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.

Family Guy: The Man With Two Brians

Let me start off by saying that I went out to dinner with my friend, and we polished off a bottle of wine, so when I watched Family Guy I was a teensy bit intoxicated- which may have made the episode funnier than it actually was. But, in general, even if I had been sober, I think it was a pretty awesome episode.

It begins with Peter and his friends watching an episode of Jackass which inspires them to be jackasses also, despite the big warning with the skull and crutches that prefaces every Jackass episode. Peter and the gang do a few humorous stunts: Peter rolls off the roof of his house in a shopping cart (and tweaks his neck horribly- it was gross), Quagmire puts honey all over his private parts and let’s a bunch of bees feast off the honey (when nothing crazy happens Peter pushes Quagmire into the other boxes of bees), and finally, Peter is pulled along by a car while on Roller Blades and then launches himself off a ramp into a lake. Injured in this pursuit, Brian swims out to save him, but becomes too tired, so Joe swims out, ties Peter and Brian up in his legs, and rushes them back to shore.

Hilarious as this first five minutes was it was merely setting up the plot of the rest of the episode. Peter realizes that Brian is getting older and cannot do all the things he may have been able to previously- so Peter gets a new dog and names it “New Brian”. New Brian is preppy and proper and going out of his way to make the Griffins feel at home. New Brian goes into Meg’s room to listen to her problems (Meg, apparently, saw girls on Discovery Channel who also have nipples that cover their entire breasts and so she felt better about herself—God, poor Meg!!). New Brian also gives Meg a stick of deodorant! Have I said it yet? POOR MEG!!

Among New Brian’s comforts are Peter and Lois waking up to the sounds of New Brian playing the flute, New Brian plays a guitar song for Peter, gives Brian a stick and a bag of Marijuana. Stewie catches wind of the fact that New Brian is trying to edge out old Brian, so Brian ultimately decides to leave, and gets no real resistance from the Griffin clan. Brian’s first stop is living with Cleveland (where Cleveland puts Brian on a leash, though, as we all know Brian is potty trained).

Next stop- Quagmire. This leads to a pretty funny scene where Quagmire explains a girl is coming over who is hot- but has a weird leg thing- and Brian needs to ignore it so he doesn’t scare off the girl. The doorbell rings and it’s Stewie who begins talking to Brian. Quagmire’s date shows up, Stewie makes a colorful comment about how ghastly the leg is, and she runs of crying. Then you hear Quagmire from the background scream “Damnit, Brian!” This was probably my second favorite scene when all was said and done.

Brian still isn’t convinced he wants to come back yet and soon there is a scene with New Brian in the kitchen baking something. Stewie comes in and says he knows what New Brian is up to, and that the chair doesn’t like having its leg humped. New Brian explains that he’s surprised the chair doesn’t like it, because Rupert certainly did the other night. As I know, Rupert is Stewie’s prized companion (toy). Stewie is clearly angry and stares New Brian down for a good six or seven seconds. Then it cuts to a scene outside, and I see Stewie dragging a heavy bag to the trash bin with a huge puddle of blood following! This was definitely the LAUGH OUT LOUD- SPIT YOUR DRINK OUT funny scene of the entire episode!! Brian, of course, moves back in after New Brian’s “suicide” (quotes because Stewie wrote a fake suicide note which was also very enjoyable to hear Peter read).

Intoxication aside, I laughed out loud a lot during this episode. It’s definitely a keeper. Family Guy continues its strong season where many other network shows seem to be losing viewership. Giggity!

Family Guy: Road to Germany

Family Guy had some redeeming to do for their episode a few weeks ago, “I Dream of Jesus”. And boy did they deliver! Let me admit, that I was in Germany this September so I was anxious to see where they would take this episode.

The episode had a pretty simple premise with a lot of good laughs along the way and a story that revolves around Brian and Stewie (and, OK, Mort Goldman, too). While attending a party Mort has to use the restroom (he took a combination of laxatives and stool hardeners which, needless to say, was not working out well for him) so he runs upstairs. Meg’s occupying the bathroom (and Quagmire, evidently, is videotaping her from behind the shower curtain) so Mort runs into Stewie’s room. I want to add that Stewie had a funny hand-drawn sign that said “keep out, Brian” that I think is worth mentioning!

At any rate, Mort finds what he thinks is a porta-potty in Stewie’s room and goes inside. Mort had in fact just stepped into a time machine. An hour later, when Stewie and Brian find out what’s happened (and after some always entertaining Stewie-Brian banter) they decide they have to go after Mort. Stewie and Brian find themselves in Warsaw, Poland on September 1, 1939 attending the wedding of one of Mort’s old relatives (Mort, for the record, thought he was in Heaven, which was pretty amusing).

