Family Guy: Tales of a Third Grade Nothing

After sneaking a visit to the executive bathroom at the brewery, Peter decides that he wants to earn a promotion. He tries out various wacky ideas to impress and eventually gets the call from Human Resources, but realizes he needs to complete the third grade in order to qualify. A series of random-yet-somehow-cohesive events lead to Peter competing in a spelling bee and winning against a kid named Omar, and eventually not getting the promotion despite completing the third grade because he burned down a building full of kids and has to spend a week in jail. Judy Blume would surely scorn this episode for the title reference.

Yes, it's convoluted, but it flows relatively well, and despite a terribly unfunny throwaway B-story featuring Brian, Stewie and Frank Sinatra Jr. opening a club, the episode succeeds mostly due to Peter's renewed charm. Keeping things simple for Peter works. Despite the ridiculous storyline, Peter's singular motivation to gain access to the executive bathroom (which is cleverly introduced with a nod to Jurassic Park as "Executive Bathroom Island") is the key story driver in the episode, and it all holds up reasonably well. Family Guy isn't supposed to necessarily rely on highly intelligent narratives, but it doesn't hurt to have a somewhat cohesive story.

Peter's classroom scenes were the best moments of the episode. His insensitive insults towards Omar would put a smile on anyone's face for being so blatantly politically incorrect. The reaction of the other kids was priceless. Peter's awkward attempt to get out of class by inviting Quagmire to pretend to be his father is another excellent moment. The random kids that he may have fathered that pop up in nearly every classroom was a hilarious gag that totally fits the character. Tom Tucker's inability to pronounce Omar's last name was another groan-worthy segment, and Peter's persistent requests from the judges to use the word in a dirty sentence was also very funny.

Fortunately the laugh-out-loud moments weren't just reserved for the story elements - there were quite a few memorable manatee jokes distributed throughout the episode. Standouts include Stewie's comment about Michael Jackson's treatment of his own groin, his conversation with the gazelle about his lawyer, and Peter's gift of hope to a homeless man were particularly memorable. Also noteworthy was a hilarious rant by Yosemite Sam, an appearance by Emperor Palpatine at the club, and a brilliant John Madden wedding video commentary segment.

The difference between this week's random jokes and the uninspired drivel I've been subjected to lately is that there was a bit more thought and creativity behind the cultural references. It's not enough to just re-enact a scene from some classic television series or movie - there needs to be more than just the random reference, and replacing a character with Peter or another cast member isn't enough. Despite the obvious bathroom humor, the Jurassic Park reference is a good example of taking things further. Sure it wasn't the funniest movie reference ever, but it was made memorable by the additional story-relevant content and the absurdity of the entire sequence.

It featured a charming Peter going out of his way just to accomplish some goal that only he would care about, a convoluted storyline that actually has some kind of logical flow, and more than a fair share of genuinely funny and outrageously offensive jokes.