Family Guy-Fall TV

A Review of Tonight's Family Guy Season Premiere

A new season of Fox's hit animated series Family Guy is finally here. For those not in the know Family Guy is a cartoon for adults that aims to shock you as much as it aims to make you laugh. Family Guy made its debut in 1999 but was canceled from Fox's line up after a short run. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim picked up the show and its fan base soared when this new audience was introduced to the show. Fox did the unexpected and unprecedented when they ordered the show back into production in 2004. Family Guy is known for its shocking humor and controversial subject matter and is in no way suitable for children.

Tonight's season premiere was full of everything we have come to expect from the writers and producers of the show. In the premiere the main character Peter Griffin participating in his favorite activity with his family; watching television when the electricity suddenly goes out. Feeling bored Peter decides to tell his family the story of Star Wars in his own words. The next hour the audience is taken on a journey into Peter's imagination as he retells the legendary tale of Star Wars. The story is played out with all of the shows main characters Stewie as Darth Vader, Lois as Princess Leah, and even Brian as Chewbacca. There were of course cameos from some reoccurring characters and some celebrity sightings as well. Missing by my account was paralyzed neighbor Joe and his eternally pregnant wife; hopefully they will be back in future episodes.

The show's premier hour was of course peppered with constant pop culture references that made the story of Star Wars even more humorous. The producers and writers for Family Guy once again showed their ages with their famous habit of throwing in tidbits of pop culture from the eighties, which the target audience for this show can appreciate from their own child hoods. The Dirty Dancing segment featuring the Griffin's creepy old neighbor in place of Patrick Swayze was as disturbing as it was humorous. A final nod to the fact that Adult Swim's Robot Chicken had recently done an entire show about Star Wars was the icing on the cake and the end of tonight's premier episode.