REVIEW - Family Guy S11E07

‘Oh, I can't believe it! I'm going out on a date with Kent Lastname!’

Episode 7 is all about Meg. I find the ones focused on Meg bring out the best in the meanest, funniest comedy double act Stewie and Brian. This episode is a little piece of double act gold in the first half of the episode before it turns a little darker.

Brian and Stewie get hold of Meg’s diary. Amongst some gross out entries poured on the page they also discover that Meg has a crush on a handsome boy called Kent. She is out of control, and as usual when she locks onto a man, woman or dog in the past the outcome is only creepy, psycho obsession.

She finally plucks up the courage to ask Kent out on a date. Surprisingly he says yes! They have a wonderful time and Meg lunges in for the kiss, but is denied! Broken hearted and defeated Meg has to hear the worst news possible. That Kent is gay, and worse still he has a crush on Chris. Brian hears the news and relays the message to Stewie but lost in translation Stewie thinks that Kent has a crush on him!

After trying and failing to get Kent to turn (showing him a photo of her hairy back was never going to work). Meg settles for the next best thing. She won’t ever really experience what its like to sleep with Kent but she can hatch a plan so Chris does and live vicariously through him. The plan could work apart from the fact that poor Chris has no clue!

Towards the end this episode hits a nerve where sleeping tablets and date rape storylines are implied. This will put off some Family Guy fans who love most of the humour but feel maybe sometimes the jokes go a little too far. An average episode over all.

Review by JoAnn Duff

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REVIEW - Family Guy S11E06

This episode runs two main storylines along with the usual sick, hilarious randomness, which we love, from the Griffins.

Firstly Stewie gets a little pet turtle. Cute little fellow and someone a little more animated than boring old Rupert. All is going swimmingly with Stewie and his new little green pal until strange happenings begin to occur in the Griffin home. Innocent bookmarks are replaced with razorblades, someone mysteriously swapped Brian’s Jack Daniels with flat diet coke (which surprisingly Brian discovered at 10am) and Rupert loses an eye in a random, savage attack. Is Sheldon quite what he seems?

Meanwhile it’s Lois birthday and feeling unloved and unappreciated by Peter she spirals into a mid-life crisis. Its refreshing to have Lois get some screen time and be centre of attention for once, and the shoe is on the other foot as poor Peter has to chaperone his party going wife around town. To start with its super sexy but the hootchie shorts, Ugg boots hair extensions and partying soon take their toll on Peter and the marriage, breaking pint comes when she sneaks backstage to sleep with Justin Bieber!

Back at the house where the rest of the Griffins are left to fend for themselves the situation with Sheldon gets creepy as evil Sheldon breaks out of his tank. There is an unusual hero at the end of this cracking little episode full of laughs and they seem to have the American cougar phenomenon down perfectly.

Review by JoAnn Duff

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REVIEW - Family Guy S11E05

Joe wasn’t telling the truth. He did not lose the use of his legs by falling off a roof after a fight with the Grinch. Notorious criminal Bobby Briggs was responsible.

Joe’s nemesis, the criminal who shot out his legs when he was discovered as an undercover cop back in the 90’s has been apprehended by the police and is finally going to jail. Tom Tucker reports that Bobby ‘The Shirt’ Briggs was so called as he wore a shirt when committing all of his heinous crimes. This big time criminal had been on the run for 15 years but finally he has been caught and justice is about to be served.

Joe’s peace of mind only lasts 24 short hours before news breaks that Bobby Briggs has escaped and is back on the run. Joe demands to be on the case to help track him down but his boss at the department says that he is too close to the situation. That leaves Joe depressed and unhappy until his pals Peter and Quagmire offer to help.

The offer of help means they take the case into their own hands and try and track down Bobby themselves. The usual Hijinks is involved as they try and intercept Bobby Briggs before he hits the Mexican border. There are some great one-liners from Peter and a particular set of skills Quagmire has to get information from strippers and to escape some bent cops.

This could become a classic episode of the season and is a favourite of mine so far for Season 11, witty, funny and a few ‘I can’t believe they got away with that’ moments!

Review by Joann Duff

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Review - Family Guy S11E04

Brian is losing his touch at the bars when picking up women. He needs something spectacular to impress the ladies. Is a time machine a little too far?

Brian picks up hot chicks with low self-esteem with the pick up line to end them all. He sneaks them into Stewie's bedroom and uses his time machine. Brian takes the ladies anywhere they want to go and gets laid a lot in the process, it seems everyone is having a good time until Stewie gets suspicious.

In a panic Brian gets scared and doesn’t want his secret discovered by Stewie so he tries to fiddle with the time machine to reset the mileage. Disaster occurs when the time machine explodes, leaving Stewie and Brian battered and bruised but much worse is that it seems that time is in reverse.

