Craig Hoffman Movies

Although poor ratings had compelled the Fox network to cancel its iconoclastic, cutting-edge cartoon series Family Guy at the end of its third season in 2002, the series' astonishing popularity in rerun form on cable's Cartoon Network coupled with the spectacular sales posted by the property's initial DVD release in 2003, prompted Fox to revive the show, with brand new episodes beginning in the spring of 2005. The first of the 14 comeback adventures of the supremely dysfunctional Griffin family is "North By North Quahog," which, in addition to its expected Hitchcockian undertones, manages to find time to skewer Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of the Christ. In later episodes, the Griffin's family dog, Brian, ends up as a substitute teacher for high-risk kids; dad Peter Griffin swallows a bunch of nickels, goes blind, and accidentally becomes a hero in a story that somehow also accommodates a guest voice appearance by Judd Hirsch; nebbishy neighbor Cleveland goes into "worm turns" mode when he is told that his wife, Loretta, has been fooling around with the libidinous Glen Quagmire; Peter takes an intelligence test and winds up losing custody of his kids (and his wife); Brian shows up as a contestant on "The Bachelorette," while son Chris Griffin is afflicted with a demonic talking pimple. Later, to pay his pharmacy bill, Peter sells daughter Meg to the druggist's son; mom Lois' kleptomania forces the family to take refuge in "Asian Town"; and Lois earns "real money" as a model in her spare time ("And so can you!"); after spending several months marooned on a desert island, Peter finds that he is even more expendable than Tom Hanks; and actor James Woods becomes Peter's very best friend -- and refuses to leave the house. Taking all this into consideration, the season finale, in which Peter and Lois go the Laverne & Shirley route at their local brewery, is as traditionalist as an episode of The Waltons. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the show's cold opening, a bumbling understudy assumes the role of Brian. Peter's (voice of Seth MacFarlane) birthday trip to Bob's Funland is ruined when he meets Bob Funland, the owner. It turns out that Peter pushed Bob around when they were in high school, but now he's jealous of Bob's success. Chris (voice of Seth Green) gives Peter a painting for his birthday, and it's spotted by a fancy Soho art dealer, who buys it for 5,000 dollars. Excited at the prospect of having some vicarious success through his son, Peter takes Chris to New York, where the art dealer tries to transform him into a downtown hipster, and renames him "Christabel." "Painting is the least important part of being an artist," he tells Chris. "You need an image." "Christabel" begins dating Kate Moss, and is told that if he wants to be successful, he can never see his no-class family again. His dreams thwarted, Peter begins trying to find a talent for Meg (voice of Mila Kunis) to pursue. The family's trip takes an upturn when Stewie (MacFarlane) runs into "heterosexual fashion designer Calvin Klein," and launches a modeling career. This episode features vocal cameos from Murphy Brown cast members Candice Bergen, Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto, and Charles Kimbrough. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Twenty-one new, non sequitur-laden episodes are dished up by series creator Seth MacFarlane for the third and final Fox network season of the cartoon weekly Family Guy. Things start off with the series' first two-parter, in which the Griffins' pet dog, Brian, runs away from home and ends up in Hollywood directing porn movies. Later, a hurricane in Quahog brings a new British Invasion in its wake; Mr. Death, who'd been a special guest star the previous season, makes a return appearance with his mother in tow (not to mention Peter Frampton); and Meg gets a TV job forcing her to work with über-nerd Neil, but at least gets to rub caricatured shoulders with Hugh Downs and Abe Vigoda. In another story development, Peter loses his job when his boss dies in a freak accident (choking to death on a dinner roll), allowing our hero to pursue his life's ambition as a knight in a Renaissance fair -- and when that fails to pan out, he comes up with a new life's ambition and goes fishing. Elsewhere, malevolent infant Stewie tries to cook up yet another foolproof murder scheme when Peter and Lois decide to have another baby; a case of mistaken identity thrusts the Griffins into both the Witness Protection Program and a Civil War reenactment; a session with a local baseball team transforms Peter into a rara avis -- a black white man; paraplegic policeman Joe gets some unexpected assistance when he enters the Special Olympics; Stewie throws a tantrum and ends up winning a theater audition, just as sister Meg begins dating a nudist; and as another of the family's impulsive trips to Europe is sidetracked to Saudi Arabia, mom Lois reveals a long-ago liaison with KISS lead singer Gene Simmons. In the series finale, the Griffins respond to viewer mail by staging their own iconoclastic versions of The Little Rascals and a certain mutant-superhero movie blockbuster (An additional episode, "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," was never telecast on Fox due to its "controversial" nature, and remained unseen until it was shown on cable's Cartoon Network two years after it was filmed). Despite the anguished moans of the series' millions of fans, Fox decided to pull the plug on Family Guy at the end of season three. However, the series was due for a spectacular rebirth that would put a phoenix to shame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although the first season of the doggedly irreverent animated half-hour Family Guy didn't exactly set the ratings on fire, the series' devoted fan following was sufficient for Fox to order 21 new episodes for a second season. The opener finds the dysfunctional Griffin family developing even worse financial sense than normal when they inherit a mansion. Later on, Peter Griffin is forced to kidnap Pope John Paul II to prove something to his hyper-judgmental dad (voiced by Charles Durning); New Years Day of 2000 proves to be an apocalyptic experience as the Griffins rummage through the ruins of a bombed-out Quahog, RI -- and end up crossing paths with Randy Newman and the cast of Dallas; a quickie European vacation awakens the carnal lust in Brian the dog; and Norm MacDonald provides the voice of Mr. Death, who proves to be a crabby house guest when he breaks his skeletal leg in the Griffin living room (this is the one where Peter develops a "fatty corpuscle"). Also: Lois Griffin directs a community production of The King and I which devolves into a garish "leg show" and an obscene example of egos run amok; Murphy Brown's Candice Bergen and Faith Ford provide voices for an episode in which Peter gets in touch with his feminine side; daughter Meg's slumber party morphs into the new 24-hour TV reality series "The Real Griffins" (even though the "real Griffins" are replaced by celebrity actors); Brian and malevolent infant Stewie Griffin go into Hope-Crosby mode on "Road to Rhode Island"; Peter poses as a high school student, basking in the popularity he'd never enjoyed during his actual teen years; the Mob makes the family an offer they can't refuse (or make sense of) in an episode featuring the voice of The Shield's Michael Chiklis; son Chris needs liposuction, but it's Peter who gets the treatment, much to the jealous Lois' dismay; and Luke Perry sues Peter for defamation of character and bad writing. Topping off the season, father-and-son day for Peter and Chris turns sour when Peter chooses someone else's son! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Art imitates life--sort of--when a TV network decides to fashion a sitcom based on the career of Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen). Hired to portray the fictional "Kelly Green" is glamorous blonde actress Janet St. Martin (Morgan Fairchild), who insists upon hanging around the "FYI" newsroom to soak up inspiration from the far-from-flattered Murphy. Real-life TV journalist Connie Chung appears as herself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi