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Family Guy, Vol. 1 (Seasons 1 & 2)
Actor: Family Guy
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Retail Price (not our price): $49.98
Release Date: 2003-04-15
Theatrical Release Date: 1999-01-31
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Run Time: 624 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Discs: 4


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
To the ranks of shows too brilliant and outrageous for prime time (The Ben Stiller Show, Andy Richter Controls the Universe), add Seth McFarland's Family Guy. This animated series, which debuted after the 1999 Super Bowl, simply sparked too much controversy and offended too many sensibilities to survive (Entertainment Weekly dubbed it "the Awful Show They Just Keep Putting on the Air"). That the Fox network also played hackysack with its schedule, ensuring viewers would not be able to find it, sealed its fate (it was cancelled in 2002). This boxed set containing all 28 episodes from the first two seasons is payback for the show's devoted cult following, who may be moved to echo the words of infant Stewie Griffin, the megalomaniacal 1-year-old bent on matricide and world domination: "Victory is mine!" The dysfunctional Griffins of Quahog, Rhode Island, invite comparisons to The Simpsons. The testicular-chinned father, Peter Griffin, is a clueless oaf in the Homer mold. "Peter, what did you promise me last night?" asks his long-suffering wife Lois in one episode. "That I wouldn't drink at the stag party," he replies. "And what did you do?" she asks. "Drank at the stag part--oh ho ho, I almost walked into that one," he cackles. Other family members include teenage daughter Meg, a desperate high school social pariah; 13-year-old son Chris, a chip off his father's blockhead; and Brian, the family's sarcastic talking dog. But this series' true inspiration is football-pated Stewie (voiced by McFarlane, who earned an Emmy), who was born to be a Bond villain once he escaped his mother's "ovarian bastille." Family Guy recklessly ventured where The Simpsons feared to tread. In one episode, Meg's one and only friend turns out to be the member of a suicidal cult. In another, Death (voiced by Norm McDonald) becomes an unwanted houseguest. Each episode plays fast and furious with surreal flashes (in one episode, Peter turns his house into a puppet) and pop-culture references and TV, movie, and commercial parodies that invite repeated viewings. Freed from its own family-hour bastille and the whims of dim network executives, Family Guy can be appreciated at last on its own profane, sacrilegious, and irreverent terms. Welcome to the DVD family, Griffins. --Donald Liebenson

2) Description
Meet the Griffins: Peter, the big, lovable oaf who always says what's on his mind. Lois, the doting mother who can't figure out why her baby son keeps trying to kill her. Their daughter Meg, the teen drama queen who's constantly embarrassed by her family. Chris, the beefy 13-year-old who wouldn't hurt a fly, unless it landed on his hot dog. Stewie, the maniacal one-year-old bent on world domination. And Brian, the sarcastic dog with a wit as dry as the martinis he drinks. The animated adventures of his outrageous family will have your whole family laughing out loud.

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Instantly quotable   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Chock full of pop culture references, Family Guy was a classic before it's time which is probably why it was revived after being cancelled. TV shows and movies, singers, other cartoon characters, Indian casinos, the mob, Y2K, drugs, the Pope - nothing is sacred! Peter Griffin is totally addicted to TV, drunk and stupid, but he's hilarious. His family is really dysfunctional, the dog Brian is an alcoholic, baby Stewie is hell-bent on destroying mother Lois, Chris thinks there is an evil monkey in his closet and Meg is...there. Plus lots of funny supporting/recurring characters like Cleveland and Loretta, sex-addict Quagmire, Joe ("holy crip, he's a crapple!"), the Pewterschmidts (Lois' parents) and Death. Mind Over Murder, Brian in Love, Chitty Chitty Death Bang, I am Peter Hear Me Roar, E Peterbus Unum are all hilarious. My favorite episode is "Wasted Talent", it starts with a parody of Willie Wonka and at the end they spoof an old episode of Twilight Zone ("No, it's not fair, there was time now."). So many great one-liners, it stands up to repeated viewings and is fun to see where the characters and all the running jokes started. A must-own set for the fan!

