The Family Guy Collection is a nine-disc set containing all 50 episodes from the show's three seasons, plus two bonus discs of additional material including commentaries, deleted scenes and featurettes. Creator Seth MacFarlane drew on his own New England upbringing to create the dysfunctional Griffin family and the other less-than-endearing inhabitants of Quahog, Rhode Island. In addition to animating the original concept, MacFarlane also voices the show's three most indelible characters: recklessly stupid paterfamilias Peter Griffin, sophisticated pooch Brian and Stewie, the one-year-old obsessed with world domination.
Though comparisons are inevitable, from the outset Family Guy established itself as no mere Simpsons clone. Quahog is both a more realistic and far less cuddly place than Springfield. The Griffins and their neighbours inhabit a town where both random acts of violence and virulent verbal abuse are doled out on a regular basis; they indulge in copious (albeit mild) swearing; and the mocking of minorities, PC attitudes and pretty much anyone and anything else, is delightfully commonplace. Most joyfully distinctive of all, though, are the flashbacks, surreal episodes and sundry other non sequiturs that continually interrupt the Griffins' daily lives.
The show is also characterised by a plethora of pop-culture references, many of which will fall flat for a non-US audience. But the scattershot approach to jokes--they just keep coming and coming--ensures that for every one you don't get, there will be three that will have you in stitches. Rumours abound of a potential fourth season and even a movie; but for now this is the definitive collection.
On the DVD: The Family Guy Collection presents the episodes on discs as they appeared in the original three box sets, with no extra features nor anything as useful as a "Play All" facility. Two bonus discs contain all the additional material: here 14 episodes have optional chatty, laid-back commentaries from MacFarlane and other members of the creative team. MacFarlane also appears in the short featurettes, talking about the show's creation and its interminable censorship problems. The rough-and-ready original pilot is also here, as well as animatic storyboards for selected scenes and seven TV promo spots. While the extra features alone are unlikely to tempt anyone who already has the series box sets, those who have only sampled Family Guy so far will not want to miss this opportunity to own every joyous episode. --Mark Walker