(Published March 16, PDI-Entertainment)
By Oliver M. Pulumbarit
Contributor
Still irreverent after all these years, “Family Guy” airs on two cable channels, making it hard to miss boneheaded fat guy Peter Griffin and his dysfunctional family. No, they’re not the Simpsons. Sure, Peter is a dumb and embarrassing father like Homer. He and his attractive wife have three kids—but the similarities end there.
On its ninth season, “Family Guy” still resorts to lewd, crude humor whenever it can. In this less realistic world, pet dogs can talk and act like humans, and a baby behaves and schemes like a grownup.
Peter Griffin is an unlikeable and insensitive fellow, but he does figure in some of the most hilarious and nonsensical exploits. While Peter’s got the lowbrow factor covered, his baby Stewie (who speaks like an adult English villain) gets into the more unpredictable situations, dressing in drag in some episodes and taking on different roles (a child actor, an agent, a teenager, etc.) in others.
The family dog, Brian, has a crush on Peter’s wife Lois, and is an aspiring author. Brian and Stewie’s adventures bring them to the most unexpected places, including caricatured versions of the Star Wars galaxy, the North Pole, and even alternate realities rendered in different art styles. Show creator Seth MacFarlane impressively voices Brian, Peter, and Stewie, characters that sound nothing alike.
“Family Guy” usually has a couple of visual punch lines every episode via the “cutaway gags,” just random scenes from satirized TV shows or memories brought up by characters. It often pokes fun at pop culture and celebrities: The Jetsons, the Smurfs, Britney Spears, Uma Thurman, Christina Aguilera, and Will Ferrell, among many others.
Sometimes the humor is hit-and-miss. But the show has proven that it can be brilliant, outrageous, and is not for the easily offended.
“Family Guy” airs Mondays, 7:30 p.m. on Jack TV; and Fridays, 6:40 p.m. and 11:40 p.m., on Fox.
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