Family Guy Volume Eight DVD Review And Giveaway

Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy is arguably a television classic already, and the show's DVD releases are as fueled by an appreciation for fans as the continuing efforts of the show itself. A quick glance at the back cover may not lead one to believe that the the DVD set is overloaded with special features, and it isn't exactly, but the bonus value is extremely high. Commentary tracks and "not safe for television" versions make the set well worth a purchase on their own.

This set brings you 15 episodes on 3 discs, and you get quite a sampling. Whether it's religion, Fox News, or the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, nothing is safe from the show's outrageous brand of humor. Many episodes offer an uncensored audio track, and there is a commentary track on all episodes with a nice mix of writers, directors, cast members, and MacFarlane himself throughout the set.

Marijuana! Religion! Evil monkeys! Older women! “Family Guy” Volume 8 tackles all this and more. Don’t miss these 15 hilarious “Family Guy” episodes as the lovable Griffins face each uproarious misadventure with no fears and no shame. Featuring the voice talents of creator Seth MacFarlane and comedic actors Alex Borstein (“MADtv”), Seth Green (“Robot Chicken”), Mila Kunis (“That ‘70s Show”) and Mike Henry (“The Cleveland Show”), nearly every episode in the “Family Guy” Volume 8 DVD collection features uncensored audio so that viewers can experience the Griffin family as they never have before.

Even considering everything you already know about Family Guy, this is a collection that pushes the envelope, and should not be missed. Captain Picard letting go in uncensored fashion is not only hilarious, but a bonus feature you aren't going to find anywhere else, but the original versions here are also a noteworthy conglomeration of subjects. The show has always managed to blend together the topical and the permanently mock-worthy, and this particular subset of the series works brilliantly. It's rare that volume eight of a series is going to stand out, but it really does here.

The first two episodes of the set illustrate the variety by going from the "right slant" of FOX News straight into the always popular subject of the speed with which the jump is made from "I've found Jesus" to "Kill the unbeliever!"

The set includes-

Disc 1:

o “Fox-y Lady”
o “Not All Dogs Go To Heaven”
o “420”
o “Stew-Roids”
o “We Love You Conrad”

Disc 2:

o “Three Kings”
o “Peter’s Progress” (season finale)
o “Road to the Multiverse” (season premiere)
o “Family Goy”
o “Spies Reminiscent of Us”
o “Brian’s Got A Brand New Bag"

Disc 3:

o “Hannah Banana”
o “Quagmire’s Baby”
o “Jerome Is the New Black”
o “Dog Gone”

Special Features:

The Road to Road to the Multiverse featurette
Deleted Scenes
Family Guy Karaoke

The featurette is a nice showcase of the guest talent, but only runs about ten minutes. While not an especially spectacular bonus, it's actually fairly interesting just to feature the general idea that so many people are willing to get involved with the show. The deleted scenes are what they are, and perhaps a bit better than the average, but they don't quite add up to anything all that special. The Karaoke is pretty much what you expect, and rather funny, though I'm not sure what long-term use any Karaoke feature has.

As you can imagine, the real sell is in the commentary tracks, and they're mostly brilliant. Some shows perform better than others in terms of filling out such tracks, and while there is often some interest to "the idea for this episode came from...," anecdotes, in this case the stories and tangents are usually worth at least as much as the show itself.

The set also includes a limited edition reprint of the season eight premiere episode script –“Road to the Multiverse.”

In the end, even though it doesn't look like you're getting loads of bonus, the DVD release is truly an entirely new experience.

Own it on DVD today!

Win it!

I'm making this one a Facebook Fan Appreciation giveaway. If you're a Fan (or Liker, I guess) of Are You Screening? on Facebook, you don't have to do anything. If you aren't, just find the box and go to work. If you have no idea what any of that means, find someone you're pretty sure would know, roll your eyes slightly and say, "Can you believe I have this friend who didn't know what it meant to become a Facebook Fan of something? Pfssfsh. I had to explain it to them. Now... if that happened to you, how would you explain it?"

The winner will be randomly selected from all Facebook Fans on July 14th, and will be notified via Facebook.

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About Marc Eastman

Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

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