Brian vaguely remembers that “something” happens on that date in Poland but his memory is hazy so they decide to stay for some more of the wedding. The reception, of course, ends up being broken up by the German invasion of Poland on that day! Stewie, Brian and Mort now have to escape occupied Poland. This leads us to a car chase that is based on Biff chasing Marty a la “Back to the Future”. This will represent AWESOME MOVIE REFERENCE NUMBER ONE!

The gang makes it back to England but realize they have to go back to Berlin for some Uranium to make Stewie’s time travel pod work again. So what do they do? Of course, they join the Royal Air Force and dog fight the German Luftwaffe! This results in Stewie saying “Talk to me, Goose” (though Brian asks him NOT to call him Goose) which, of course, is a reference to Top Gun, and will represent AWESOME MOVIE REFERENCE NUMBER TWO!

Their plane takes on gun fire and they have to abandon their plane. Imagine an old plane hurdling toward a mountain with no parachutes- only a life raft. Any movies come to mind? Yes, exactly!! In AWESOME MOVIE REFERENCE NUMBER THREE Stewie screams “We’re not sinking- we’re crashing”, and the gang jumps out in the raft, over the mountains, over a waterfall, a la Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!

Stewie, Brian and Mort do make it to Berlin and in order to gain access to a Nazi Weapons Lab (for the Uranium) they jump some soldiers in an alley and take their Nazi uniforms-setting up, by far, the best scene in the episode. Stewie notices something on his lapel and says “hey that’s weird there is something on here”. We zoom and see that one of the Nazi officers was wearing a “McCAIN-PALIN” button on their lapel. By far, the moment of the night, as far as this am concerned!

Stewie, Brian and Mort eventually get their Uranium (but not before Hitler and Stewie meet briefly) and make it back to the present time. All in all, this was a great episode. Good story, great Brian-Stewie dialogue, great jokes, and three amazing movie scene references! Definitely the best episode of this season so far! I hope that in an upcoming episode they find a way to integrate references to more of my favorite movies.

Family Guy: I Dream of Jesus

Family Guy returns to a format a little more reminiscent of past seasons in this episode “I Dream Of Jesus”. Essentially there are two story lines that technically have nothing to do with one another but which are drawn together by a random event in the middle.

The episode begins with my favorite family- the Griffins- at a 50’s style diner. During their visit a song starts playing on the jukebox which, evidently, Peter loves! He does an admittedly hilarious dance routine to the tune “Surfin’ Bird”—if you are unfamiliar, it’s the song that goes “na-na-na-na-na-na the bird is the word everyone’s heard the bird is the word” (or something along those lines… ). Peter takes the record home with him and plays it- repeatedly- and literally drives his family crazy. At one point at the breakfast table Stewie slowly puts a revolver in his mouth (it was actually really funny, but no, he doesn’t pull the trigger).

Eventually, Brian and Stewie lead a covert op to steal the record. Peter tries to replace it, so Stewie and Brian continue their plan by purchasing every available copy from local record stores. Stewie and Brian also bring us the episode’s best moment where they destroy the record in a cut-scene that is reminiscent of the scene from Office Space where Peter, Michael Bolton and Samir destroy the printer.

Here is where storyline two enters! Long story short, Peter meets Jesus at a record store and befriends him. Peter takes him to his house, introduces him to the locals (with a funny scene where Jesus walks atop water in a fountain but, Peter being Peter, tries to get some of the attention), gets Jesus on Jay Leno, and helps him win an award at the MTV Music Awards!

Eventually, however, the fame goes to Jesus’ head and he lands himself in jail. Jesus calls Peter to bail him out (which he first refuses, until Jesus uses his power to smash a lamp in Peter’s face) and decides it’s time he left Earth altogether. Much to the dismay of his family, Jesus creates Peter a new record of “Surfin’ Bird” before he departs.

I have to be honest; I had high hopes for this episode. Sadly, this episode left me disappointed. With so many opportunities to poke fun at religion I think this episode fell rather short. I felt the one clever scene in this episode was where Peter introduces Jesus to President Bush, and Jesus explains that he’s really not sure how President Bush was actually elected, as he certainly had nothing to do with it. And while this cut-scene was amusing, it’s another example where the show could have really crossed the line with their usual hilarious and insensitive antics and left me drooling on the floor laughing hysterically.

Family Guy: Love Blackually

Some TV series have traditionally strong season openers and some have traditionally weak season openers. I would have to say that Family Guy consistently falls into the former category mostly because I can’t remember a single season opener I’ve watched of Family Guy where I didn’t almost pee my pants or spit my drink out all over the cocktail table (or both). Season seven continues this tradition with a solid episode with lots of laughs I’ve come to love from the Griffin family!

