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DVD Reviews:
Family Guy: Season 1 & 2
Always struggling for ratings during it's run on Fox, Family Guy, has found a whole new audience and much greater appreciation with its second run on Cartoon Network and its release on DVD. One of the largest selling DVD collections of 2003, Family Guy has gone from underappreciated to huge cult hit status, and is even going back into production for new episodes after a couple years off. For this reviewer, Family Guy isn't a very big hit on DVD unfortunately. I always thought this show was funny, and would try to watch it when it was airing on Fox, and I was stoked to have the opportunity to watch the first two seasons on DVD. It just didn't keep my attention, though. Watching TV shows on DVD is usually a pretty compulsive experience for me. I start watching and I can't stop. I will watch for a couple or more hours at a time and I will want to go back every day until that DVD set is complete, but The Family Guy didn't drive me to that rabid level of watching. I would watch one episode then when I started the second it felt really uninspiring. I never felt like I was learning anything new about the characters, and the jokes seemed pretty repetitive. All the jokes on the show are of the pop culture satirical tip, which is pretty good, but they are all rapid-fire reference style, and are more clever than funny, and after one episode it becomes a little tedious. I still think this show is pretty funny, and if you are a fan it would be good to one and check out an episode every once in a while, but this style of series really didn't mesh with my DVD viewing habits, and left me feeling really flat.
The Simpsons: Season 3
Nearly everyone has a history, and a well formed opinion of The Simpsons. It's been running for 15 years!! Can you believe it?? It will become the longest running television comedy ever at the end of this season. It's characters are some of the most recognizable people in the world. The Simpsons are icons. Enough of that, how is season three, you ask. It's just OK, I respond. I watched season two upon it's release about a year ago, and being surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I thought it would coincide with my memories of very early and very crude early Simpson with that much gruffer Homer voice, and just a mess of catch phrases. There was elements of that in season two but it was a really lovable series with some pretty funny moments with a heavy emphasis on moral lessons and junk, and it was nice. My surprise love for season two lead me to have really high expectations for season three expecting it to be a perfect blend of that lovable early family style Simpsons and the brilliant comedy of seasons like five and six. It was enjoyable but not great. There are a couple really great episodes, such as "Flaming Moe's" and "When Flanders Failed," but the majority are not outstanding. The best comedy in season three comes from self referential humor mocking the huge Simpsons mania and merchandising that struck America in 90 and 91. There isn't that scathing pop culture satirical streak to the show yet. It's still pretty mild. With all that said, this is still a classic series and these are good episode, definitely enjoyable and worth seeing for historical reasons. In the end, it left me a little unsatisified and waiting for seasons four and five.
Six Feet Under: Season One
Six Feet Under is a show that I was completely unfamiliar with before viewing this DVD set, and now I feel like I am a part of this wildly interesting family that Six Feet Under is based upon. Six Feet Under is an example of awesome television. It is a dramatic series that focuses on the Fisher family, who run a morturary in Southern California, immediately after the patriach of the family dies. The series was created by Alan Ball, the made who made American Beauty. The characters are so well drawn, and each deal with the death of Nathaniel (the father, husband) in different and all realistic ways. The characters have flaws and yet remain likable. The writing is such a solid mix of character devolpment and plot. The show is riveting, and somehow funny. The acting is incredible, featuring wonderful performances from Peter Krause (previously from the brilliant Sports Night series), Lauren Ambrose (previously from the awesome teen comedy, Can't Hardly Wait), and Jeremy Sisto (previously playing Jesus in the bad TV movie Jesus and Julius Caeser in a mini series). The family is dysfuctional is many ways, but not ways that we don't all recognize from our own lives. I can't say enough good things about this show, and I can't urge you to obtain a copy (rental or library preferred, the dvd set is pretty pricey) of Six Feet Under: Season 1 and bask in some seriously awesome TV.
