. Not the best spokesman for the job, I'd say. Brian eventually gets fired from his police job. He starts bring home hookers and insulting the entire family. He ends up being a coked-up, strung-out mess. The family pulls an "intervention" on him, and convinces Brian to go to 5 star rehab facility. They have to cancel their cruise vacation to get Brian clean. The rehab facility is so nice in fact, that Peter fakes it as a heroin addict to get in. Peter causes major havoc soon enough, trading bags of "carpet fresh" for cupcakes, ripping bikini tops off of women, and an incident where he convinces Brian to help pull a prank on the girls in the pregnant teen’s wing, resulting in 14 premature births. The counselor in rehab explains to Brian that Peter is his "x-factor" that causes him to do drugs. Because of this, Brian leaves the family for L.A. This is a "to be continued" episode where in the next installment, we catch up with Brian trying to bust into "show business".
Brian Does Hollywood
Episode #2
Air Date: 7/18/01
Written by: Gary Janetti / Directed by: Gavin Dell
Brian moves to Los Angeles to write screenplays but only finds work directed pornos, while Stewie’s twisted rants on “Kids Say The Darndest Things” are thwarted by host Bill Cosby.
Mr. Griffin Goes To Washington
Episode #3
Air Date: 7/25/01
Written by: Ricky Blitt / Directed by: Brian Hogan
When Happy-Go-Lucky Toys is brought out by a tobacco conglomerate, Peter is made president and sent to Washington to lobby on behalf of the cigarette peddlers.
Commentaries by: Seth MacFarlane, Craig Hoffman, Chris Sheridan, and Alex Borstein
What I like about these commentaries is they are uncensored and rough. Seth MacFarlane gives sailors a run for their money with this foul mouthed commentary. Look for as many F-Words as "South Park the Movie". Even Alex(voice of Lois) has to remind Seth to tone down the language. I also like how Seth is always in and out of the different character voices. Mostly the commentary cast just laughs at the episodes for the first few minutes. Apparently the Censors only let Stewie get away with things like beating up other kids and such is because he's a baby character. Otherwise they'd never let it fly. The guy that does the voice for the Taco Bell dog does the voice for Peter's boss at the toy factory. We find out that Seth's old High School Headmaster lobbied to get Family Guy thrown off the air. Seth refers to him a few times as an "F'ing A'hole". We also find that Alex didn't like her "Aunt B" voice in the episode as well.
One If By Clam, Two If By Sea
Episode #4
Air Date: 8/01/01
Written by: Jim Berinstein / Directed by: Brian Hogan
Peter and his friends are arrested for allegedly burning down their favorite bar after it's transformed into a British pub; meanwhile Stewie tries to remove the neighbor baby's Cockney accent.
And The Wiener Is
Episode #5
Air Date: 8/08/01
Written by: Mike Barker & Matt Weitzman / Directed by: Bert Ring
Peter becomes competitive with Chris when he discovers that his son has a bigger penis, as Meg unsuccessfully tires to fit in with the cool crowd at school and is pelted with rancid meat.
Death Lives
Episode #6
Air Date: 8/15/01
Written by: Mike Henry / Directed by: Rob Renzetti
After being struck by lightning while playing golf on his weeding anniversary, Peter pleads with Death to give him another chance to make it up to Lois, with a little help from Peter Frampton.
Commentaries by: Seth MacFarlane, Daniel Palladino, Mike Henry, Lori Allan and Gene Laufenberg.
From what we hear in the commentary for this episode, they actually taped the commentary twice. I guess Mike and Seth got a little too foulmouthed when they did the first commentary the night before. It's hinted that there might have been some drunkenness to help the F-words fly a little too freely. Seth and Mike defining the word "bumpkin" might have had something to do with the scrapped commentary as well. This time around we find that Seth really liked the "hippie" outfit that Death is wearing in a certain scene. Estel Harris and Adam Carolla are guest voices in this episode. We find that Seth’s father sang the sound in the episode because they were out of money to hire someone. We also hear accounts of Seth's father getting drunk at a party and crawling around on the floor and trying to give mouth to mouth to a fallen ice sculpture of a Family Guy character. Also, Lori (voice of the news woman anchor) lets it slip of the city that Seth's parents live in. They bleep it out though, and Seth kind of yells at her for it. Seth talks about the scene where Quagmire is shaving is pubic hair into a "Q". I guess they had to take out the sound effects that had the sound of Quagmire’s penis slapping back and forth against his legs. Hmmmmm, interesting.
