Family Guy

I can't believe they did that. That was super disturbing. Honestly, Fox should have nixed that.

Speaking of disturbing, the "Parent Sex" joke just freaked out every 14 year old in the audience.

I did laugh at the end with Meg saying Stewie shot himself. Unexpected capper to a dark and unpleasantly cruel plotline.

Who won the night of Fox toons? Nobody really. Certainly not the viewers. *1/2.

It was all right. I like that the head guy came back at the end.

The bit with the ketchup was funny too. I also love when Quagmire said this wasn't dinner conversation.

I've never listened to Teddy Pendergrass but the jokes were funny. I also loved the bit of the Millennial watching at home telling the other dude to do the work.

Bob's Burgers won the night of Fox Toons with a five star episode, but this was decent. ***1/2.

Some really funny jokes. The giraffe sarcastically suggesting they wait for the grown men who write for cartoons to tell them what to do was great.

Sam Elliott's stuff as the Narrator was hilarious. He was way funnier in both this episode and the one where he narrated Brian's SVU than he's ever been as Wild West.

Did Hologram Peter briefly turn into Bob from Bob and Larry at the end? I forgot what Bob looked like, but maybe.

Lois' foot was gross. Nobody wants to touch that.

Brian and Stewie know the proper way to make the Emperor mad. Honestly, they were starting to piss ME off too.

Peter's boss as "Paul Shore" was great. Peter Macon makes me laugh. Total Bortus move.

I love Peter telling the guy on the phone he isn't mad at him, he's mad at the company. I think we've all been there.

It's easier for Peter to do the half-thing from the fake thing so he'll just do that. Lois is like "All right." Lois needs her head examined.

Not a strong or believable story, but a LOT of the jokes were great.

Needless to say, The Simpson won the night of Fox toons. I actually believe Bob's Burgers, The Great North, and Family Guy could have each delivered the greatest episodes they had ever delivered, and The Simpsons would still have won. It wasn't even a contest this week. ***1/2.

I loved it. I thought the ending of Brian pretending Stewie was a great hide and seek player was very sweet and I love that Quagmire and Stewie bonded. What's great is how firmly the episode sets the rule that Quagmire can't understand him. They are usually looser about that then they were here. Which made it interesting.

Also interesting that while Quagmire can't understand Stewie, he still somehow knows Brian knows Stewie better than anybody else.

I loved Brian's douchey demands for the first class flight. Quagmire asks him how they are supposed to pick out all the Kibbles and I laughed when Brian said that wasn't a problem he wanted to know about.

I think I missed something in the Peter and Lois betting thing, but it sounded like a funny and smart joke. When I rewatch the episode I'm giving that a second look.

Wonderful episode. Family Guy wins the night of Fox Toons. ****1/2.

I liked it. I thought Stewie's speech at the end about the dangers of following celebrities was timely. I laughed at when after Stewie says the summer problems with Rupert were mostly due to him, Brian smiles and tells him he never cared. Him fixing everything about Rupert but his short term memory about those months is why Brian is pretty much the best friend for Stewie ever. Whether he'll admit it publicly or not.

Just so we're clear, the lap band surgery won't make you lose all of your fat immediately after the surgery. It's not liposuction. Family Guy is like the shadiest show ever when it comes to medical stuff.

Cocky Jogger was random but that's why it was funny.

I learned a bunch of stuff about Benjamin Franklin, most it bad. I think it's also stuff more people should know. It bothers me this is the first I heard of a lot of it.

It was nice. The Simpsons won the week of Fox Toons though, pretty handily. ***1/2.

Nobody actually remembers the movie "You Don't Mess With The Zohan" but it feels like a justified pop-culture slam anyways, because the movie was such a bomb nobody bothered making fun of it at the time. But it was also such a bad idea for a movie it never should have been made. It was a pickle. I think comedy back then probably thought it was safer to pretend it never existed. We'd all have been better off if Adam Sandler never did either. Oh well.

The Seamus ending was incredibly weak. The Will Smith joke already feels dated.

However Brian asking if abortion was legal in Rhode Island is an exceptionally timely political joke. The show usually can't make those due to lagging production lead times. Since it was a random unattached joke at the end of the scene, it must have been easier to create later on and attach.

Laughed hard at Principle Shepherd's voicemail to Chris.

That is one awful haircut. Now am I to understand it's from a real person? Do I have that right? How broken is that real person anyways?

