Brian: Portrait of a Dog
- Episode aired May 16, 1999
- TV-14
- 22m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
Brian's life is on the line after he refuses to be treated like a dog.Brian's life is on the line after he refuses to be treated like a dog.Brian's life is on the line after he refuses to be treated like a dog.
Seth MacFarlane
- Peter Griffin
- (voice)
- …
Alex Borstein
- Lois Griffin
- (voice)
- …
Seth Green
- Chris Griffin
- (voice)
- …
Lori Alan
- Diane Simmons
- (voice)
Butch Hartman
- Charles Montrose
- (voice)
- …
Mary Scheer
- Ann Landers
- (voice)
- …
Joey Slotnick
- Cashier
- (voice)
- …
Dick Van Patten
- Tom Bradford
- (voice)
Lacey Chabert
- Meg Griffin
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- …
Norm MacDonald
- Death
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMost of the contestants at the dog show are animated versions of the show's writers and their dogs.
- GoofsWhen writing to MacGyver, Peter writes on the envelope 725 Spooner Street. In later episodes, it is revealed that the Griffins live on 31 Spooner Street.
- Quotes
Peter Griffin: God I hate this freaking cat.
Featured review
Season One Review
Oh god. I'm not going to do this am I? There are 400+ episodes of "Family Guy" I can't be planning them all, can I? Let's find out. I rewatched season one anyway. My relationship with "Family Guy" is that I watched these, all the way back in 1999 and then bought the DVD so I have seen these particular episodes a number of times. I've drifted away from religiously watching the show though, so they'll be quite a few of the 400 I've not seen.
In Quahog, Rhode Island, the dysfunctional Griffin Family live a wacky life. Peter (Seth MacFarlane) works at a Toy Factory, but his interests are more centered on having beers with his friends. His wife, Lois (Alex Borstein) is focused on the family. His daughter Meg (Lacey Chabert) grapples with esteem issues, eldest son Chris (Seth Green) struggles academically, and with sports, but loves to draw, youngest son Stewie (MacFarlane) plans world domination from his crib and dog Brian (MacFarlane) is the most erudite member of the family.
So, it's hard with these early ones not to just compare them with what's going to come in later seasons. The biggest and most striking difference in this series to the rest of them is that Meg is voiced by Lacey Chabert, rather than Mila Kunis, and they definitely don't have the defining joke about her (that everyone hates her) down yet. That is perhaps true for several of the characters, Quagmire isn't yet a sex criminal, Cleveland is not yet his placid self and Joe Swanson only arrives in one of the episodes of this run. Visually it's a little lacking too, the character models and style is there, but occasionally the movement is lacking. I'm not sure whether that's an issue with the originals, or with the digital transfer to Disney Plus, we'll see if it continues.
Tonally though it seems pretty much there from the off, very near the knuckle from the beginning the cutaway non-sequitur styles gags are already present. It's not hilariously funny, but I did find these first seven to be reasonably amusing and that was with certain lines and gags that I remembered pretty well.
I don't know if I'm going to do all 400 episodes, but I'll certainly continue on.
In Quahog, Rhode Island, the dysfunctional Griffin Family live a wacky life. Peter (Seth MacFarlane) works at a Toy Factory, but his interests are more centered on having beers with his friends. His wife, Lois (Alex Borstein) is focused on the family. His daughter Meg (Lacey Chabert) grapples with esteem issues, eldest son Chris (Seth Green) struggles academically, and with sports, but loves to draw, youngest son Stewie (MacFarlane) plans world domination from his crib and dog Brian (MacFarlane) is the most erudite member of the family.
So, it's hard with these early ones not to just compare them with what's going to come in later seasons. The biggest and most striking difference in this series to the rest of them is that Meg is voiced by Lacey Chabert, rather than Mila Kunis, and they definitely don't have the defining joke about her (that everyone hates her) down yet. That is perhaps true for several of the characters, Quagmire isn't yet a sex criminal, Cleveland is not yet his placid self and Joe Swanson only arrives in one of the episodes of this run. Visually it's a little lacking too, the character models and style is there, but occasionally the movement is lacking. I'm not sure whether that's an issue with the originals, or with the digital transfer to Disney Plus, we'll see if it continues.
Tonally though it seems pretty much there from the off, very near the knuckle from the beginning the cutaway non-sequitur styles gags are already present. It's not hilariously funny, but I did find these first seven to be reasonably amusing and that was with certain lines and gags that I remembered pretty well.
I don't know if I'm going to do all 400 episodes, but I'll certainly continue on.
helpful•00
- southdavid
- May 19, 2023
Details
- Runtime22 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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