Family Guy, a raunchy, irreverent cartoon first introduced on the Fox Network some seven years ago, has had many great episodes; heck, let’s face it, all Family Guy episodes are great, all the time. One episode, however, stands out as being the best ever: DaBoom.
The episode DaBoom was first aired Sunday, December 26th, 1999. This episode came out just at the time the Y-2-K scare was sweeping the country, and Family Guy had no qualms about poking fun at a potentially serious situation. This isn’t anything special for Family Guy, though; they ALWAYS poke fun at serious situations.
The reasons DaBoom stands out as the greatest Family Guy episode are many. Perhaps the main reason is this episode introduces us to the Chicken – that’s right, the one and only, bad-coupon-giving, seemingly-invincible Chicken. The Chicken is a fan favorite, and in fact has made reappearances in later episodes. His eerie silence and evil expired-coupon ways make him a great character, able to elicit laughs from just about everyone.
DaBoom doesn’t stop there, however; each minute is jam-packed with great jokes. The fact that this episode deals with an apocalypse allows the Family Guy writers to really play with just about everything; from Cleavemire (“Now, let’s go home and get intimate with your wife – OH!”) to Peter in a position of power (“Mayor THIS”), all the gags and storylines are perfectly executed.
In fact, that’s really what makes DaBoom the best Family Guy episode out there: the storyline allows hilarity without the constant cut-aways. Don’t get me wrong, the cut-aways are always great, but, being able to do without them allows DaBoom to run pretty much uninterrupted, and gives this episode much more plot than most Family Guy episodes.
There’s no doubt all Family Guy episodes are great; DaBoom combines everything that’s great about the series, though, and purifies it, creating an episode that is hilarious, irreverent, and altogether unforgettable.