I think the series is struggling in the new Woke environment it finds itself in. I like that it's having a hard time instead of stubbornly insisting on keeping the easier bigoted jokes. It's harder for the series to get a laugh now. But I appreciate it more when it does, even if like the voicemail it has to be a LITTLE anti-Woke to do it.

Pretty good. Didn't see Housebroken, but The Simpsons won the night anyways. ***1 removed link

Not feeling it. The show is struggling.

When Mayor West describes the strength of comedy that builds people up, Peter shamedly says, "I know. We're still working on that." And yeah, it's been hard for the show.

The show wants to still be offensive without offending groups of people so we get the sex tape stuff which is just gross on every level and not funny.

I liked seeing the Phoney Guy's kid although I'm not bowled over by Fwad's voice cameo. That character should have stayed retired.

It's not lost on me this is the second week in a row the show has made January 6 jokes, and the Griffins are always on the wrong side of them. I don't like that fact at all. But Josh Hawley is still a punk.

The ending reaffirms that Peter can understand Stewie SOMETIMES.

The crowd booing "Hee-ya!" and cheering "Them-ya!" is one of those mean jokes the show can't help itself with. It pissed me off a little.

Joe's musical numbers were horrifying in their pure awkwardness and unfunniness. Also a bad showing for the Who Else But Quagmire Guy. Somebody liking BOTH Betty and Veronica is hardly outrageous. Even a suggestion of a threesome with them is hardly a Quagmire-specific fantasy.

Brian detailing all the logical ways Stewie COULD have been a mistake is why Brian is the worst person ever.

I'm a little surprised at how weak the episode was. Doug's been an asset in the past couple of seasons but this episode didn't work. Bob's Burgers won Fox Toons this week. **.

Family Guy pointing out plotholes in critically acclaimed movies never gets old, and Cast Away got a fair drubbing here. To be honest, I was always a bit mystified by that movie's appeal.

Oh, so the show LIKES Meg Ryan In The Cut nudity now? Make up your mind.

I heard elsewhere there was a Mad About You relaunch and I couldn't believe it because I never saw it advertised anywhere, and nobody ever talked about it. It shouldn't matter that it was on a crappy network. I am as amazed as this show is that it happened and nobody knew about it. The original show was a pretty big deal for the 1990's and a second cousin to both Friends and Seinfeld.

I need to see Dirty Dancing. Or maybe based on this, I don't. All I know is I probably would have liked it more if I actually understood the abortion jokes.

Did Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey really hate each other? That seems EXACTLY like a bit of Hollywood dirty laundry Seth MacFarlane would gleefully air so I wouldn't be surprised.

And yes, the big shnozz jokes were a bit much. But she got a new one so it's fine.

I enjoyed it. I think both this and Bob's Burgers were equally sound, and there were no other new Fox episodes, so I declare the winner of Fox toons a draw this week. ***1 removed link

I love that Quagmire is underwhelmed by Alan's vaccine stance at the end.

The bit about the ass-hitting door was funny. Now Old West is actually worried about that.

The horses playing videogames were great too.

The Giant Chicken is rich and Quahog has the richest group of chickens in the country. The more I learn about the Giant Chicken, the more confused I am by him.

Joe having the fake app and not really having any sponsors for his podcast is on-brand for Joe Swanson.

I have personally never had an Al Pacino moment. I think I consider myself lucky.

Cleveland Junior confused for Lizzo? Mean, but part of me can see it when they animate him like that.

Principle Shepherd's advice to never become a principle seems sound when you consider how he, Skinner from The Simpsons, and Lewis from American Dad ended up.

Stewie seemed kind of "Just there" this episode, and wasn't given much to do.

Pretty funny episode. But still, Wild West doesn't really compare to Adam. ***1 removed link

I've been having a minor problem with Family Guy this season, and I figured I'd take this review to talk about it.

Except this specific episode was a gem. Maybe next week then.

I think Donkey Kong is a better game than it's described as here. But the truth is, it WOULD make a killer house. You can call Peter the worst father on television. He is. He's also the only one who would ever do Donkey Kong House. While we're keeping score of the important things.

Lois rubbing Brian's face in the reality of "The English Patient" was cathartic on every level. I love it when the show gives Lois empowering moments against Brian's horribleness, and since he's now constantly horrible, they are pleasurably frequent. But yeah, the dude sucks, and watching her literally rub his face in how much he sucks feels DAMN good. It's not just the audience who hates and is sick of Brian. It's not just us at all.

