(S06E06) As reported on TV Squad, Fox will broadcast two episodes of Family Guy during November sweeps which were started but not completed before the WGA strike began. The network has edited the final versions of the episodes together without the show's creative team (they're also broadcasting new episodes of The Simpsons and King of the Hill tonight, but I'm not certain if they were completed before the strike).This is an action that creator Seth MacFarlane has called "a colossal dick move". However, MacFarlane did give his blessing for Fox to do so before the strike, hoping that the network would show some respect to the integrity of the creators and their work. I think MacFarlane should have considered that If the networks would have done that in the first place, there would be no WGA strike.
On to the episode...
After starting his own anti-immigration group, Peter is determined to be a Mexican immigrant and forced to work as a day-laborer when he can't prove his American citizenship.
I have to say that this episode was a dud. Something seemed wrong with the pacing (this is what happens when you get scab editors). For example, the Mary Poppins bit felt like it went on for too long. On the plus side, there was another Superman reference with Superman V: The Broken Condom (which does seem like a more logical reason that he left for Krypton when Lois Lane got pregnant. But I digress...).
I did like the beginning of the episode. I thought the uninjured veterans and future veterans were hilarious. But somehow I kept thinking that such fare is a risky thing to broadcast in the more conservative and pro-America Midwest. On the other hand, the people from the Midwest who watch the show probably thought it was funny as well.
I did wonder about the issue of marrying Lois for citizenship before it was brought up in the episode. I should have realized that Peter wouldn't remember anything about Lois. Why didn't they ask her maiden name? He certain says "Mister Pewterschmidt" enough times.
I feel as if I've heard some of the jokes before. I definitely heard a similar Jewish porno joke on SNL. "Rapid Dave?" I'm sorry, but that was lame. I also could have done without that little pre-jingle commercial. It felt forced. I'd like to think that if the show had more rewrites it would have been written out.
Poor Meg. She's become the Family Guy version of Butters in South Park. Except I think Butters is treated with more respect.
This show has a lot of potential that I feel is being wasted. While Peter seems like a Homer Simpson copy, the characters of Brian and Stewie are great. The issue I have with this episode and Family Guy in general is that the asides that are the lifeblood of the show's humor seem to have more misses than hits. Rewrites probably could have saved some of it. In this case of this episode, while the entire premise of our treatment of immigrants was a good one, the execution seemed flat.
Favorite lines: "Anybody wanna see my purple heart?" "You look like the Statue of Liberty's pimp." "Who discovered America? Dick York. No, wait. Dick Sargent."
At least Seth MacFarlane and company have an out regarding the writing quality. They can say that the strike interfered with the rewrites to potentially save this episode. This entire episode could be used as an example of what happens when the writers stop working on the show. With that in mind, I don't have high hopes for next week's show, but I do hope that when the strike is over the writers can produce an improved product.
My question to all of you: do you feel Family Guy has declined in quality over the years? Is tonight's episode more of an exception than a rule? Will things get better when the writers are back?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-19-2007 @ 2:03AM
Michael said...
Reading the review, it seems to me like you went in with some prejudice, knowing that it was one of the "scab" episodes, but I still thought this episode was pretty funny.
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11-19-2007 @ 2:13AM
Joe said...
How can the Family Guy writers strike? Won't FOX just stop feeding them and leave them to starve in their tanks?
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11-19-2007 @ 3:20AM
Randy said...
I though that this was a great episode. If I didn't read about it online, I wouldn't have known or noticed that anything was different about the editing process.
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11-19-2007 @ 3:45AM
Gary said...
This episode had it's funny parts but some of the jokes seemed off and dry. If the strike continues this show will surely decline.
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11-19-2007 @ 5:31AM
Linda said...
To Joe:
Love it! My 15 year old asked "How can manatees go on strike?"
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11-19-2007 @ 7:32AM
D-Bo said...
Best line in tonight's episode was when Stewie made the joke about being in a strip club on a Tuesday afternoon: "Is there anyone here who hasn't had a c-section?"
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11-19-2007 @ 7:42AM
KMF said...
This episode had it's funny moments. I'm from the Midwest but I did find the parade funny, even though me adn my sister agreed that was pretty risky of FG. I like the old man Herman, throw him in there and I'll like it.
The rest of the episode didn't really do it for me. Hope next week is better.
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11-19-2007 @ 7:45AM
Chris said...
I think, all things considered, the episode was pretty funny. In my opinion (and many others' I'm sure), Family Guy hasn't been up to snuff since its uncancellation. There have been a couple of stand out episodes, but overall the writing has suffered. So as far as editing or rewrites go, I'd call this an above-average post-cancellation episode. I think the Mary Poppins gag was great, but it seemed very familiar for some reason.
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11-19-2007 @ 8:11AM
Mel said...
How are you delving into the fundamental nature of the show from this episode, talking about having potential and what not? It's like you're new to Family Guy.
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11-19-2007 @ 8:22AM
fred said...
