DVDizzy Forum

The banned Family Guy episode, Partial Terms Of Endearment is making it's way to DVD September 28th! TVShowsonDVD.com has the report and cover art!:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Family ... ment/14026

I don't get it. Why was this banned? I had never heard of this before...

The episode dealt with abortion. Info can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Te ... Endearment

Wow, there's a shocker. a show being banned for issues relating to underage sex.

ajmrowland wrote:Wow, there's a shocker. a show being banned for issues relating to underage sex.

The show is about abortion, not underage sex. The woman is about as old as Louis when she comes to her and ask about carrying her baby.

Regarding the episode itself, I don't want to dive into the abortion topic, but it makes me wonder why the creators spent so much time and money on an episode they likely knew would be banned from TV. They aren't dealing with an obscure subject or something people have no feelings for. People HAVE issues regarding abortion, so to me it just looks as if they did it to shock the hell out of everybody and promote it as a big event (as they are doing now).

Well, in that case, another to the people sensitive to that.

My earlier post was just a conclusion.

Technically, this wouldn't be the first time a Family Guy episode has caused issues. The episode "When you wish upon a Weinstein" had issues because Fox didn't like how it portrayed Jewish people. I saw the episode and thought it was rather sweet and not as bad as people made it out to be. What's even funnier is that the episode was released on DVD, which then was syndicated without a claim being made...

...I wonder if that's what they want to do with this episode. Create a big hype out of it, release on DVD, then quietly put it with the rest of the episodes as if nothing had happened.

I do not have any interest to see (or own, for that matter) this episode. Family Guy has really not been so funny or amusing ever since it was revived five years ago (MAYBE there were a few decent episodes, but that's about it).

They've dealt with abortion a number of times. I don't see what the big deal is:

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I agree with PixarFan, the show just hasn't been funny since it came back from cancellation.

Just another reason to say how much I dislike this series. If it is too topical for television to show it, then it shouldn't be shown.

Now I am not a prude or anything like that, but I just think that there are a lot better television shows on television today than these stupid 'outsourced' so-called cartoons.

The animation is absolutely so 'Saturday morning stick cartoonish' I can't watch it. When you realize that Disney used more cells in a 7-minute animated short than they do in one of these so-called television shows, it makes me wonder why people think they are so good.

"The Simpson's" need to go away, they wore out their welcome about 10 years ago, and the same with "Family Guy", "American Dad" and "King of the Hill".

dvdjunkie wrote:Now I am not a prude or anything like that, but

The Great John Cleese has a saying about people who talk that way.

He says when they say, "I'm not a prude, but," what they really mean to say is, "I am a prude, and".

Anyway, you'll have to search far and wide for someone who agrees with you on The Simpsons. I'll give you that topical comedy cartoons are never as biting as they should be. But that it shouldn't be shown on television? Yeah, right. I'll agree to that the same day they totally wipe topical live action garbage like 24 from television as well. That goes for re-runs, and for shows that push the bible (Touched by an Angel, Walker Texas Ranger) and police procedural morality too (Law & Order, C.S.I.). What a boring world it would be without them- I'm sure.

This is why the show is a joke and it's ratings are the punch line. The makers of "Family Guy" don't care about making quality entertainment. They only want to make "shock factor" episodes that appeal to the lowest common denominator, which seem to be most of the tv viewing audience based on their ratings.

I don't think they care what they make, they know very well even if it never ends up on tv, it will end up on DVD or Blu Ray, so why should they care what they make? They are laughing all the way to the bank at our expense. I think they make shows that they know will end up censored on purpose!

milojthatch wrote:This is why the show is a joke and it's ratings are the punch line. The makers of "Family Guy" don't care about making quality entertainment. They only want to make "shock factor" episodes that appeal to the lowest common denominator, which seem to be most of the tv viewing audience based on their ratings.

I don't think they care what they make, they know very well even if it never ends up on tv, it will end up on DVD or Blu Ray, so why should they care what they make? They are laughing all the way to the bank at our expense. I think they make shows that they know will end up censored on purpose!