The episode revolves around Brian’s new love interest- Carolyn- a girl he meets at a book store who seems to share a number of his interests (it’s rare, as you recall, for Brian to find a girl he actually likes). In fact, Brian and Carolyn have to decide who gets to buy the last copy of “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins. Ultimately, Carolyn buys it and agrees to mail to Brian when she is done, which leads to a hilarious scene with Peter and Brian, where Peter is using Brian’s package as weight for one of his hats.

After Brian and Carolyn have what appears to be a good first date Brian tries to invite himself upstairs for some nookie when he hears, who else, Stewie calling him from the car. Stewie convinces Brian that sex has tainted his relationships before and that he should proceed slowly with his new girl, Carolyn.

Things appear to be going well for my friend Brian until - after three weeks of no foreplay – Carolyn is forced to seek love elsewhere- from one of Peter’s friends. Now if you’re thinking Quagmire, surprise, you’d be wrong- it’s actually Cleveland (but don’t worry, Quagmire fans, the ole’ G-man has his turn later in the episode, too- giggity). In the end, Brian and Cleveland are both left heart aching over Carolyn.

This episode had a surprising minimum of “cut scenes” but a few in particular provide the kind of tasteless humor I have come to love from Family Guy! The best cut scene would have to be “Horton hears domestic abuse but does nothing” scene. Despite the few cut scenes the episode is strong in its singular plot and provides multiple classic Stewie and Brian interactions, one of which involves Stewie dressed up in an owl costume sitting outside Carolyn’s home.

I don’t often find myself disappointed with Family Guy episodes, and “Love Blacktually” was no different.

To quote Cleveland- “And BOOM goes the dynamite”!

Family Guy: The Former Life of Brian

After tracking down a former girlfriend, Brian's surprised to find out that he's a father to a teenage boy named Dylan. Never mind that Brian's a dog, and hasn't actually been alive for that many years - that's not the point. The episode focuses on Dylan moving into the Griffin home and Brian's parenting skills being tested.

Dylan's a rebellious teenager who's nearly impossible to handle. He violently threatens the entire household, and even beats up the evil monkey that lives in Chris' closet. Perhaps the funniest and cruelest of his atrocities against the Griffin family involved tying up Meg in the basement and forcing her to watch lesser known Monty Python sketches, to which Meg replies, "I'm a girl! I don't even like the good Monty Python sketches!" In one of the better sight gags of the episode, Peter's response to getting an unwanted Mohawk hairdo from Dylan was to reveal that he's full of Play-Doh, and promptly re-grows his hair.

It wasn't until the unlikely father-son duo shared some pot that they finally bond with a heartfelt connection. In typical Family Guy manner, this was all quite tongue-in-cheek and trumpeted with a naked Stewie cheering them on with a Jerry Springer reference.

After that point, Brian suddenly transforms into the type of annoyingly overprotective parent that far too few of us try to avoid turning into. While Brian's sharing a drink with Peter and friends, he snaps at Quagmire about not understanding what it's like to be a parent until you have a kid of your own. This prompts Quagmire and the others to come up with unlikely harmful scenarios involving Dylan, upsetting the dog more and more.

The last straw with the Griffins was when Brian confronts Lois for serving Dylan a sandwich made with white bread. He wanted Dylan to be served something healthier, and Lois' following tirade is bound to make even the most jaded viewer smirk. Peter decides to take matters in his own hands and brings Tracy back and tries to convince her to take her son back.

Dylan's transformation to a respectable, caring do-gooder seems just as extreme as his pre-joint-sharing with dog-father past, but it does lead to the teen wanting to go back to his mother and try to transform her life the way Brian transformed his.

Family Guy episodes are better served when trying to tell a cohesive story and "The Former Life of Brian" is a great example of this. Not all of the random manatee jokes were hits, but the storyline makes up for it, and forces one to focus on that and not the barrage of cultural references. The Cocoa Puffs and cut-out folk art jokes bombed, but there were some amusing ones such as the The Wizard of Oz goodbyes. However, all of this takes a backseat to the crux of the episode: Brian fathered a human child! Where else but on Family Guy could I see something like that happen, and actually feel plausible?

The Family Guy: McStroke

As with so many other episodes, Peter comes up some ridiculously crazy idea that always seems to have slight undertones of social commentary, and then takes it to illogical extremes, making sure to present the audience with as many oddball movie and cultural references along the way. Standouts included snippets which poked fun at One Tree Hill and The Shawshank Redemption.