I love that everyone always yawns when Becky talks about Scott. I especially the last bit when we realized it's not just Peter.

What would Scott think? Give Becky a break. She was acquitted. That is a freaking fabulous joke.

Lois pointing out Becky could do better is something that really shouldn't need to be said. In other words the entire premise of the episode was a stretch.

Kirby makes a good name for pink videogame marshmallows.

Yeti Coolers are the right coolers for guys without personalities.

When Quagmire says that golf takes 6 hours to play, out of town, in a different shirt, suddenly the entire sport sounds suspect, doesn't it? Really insightful and alarming joke. I hope every husband who makes their wives watch this show laughs EXTRA nervously at that joke, while darting their eyes away from them. They're onto them now. Gulp!

The climax was a wonderful comedy of errors. Bonnie and the thing with the washing machine was an amazingly goofy and random complication to the whole thing. Well timed comedy nonsense.

I love that the Prowler is still on the roof during the last shot.

Hilarious episode. I'll save my gripe sesh for next week. *****.

Gilbert Gottfried had a role on Family Guy before he died! And he poked fun at himself! The Fox airing dedicated the episode to him but the Hulu version didn't.

I like the self-aware joke of Family Guy saying it's only on Britney's side now because it's popular. And really, that's Family Guy's entire problem regarding celebrities. Some of their slams (and even compliments) have aged MEGA poorly. Not as bad as The Simpsons venerating Elon Musk. But ballpark.

The Stewie stuff didn't do much for me because I think the B story couldn't decide what it was about, which is usually why bad Family Guy stories are bad. The good thing is it WAS the B story, but still it felt a bit aimless going from conspiracy theories to Stewie with multiple personalities.

I thought the ending of Peter telling Meg he never wanted her, and them both knowingly smiling at each other was a little too dark and cynical, even for this show and those characters.

The episode was decent overall though. And looking over the rest of the night, this three star toon is the only one to get a passing grade from me, and shockingly won the night of Fox toons. I can't believe it either. That's how off their game everyone else was. ***.

The episode ending on "This isn't working. You have to leave," is the precise reason they never should have done this plotline.

First cold opening in awhile. Usually when Bob's Burgers characters appear, they are being roasted. But Homer Simpson eating a sandwich and Peter stuck with black coffee and toast without the Emmy winner discount shows that the show is sort of now understanding the reality of the current lay of the pop culture land regarding the Belchers.

I'm also positive the Chris at the zoo joke didn't start OFF as a joke about the Will Smith Oscar slap. But since it occurred off-screen, it was probably super easy to turn it into that.

So-so episode. The Great North easily won the night of Fox toons. ***.

I don't feel like the resolution worked. Stewie is jealous he's never accomplished all his goals... at the age of 1? Yeah, that's kind of stupid.

Asking about who would follow Hitler's ideals and it being 40% of America is I believe lowballing it.

The Fox News joke was a LITTLE obvious, wasn't it?

Only this show would believe a person could use the white privilege argument as a form of bullying passive-aggression. I'm sorry some people are fed up with your racism and sexism, Seth MacFarlane. How terrible that must feel for you.

In fairness to Seth, Stewie claiming a signed copy of his book is worth less than a new copy sort of makes me forgive him. ALL the Family Guy writers are being self-deprecating in that moment.

I love Brian claiming you can stop a Prius by cupping the wind.

Still, eh. 2 1/2 stars.

I loved the previous attempt to show Lois' petty obsession and psychopathy "Customer Of The Week" but this felt less successful. "Customer Of The Week" was a comedy of errors and the arc here of Lois getting the upper hand with Dottie felt less earned. Also not to put too fine a point on it, but Customer was pretty much strong enough to carry an entire episode. It didn't need a lame Brian and Stewie B story.

Calling MAGA people stupid is on-brand for the politics of the show, but it strikes me as low-hanging comedy fruit. I understand how the show is finding comedy hard without racism and sexism to sustain it. But having the only real cruel shots it takes be at that one specific thing makes the show feel uncreative and repetitive. The show isn't always that. But it needs to find a new axe to grind. It's worse than the fact that they aren't changing anybody's minds. They simply aren't impressing or amusing even people who agree with them. That's how you know it's been overdone.

I like Lois telling Peter he's very close to being a sitting in the chair to watch guy.

