FAMILY GUY "Crosses the Line"?

'Family Guy' crossed the line

By Amber Dowling
2008-05-05

An otherwise funny 'Family Guy' finale went too far with Michael J. Fox joke

In a nutshell: When Brian munched on a used diaper, the Griffins visited the vet where Peter stole a pet parrot and Chris fell in love with the intern (Amanda Bynes).

Highlight No. 1: The pirate car chase. Peter and his pirate cohorts chased down a British man driving around crates of “sugar, spices and tobacco.” The British flag on Peter’s car was quickly replaced with the pirate logo and a mast was erected thanks to some on-the-road mishaps.

Highlight No. 2: Chris’s movie date. After taking some advice from Peter (treat her like crap), Chris’ manly monologue to his date and subsequent ordering her to pick up the ticket had me in stitches. It was every way NOT to treat a woman wrapped into two minutes of stomach cramp-induced laughter.

Ew factor: Peter’s bullfrog. When Peter caught a bullfrog to cheer up his son, he accidentally stabbed holes in the frog’s back rather than the box so that he could breath. When Peter missed the window with the discarded frog, and then continued to drop the amphibian, I was totally creeped out by how long the joke was dragged out. Who knew you could feel bad for a cartoon frog?

Lowlight No. 1: I feel like Family Guy always relies on the whole dad-bonding with the kid routine. Although it’s funny, Peter’s continuous attempts to engage Chris in dating grew a little tired. I mean, after the knee-slapping sock-puppet date there really was nowhere to go but down. Well … except that serenade scene. Or Stewie showing up for one of the blind dates dressed in drag. Classic.

Lowlight No. 2: Pirate-hype. Posters and commercials for the finale all touted some massive pirate-themed romp. Unfortunately, the scurvy tale lasted no longer than the car chase, when Peter accidentally killed his bird and lost interest.

In poor taste: Michael J. Fox’s scribbled Zorro tagline was crossing the line, in my opinion. The actor’s been pretty brave and upfront about his battle with Parkinson’s and the joke was too much, even for Family Guy. 

What now? The latter half of this season has definitely been disappointing. Getting one new episode per month was super-frustrating for fans, but I guess that’s what happens when you have a crippling strike, right? 14 episode titles for next season have already been released, the first one being "Love Blacktually." Just think of the possibilities…