2) Family Guy: Revenge of the Poison Pen   [Rating: 1 out of 5]
While Ravenova was previously busy with the activity of stuffing her face with copious piles of holiday food in celebration of the dreaded impending finals, she simply had to remove her exalted self from Amazon hibernation and set the world strait about this new phenomenon of adult "cartoons," most especially the odiferous pile of excrement currently run on public television referred to by that ignominious title that we are all so familiar with, "Family Guy." How atrocious, disreputable, dishonorable, disgusting, and just plain crappy is this poor excuse for modern television. Let me count the ways:(1.) You're adults, why are you watching cartoons??? Has that poor excuse for a brain become so dysfunctional, so unused to cerebral actively that the presence of real people, even when they are piped through a tube to appear in holographic televisional images become so discomforting that you must protect yourself from this painful reality through the use of poorly animated, unrealistic, inartistic, and pathetically manipulated icons that purportedly represent an alternative cartoon humanity in which your loser like mentalities find some strange sense of belonging. Get up, get a life, and get a flaming job! Oh sorry, that was adult talk. I must have gone way over your head just then. Do forgive this poor patrician, I have as yet to understand how to interact with such plebeians as your most noble selves. My apologies to the great unwashed everywhere. (2.) Moving beyond your diluted sense of reality in that everything must be presented in a simplistic inartistic unadorned manner so that your brains can actually managed to process simple lines and thus transmit your thoughts into guttural growls and moaning, let us exam the "plot" of Family Guy. Oh, wait, there isn't one. I forget, once again, that such "inconveniences" as a plot are not present in the various forms of primate entertainment. (Pauses in contemplation, is overcome with compassion, throws blanket over wall, returns to château to sip champagne.) (3.) Ah yes, this is the part that amuses me most, your sense of "comedy" for as I have come to understand it you do consider this "creation" to not only have merit but comical value as well. This typical bathroom humor is, putting all prejudices temporarily aside, not only banal, and base, but not in the least bit amusing. Even nasty humor can make the audience chuckle at times but in these rare cases, the comedian or artist, whatever title you will, does have a basic understand of what makes people laugh. It's kind of an essential concept. Perhaps, if you think really hard, you might eventually understand. But, if you are satisfied with this brand of "entertainment" then by all means, indulge yourselves! Pipe your tens of dollars into the media machine while they laugh all the way to the bank at your lack of refinement, taste, and general grasp of reality. After all, to amuse you, they don't even have to hire real actors or even draw anything realistic or be bothered to actually produce some kind of vague storyline. Yes, you are now elevated to the golden status of THE PERFECT CONSUMER! Hallelujah! Praise be! You are now part of the machine. You are a part of the brainwashed of America. Do not attempt to adjust your dial, we are now controlling your set. . .

3) Funny, rude, edgy, and freakin sweet!   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Not since South Park has an animated show been so honest, edgy, ballsy, and out-right hilarious! The Griffin family deals with situations that even The Simpsons dare not touch. If you are sensative and easily offended, this is not a show for you. On the other hand, if you like jokes straight from the hip, no holds barred, and characters that say everything that you wish you could say in public without being jailed, shot, or run-over, then this is the show for you! Also, for those 40 and over, Family Guy makes endless hilarious referances to pop culture from the 60's, 70's, and 80's! Check it out!

4) A great laugh!   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
If you've had a bad day, this is the perfect dvd to cheer you up. I can't stop laughing! The unexpected "references" and gags are refreshing. Very witty! The commentaries are hilarious, but contain some "language" that may not be appropriate for younger viewers. A great gift idea though.

5) great item and fast delivery!   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
The delivery was really fast and the product was just as expected. It was brand new still in the wrapping. Great service!