Lethal Weapons
Episode #7
Air Date: 8/22/01
Written by: Chris Sheridan / Directed by: Brian Hogan
Although her newly discovered Tae-Jitsu abilities are handy in dealing with obnoxious New York tourists, Lois fears her own rage and enters the family into anger management therapy, which angers everyone.
The Kiss Seen Round The World
Episode #8
Air Date: 8/29/01
Written by: Mark Hentemann / Directed by: Pete Michels
Meg leaps at an opportunity to intern at the local news station in order to be closer to her crush, new anchor Tom Tucker, only to discover that Neil, who has a crush on her, will also intern there.
Disk 2
Mr. Saturday Knight
Episode #9
A Fish Out of Water
Episode #10
Emission Impossible
Episode #11
To Love And Die In Dixie
Episode #12
Screwed The Pooch
Episode #13
Peter Griffin: Husband, Father... Brother?
Episode #14
Ready Willing And Disabled
Episode #15
A Very Speacial Family Guy Freakin' Christmas
Episode #16
Disk 3
Brian Wallows And Peter's Swallows
Episode #17
From Method To Madness
Episode #18
Stuck Together, Torn Apart
Episode #19
Road To Europe
Episode #20
Family Guy Viewer Mail #1
Episode #21
When You Wish Upon A Weinstein
Episode #22 (Un-Aired)
Picture...
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Picture quality for this DVD was really good. Of course, I am comparing to my copy of Simpson’s Season 3. The animation is very clear and its looks really nice, I thought. Colors are very bold and vibrant and stand out well. I did notice on Episode 3 “Mr. Griffin Goes To Washington” that there is a “freak out” of the picture at the 7:03 minute mark. The best I can describe it is about a second of “vibrating”. They only thing that looked soft are the root menus for each disk. All other menus are nice and sharp, however. According to the style and type of animation, I’d say the transfer is as good as they could get it. It looks virtually perfect.
SEE FOR YOURSELF!: (click on the picture for a bigger version!)
More screen shots here
Picture Quality Rating:
Picture: 5 / 5
:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Sound...
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The DVD is only mixed in Dolby Surround, but, that should be expected. The sound was good. Dialog is always bold and clear. Music separation is good to the left and right, and dialog is usually front and center This is what I call a “Front 3” presentation. “Front 3” meaning 90% or more is anchored to the front 3 channels. There is a bit of ambience in the rear during the opening credits, but that is about all I noticed. No surround sound or LFE to be expected, so no points taken away for lack of them.
Sound Quality Rating:
Sound: 5 / 5
:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Extras...
This DVD has a moderate amount of extras. Not as good or as many as say “The Simpson’s”, but a nice few nonetheless!
Commentaries
There are commentaries these 6 of the 21 Season 3 episodes.
- Mr. Griffin Goes To Washington
- Death Lives
- Mr. Saturday Knight
- Ready, Willing and Disabled
- Brian Wallows and Peter’s Swallows
- When You Wish Upon A Weinstein (Never-Before-Aired)
Please look at the individual episodes for who was on the commentary for each one.
Deleted Scenes (Animatics)
The Kiss Seen Round The World
"Inside Meg's Head"
Mr. Saturday Night
"Peter Talks to Kids"
"Peter Meets Chevy"
Fish Out of Water
“Griffin Players”
“Van Gogh Print”
“French Joke”
To Live and Die in Dixie
“Alf”
“Stewie’s Banjo”
Screwed the Pooch
“Chris and Gorilla”
“Penis Jar”
“Do the Airplane”
“Brian’s Secret Job”
Peter Griffin: Husband, Father… Brother?
“Stewie and Cheerleaders”
“At the Library”
Ready Willing and Disabled
“Iron Lung”
“Car Wash”
“Veteran’s Hospital”
“Special Peoples’ Games”
Brian Wallows and Peter’s Swallows
“Tickle Monster”
“Brian’s Due”
From Method to Madness
“Peter on the Sun”
“Brians’s Autograph”
Stuck Together, Torn Apart
“Gynecologist”
“Nipples”
“Taxi”
“Quagmire’s Date With Lois”
Road to Europe
“Paris Graveyard”
Family Guy Viewer Mail #1
“Gleason Zombie”
Pilot Pitch "Family Guy"
This was kind of lame. Not very funny in my opinion. Peter promises to Lori that he will not drink. We get a collage of scenes that clearly show us that Peter cannot hold his alcohol. He goes out drinking anyway, falls asleep at work, and gets fired because he let through all sorts of dangerous items that were incorporated into the toys. Fire breathing Barbie dolls, and axes and knives come to mind as some of them.
