Reviewing as someone who is a massive fan of 'Family Guy', my rating of 'Back to the Woods' is arguably a bit biased but I'm giving this episode a rating of 10 out of 10 because I genuinely enjoy watching this episode despite certain production errors other viewers may have pointed out.
If you want the plot synopsis of this episode, details will be found on Family Guy Wiki. In a nutshell, the episode opens with Peter Griffin, Glenn Quagmire, Cleveland Brown and Joe Swanson attending a Barry Manilow concert; however, Peter loses his credit card (allegedly leaving it behind after the concert) which turns out to have been wrongly used by James Woods who plans to plot revenge on what Peter last did to him in the preceding episode 'Peter's Got Woods' (Series 4 Episode 11): "Locking him in a crate and forgetting to put an air-hole in it." Because of identity theft, which Woods is inflicting on Peter, Woods claims that he, himself, is Peter and starts living in the Griffins' household, much to Lois' grief in particular. Peter plans to plot revenge back on Woods by inflicting the same form of identity theft by mockingly promoting a film.
Overall, this episode flows very well with good pace throughout, a reasonably competent, inventive screenplay; most of the cultural references and jokes/gags are sure to produce more than a chuckle, the cutaway gags are personally suitably placed and nicely organised wherever necessary and a great return by the guest star - that is James Woods - who I remember being the perfectly-matching voice of Hades from 'Hercules'.
I particularly liked how at the beginning of the episode Peter and his friends discuss how unbelievably mediocre and big a joke Barry Manilow's works are... Almost immediately though, they start deciding that actually, his works aren't 'that terrible' until Joe quietly utters, "I love Barry Manilow!" and influences the others' changes of opinion. That scene was an effective way of showing how Barry Manilow can be a 'marmite' act. Away from the point quickly, there was a suggestion made by Andy Parsons on 'Mock the Week' for Scenes We'd Like to See: 'Commercials That Never Aired' which was as follows: "Marmite: you either love it or hate it...or you think it's OK but you'd rather have marmalade." In the case of Barry Manilow, a similar slogan should be: "The works of Barry Manilow: you either love them or hate them...or you think they're OK but you'd rather listen to Alan Menken."
My favourite cutaway gags were: Foghorn Leghorn, Peter's loss of his credit card (resulting in his mini-trilogy of flashbacks featuring his inabilities to pay for his haircut, produce identity for speeding or to rent a movie), the pigeon's poop, Stewie's priceless reaction to the notorious viral video '2 Girls 1 Cup', when Peter tries magic for the blind, after 'Spiderman gets laid'... To name a few.
Overall, a very well-done episode and certainly one of the highlights to the 'Family Guy' UK Season 8 box-set. I highly recommend this episode to any outsider of the hugely successful animated TV sitcom.
If you want the plot synopsis of this episode, details will be found on Family Guy Wiki. In a nutshell, the episode opens with Peter Griffin, Glenn Quagmire, Cleveland Brown and Joe Swanson attending a Barry Manilow concert; however, Peter loses his credit card (allegedly leaving it behind after the concert) which turns out to have been wrongly used by James Woods who plans to plot revenge on what Peter last did to him in the preceding episode 'Peter's Got Woods' (Series 4 Episode 11): "Locking him in a crate and forgetting to put an air-hole in it." Because of identity theft, which Woods is inflicting on Peter, Woods claims that he, himself, is Peter and starts living in the Griffins' household, much to Lois' grief in particular. Peter plans to plot revenge back on Woods by inflicting the same form of identity theft by mockingly promoting a film.
Overall, this episode flows very well with good pace throughout, a reasonably competent, inventive screenplay; most of the cultural references and jokes/gags are sure to produce more than a chuckle, the cutaway gags are personally suitably placed and nicely organised wherever necessary and a great return by the guest star - that is James Woods - who I remember being the perfectly-matching voice of Hades from 'Hercules'.
I particularly liked how at the beginning of the episode Peter and his friends discuss how unbelievably mediocre and big a joke Barry Manilow's works are... Almost immediately though, they start deciding that actually, his works aren't 'that terrible' until Joe quietly utters, "I love Barry Manilow!" and influences the others' changes of opinion. That scene was an effective way of showing how Barry Manilow can be a 'marmite' act. Away from the point quickly, there was a suggestion made by Andy Parsons on 'Mock the Week' for Scenes We'd Like to See: 'Commercials That Never Aired' which was as follows: "Marmite: you either love it or hate it...or you think it's OK but you'd rather have marmalade." In the case of Barry Manilow, a similar slogan should be: "The works of Barry Manilow: you either love them or hate them...or you think they're OK but you'd rather listen to Alan Menken."
My favourite cutaway gags were: Foghorn Leghorn, Peter's loss of his credit card (resulting in his mini-trilogy of flashbacks featuring his inabilities to pay for his haircut, produce identity for speeding or to rent a movie), the pigeon's poop, Stewie's priceless reaction to the notorious viral video '2 Girls 1 Cup', when Peter tries magic for the blind, after 'Spiderman gets laid'... To name a few.
Overall, a very well-done episode and certainly one of the highlights to the 'Family Guy' UK Season 8 box-set. I highly recommend this episode to any outsider of the hugely successful animated TV sitcom.