Family Guy, Vol. 5 (Season 5 Part 1) Reviews

• Will not be buying this volume!

  
  By A2YX72ED4K4LJE on 2007-07-24
  I love Family Guy. I own every season on DVD. But I will not be buying this volume.
  
  It was understandable that they split Season 4 into two separate volumes--it made the season numbers and the volume numbers identical.
  
  But splitting Season 5 into two separate volumes and charging more for one volume than a previous entire season costs is just greedy.
  
  You will not be getting any more money from me!
  
  

• Disappointment

  
  By A15YM3X2XL7OYJ on 2007-06-22
  Yes I am extremely glad that Family Guy is releasing volume 5 of their smash hit show. My major disappointment is that they decided to release only the first 13 episodes of Season 5 instead of releasing the entire season all at once. But I still can't wait for this DVD set to come out.
  
  

• FULL price for HALF a season

  
  By AU24QSWY1IPXM on 2007-11-07
  Buying half a season for what you would pay for a full season of any other show just encourages the jackasses who put this together to do it again. Wait until the price drops then buy.
  
  

• Getting stale, but still quite funny

  
  By AJKWF4W7QD4NS on 2007-07-27
  Since Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy was brought back from the dead by Fox a few years back, the show has remained a hit thanks to it's brand of out of nowhere references and humor. However, as some episodes in this collection will tell you, the comedy is starting to get stale. The jokes and visual gags just aren't as funny as they used to be, and I'm sorry for pointing this out and even mentioning it, but since South Park's "Cartoon Wars", the show just doesn't provide the laugh out loud hilarity for me that it used to. Despite that though, the episodes found here are winners, including Brian and Stewie joining the military and going to Iraq, Peter sues his doctor for sexual harassment and later gets a job at the Wal-Mart-esque superstore that is destroying Quahog, and Meg falls in love with Brian (yes, you read that right). The voice cast still does great work, and despite the flaws (the Brian and Stewie interplay is really downplayed, the Marilyn Manson gag isn't half as funny or clever as it thinks it is), this first part of the fifth season of Family Guy succeeds. And yes, as previous reviews have already stated, this is only half a season and we are being milked for our money, but considering the DVD market over the past few years, should we really be surprised? If you're a die hard fan of the series, you'll be picking this up regardless.
  
  

• Oh! The Irony!

  
  By A68DVO7P0QXXY on 2007-08-12
  It's the television series that was resurrected by the people who went out and purchased an astounding number of DVDs. It was the first and only time that a shows future was so clearly determined by the amount of DVD sets bought by loyal fans. I find it odd that the loyalty to this show has been so clearly taken advantage of and been turned into profit for whatever greedy person or people who decided to split the seasons into halves. There is no reason for the split other than financial gain.
  
  The very people who saved this show are the ones getting screwed over. What an insult.
  
  
• quality worth the price
  By AHC4V4AZHWZ9F on 2007-08-14
  Well, half season or not, this collection consists of some of the finest material ever produced for this show. Sometimes quality is more important than quantity.
  
  One of the episodes consists of Stewie dancing with the legendary Gene Kelly which is not only an oddity for ANY cartoon but qualifies this episode to be a classic and worth the price of this set.
  
  The episode where Peter has a prostate exam and thinks he is a victim of sexual harrassment as a result is one of the funniest episodes Family Guy ever had. This one also ranks at the top and is worth the price.
  
  All in all, there is nothing negative about this set, except perhaps, it's rather dull cover. The cover of the last issue was a blast. This one's a bit dull by comparison.
  
  Here is a a suggestion for those who are concerned about the price. After this set is released, in a matter of months it will be available from Amazon for about half the price as a used copy. You can pay less and still enjoy it.
  
  All five stars
  
  
• A slap in the face.
  By A2XOXUJXLU7EQ3 on 2007-08-07
  When I can get any Simpsons DVD set (each set after the first season has at the very least 22 episodes) for less than $25 bucks each then it's especially a slap in the face when I have to pay the same amount for half of a Family Guy season set, which aren't ever nearly as lush with extras. I will not be purchasing this set. I would gladly pay $35 for a whole season but $25 for half of one is just ridiculous.
  