Uncensored
MacFarlane and the whole cast talk about all the craziness of Family Guy. MacFarlane talks about how taboo the subject matter is and how they were always pushing the envelope. Were hear that they couldn’t air the "When you wish upon a Weinstein" episode because of all the Jewish remarks. Seth talks about how the first reading to the network didn't go over very well. The script was racy and too intense. The writers got "no love" from the "suits". The studio execs were shocked and disgusted as a matter of fact. However, the writers did get support from Jewish Rabbi’s for the Weinstein episode. The Rabbi's thought it had a good underlying theme to it. The studio did end up allowing the writers to produce the episode, however.
Seth also goes into how the writers see Quagmire as a despicable "sex addict". They knew exactly what type of rotten guy he was a few episodes into writing. Alex Borstein comments on how she "became a sick, sick person writing for this show” The writers lose objectivity when writing the raunchy material into the wee hours of the mornings. They relied mostly on the censors to keep them in check. There was a lot of bargaining involved. "Keep the word 'bastard', but give us the 'crap' and 'poop'", as MacFarlane put it. Lastly, MacFarlane elaborates on how he got the "F" word bleep that we hear from Stewie in the episode, "The Thin White Line", past the censors. He told the them that the show was cancelled, so the censors let it in.
Total Running Time: 6:37
Series Overview
Starts like a documentary/mockumentary. MacFarlane goes into explaining the creation of the show. He received about $50k to make the pilot. MacFarlane talks about how Peter was modeled after loudmouth New Englanders. Peter always has good intentions but always screws something up. Lois was turned into a lively, crazy women. Lois is the most sane, yet she lets loose more than any of the other characters. Meg is the adolescent that we all knew in high school. She doesn't fit in no matter how hard she tries. Her whole goal is life is just to be accepted by her peers. "Chris is, hmmmmm, how the hell do you describe Chris? Seth Green came in to audition and he just killed it". Seth Green wanted the part very badly. Chris' character evolved through Green's improvisation. Brian the dog, would rather be with an intelligent family. Therefore, Brian turns to the booze, and is an alcoholic. He is much too intelligent to be a domesticated animal, and is always searching for what his purpose is in life. Stewie is a "Napoleonic" kind of guy. He has no control over anything, and despises that fact. He has developed within him a hatred for the world, although, he hates Lois the most. She is his "jail-keeper". Stewie is hell bent on controlling the world. As the episodes progress further, Stewie himself progresses in other things, namely, he is a closet homosexual. MacFarlane talks of an un-aired episode where Stewie realizes that he is gay.
We hear from other cast members about their characters and the voices for them. Alex Borstein is 70% of all the female voices on the show. MacFarlane mentions some of the guest voices from the show, including: Jennifer love Hewitt, Kiss, Dick Van Patton, entire cast of Murphy Brown, Tony Danza, Adam West, and how Patrick Duffy and Victoria Princpal did a live action reprisal of the famous cliffhanger end scene from Dallas. He also talks about how the rabid "Family Guy" fans went to great lengths to keep the show on the air. Fox Studios told MacFarlane that it was the biggest fan push in their history. It included a letter writing campaign and an internet petition with over 100,000 signatures.
Total Running Time: 17:13
Extras / Bonus Features Rating:
Extras: 4 / 5
:star: :star: :star: :star:
Menus...
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CHECK OUT THE NAVIGATION!: (click on the pictures for a bigger version of the menu-shot)
More menu shots here!
Conclusion...
This is a very nice boxed set I’d say. I really like the new slim cases that Fox is using now days. I am definitely now hooked on Family Guy. I am so disappointed I wasn’t “hip” to it sooner. I am going to finish all of these episodes and I will surely have to go out and purchase Volume 1. I love Family Guy!
I can definitely HIGHLY RECOMMEND buying this DVD set.
Thanx for reading,
