By Season 3, Family Guy was facing permanent cancellation. Many of the original writers that made the (superior) second season Family Guy at its best had left after a long hiatus from 2000-2001. Of course, I'd much rather watch Season 3 than the new crap they're shoveling out and calling Season 4...
Anyway, this episode. It had its moments, especially the interaction between Peter and Lois's dad. A prime example is when Peter tries learning French to be act more sophisticated around him:
Peter: Bonjour, Mr. Pewterschmidt.
Lois's Dad: Did Peter have a stroke?
But this episode as a whole is nothing special. The basic premise, Brian and his puppies, mirrors the Simpsons episode "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" which first aired about six years before this one. Some scenes, like the one at the racetrack, are very similar to the ones in that particular Simpsons episode. However, the biggest downer was the ending: the female was carrying puppies that looked like Ted Turner, clearly implying that Turner had sex with the dog. This ending was pretty much identical to a very early South Park episode entitled "Elephant Makes Love to a Pig," which originally aired in 1997. Now, I don't know if the writers of this episode saw that particular South Park episode (I doubt it), but the similarities between the resolutions knocks this episode down a few points for me.
Around this point in Family Guy's original run, the show was already experiencing a slow, downward slide, which had intensified by the end of the third season, and led to its eventual cancellation in early 2002 (along with pitifully low ratings). The resurrection of the show didn't help this slide at all. But, like I previously mentioned, I'd still rather watch this episode than any of Season 4, especially with crap-fests like "The Courtship of Stewie's Father", "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", "Petarded" or "Brian the Bachelor" being produced. It's too bad popularity ruined a once-great show that at least ended while it was ahead (albeit unintentionally).
"Family Guy" (1999-2002)
Anyway, this episode. It had its moments, especially the interaction between Peter and Lois's dad. A prime example is when Peter tries learning French to be act more sophisticated around him:
Peter: Bonjour, Mr. Pewterschmidt.
Lois's Dad: Did Peter have a stroke?
But this episode as a whole is nothing special. The basic premise, Brian and his puppies, mirrors the Simpsons episode "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" which first aired about six years before this one. Some scenes, like the one at the racetrack, are very similar to the ones in that particular Simpsons episode. However, the biggest downer was the ending: the female was carrying puppies that looked like Ted Turner, clearly implying that Turner had sex with the dog. This ending was pretty much identical to a very early South Park episode entitled "Elephant Makes Love to a Pig," which originally aired in 1997. Now, I don't know if the writers of this episode saw that particular South Park episode (I doubt it), but the similarities between the resolutions knocks this episode down a few points for me.
Around this point in Family Guy's original run, the show was already experiencing a slow, downward slide, which had intensified by the end of the third season, and led to its eventual cancellation in early 2002 (along with pitifully low ratings). The resurrection of the show didn't help this slide at all. But, like I previously mentioned, I'd still rather watch this episode than any of Season 4, especially with crap-fests like "The Courtship of Stewie's Father", "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", "Petarded" or "Brian the Bachelor" being produced. It's too bad popularity ruined a once-great show that at least ended while it was ahead (albeit unintentionally).
"Family Guy" (1999-2002)