  
• I've gotta echo the negative sentiments here
  By A1RUSQAF3URDYJ on 2007-09-20
  I think the show is still quite funny, and almost all of the episodes in this set are worth having, but come on. Thirteen episodes for $40? That's absurd. Especially for a show that owes its resurrection to supporting fans and DVD sales. This is a spit in the face. They should be selling 4 discs for the price of two, not the other way around. They should be making Dane Cook look like Kurt Cobain as far as fan appreciation goes. They shouldn't be selling a three-disc set (that should, by all rights be a two-disc set, as the third is entirely special features that would've fit onto the other two quite easily, thus saving the packaging fees) for an outrageous sum. This is another egregious misstep after the "movie" debacle, in which they strung three episodes together, tossed a few curse words in, and marketed it as an uncensored, saturnalian romp. It's ridiculous and unfair.
  
  
• Pricing Issue SOLVED
  By A1SR5CNL0LS8L4 on 2007-09-07
  My, oh my. So much anger surrounding the price of this DVD set, but no one has really looked at what you're getting for your money. There is another reviewer on here that compared multiple DVD sets at a price per minute ratio. I will go one better and spell out the price per minute with all of the Family Guy box sets. Instead of focusing on number of episodes, season number, or how it's split, wrap your little brain-pans around this:
  
  Family Guy, V. 1. Run Time 632 Minutes Price $35 = 5.5 cents a minute
  Family Guy, V. 2. Run Time 495 Minutes Price $35 = 7.0 cents a minute
  Family Guy, V. 3. Run Time 292 Minutes Price $28 = 9.5 cents a minute
  Family Guy, V. 4. Run Time 314 Minutes Price $25 = 7.9 cents a minute
  Family Guy, V. 5. Run Time 379 Minutes Price $26 = 6.9 cents a minute
  
  So except for the first DVD release, this is the CHEAPEST DVD set they have released. No one was complaining about Vol.3 at almost 10 cents a minute. The most expensive season. Get over it people. Don't look at it as a 'by episode' or a 'by season', look at it for what you're actually getting. Trust me, you're getting more for your money with this set than you have in the past. The numbers don't lie.
  
  
  
• Viewers' Revenge
  By AAWMTPKO54D3S on 2007-08-16
  i agree with the other reviews written by loyal fans who don't appreciate this extortionate practice of piecemeal DVD season releases: this half-season nonsense has got to end.
  
  luckily, viewers now have another option: DVR/tivo, then burn those episodes to DVD. i did this, but was going to buy the official set for the better quality, as well as the extras, etc. but i can't think of a good reason to spend $50+ (discounted) on season 5 parts 1&2.
  
  
• I knew it would happen eventually
  By A2H3VE5YLPAQPH on 2007-09-17
  Shame! The makers of "Family Guy" have a huge debt to their fan base. Who saved their butts when the show was cancelled? The very people they're now gouging with the shameful product division. You owe us, you Fox ingrates! I don't know if it's Seth and his buds or the money-hungry leeches that run Fox or the subsidiary video release company who's responsible for this, but remember, what goes up (Family Guy's popularity) certainly must come down. Along with the less and less funny material you're slinging over the airwaves, this scrimping of episode releases stunt could certainly be the bell tolling for your fall. If this is how you're willing to treat the people who made you rich and famous, then it couldn't happen to more deserving folks.
  
  Shame!
  
  
• Please release the full seasons
  By A20DZ4VTXF2MU2 on 2007-11-12
  This review wil not be helpful to other readers, but I just wanted to voice my displeasure with the repeated release of half seasons. This is an unacceptable format and is just one little screw you that the target audience of the show (college age - 35 year old males) will put up with for awhile. This will and has inspired resentment in friends of mine and has caused them to view recent seasons more harshly. This is still a great show, but when half a season costs $39.99, the listed price, that means the price of a full season would be 80$. With other shows, such as the simpsons, selling COMPLETE seasons for 20$ it makes it dificult to shell out cash for another half season of Family Guy. The goodwill the show has built up with its hilarity won't last much longer when it continually screws its fans. Either release full seasons or sell the half seasons at $20 or less.
  