The absurd but seemingly disjoint storylines flow brilliantly in this episode. From Peter's decision to grow a mustache, to his heroic efforts as a fireman rescuing the manager of the McBurgerTown, to his reward of free burgers for life, to getting a stroke after consuming 30 hamburgers, to living at home with his paralysis, to his miraculous stem cell recovery, followed by his subsequent vendetta to bring McBurgerTown to justice, which involved visiting their manufacturing facility, where he uncovers a cruel slaughterhouse inhabited by a talking genetically enhanced cow, aptly named Mr. Cow and voiced by none other than Ricardo Montalban. In between I'm treated to musical numbers featuring R.E.M., The Monkees and Bob Dylan, and are even subjected to a lecture by Mr. Cow congratulating the efforts of salad-eating homosexuals.

The use of so many licensed tunes might be an indication of the lack of written content available to complete the episode, but it actually works quite well in this case. In particular, the imagery of a half-paralyzed Peter driving with his paralyzed arm stuck out the door and incoherently singing R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" was absolutely hilarious.

The secondary plot thread in this episode consisted of a bet between Brian and Stewie about whether or not Stewie can succeed in becoming the most popular kid in high school. This involved Stewie's seduction of Connie D'Amico, and culminated in an all-too-detailed revelation about Stewie's homosexual tendencies. In a seemingly innocent conversation about scoring at the aptly named "Anal Point," Stewie admits that he'd rather be a parking spot than the car trying to park in it. Brian's reaction to this is absolutely priceless, and the episode is probably worth watching for this moment alone. To top things off, Stewie decided to get revenge on Connie after his date goes sour by stripping down and kissing her, and then having her arrested for kissing a baby.

Fortunately, there's so much here that one simply can't go wrong with. Peter's mustache and subsequent stroke, Mr. Cow, and Stewie pretending to be a cool high school kid are all concepts that are bound to entertain, and they do in this case – brilliantly so.

Family Guy: Back to the Woods

With guest appearances by James Woods and Barry Manilow, and the long absence due to the writers' strike, I thought I would be treated to a triumphant return for Family Guy. Unfortunately, "Back to the Woods" fails to deliver, and could have benefited from some significant reworking before being rushed to broadcast.

James Woods was previously seen on Family Guy in the fourth season episode titled "Peter's Got Woods." It was somewhat funny the first time, but felt downright lazy this time. That's not to say that this second visit by James Wood to the Griffin household was a complete failure. There were a few entertaining moments as he assumed Peter's identity. The father-daughter moment with Meg and his bulimic advice was somewhat entertaining, as well as his tying up Brian to a pole and putting him in the yard as an outside dog worked pretty well.

Peter's attempts to reclaim his identity by assuming James Woods' identity results in an appearance on the David Letterman Show, where he promotes a highly inappropriate comedy centered around 9/11. This ends up incurring the wrath of all Americans and results in the ruining of James Woods' reputation, which ultimately allows Peter to return home.

The Barry Manilow concert moments feature the singer bringing Quagmire on stage and singing to him. The running joke is about how the drinking buddies are all devoted closet Manilow fans.

Not all of the random jokes failed either. Some of the better ones included a hilarious reference to what happens to Spider-Man when he gets laid, and there's a sight gag about Peter performing magic tricks for blind people that was also awkwardly funny.

While it might seem like a wasted opportunity to bring back James Woods to the show and the fact that this episode doesn't quite live up to the other outings seen prior to the writers' strike, there were a few entertaining moments to keep "Back to the Woods" from becoming a total disaster. Hopefully now that the writers are back on board, I'll be treated to superior episodes in the coming weeks.

Family Guy: Peter's Daughter

In the second of the series of episodes completed without Seth MacFarlane's approval, I am treated with a surprisingly funny story-heavy outing. With a combination of situational humor, random jokes, and Meg getting pregnant, this episode thoroughly entertains from start to finish, with only a few hiccups and missed opportunities along the way.When Quahog is hit by a flood, some obvious references to the tragedy in New Orleans are made, including an oddly familiar structure called "Quahog Stadium." Considering that the writers tend to take every possible opportunity to make political jabs at the current administration, it was an odd choice not to make any in this entire episode, when there were so many opportunities to do so.

In any event, the focus during the flood was almost entirely on the Griffin family, and the events leading to Meg falling into a coma. It's always been a running joke on the show to treat Meg as a useless character and give her as few lines as possible, but in this episode, the talented and lovely Mila Kunis gets to put on an actual performance. The circumstances leading to Meg's coma are absolutely hilarious, as Peter insists that Meg get some beer from the fridge in the flooded kitchen and she gets stuck underwater. How the suffocation turns into a coma is a medical mystery, but even while suspended in the water, and her subsequent tenure in a hospital bed - there's one thing about Meg Griffin that never changes: she always has her hat on.

