Description
Dismissed by many critics as a poor man's Simpsons, Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy managed to leave its mark on prime-time animation fans, regardless of unfair comparisons. The Griffin clan of Quahog, Rhode Island, gained an avid following during its brief three-season run with choice bits of pop-culture comedy. Beer-gutted patriarch Peter, his long-suffering wife, Lois, and their two moody teens belong to a dysfunctional family tree that bridges the gap between Married...with Children and The Osbournes, thanks in no small part to a pair of uniquely delightful characters: the imperious infant Stewie, who escaped from his mother's "ovarian Bastille" with a full-blown Napoleon complex, and the family pooch, Brian, a jive-talking hepcat trapped in a dog's body. Many of Season 3's funniest episodes revolve around the swingin' canine, who turns porn auteur in "Brian Does Hollywood" and gets addicted to cocaine while on the job as a drug-sniffing dog in "The Thin White Line." Another standout, "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington," skewers Big Tobacco and shady politicos (and features the voice of former child star turned California gubernatorial candidate Gary Coleman). Special features include the never-aired episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," in which Peter tries to convince his goy-boy to become a successful Jew. With such cool DVD extras, fans who loudly protested the show's cancellation may be moved to shout Stewie's catchphrase: "Victory is mine!"
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