  
  In summary buy this DVD if you love Family Guy, which I do, but beware that your only getting half a season. You may want to buy some Simpsons seasons instead and get twice the length of entertainment.
  
  
• Rip off
  By A373YQSN85CJTG on 2007-08-05
  Family guy is a great show, but when you go from fitting eight episodes on a dixc to putting only five episodes on a disk, it's a rip off. Season four(Volumes 3 and 4) COULD HAVE been put into one set, but they weren't. Why? Two words. RIP OFF. Did i buy them, yes, but hearing that there are only 20 episodes in this season, and they are going to put them out in two volumes?!?! You know damn good and well that they COULD HAVE put them onto one volume if they really wanted to.
  
  I love the show, but if what i hear is true, doing this is nothing more than ripping off the consumers, and fans of the show.
  
  I love the show, but i will not be buying this.
  
  
• Speak with your money
  By A2HJTFXM8IYBCN on 2007-07-01
  i LOVE Family Guy, it really is a laugh out loud comedy. My only problem with them is this, 1/2 a season per DVD set? Sure, other shows release singles like that, but not for +30$. Until they stop trying to screw us with half a product, i'll have to halt my purchases of these sets... afterall, still have P2P.
  
  
• Two halves don't make a whole
  By A20K6DVJTIW82W on 2007-09-02
  At its best Family Guy is the greatest animated comedy ever, outstripping standard sit-com fare at every turn. At it's WORST, it's a collection of boring or tasteless gags that must tickle Seth's funnybone, but I've come to believe he and the writers are writing strictly for themselves, not the fans. Price point out of the equation, just the frustration of not being able to buy full seasons at the same time is getting old. I've bought the first four volumes when I could catch them at a discount, but looks like from here on out it's just me and the Philips DVD Recorder. Face it, the commentaries are usually without value and other so-called "extras" just don't justify purchasing the sets. Hope Fox gets its act together; you'd think they'd be more humble selling to the fans whose support through Adult-Swim convinced them the value of their product. Half the time.
  
  
• Weak
  By A3UGAY7SXASX2N on 2007-09-29
  Enough of a rip-off that it deserves my first review after 10 years of buying from Amazon. The fact that the set only contains 13 episodes wouldn't be so bad if they were up to the same standard as previous series, but the jokes are getting stale, and the 'classic TV' references and repetition gags are growing tiresome. The first disc is especially bad; the second disc does at least have the benefit of Brian finally getting lucky. Kind of.
  
  
• MONEY,TAKE and GREED
  By A6RKTKNGF78CD on 2007-08-16
  ONCE AGAIN THE FAT CATS IN THE THEIR FANCY CORPORATE OFFICES HAVE FIGURED OUT A PLAN TO RIP OFF JOHN Q TAXPAYER. GIVE THEM HALF THE SEASON PAY SAME AMOUNT AS A FULL SEASON AND BINGO CASHHHH MONEY/ SUPPLY DEMAND. DONT FORGET THAT PART II OF VOLUME 5 WILL BE COMING OUT 8..9..10 MONTHS FROM NOW AT A LOW PRICE OF 39.98/29.98 I HOPE THAT THESE ONE STAR REVIEWS GROW, BECAUSE THAT IS B.S. I think i'll purchase the simpson's COMPLETE tenth season.
  
  
  
• It just isn't logical...
  By ANZ6ENK7KFVMU on 2007-08-29
  All issues of money aside, it just doesn't make sense to split a complete season of episodes right down the middle. What's the point? Would they rather call it a volume rather than a season? No problem--just give the consumer the entire season and call it Volume 5. I would love to hear a valid reason (other than money) to justify splitting up a complete season and the purpose that it serves. It just goes against all logic.
  