Stewie and Brian seem immune at first but soon enough the whole neighborhood is going back in time. Back in episodes too as we revisit the all too long fight between Peter and the Chicken (do we have to keep wheeling that one out to fill a few minutes?) The ipecac spewing scene and Cleveland reappears in the bathtub as his home collapses.

As time reverses so does Stewie’s age and Brian has to fix the time machine before Stewie is ‘unborn’.

This isn’t going to be one of the standout episodes of season 11. Its not as gross, funny or topical as other episodes but it does have the most consistent storyline without too many of the usual random cut-to’s.

Review by Joann Duff

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REVIEW - Family Guy S11E03

Quagmire wears a toupée?!!

This episode starts out with the guys at a baseball game. When Brian, Joe, Peter and Quagmire all reach to catch the game ball at the same time they fall over each other. When they all stand up there is a shock in store. Quagmire’s toupée is flapping in the breeze and its all caught on video on the Jumbatron!

Once Quagmire gets over the embarrassment he decides to embrace his baldness which means no more ‘fun’ Quagmire. He wears a brown cardigan, hangs out at the library, stops drinking beer and likes to look at pictures of birds. He becomes so boring that Peter tells him he needs to get a hair transplant otherwise they can’t hang out anymore. He needs to be fun again.

Whilst at the hospital Brian, Joe and Peter wait anxiously for the results. Brian takes a walk and overhears a Doctor consulting with Lois’s father, Mr Pewtershmidt. He is told the sad news that he has terminal cancer and has just two weeks to live. Brian breaks the news to Lois and all the Griffins head over to Mr Pewtershmidts mansion to see him. When they arrive they discover that Mr Pewtershmidt is completely fine. Something must be going on!

Brian and Stewie decide to follow him and find out the truth. They believe that his illness is being hidden in some way so that the share price of Pewterschmidt industries doesn’t fall. They discover infact that Mr Pewterschmidt has found the cure for cancer. Will he do the right thing? No, of course not. Its Family Guy!

Review by JoAnn Duff

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REVIEW - Family Guy S11E02

The Griffins become a Nielsen family and Peter takes it upon himself to change television

The Griffins are chosen to become a Nielsen family, which means they have a set top box in their home so the networks can monitor TV habits. Peter is ecstatic as he never gets chosen for anything and has the grand idea of stealing all the Nielsen boxes therefore controlling all television.

At first he only has enough clout to change the local news station where he forces Tom Tucker to lose his moustache, end the show with a chainsaw and employ some prairie dogs to look upset when there is tragic sad news. As his power grows he controls storylines for national TV shows and we get to see Peters bizarre ideas of what makes good television.

Peter changes up some of America’s biggest shows, which he thinks is for the better. Mad Men with light saber fight scenes, an episode of Cops with Bananas instead of guns and Letterman reading a bedtime story are just some of new Griffin changes. However, what Peter soon realizes is that the whole town has turned against him for ruining television even Quagmire and Joe are no longer his friends and so he has to work with the networks to make it right again.

This isn’t the most controversial or outrageous Family Guy episode you will ever see, but there are some smart gags here and even a cameo from Homer Simpson, which was pretty awesome!

Review by JoAnn Duff

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Review - Family Guy S11E01

When the Fishmans share the news they are climbing Mount Everest as a family Peter tells them that the Griffins are to “stick it to them”.

Family Guy heats up for its eleventh season. What more sick, dark, random, controversial, topical, hysterically funny episodes can Seth McFarlane have left in him? If season eleven is anything to go by it’s plenty.

Episode one begins with Lois bumping into her first boyfriend Ross Fishman while out shopping. After discovering he also became happily married with children of his own she accepts an invitation to the Fishmans for dinner to catch up. Peter is instantly threated by Ross and he; along with the rest of the Griffins begrudgingly attend dinner at the wealthy, successful Fishmans.

The Fishmans are a self indulgent, pompous family, the wife is a lawyer and Ross is an investment trader. Peter is instantly jealous and sticks it to them by offering Ross to a muscle flexing competition at the dinner table and when the Fishmans share the news they are climbing Mount Everest as a family Peter tells them that the Griffins are to “stick it to them”.

The expedition for the Griffins begins in Nepal and the race to beat the Fishmans to the top is full of danger, adversity, movie references, confusion, stupidity, slapstick and even cannibalism all the way to the pinnacle of the mountain.

Stewie and Brian are still one of TV’s best double acts and their exchanges throughout this episode are classic. Family Guy sticks to a formula that works with random cut-tos. God, Weed-whackers and a Yak doing stand-up are just a few of the characters making appearances in this episode. Along with some classic Peter Griffin action you won’t be disappointed.

Review by JoAnn Duff

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