In the hospital, Meg meets the man of her dreams, a young doctor named Michael Milano. In short, after Peter vows to become an overprotective father, Michael has difficulties in continuing dating Meg. A couple of weeks later, Meg claims that she's pregnant and this leads to sudden wedding plans.

In classic Family Guy fashion, Peter provides a slew of inappropriate jokes that will shock and disgust even the most hardened viewer. There are just so many of these subtle and not-so subtle jokes and they were expertly dispersed throughout the episode. Some of the obvious highlights include Peter showing up as a male stripper at Meg's bachelorette party, his amusing selection for the wedding cake figures, to statements about the dire condition of his Nerf football stand out in particular.

This episode even had a B-story going with Brian and Stewie buying a fixer-upper house together, which was highlighted by a "so-dumb-it's-brilliant" walkie-talkie conversation gag and culminated with a gratuitous explosion featuring Stewie and Brian jumping out of the exploding trashed domicile at the last second.

By the end of the episode, everything returned to normal as usual, but the journey was definitely a worthwhile one with the perfect blend of comedy and story. I've always said that Family Guy is at its best when it tries to tell a story along with the barrage of jokes, and this episode is a prime example. Not every joke was funny, and the story could have used a bit more development, but the sheer quantity of gags easily overcomes these minor shortcomings. Even without Seth MacFarlane's final approval, this episode manages to shine.

Family Guy: Padre de Familia

After starting his own anti-immigration group, Peter is determined to be a Mexican immigrant and forced to work as a day-laborer when he can't prove his American citizenship.I have to say that this episode was a dud. Something seemed wrong with the pacing (this is what happens when you get scab editors). For example, the Mary Poppins bit felt like it went on for too long. On the plus side, there was another Superman reference with Superman V: The Broken Condom (which does seem like a more logical reason that he left for Krypton when Lois Lane got pregnant. But I digress...).

I did like the beginning of the episode. I thought the uninjured veterans and future veterans were hilarious. But somehow I kept thinking that such fare is a risky thing to broadcast in the more conservative and pro-America Midwest. On the other hand, the people from the Midwest who watch the show probably thought it was funny as well.

I did wonder about the issue of marrying Lois for citizenship before it was brought up in the episode. I should have realized that Peter wouldn't remember anything about Lois. Why didn't they ask her maiden name? He certain says "Mister Pewterschmidt" enough times.

The issue I have with this episode and Family Guy in general is that the asides that are the lifeblood of the show's humor seem to have more misses than hits. Rewrites probably could have saved some of it. In this case of this episode, while the entire premise of our treatment of immigrants was a good one, the execution seemed flat.

Favorite lines: "Anybody wanna see my purple heart?" "You look like the Statue of Liberty's pimp." "Who discovered America? Dick York. No, wait. Dick Sargent."

Family Guy: Lois Kills Stewie

After years of pondering, I finally find out what the planet would be like if Stewie Griffin ever realized his dream of world domination. As President of the World, the matricidal Griffin child declares the kind of laws I'd expect from an evil genius, including a decree that all of the nation's milk is to be supplied from Hilary Swank's breasts, and that anyone who sees Peter Griffin should throw apples at him. Maybe Stewie as President wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. He'd also ban "straight to video" Disney films.

This results in a fantastic awkwardly long vignette where I see a scene from a future Aladdin installment where Jaffar is getting an eye exam. It's so inane and absurd that I couldn't help but laugh, and it's something that I did throughout this entire carefully crafted episode of comic brilliance.Not only does this episode feature plentiful laughs, but - like the last episode - tells an actual story. Stewie's escape from the courthouse is followed by a memorable family hostage moment where the evil child holds a gun to his family and escapes the house with Brian in an aim to infiltrate the CIA and take over the world.

It all leads to a Matrix-inspired climactic battle sequence in the White House between Lois and Stewie. Not only was the fight choreography fantastic, but it contains some of the most visually stunning animated imagery I've seen in the series. If I thought the violent nature of Lois' "assassination" was shocking, then the sight of Stewie's bloody corpse could be seen as being downright disturbing.

While some fans might groan at the "it was all a dream" ending, the handling of the denouement was faultless and the sheer brilliance of the storyline more than makes up for it. The tongue-in-cheek conversation between Brian and Stewie followed by the spoof of the Sopranos finale was the final exclamation point in this fantastic episode.

Additionally, a slew of celebrity cameos help make this second half of the Family Guy hundredth episode celebration one of the best outings I've seen in years. Patrick Stewart reprises his role from sister series American Dad, Willem Dafoe shows up as a man who lives under Stewie's bed, and the entire judging panel from American Idol makes an appearance as Stewie auditions for the show in a flashback sequence.