  
• At this point it's just pathetic.
  By AERVLRVW1QF69 on 2007-08-01
  Wow, it was good for a while but Fox really never should have brought this show back from the dead. The jokes are lame and drag on forever, the non-sequiter cutaways are more obsecure (the parody of them on South Park was dead on) and the plots are running very thin, even for Family Guy standards. After five seasons this show has already run its course and is no longer fresh, which amazes me because after eighteen seasons The Simpsons is still sharp and funny, maybe not as much as it use to be but definetly much more so than Family Guy. By the way, for all you people that haven't caught on yet, this show IS a huge rip off of The Simpsons, admit it. The family is modeled after The Simpsons and entire segments are just ripped off of them as well. Please put this dead dog to rest and cancel Family Guy for good this time.
  
  
• People need to learn to review the DVD and not the number of episodes
  By A2RII0V3IITEML on 2007-08-11
  All of the 1 star reviews you see here are becasue of people acting childish and complaining that they are only getting 13 or 15 episodes. Reviews should be about the episodes in the box set and how good they are, I have only seen 1 or 2 reviews like that. Family guy Volume 5 is amazing, If you like Family guy, buy this because its a must for any fan.
  
  DON'T MAKE YOUR DECISION ONLY ON THE BAD REVIEWS(they dont review the episodes or anything, just how many episodes are in it, and they are complaining about that)
  
  
• A Rare Miss
  By A31KOU3P4U7Z89 on 2007-09-25
  When this series first came out, it was hard to convert me. I wasn't a fan of Stewie's act/character. I didn't get it, too rebellious and obnoxious to me, but eventually I was won over. I have the 4 volumes, and couldn't wait to add this one to my collection since I never caught the new episodes on TV, but even the one and only TV show I watch has shown some wear and tear. They've ran out of punchlines. Most of the punchlines and humor seems forced. Some of it revolves around a skit that may have appeared in a previous episode. A lot of the skits seen in the new ones kinda "kick the dead horse." Gratuitous dropping of the 'f' bomb, nudity, and desperate, overshot attempts at a humorous scene are exactly the opposite of what the other episodes used to be. I know The Simpsons is the longest running TV show ever, and that if Seth MacFarlane would've announced the end of this series after just four seasons fans would've been shocked, but it would've been quitting while he was ahead. I'm honestly truly disappointed, and can't believe I'm stuck with three discs that I have very little use for. I actually found myself feeling awkward when I came in the house with this, brand new, turned it on, and sat in a quiet room with the rest of my family. No one was laughing except the occasional forced laugh for sympathy.
  
  
• Quality There and Important Yes, But Qantity is a part of the overall Product
  By AG2JGADOSQ75E on 2007-08-23
  I hope FOX learns a lesson here and sales drop, this is the only show where you see them spliting seasons to make an extra $...i own all the others, but i dont know, i dont like being gouged.......The show was Hilarity again, not to deny that but The Quality and Quantity of the Package is a part of rating the product. HMMMM is that the Simpsons Season 10 over there with 23 episodes for the same price?????
  
  
• Where's the funny?
  By A9XDP9EXOVTVI on 2007-09-24
  This will be the last Family Guy DVD I will ever buy. I will most likely be selling this one off to a used DVD store to be honest.
  
  It's a full price half season. You only get two DVDs with episodes, and one garbage DVD with "extras" that aren't worth a crap.
  
  My main question would be this: Where is the funny?
  
  Seriously, who the hell is this funny to other than the writers? I laughed exactly 6 times for the entire DVD set. It was AWFUL. This is supposed to be a comedy cartoon right?
  
  The first DVD set of Family Guy was pretty descent, it had more story and more intelligent gags. Now it's just random crap.
  
  South Park had it right with Cartoon Wars. Family Guy is crap.
  
  
• The reason it is only half a season.
  By A3MO4KRVRLC3C8 on 2007-07-14
  They are releasing only half a season because they released the first two seasons in volume 1. So now season 3 is volume 2 and season 4 is volume 3. It confuses people. So by releasing the first half of season five in voulume 4, they can release the second half of season 5 in volume 5, and correct the error.
  Plus it was a big season with many episodes.
  
