Family Guy: Partial Terms of Endearment

Written by Pirata Hermosa

Finally, the episode too controversial for television is released on DVD. If you know anything about the show, you can make a pretty good guess what the story is about.

When Lois (Alex Borstein) returns to her college reunion, she runs into her former roommate she once experimented with. When Peter (Seth MacFarlane) finds out, he expects a threesome, but much to his chagrin she wants Lois to be her surrogate. Against the wishes and opinions of the rest of the family, Lois decides to go ahead with the idea. But as soon as she becomes pregnant she hears that her friend and her friend’s husband were killed in an automobile accident. That leaves her with the difficult decision of what to do with the child now that she would be responsible for taking caring of the baby. And of course, everyone in the family has an opinion. Thus starts the abortion debate.

It’s pretty obvious why this one episode isn’t allowed on network television, but compared to a lot of other things they deal with on Family Guy it seems pretty mild. And if you compare it to an episode of South Park, it’s extremely tame. Overall it’s not worth all of the hype it gets or the “Banned From TV!” headline. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from any other episode other than the fact that they deal with the abortion issue, which is always a hot topic.

The DVD only contains this one half-hour episode from the series. There are also a handful of extras and a commentary with MacFarlane and the cast.

“Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show” – A half-hour variety show that aired in 2009 with MacFarlane. There is some animation, musical numbers, and guest stars while both actors do impressions and comedy skits. It’s just okay and a little odd watching MacFarlane doing all the different voices.

“Live and Uncensored Table Read” – The cast sits in director chairs in front of an audience and does a table read of the Partial Terms episode.

“Animatic” – The storyboard presentation of the episode. It’s a very rough drawing and includes some additional jokes that were cut out or changed in the final edit.

“Family Guy Songs” – You can place the DVD into your computer and download nine songs used on the show in the MP3 format. The songs are “Drunken Irish Dad”, “The Friendship Song”, “Give Up the Toad”, “Me And Jesus”, “My Fat Baby Loves to Eat”, “Prom Night Dumpster Baby”, “You and I Are So Awfully Different”, “You Do”, and “You Have AIDS”.

If you’re a collector and have to have every episode, then you’ll most likely go out and get Partial Terms of Endearment. But if you’re just a casual viewer it’s probably a good idea to weigh the price versus getting just one episode.

Article first published as DVD Review: Family Guy - Partial Terms of Endearment on Blogcritics.

Unborn in the USA - Inside the War on Abortion

Written by Fumo Verde

If there is one line in the sand that truly divides this country, it is the right to abortion which some will call murder as others call it the right for a woman to rule over her own body. However you see it, this issue brings more emotion to it than any other. Unborn in the USA brings us some of this raw emotion, along with the ideals and ideas of how the pro-life movement is trying to changes its image and message while still touting the Bible as their rule of law. Directors Stephen Fell and Will Thompson crossed our nation visiting well over two dozen states and interviewing more than seventy participants in a movement that has been trying for decades to overturn a law they see as mass murder.

I first thought this documentary would be the type which would portray the pro-lifers as crazy wing-nuts shouting out Bible verses and damning everyone to eternal Hell, and yes, there is some of that, but interestingly enough, these directors give actual meaning to the words “fair and balanced,” something FOX News could take a queue from.

The film opens up in a university of which young Christian students are learning how to present their message without the use of guns and bombs, but how do you get people to focus on what nobody really wants to talk about? You all remember the term “shock and awe”? Well, the movement has taken this idea and ran with it. Take a photo of an aborted fetus, blow it up so someone driving down the road could see it and really make it out, and watch how many people stop to talk about it; you would be surprised. This is the next phase the pro-life movement is attempting to use to further what it now likes to call “opening discussions with the other side” and it’s working.

Now what I just told you was one way the pro-lifers are bring up the discussion of abortion, but the college students who are learning how to do this are using their Constitutional rights by expressing these man-sized poster boards as an exhibit which was brought to over a hundred college campuses all around the U.S. Change starts in the open and bold mind of the fresh, young college student who already thinks they can change the world, so presenting these photos was a smart move because it is bringing about a discussion. Be the discussion for or against, just talking about it is the first goal, which is being achieved.

Yet this film doesn’t leave out the loony side, either. They talk to folks like convicted bombers, priests and reverends who preach “an eye for an eye” style of justice, to smalltown pastors who gather up their family and have them along with other volunteers hold up these enlarged photos alongside busy streets and roads in other towns across the nation. The directors let these people speak their minds and you get a much unbiased look into their world.

Even the extras give the viewers a closer look. The directors interviewed a few of the people spotlighted in the film and asked them after these people had previewed the movie, if they thought the directors portrayed them in a fair and just manner. Most said yes, except for the crazy lady who went dumpster-diving to retrieve aborted fetuses so they could take the picture and use them in such ways as they are being used now. We even get a glimpse of the fundraising machine which supports the activities of many different pro-life groups, so this documentary shows you how and why a woman’s right to choose may be a fleeting idea in the decades to come.

Unborn in the USA wasn’t made to offend or persuade. It has no lean to it, no political gain and doesn’t try to sideline the issue with other propaganda from either side. All this documentary does is show how the new tactics of the pro-life movement are chipping away at Roe v. Wade and other laws that have protected the right of a woman for decades. My suggestion, if you are pro-life you may already know what’s going on; if not, watch this and you will. If you are pro-choice, you want to watch this because it will give you the idea on how to keep your end of the fight up and running, for this maybe your only chance.