It's great to see the homicidal evil side of Stewie again. Even if it was just a simulation, the moments where he held his family hostage, or made Peter comment on his "macaroni owl," or how he made Brian speak to Joe at gunpoint serve as reminders of how fantastically entertaining Stewie can be when written correctly. The desperate closet homosexual version of Stewie that I see all too often in more recent episodes is only fun in small doses.

With the writers' strike in full effect, it seems that this might be the last new episode of Family Guy I'll be seeing for a while. It's a bittersweet way to end the abruptly short season as the quality is reminiscent of the series' brilliance from the early years and it seems like the show was really starting to hit its stride for the season. Hopefully the series will be able to live up to the high bar set by this two-part classic upon its eventual return.

Family Guy: Believe it or Not, Joe's Walking on Air

After six years in a wheelchair, Joe Swanson regains his ability to walk. In character, he then decides to go into extreme sports. I've always liked Joe and I think Patrick Warburton's voice makes the character.

The show has apparently gone back to the constant cut-away references. At least they're being self-referential about it with Cleveland's line "I hate shows that cut away from the story for some bull crap".

The self-referential nature of the show doesn't stop there. There was a conversation between Joe's doctor and Peter's father-in-law on the fact that they were voiced by the same actor.
The episode had the prerequisite song and dance number. It wouldn't surprise me that if there ended up being a Family Guy movie, it would be a musical.

The ending was somewhat predictable. I figured Joe's wife Bonnie was going to cripple him again, although I laughed at the preceding fight scene. That fight could have passed for one of those M-rated video games. Bonnie is still pregnant in this episode, but I believe she'll be giving birth this season. A seven-year pregnancy. Phew.

The two best creations of this show, Stewie and Brian, were barely seen in this episode. Each had one or two scenes. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing but it's something I noticed.


Things I liked in the episode: the irony of Joe having to leave the hospital in a wheelchair after he's been given his legs. The Spider-Man appearance. The fact that the Quahog Men's Club looked a lot like the He-Man Woman Hater's Club from The Little Rascals. E-rock-tion. Judas and Pontius Pilate walking into the distance to the sounds of The Brady Bunch. When Stewie killed Colin Farrell with a futuristic ray-gun.

I did like the episode better than the last episode. Family Guy is starting to stick to what it does best, even if the creators of other shows comment on their style of humor. The show is even self-referential about that when Peter makes an illogical cut-away reference and tells Lois "Don't call me on this stuff".

Family Guy: Movin' Out (Brian's Song)

One of last season's highlights was the introduction of Brian's beautiful and endearing yet intellectually challenged girlfriend Jillian, voiced by Drew Barrymore. The obvious mismatch between Brian and Jillian was the source for some of the best laughs and actual drama in the previous season. Forgetting the fact that Brian's a dog, the fact that their relationship lasted so long is of one of those Family Guy oddities done right.

In this episode, their relationship is really put to the test when Brian gets weaseled into moving in with Jillian, despite his objections. Brian's one of those insecure characters who's easily manipulated by those around him. So when Peter helps Jillian to push the idea of moving in together, Brian reluctantly accepts. Despite not having sufficient funds to actually support paying his half of the rent, he goes along with it.

When Stewie offers to move in and help pay for the rent, Brian's okay with that too. Brian puts up with Stewie's obnoxiousness, even when it gets in the way of spending "quality" time with Jillian. Even after Jillian breaks up with Brian - it takes a pep talk from Stewie to convince him to actually go and try to win her back.

Stewie's not-so-subtle gay tendencies really stick out this episode. From the party guests he invites to the extremely obvious request to have sex with Brian (is that open gayness or something more animalistic?). Brian's reaction was hilarious.

The secondary story in this episode was remarkably entertaining. It's hard to think that scenes exclusively featuring Meg and Chris could actually provide some laughs, but there were a couple of genuinely funny moments between the two. The siblings end up working together in the same convenience store, but Meg ends up doing all the work while Chris and the owner, Carl, spend all their time talking about movies they liked. The movie discussion scenes, while not bone-splittingly funny, worked really well because the conversations themselves felt somewhat genuine.

It wouldn't be Family Guy if there weren't a few over-the-top offensive jokes and this episode has a few great ones. From the Meg and Peter phone-sex scene to Stewie's jab at the disposable income of immigrant families, to Peter's Donald Duck costume, this episode doesn't hold back anything when it comes to tastelessness.

