DVD Release Date: December 14, 2004 (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment)
Color
MSRP: $19.98
Number of Discs: 1
Number of Episodes: 5
Running Time: 112 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: approx. 30 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English,
Spanish, and French Audio; English and Spanish
Subtitles; Closed Captioned
Special Features: Commentaries for all episodes
(except for the "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein"
episode), American Dad preview, Seth MacFarlane talks
about American Dad, Seth MacFarlane talks about Family
Guy Season 4
Introduction:
Just when you thought that Family Guy was history, you
discover that it has a brand new life--on DVD at
least! And the success of the DVDs that have been
released, combined with the amazing success of reruns
on Cartoon Network, have prompted the Fox Broadcast
Network to bring the show back for a fourth season
beginning sometime in 2005! But for now, we must
settle for the first three seasons... and even though
every episode has been released, there is finally a
"best-of" disc available for those that may not be
willing to commit to purchasing the season box sets.
Basically, Family Guy is an animated sitcom about a
very unusual family with a father (Peter) that is an
idiot, a talking dog (Brian) that is an alcoholic, and
an angry one year old baby (Stewie) that is determined
to dominate the world. Also, there is Peter's wife
(Lois) and his other two children (Meg and Chris).
Many of the plots are just too hilarious to describe,
so it is best to watch the show to get an idea of what
it is about. The episodes that are included on this
set are the five favorites of show creator Seth
MacFarlane, and they include "Road to Rhode Island,"
"To Love and Die in Dixie," "I Am Peter, Hear Me
Roar," "Lethal Weapons," and the episode that was
initially banned from airing on Fox, "When You Wish
Upon a Weinstein."
All of these episodes are great, even though they are
not necessarily my personal favorites.
Packaging:
The set comes in a basic snap case, and the packaging
isn't too fancy. There are no episode descriptions
included anywhere on the set, although it should be
clear that every episode can be found on the one (and
only) disc in the set.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menus are arranged in the exact same way as the
Family Guy box sets that were released last year. You
can choose from the five episodes on the main menu,
and you can also choose Play All or Special Features.
When you select an episode, a submenu comes up with
the options of Play Episode, Scene Selection, Language
Selection, and Commentary. The Special Features Menu
has simple links to all of the Special Features.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video quality and audio quality are exactly the
same as the audio and video quality on the box sets...
simply put, just fine. There doesn't really seem to be
any difference between the quality of the episodes on
DVD and the episodes on Cartoon Network. The audio is
presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. Each episode runs 22
minutes, the same length as the episodes were
originally.
Special Features:
As far as special features are concerned, every
episode (except for the "When You Wish Upon a
Weinstein" episode) has an audio commentary. Three of
these appear to have been done when the other
commentaries were done for the box sets, but the
fourth one (the commentary for Road to Rhode Island")
is very different and interesting! It is a commentary
by Brian and Stewie talking about the episode as if
they are real people, and they are talking about the
roles they played. It is very interesting to listen
to!
In addition, the "Road to Rhode Island" episode
includes a special bonus--the episode is the uncut
edition! The episode originally had a (very short)
scene with Osama bin Laden sneaking explosives onto an
airplane, and of course, with the events of September
11th, this scene was deleted, never to be seen again
on TV or DVD, until now that is. The scene isn't
particularly great or anything, but it is interesting
to see what WAS there, and was placed in the episode
at a time BEFORE September 11th.
Additional special features include a preview of Seth
MacFarlane's new cartoon (American Dad), a discuss by
Seth MacFarlane of American Dad, and Seth MacFarlane
discussing the 4th season of Family Guy which will air
on Fox next year.
Final Comments:
So if you are just a slight fan of Family Guy, I would
recommend that you pick up this DVD so that you can
have a small collection of the best episodes. If you
are a huge fan of Family Guy, this set is worth
picking up just for the additional special features
that are provided. But to be honest, if you fall
somewhere in between, you should probably consider
purchasing the two Family Guy box sets and skip this
DVD. It isn't that this is a bad DVD, it is just that
the best stuff (the episodes) are all provided on the
other sets and the only difference with this set is
the special features. And if you purchase the two box
sets and just can't get enough of Family Guy, just
remember, there will be new ones in 2005! It'll be
freakin' sweet!
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Video Quality: 4.5/5
Audio Quality: 4.5/5
Special Features: 3.5/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
-- Reviewed by skees53 on 12/18/04
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