Family Guy - The Freakin' Sweet Collection

Pretty much produced as a promo for the long awaited return of Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy (and the premiere of his new adventure into animated lunacy, American Dad), Family Guy: The Freakin' Sweet Collection contains five of MacFarlane's favorite episodes (the unaired When You Wish Upon a Weinstein, the unedited Road to Rhode Island, To Love and Die in Dixie, I Am Peter Hear Me Roar, Lethal Weapons) which will no doubt leave the viewer in stitches. MacFarlane provides colorful commentaries on each episode (and even provides one as both Brian and Stewie on Road ro Rhode Island which is worth the price of admission alone), and there are other assorted extras as well, including previews of the new Family Guy and American Dad. In the end, whether this is worth purchasing is up to the viewer. If you don't already own the best-selling season sets and are just a casual fan, this is worth picking up, but if you do own each season, there is no point in picking this up.

In my opinion, these first three seasons are better and much funnier than the resurrection season, simply because the gags are much more solid and give the episodes a LOT more replay value than the new season itself.

These five episodes are hand-picked favorites by none other than creator Seth MacFarlane. They are:

When You Wish Upon a Weinstein: Peter wishes upon a star for a Jew for better account protection and later becomes convinced that Chris will become better at school by becoming a Jew himself. Not one of the greatest, but still pretty funny. And it's easy to see why this episode was banned from airwaves. 7/10

Road to Rhode Island: A classic. Plain and simple. In order to forget his abandonment from his mother, Brian tries to bring Stewie home after Stewie's trip to see Lois's parents' property. Unfortunately, Brian and Stewie end up losing their plane tickets and goes on a journey back to Rhode Island on foot. A blend of heart and humor from beginning to end. Even the cut Osama Bin Laden scene was a hoot. 9/10

To Love and Die in Dixie: One of my all-time favorites! The Griffins are sent to the deep south after the criminal Chris placed the finger on for a grocery robbery escaped from jail. Rippingly hilarious! 10/10

I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar: Probably one of the edgiest, yet funniest episodes ever written! Peter is sent to women's retreat to find his "feminine" side after being sued by a local employee for sexual harassment. 8/10

Lethal Weapons: The highlight of this DVD! Lois joins Bonnie for Tae-Jitsu classes and everybody follows her example. The family brawl towards the end of the episode is just plain hysterical. 10/10

Now on to the extras: Three commentaries on Lethal Weapons, To Love and Die in Dixie, and I Am Peter, Hear me Roar which, although very suggestive, are still interesting to listen to. Next, a commentary on Road to Rhode Island by Brian and Stewie is a real hoot. A clip of the first American Dad episode is included, somehow isn't funny while the animation is better than Family Guy. Finally, there are two separate interviews by Seth MacFarlane: One where Seth talks about American Dad, and the other for the return of Family Guy. 7/10

Overall: This is the best "best of" compilation I've bought so far! Just like Futurama, I don't feel like buying the season sets since the show is still rerunning on Adult Swim and TBS. 9/10

Some of it is really of no interest, some of it isn't. With "American Dad" out on TV with many episodes shown, the segment of the DVD that gives you insight into that show is really obsolete. I suppose some of the interviews might be interesing for looking for more insight on Seth MacFarlane, or for those who have never seen the man behind the show. The interview about Family Guy Season 4 is interesting in retrospect, I suppose.

The restored "Road To Rhode Island" doesn't really make it worth it. It's just the one deleted segment, and it really isn't funny. I notice the first review says "true fans have to have this scene," frankly, I think that's ridiculous and pedantic. If by "true" fans, you mean insanely obsessed, then I guess you'd be correct. It's not really offensive, but it doesn't add anything to the episode (which is a good one).

Now, it sounds like my review is completely negative. Why is this worth it?

Well, let me be honest. I love the commentaries on Futurama. I think they're among the best commentaries I've ever heard, and they just add to the rewatch value of the episodes. But a lot of Family Guy commentaries have been... just... blah. Maybe it's because they choose mediocre episodes to do commentaries on "Ready, Willing, and Disabled," "Death Lives," "Holy Crap," etc. But the commentaries on here really make this DVD worth it, I think. The commentary for "Rhode To Road Island" - I like it, it's great, it's hilarious, you should hear it. It's already one of my favorite episodes, this just made it better. The "To Love and Die In Dixie" commentary was okay, nothing special. But two episodes I'd always wished they had done commentaries on but didn't - "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar" and "Lethal Weapons" - they finally did here! Excellent! In particular I thought the "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar" commentary was one of the best they've done. There's nothing new with the "When You Wish Upon A Weinstein" from the Season 3 DVD.

In conclusion, the new commentaries make it worth your while to check this DVD out. As for plunking down the money, I could see Family Guy fanatics doing that, easily, I'm not so sure the casual fan will think this is worth the investment. It's definitely worth a video store rental though, absolutely.