Family Guy - Season 11 - DVD

Content: Everywhere there is moral decay, immoral behavior, greed, selfishness. But luckily there is still the Griffin family who have been upholding decency and morality in the small town of Quahog, Rhode Island since 1999. Well, not really. Because Family Guy, initially derided as a Simpsons clone and even briefly cancelled, is undoubtedly the most politically incorrect and crude animated series out there right now. Time and again, creator (and original voice actor of various characters) Seth McFarlane (Ted) and his team deliberately cross the boundaries of good taste in order to provoke and give the middle finger to all self-appointed guardians of morality. This does not always work and has worn out a bit after almost 15 years. But overall, the series is still a lot of fun in the episodes of the ninth season, which are now released as Season 11 box on DVD - even if the laughter is stuck in the throat so many times.

This eleventh DVD box offers a total of 14 episodes on three DVDs. In it, Stewie heads to the North Pole to confront Santa Claus after he calls it a day at a mall before Stewie could tell him his wish. Peter and Quagmire join Joe on Halloween patrol, which of course can't go well. And Lois discovers her talent for boxing. Also, after getting rowdy at a movie theater, Brian and Peter are sentenced to go to Alcoholics Anonymous, which has fatal consequences for everyone there. Stewie creates a vicious clone of himself, which causes all sorts of bloodshed on Spooner Street. Peter tries Red Bull for the first time in his life, to which he has a rather extreme reaction. President Obama has announced a visit to Meg and Chris's school, and Chris gets to meet him after writing an essay he stole from Meg. And Stewie has finally had enough of Brian's meanness and wants to use his time machine to get back at the dog - thereby triggering the Big Bang...

These are just a few of the numerous turbulences that provide the Griffins with the basis for countless, mostly very nasty and politically incorrect gags in these fourteen new episodes. There's a musical number about the consequences of alcohol consumption, a delightful sideswipe at Facebook, a very special appearance by President Obama, puppet Twilight, or an homage to the opening credits of the Hulk TV series. Minor and major gags are served up here virtually every second. They are not all equally good, but overall the successful laughs are clearly in the majority, at least for fans of the series.

Sometimes, however, Family Guy shoots a little too far over the goal. If here is not really clever jokes about incest, a school rampage or pedophilia made, then already comes the feeling that the creators just want to provoke at any cost. And that only makes sense if such provocations have something to say and are more than just tasteless vulgarities. It's true that there is at least one gag in almost every episode that falls into this category. But now and then these are then also more profound than it first appears and have then also a certain justification.

So or so you should like humor of the irreverent, deep black and very coarse kind to be able to laugh at Family Guy. The German dubbing, as in the past seasons, tries very hard to translate the wordplay of the original into German. Still, the original English version is clearly preferable here. But no matter in which language version, who loves the very special humor of Seth McFarlane, which comes again not past to this box. Recommended!

Picture + Sound: The visual realization of the series is again on a good level with this eleventh box. The picture is absolutely clean, the sharpness knows how to convince and - what is particularly important for an animated series - the colors are powerful and coherently implemented. The sound offers, in addition to the powerfully mixed dialogue and music, primarily a good use of the front range of the home sound system. However, every now and then the multi-channel section also comes into play with well-applied surround moments. Good!

Extras: As a bonus there are on the three discs distributed dropped scenes to a total of 13 episodes (altogether about 14 min.), as well as three animated storyboards (approx. 9 min. in total).<x><N</x>Conclusion:Family Guy may have worn out its politically incorrect format a bit. But the testing of the boundaries of good taste and the not infrequent overstepping of those boundaries is still a lot of fun after almost 15 years - provided, of course, you do not feel from the crude jokes of Seth McFarlane and his team on the slip. Because fine spirits are here virtually every second on a hard test. And even if some gags overshoot a little, the fourteen episodes on this eleventh DVD box offer enough good laughs to comfort over minor weaknesses. For fans an absolute must - alone because here finally the truth about the Big Bang is revealed!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp