Review: Family Guy “Disney’s The Reboot”

 

Overview:

With Fox being bought out by Disney, Family Guy faces the dreaded focus group. Attempting to shake things up the show is trying out a few new directions.

“Lois”

In an attempt to make Family Guy more accessible to women, Lois is all about the Griffins mother figure. Instead of the stay-at-home role, she is known for, in this reboot, she has a powerful job at a winery. The influential feminine figure overcomes all the testosterone in the series.

“The Q”

In a supernatural teen drama, Chris leads a group of young adults brooding through high school. With a mysterious murder happening in town, the kids step up as a group of lesser-known superheroes but happen to be saved by other clichés.

“Family Guy Again”

With the show rebooting, Family Guy takes some notes from other shows and allows some of the stars to move on to bigger and better things. That leaves Chris Griffin, Tricia Takanawa, and Joe to keep the show alive.

 

Our Take:

We should have seen it coming. Of course, Family Guy would be the first animated sitcom from Fox to take on the Disney merger within the show. Sure, The Simpsons were there when the deal was first announced with a short clip. But, The Simpsons have long been the mascot of Fox, and we all know how Disney loves its mascots. And, even as the first few episodes have been airing this month, Disney has been the centre of a few jokes on Animation Domination night. But, Family Guy is a show that likes to go all in. So, yes, we should have seen this episode coming. And, if you did, it was worth the wait.

Family Guy is a show that wouldn’t hurt from a good kick in the butt. This episode, specifically, addresses it best when it says the only way to understand the series is to have “grown up in the ‘80s but still be a teenager”. Though, reboots aren’t really a thing that works out for adult animated sitcoms. There is one thing that Family Guy is great for making fun of clichés. And, this episode takes on much more than Disney content, it attacks everything overdone in modern-day cable television.

Anyone who pays attention to television these days will instantly recognize what Family Guy was parodying with its reboots. Whether it is putting a strong independent woman at the forefront of the show, or recreating a melodramatic teenage series. In fact, the latter managed to rip on an entire genre within a few minute segment. But, it was some of the funniest moments in the season thus far. It was like Mel Brooks wrote a script for a supernatural teen drama and squeezed in the Family Guy characters. It was non-stop laughter, even if you haven’t seen any of the shows that are being parodied, the jokes still manage to land.

Beyond the three main segments of the episode, a handful of other reboots were brushed over as well. Family Guy reworked to be a binge-worthy Netflix series or a remake of BoJack Horseman. Peter Griffin heading a stand-up special or an antique roadshow. Heck, they even tried to make the show the Olympics. But, the best possible choice would be recasting every character to have the voice of H. Jon Benjamin. As confusing as they made it look with the clip, it is still a show we would watch. Who can get enough of H. Jon Benjamin?

With Family Guy premiering season eighteen with some underwhelming episodes, this particular show couldn’t have come sooner. The series is best when it strays from the formula and mixes things up. And, even then, the last couple of years have had nothing substantial equal to the first few seasons. Thankfully, this Disney reboot episode has shaken things up once again. This was easily one of the most fun stories that the franchise had put out in a while. Maybe this Disney thing is paying off already.

It’s hard to review Family Guy these days. There is a lot of nostalgia and love for the series, but the majority of what they are producing these days isn’t all that exciting. I am happy to report that this was actually, for once, a pretty good episode. And not just by standards of those who have been following Family Guy through the years, but enjoyable for all. Wouldn’t be great if Family Guy would cut out all of the dramatic episodes already and just give us something new and original such as this each week?