  
• Cooperate America Fox Sucks!!!!! Burn the Burners
  By A170Q1U58GSBQM on 2007-08-20
  Fox dose it again. After they saw how much they made by ripping people off by splitting season 4 into 2 parts. Well now there doing it again with season 5 big surprise huh! Is it any wonder why downloading it for free is becoming more & more popular. Of course Fox has great shows & we all love Family Guy just a shame they got to keep ripping off the fan base.
  
  
• Tasteless & rapid descent of a once great show
  By A19SPM4Y7A8OHN on 2007-09-17
  For this reviewer, the end finally came in the episode, "Airport '07", when McFarlane's crew thought it might be funny to show the audience an explicit shot of Peter Griffin's parts below the waist.
  
  IT WAS NOT
  
  This scene elicited this response from the lady of the house: "That's enough! I'm through!" My response? 'press Eject, return DVD to case, and hide the box set. The decision now is whether to throw it in the trash or find someone who might enjoy it. Unfortunately, I would be embarassed to give this to anyone, so it will probably be $30 down the toilet.
  
  Beyond the issue of offering fans an "uncensored" option, it is interesting that when one selects the "CENSORED" option, the f-word is bleeped, but words like G-D*mit and SOB are not. Note too that "uncensored" is the default setting, and further, selecting "censored" only pertains to the audio, NOT the shots of Peter Griffin's private parts, or the multiple scenes of vomiting (wasn't one enough for this season?), or the shots of heads exploding (wasn't one enough for the whole series?), or severed fingers, children on fire, and children being beat up.
  
  But then, why were any of these words deemed necessary to the shows to begin with? Why spend the money to give the audience and "uncensored" option? What possible benefit is there in doing it? It is truly mind-boggling.
  
  Knowing what I know now, would I have spent the $150 or so for all these box sets had I known that McFarlane was really this crude and unmindful of who his paying customers are? Maybe, maybe not.
  
  One cannot take away the fact that the first three volumes of FG are very good. I suppose I should have followed my instincts with Volume 4, which towards its end, showed signs of the serie's decline. Still though, who knew it would just fall off the cliff as it did with Volume 5?!
  
  If you have made it this far, you'll notice no mention of this volume's funny and memorable shows (there were a few good gags). That is because ALL of its good points are overwhelmed by this reviewer's sense of abandon by this series.
  
  In summary, the time to cancel this show is overdue.
  
  
• 13 Episodes for HOW much???
  By A2OGNEHLWQBP6Q on 2007-08-22
  I WILL not buy any more Family Guy merchandise until these seasons start getting released as FULL seasons. This is crap that we are being treated this way. $40 retail cost for 13 22 minute episodes? My boycott begins...
  
  Chad Koenig
  
  
• Lame.
  By ACAW5ADM8KCIM on 2007-08-26
  I have purchased the previous family guy DVDs. I have noticed they are cutting the quantity of episodes in half per DVD set. Therefore I am getting only half the product I expect and paid for.
  
  I will not be purchasing this volume for this reason and will rely on my sources to obtain the product..."legally" :)
  
  
• You are not entitled to a DVD
  By A15MX8YJMBNDB0 on 2007-08-28
  Perfect show. A lot funnier than the simpsons. Anyone that likes family guy will get this DVD, since its the only one available. Fox can put 3 and a half episodes on each DVD if they want to. You are not entitled to whatever you want whenever you want it. If you're so anal about it, design your own cartoon and release it in the perfect fashion you want.
  
  
• Rip Off
  By A19A9UQC81U6ZX on 2007-09-01
  I don't know why Fox started splitting up the family guy seasons. There is obviously no reason to do this other than to get more money from the consumers. THe American Dad DVD series (fromt he creators of family guy) started doing that with there first DVD set. However, they corrected that problem in the second DVD set and gave us the remainder of the first season with the second. Anyway, Family Guy is great, but don't get roped in to buying these DVDs. I will not buy this one unless Fox repackages this one, or corrects its mistake with the next release.
  
  

• Family Guy, Vol. 4 (Season 4 Part 2)
• Family Guy, Vol. 3 (Season 4, Part 1)
• Family Guy, Vol. 6
• Family Guy, Vol. 2 (Season 3)
• Family Guy, Vol. 1 (Seasons 1 & 2)