The size of the shampoo bottle was pretty damn huge. And the idea that Lois did it intentionally fits in with what we know about Lois, but it also makes us feel worse she doesn't get the comeuppance she did in "Customer Of The Week".

No, Lois, this is NOT being canceled. Idiot.

Alex Borstein's performance in the rant at the end is pretty great. I don't think this episode is as great as Lois' bits in "Customer". But that was a pretty pleasurably unhinged moment.

Carly got the helicopter in the divorce.

I was hoping for better from a "Lois is a cruel sociopath" episode. Not a great night for Fox Toons but The Great North won on points. 3 stars.

The ending sucked but I liked the rest. Moses was funny in particular. When he ask who the dude's desk was, when the guy responds he says "My man."

Peter made an interesting observation about the Magical Black Man trope in Hollywood. That the trope has been around forever and it's just recently people have objected to it. For some reason, the writers seem to think that makes the objections invalid. If you ask me, people putting up with that crap for so long is the objectionable thing. And I don't mean just because the trope feeds into racism and stereotypes. It tends to create poorly written characters and scenarios too. If the writers of this show don't find the trope racist, can they at least celebrate its retirement knowing there will be fewer utterly crappy movies in the future? Silver lining?

Honestly, I was mad Peter wasn't fired. I can't believe what that character gets away with.

I love how much Chris is dunking on Stewie for no apparent reason. What's funny is that Stewie's behavior with Chris is normal for him with Brian, but because he's not Alpha to Chris, Chris finds it tiresome instead. This isn't just a good character moment. It's a good moment to realize that a LOT of the Brian and Stewie hijinks are stupid and badly written, and we just accept their dumb behavior and lines because it's a dumb cartoon. The stuff with Chris was a brilliant and subversive Mea Culpa about that. I'm wondering how many viewers will actually recognize that as what it is, and how many will simply think Chris himself is being annoying. I wonder that very much. It could go either way with that specific messed up fandom.

And in case you don't think Chris is entitled to a little rage in his life, his voice-over pointing out naked pictures were taken of him without his consent, and his father doesn't care says he is. Let me also offer another opinion. That was WAY too far out of bounds to portray Principle Shepherd doing. There are very few characters on the show I sort of like. Shepherd used to be one of them. Not anymore. It amazes and disgusts me how willing the show is to destroy its own characters for the sake of a cheap unfunny jokes. It's like the writers don't actually care about health of the franchise at all. That specific fact fills me with disgust.

All my complaints aside, I do feel this was a pretty strong week. Which tells you how weak the show is in general if this is above average. In fairness, once in awhile the show is actually amazing. But this week being able to be confused for acceptable is not a great turn of events. The Great North wins this week of Fox Toons. ***1 removed link

So wait, are they doing an arc with Meg in Russia now? I guess we'll see next week.

I love the animal PSA with the wrong music. So wrong and so funny.

I love that Lois' note upon Brian's Instagram pimp is to lament she never expected him to live this long. Because that's the correct reaction.

The bullying stuff with Lois didn't really lead anywhere interesting.

Brian continues to be a cheapskate at the end.

The episode handled the fact that Meg isn't actually supposed to be able to really understand Stewie pretty well. She never directly responds to anything he says.

I like Peter in his sex costume calling down and saying he hopes everybody is having fun at the pool party.

Newspapers: Because your parrot can't poop on an iPad.

Another well-worn reminder that Brian is color-blind. Between that and the car ride offer I'm like, "We get it. He's a dog."

Bonnie ALSO noted the placement of the Stephanie's stretch marks. Women on this show are the worst. The writers clearly don't think much of them.

Peter loves us. I don't agree with him, but that's probably only because I'm on the outside of that mess. I guess it kind of works for them.

I love the idea that Lois always writes down the names of Quagmire's Girlfriends in case he ever "becomes a Dateline". I love it being put like that. Perfect for those Katillsday Night Mysteries. Don't watch it alone. Seriously, is that the absolute worst tagline for a newsmagazine of all time? I've been alive 47 years and cannot think of a worse one. And I lived through John Stossel. Give me a break!

Meg says in Russia you can eat root vegetables straight from the ground and not be placed in an involuntary psych hold. Meg, honey, that's a drawback, not a selling point. If the rules on that were entirely different, I'm betting Vlad Putin would not be where he is.

Decent episode. Bob's Burgers won Fox Toons tonight. ***1/2.