Well, I didn't liek this episode so much either, some of the jokes worked but not all of them, and soon enough it felt like the whole plot was onyl dragged for too long and there wasn't anything funny anymore.
They tried bashing Meg, but even that didn't work.
I'm not sure this had nothing to do with MacFarlane not doing the last-minute tweaking of the episode though, it seemed too deep into the way it was written I thought.
My opinion on this episode is that, once again, they tried to only have one main story, and a message, instead of just using the main story as an "excuse" for all their funny bigs and cut-away jokes. And just like last time, it didn't really work...
They should leave that up to South Park, those guys are genius at that, and stick with what they know to do best.
Hopefully next week will be better...
http://88.191.26.34/i_watch_tv/2007/11/19/family-guy-padre-de-familia/
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11-19-2007 @ 9:27AM
sarah said...
i did not like this episode at all. the beginning was vaguely funny, but the more the episode went on, the more offensive it got. it went way over the limit of cliches and stereotypes until it just wasnt watchable anymore. some of the jokes got a tepid laugh, but overall, it tried just too hard.
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11-19-2007 @ 11:06AM
seamus said...
without knowing the episode was affected by the strike, I watched it and thought it was one of the funniest episodes of the season.
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11-19-2007 @ 11:26AM
Eric Trantina said...
hoenstly this episode seemed way more disjointed than usual and that is saying alot for a show like family guy. Finding out that it is a scab episode explains everything. Editing is an essential part of the creative process on shows.
That being said it was still a hilarious episode and what makes that mary poppins bit funny is that it goes on for way too long and is uncomfortable because of it. It's like the injured shin bit, it gets funnier because it is dragged out waaaay too long
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11-19-2007 @ 11:33AM
Diego M said...
this was a funny episode i give it a 7.5/10
the john mccain experience was kinda mean, "waahh i wanna be president" haha.
favorite line of the night was 'statue of liberty's pimp'
and the "c section"
there were a lot of funny bits and some that fell flat, the mary poppins dragged too long, i could've done without the excessive puking.
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11-19-2007 @ 12:16PM
kevjohn said...
I thought it was funny, and hilarious in spots (particularly the future soldiers bit, and Stewie and Brian high fiving after Stewie's Statue of Liberty's pimp joke). But as with every singe FG, there were a few misses. Overall a funny ep. and a good lead-in to American Dad.
And I'm in (but not FROM) the South. You midwesterners have a lot of damn nerve trying to take our Conservative and Pro-America Ignorance title!!
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11-19-2007 @ 1:44PM
Kelli said...
Speaking as someone from "the more conservative and pro-America Midwest", i have to agree with Randy. I thought this episode was pretty funny.
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11-19-2007 @ 1:54PM
Dan said...
Honestly, I barely laugh when watching Family Guy, I simply wait for something funny and it comes less and less these days. The random aides seem more random and just violent or disgusting, which isn't funny, it's just painful to sit through. While American Dad is still quite funny, Family Guy has lost its touch. Stewie and Brian (and to a lesser extent, Chris) are the heart and soul of the show, the first season focused on them more and it was clearly better. Family Guy is doing what the Simpsons did and is abandoning the other characters for the Oaf (Peter and Homer are very similar these days) doing stupid and random things. The random asides aren't creative, they're just bad. Falling on the kids and killing them, then vomiting is not comedy. It would have been a lot funnier if it had showed Peter trying to act like Mary Poppins...which was already parodied in the Simpsons a decade ago anyways. I haven't given up on Family Guy simply because American Dad is still somewhat funny and shows that there is still something left in Macfarlane's mind, but I don't even look forward to it anymore. THANK GOD FUTURAMA IS COMING BACK NEXT WEEK!
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11-19-2007 @ 3:15PM
RC said...
I liked the strip club joke, and I loved the $10,000 pyramid joke. I wish they could have gotten a better Dick Clark impression but the theme music sold it.
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11-19-2007 @ 6:45PM
Mattso said...
I'm completely surprised that people are commenting saying that they liked this episode. I am the type of person who is very easy on tv shows. As far as my favorite shows go, I tend to just enjoy them as much as I can and I am rarely critical... and Family Guy is definitely a favorite of mine... but I felt like this episode was VERY "off". Halfway through the episode I started to think, "Oh this must be the first episode impacted by the strike". I thought some parts were funny, but I don't think I laughed once. There really must be a certain sensibility involved in editing a show, and this episode was missing it. It may have been a weak episode even without the strike... I don't know... but I definitely thought it was weak.
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11-19-2007 @ 7:04PM
John said...
Haven't watched the episode yet, so I'm skipping most of the post and comments but... this strikes me...
"This is an action that creator Seth MacFarlane has called "a colossal dick move". However, MacFarlane did give his blessing for Fox to do so before the strike,"
Is it me or is that textbook definition of Passive-Aggressive? Now, don't get me wrong, I love Seth and I'm quite often a participant in being passive-aggressive, but, c'mon, you said they could do it, did you really think they wouldn't?
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