You've obviously never seen Seth MacFarlane on the Bill Maher Show.

They care very much what they make... They're just clueless about what usually constitutes good comedy. They've seen too many Farrelly Brothers and Lloyd Kaufman movies.

I don't get it.

Why are they giving a single episode a two disc release?

Giygas wrote:I don't get it.

Why are they giving a single episode a two disc release?

$$$



(not related to the quoted post)
I'm surprised by the number of threadcraps in here...
If you don't like the show, why come in here and post that fact? Without having seen much to base my dislikes on, I don't think I like High School Musical, but I don't go in the myriad HSM threads and say "this is stupid, why doesn't Disney stop making these films and go back to something like The Apple Dumpling Gang instead?"

=========

Now back to your regularly scheduled Family Guy discussion:
One possible reason for the ban (besides the abortion) was Peter trying to make her miscarry by hitting her in the stomach with a boxing glove. I could see a network having a big problem with something like that.

I remember the big (non)stink about When You Wish Upon a Weinstein, it was really much ado over nothing. They included it on the regular DVDs on volume 2.

They have censored a few bits here and there on the US DVDs:
Chitty Chitty Death Bang (s1e3) - at the end, Stewie dreams of ruling the world, there are "seig heil" chants that were muted.

A Hero Sits Next Door (s1e5) - There was a scene that was removed that had a kid coming out of a store with a JFK Pez Dispenser, which is shattered by a stray shot from a SWAT sniper. The kid says "aaaw", and then "at least I have my Bobby Kennedy Pez Dispenser." That then gets shattered by another stray sniper shot.

The Road to Rhode Island (s2e13) - Made long before 9/11, but released on DVD afterwards, this is missing a Osama Bin Laden joke at the airport security scanners. Stewie has a bag full of weapons, and distracts the guards by singing "On the Good Ship, Lollypop", and then says "Let's hope Osama doesn't know show tunes." Osama comes up and starts singing "I Hope I Get It" from Chorus Line. Supposedly, Seth McFarlane was scheduled to be on one of the hijacked planes on 9/11, and had cancelled. He thought the joke was in bad taste. The episode has since been released uncensored on The Freakin' Sweet Collection.

I can't recall the episode name, and I don't actually know if this was a deleted scene (never intended to be aired) or something fan-made. I've seen something on the net that tied to the episode where Peter gets "marriage counseling" videos, and once the wife has left the room, the woman on the tape starts to strip. The part I saw on the net has her going much further, using a sex toy. Like I said, this could have just been fan-made or something, or maybe the animators slipped it in as a joke for the production/writing staff...

While I do still watch "Family Guy" and enjoy it a lot, I do agree that recent episodes are not as good as the ones from before the show's cancellation. I will definitely be picking up this DVD, although, I have no idea what the point of Disc 2 is. Whatever. Haha.

zackisthewalrus wrote:While I do still watch "Family Guy" and enjoy it a lot, I do agree that recent episodes are not as good as the ones from before the show's cancellation. I will definitely be picking up this DVD, although, I have no idea what the point of Disc 2 is. Whatever. Haha.

yes llll
thats true

ajmrowland wrote:Well, in that case, another to the people sensitive to that.

What did you mean by this?

It doesn't matter what your opinion is on abortion, it's still a sensitive topic for everyone! And it should be! If you're not sensitive to that, what would you be sensitive for? Humans aren't emotionless like Family Guy seems almost all the time...whoops.

When it wants to be, "Family Guy" can reach deep into the emotional core of its characters.

The second half of "Brian & Stewie" is quite heavy and high on drama, even if the first half is your basic run-of-the-mill "Family Guy" gross-out situations (wont' bother saying what). The discussions the two have in the bank vault is very mature for the series, and really helps to expand their characters.

In addition, I always felt that the Season 3 episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows" is one of the series' best, especially when dealing with the friendship between Pearl and Brian, as well as Peter's paternal instincts (something he unsurprisingly lacks with his own children) over the three baby birds.

Still, a few shining examples doesn't really outweigh the otherwise erratic nature of the series.

albert