Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Mr. Griffin goes to Washington

Family Guy
Episode 3
Mr. Griffin goes to Washington


This episode is one of the politically correct ones this season. When the company where Peter is works, HGL Toys, was taken over by a tobacco conglomerate, his boss got fired. Then the new management wanted to sent Peter to Washington to be the spokeperson for the tobacco industry. The parallel is so obvious when the big fat man with no manners brought the major congressman to a strip club. Peter made a true connection with "those fat cats", and got them to vote against a law restricting Tobacco companies from selling their cigarettes to children. The subject is very contemporary, and the way it is exposed clearly made Family Guy a great tribute to promote the non-smoking campaign. All the members of the family got special treatment while Peter was president. Even Meg got a fake ugly friend to make her look good by comparison. But when Stewi got addicted to cigarettes, Peter changed his mind and exposed the truth about his company.

The live interaction between Alyssa Milano, asking her lawyer to sue the series when Peter said something humiliating about her, gives this episode a new catch. Other comparison or personification appear in this episode, but are really based upon older TV shows that I don’t even recall.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Series description




Family Guy


Sure, animation cartoons seem a little childish, but isn’t it trought them that we grew up ? From Looney Tunes to The Simpsons, all countries around the world know about these Caracters and can relate to them. As a fan since day one of the series, I’m pretty sure to be able to find something new about this family.

Maybe Family Guy just sits in the shadows of The Simpsons, but when you compare the Caracters, and the fact that most of time, fiction melts with reality, the Family Guy stands alone as a more adult cartoon. The action takes place in a typical East Coast city near Boston, Quaog.
All the main Caracters are in the Griffin family; Peter as the dad, Loïs as the mother and ther children; Chris (14yrs), Meg (16yrs) and Stewie (2yrs). As for the story itself, most of the time there is a conflict, an adjustment or simply extraordinary adventures. The two Caracters who are in eternal confrontation are Loïs and Stewie. Stewie refuses to be dependant on his mother, and therfore tries to kill her. Its not "kill" as murder, but more growing up as a young boy who enventually overcomes his childhood. Peter always gets screw up in particular adventures, depending on the story. And, as for Chris and Meg, they get involved or get their spots sometime. And the one caracter who clearly separate the Griffins from The Simpsons, is Brian the talking dog. This dog represents all the good sense and the adult mind of the show.