Review: Family Guy “High School English”

Hope you kids like books!

Spoilers Below

This week’s new Family Guy episode “High School English” was fantastic. I love when shows do the three parody takes on famous tales (such as when Family Guy satirized three Stephen King books in “Three Kings”, or when The Simpsons do 3 scary/horror based stories via “Treehouse of Horror” at Halloween.)

Peter is narrating/presenting the stories as he’s being chased by the police for crimes– and as he’s hiding in someone’s house.

In “High School English”, Family Guy presents their retellings of The Great Gatsby, Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. The first segment was inspired by The Great Gatsby, and was probably my favorite. Brian is Gatsby, and the jokes are nonstop– everything from the ridiculous dancing of the era in which the book is set to how insane and unbelievable some of the book’s events are, when really analyzed. You never realize how stupid some of the plot elements of these “classic” books are (well, maybe you have) until everything is laid out bare.

The next segment of “High School English” is based on the adventures of Huck Finn. Again, Brian gets abused and hurt in this story– which, as it becomes apparent, is a running gag in these. The character choices are solid and funny. Huck and Jim fall off a waterfall and you think they’re dead– just to see them alive in the next scene. And of course, there’s the hilarious ending– a concert. Mark Twain himself makes an appearance. There are SO MANY great jokes!

The final segment of this week’s new Family Guy is their retelling of the classic Of Mice and Men. Although I’ve read parts of most of these books being parodied, I feel like I know Of Mice and Men the best. However, as it turns out, this third segment was the part of the episode that I found the least funny/enjoyable– although that being said, it still was pretty good (compared to everything else on TV). It was just the least funny and seemed to be the least thought out compared to the other two. I’m also most confused as to the “classic” status of the book/story Of Mice and Men. I don’t exactly see the appeal. But seeing it animated with Family Guy characters– it’s a really intense story.

Overall, these three segments are incredibly well done. I totally get why these stories were chosen for these parodies. The corresponding characters the writers chose for all the different roles in the stories were spot on– just excellent choices.

I’m always happy to hear that Family Guy has chosen to do another three-story show because I know that even before watching it that I’ll enjoy it. I also know that Family Guy can only do these types of episodes every so often, so we probably won’t be seeing another one in this style for a while. However, this week’s episode was funny and a lot of fun. Here’s to next time!