[7.1/10] I fell down a bit of a Norm MacDonald-themed internet wormhole, and got a wild hare to revisit this episode. And Norm’s a good part of it! His dry-as-sawdust wit works surprisingly well within the more exaggerated Family Guy milieu, and casting him as a sarcastic, almost pencil-pushing version of the Grim Reaper is a deft choice.
Despite the outsized premise, this is also one of the more cohesive Family Guy episodes. There’s hardly any cutaways! And while the looniness of Peter having to slay the kids from Dawson’s Creek takes the show into characteristically ridiculous territory, there’s a thematic throughline about death that at least gives the thing a spine. Sure, at some point it spins out into a series of “there is no mortality” gags, but the show is good for a bushel full of solid if easy laughs at this point.
I’ll admit, this is one of the shows that I loved as a teenager, and feel much colder on when I watch today. There’s just not much depth there; it’s just a bunch of gags, and while many of them are still funny (we still occasionally sing the “We Like Being Alive” song in the Bloom household), that tack makes the episode feel kind of insubstantial and forgettable at the end. It’s a set of disposable laughs, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't necessarily make me want to start a grand rewatch either.
Overall, this is a perfectly pleasing episode, with a good guest star turn from Norm MacDonald.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2019-04-07T05:17:41Z
[7.1/10] I fell down a bit of a Norm MacDonald-themed internet wormhole, and got a wild hare to revisit this episode. And Norm’s a good part of it! His dry-as-sawdust wit works surprisingly well within the more exaggerated Family Guy milieu, and casting him as a sarcastic, almost pencil-pushing version of the Grim Reaper is a deft choice.
Despite the outsized premise, this is also one of the more cohesive Family Guy episodes. There’s hardly any cutaways! And while the looniness of Peter having to slay the kids from Dawson’s Creek takes the show into characteristically ridiculous territory, there’s a thematic throughline about death that at least gives the thing a spine. Sure, at some point it spins out into a series of “there is no mortality” gags, but the show is good for a bushel full of solid if easy laughs at this point.
I’ll admit, this is one of the shows that I loved as a teenager, and feel much colder on when I watch today. There’s just not much depth there; it’s just a bunch of gags, and while many of them are still funny (we still occasionally sing the “We Like Being Alive” song in the Bloom household), that tack makes the episode feel kind of insubstantial and forgettable at the end. It’s a set of disposable laughs, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't necessarily make me want to start a grand rewatch either.
Overall, this is a perfectly pleasing episode, with a good guest star turn from Norm MacDonald.