It's definitely sad to see the end of the Brian and Jillian relationship, especially considering the great performance put on by Drew Barrymore. She moved on to dating mayor Adam West after the breakup. Hopefully Jillian will make another appearance sometime in the future - she really was a great addition to the show.

Overall, "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)" managed to rise about the generic plotline and deliver a pretty solid half hour of entertainment that told a cohesive (and somewhat sad) main story, with just enough gags to fill in the rest of the time. It's a bit more story-heavy compared to what I'm used to seeing on the show, but this is sometimes a good thing - especially compared to some of the completely storyline-free episodes I was subjected to in the previous season.

Family Guy: Blue Harvest

A long time ago, but somehow in the future . . .

Who would've thunk it? When Family Guy premiered back in 1999(!) many people tossed it away as a pale imitation of The Simpsons and kind of ignored it. Who knew that eight years later, at the start of the show's 6th season, Seth MacFarlane and his crew would be able to get the approval of George Lucas himself to air a spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It shows how far Family Guy has come since it returned to the prime-time airwaves.

To fans of the show, this episode of Family Guy may seem a bit, um, corny. There aren't any trademarked segues that the animated series is known for, no images of Peter running around naked, no song-and-dance numbers by Brian and Stewie, and barely any mention of or sight of Meg at all (although, that's pretty normal). If anything, the way the episode was set up reminded me of such classic movie parodies like Spaceballs, Airplane, and Hot Shots!.

Take the beginning sequence, for example. After the opening crawl of renegade paragraphs that float through space (and a discussion about a naked Angelina Jolie in the movie Gia) I saw the classic first scene of Star Wars where the Star Destroyer is chasing the Rebel Alliance starship. On the back of the Star Destroyer is a huge Bush-Cheney bumper sticker. Later, as the music swells up around Chris/Luke Skywalker while he ponders over Tatooine's two suns, he turns and introduces John Williams and the orchestra. He then asks them to play the theme to The People's Court. Still further in the episode, when the Millennium Falcon is being tractored into the Death Star, I saw it being flagged in by a trio of uninterested valets.

Many of these little jokes fit well into the scope of the story. Others didn't work so well. In the scene where Herbert/Obi-Wan and the rest of the Scooby Gang split up in the Death Star the creepy old man suddenly breaks out into "(I've Had)the Time of My Life" from the movie Dirty Dancing. It was two minutes that slowed everything down and could have been used better.

Then, there was the scene in the garbage chute where Han/Peter and Chewy/Brian find a perfectly good couch that could be used. That was okay, but the parts about getting the couch out of the garbage chute and then onto the Falcon weren't that funny. Although ,the scene where Han is holding onto the bottom end of the couch while the Falcon escapes was amusing.

These bits didn't deter too much from the episode, however. I expected that there would be some duds throughout the hour-long show. If it had all been packed into 30-minutes it probably would have killed the episode.

Character-wise, this was a Lois/Peter/Chris episode, although Cleveland/R2-D2 and Quagmire/C-3P0 had quite a bit of screentime themselves. Since they were portraying different roles some of the characteristics that we normally see weren't there in this episode. I don't believe I heard a 'Freakin' Sweet' from Peter, and Chris was less whiny. In fact, Seth Green toned down Chris quite a bit in this episode. Brian and Stewie, who seem to have a majority of screen time lately on the show, didn't really have much to say. However, I did hear Stewie blurt out a 'What the Deuce?' during the final Death Star battle scene.

There were other things that impressed me throughout the season premiere. Here are but a few of them:

• The conference room scene between Darth and his generals. There is that .1% vulnerability on the Death Star. You know, that small hole that, if you shoot a laser into it, the station blows up
• It seems that MacFarlane was able to use a number of scenes from the actual movie and overlay them with animation. It looked very good on-screen.
• John Williams and his orchestra die when Luke's aunt and uncle are killed. Now they have to use Danny Elfman for the score.
• After Lois/Leia records her message to Obi-Wan, she needs to work through R2's Windows interface to chose the correct media player to make an mpeg file.
• Luke: I got 'em! I got 'em!' Han: 'Great kid! Don't get penisy'
• Red Leader asks for all of his wings to sound off, including Redd Foxx, Helen Reddy, Big Red chewing gum, Simply Red, Red Buttons and Red October.
• National Lampoon's Star Wars Vacation. Clark Griswold wants his kids to see the plight of the Rebellion. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo provide the voices.
• The other guest voice actors for this episode: Some of them you would be surprised about. Besides Chase and D'Angelo, Rush Limbaugh and Helen Reddy also provided their own character voices.
• Chris' little dig to Peter concerning Robot Chicken at the end of the episode. That was probably one of the funnier moments.
• The title 'Blue Harvest'. For those of us who are not total Star Wars geeks, this was the title of the fictitious film used to ensure secrecy during the filming of Return of the Jedi.

Overall, this was a fun episode to watch. I thought that MacFarlane kept to the story pretty well, and there were enough corny jokes to make it amusing.

MTTT: Bell's Brewery & Family Guy: Peter's Two Dads

The MTTT crew celebrated our 2nd Anniversary of the Thirsty Third Thursday after work drinking club at Bell's Brewery. MTTT all started in 2005 in August at Bell's Brewery and from that point forward we return each August.

Bell's Brewery in Kalamazoo is a micro-brewery. They offer a wide selection of tasty beers and tend to promote seasonal recipes, as do a lot of micro-breweries. My personal favorite is Oberon . It's rich in color and flavour. Bell's Brewery also has a beautiful beer garden attached to the aesthetically pleasing pub. It is home to many of Kalamazoo's college-age hippie-types, which adds to the whole exuberance of the Bell's experience.

All the MTTT'ers ordered different Bell beers and all of them were highly recommended. Lindsey was the bravest and had the 10.5% alcohol content beer (Expedition Stout) and one glass was all she could take. I just made myself thirsty for a Bell's Oberon, so I'm glad I keep a six pack in my refrigerator.

Family Guy:

Despite a couple of underdeveloped plotlines and an overabundance of offensive and uncomfortable jokes, this episode of Family Guy somehow manages to succeed with just enough truly hilarious moments and actual story elements.Conducting a detailed a plot analysis of any Family Guy episode is somewhat pointless, but there actually seems to be an attempt by the writers to put together a storyline that has a slight amount of cohesion.

Meg's birthday party serves as the backdrop for Francis' death, and gives Chris an excuse to provide his only meaningful contribution to the episode with a brief musical solo. The other threads in this episode focus on Stewie and Peter.

I got to witness the final moments of Peter's father Francis's life, as he's crushed by his weighty son who was riding a unicycle drunk while dressed up as a clown during Meg's birthday party. The ongoing joke and plot thread that starts off the episode concerns how little respect Meg gets in the family. Meg bursts into the room talking about what she'd like for her upcoming birthday and nobody really seems to pay too much attention to what she was saying. Neither of the Griffin parents knows how old their daughter is, and they don't seem to care too much either.

The other story attempt in this episode centers around Stewie discovering that he enjoys the pain of getting spanked, and as such, tries to push his mother into hitting him. This particular plotline falls a bit flat. It's not all that funny and it felt like it was thrown in as filler. Other than the shock value of watching Stewie fantasize about his mother beating him, there was very little to salvage these somewhat disturbingly offensive moments. One joke that does stand out, however, is Stewie asking Lois to "step on his cubes."

Of course, the main storyline in this episode revolves around Peter's discovery about his father. Upon Francis' death, Peter finds out that his real father's a "fat stinking drunk" from Ireland, and embarks on a quest to find him, but not before a brief Peter-as -Wonder Woman reference.This plot thread works really well, and is filled with a classic barrage of absurd jokes and numerous flashback moments, including a great Return of the Jedi reference, as well as a short scene poking fun at Ben Affleck.

Peter's father makes a grand entrance as the "town drunk" in a tavern called "Wifey Mcbeaty's Tavern." After engaging in and winning a drinking contest with his real father, the two burst into song for yet another musical interlude. These musical moments seem to happen very often on the show lately. They don't always work well, but in this case the song and accompanying visuals were appropriately entertaining.

Peter's dad could be a great addition if the writers choose to continue including him in future episodes (along with his pet sheep cleverly named O'Brian). There seemed to be fewer flashbacks and pop-culture references in this episode, which helped move the main story forward.

While Family Guy has never been about telling decent tales, the cohesiveness of the Peter's real father storyline helped define a sense of purpose to accompany the off-the-wall arbitrary jokes. Wacky random humor when combined with a sense of direction goes a long way in making these episodes feel more complete and satisfying, and in this respect, "Peter's Two Dads" succeeds remarkably well.

The Family Guy: Stewie Loves Lois

Question: Was Seth MacFarlane's first priority to offend viewers? Because if it was, he succeeded. The episode for Family Guy pulls as many homosexual and rape jokes out as possible. And the biggest problem with these jokes is that some of them go too far and crosses the line of good taste and revels in the awkward situations.

The plot of the episode follows Peter as he goes into the doctor for a flu shot only to stick around for a prostate exam. In true Family Guy fashion Peter believes that his doctor was trying to rape him. Eventually Peter takes his doctor to court, and gets his medical license revoked. By the end Peter does understand that the exam was just that, and that he was in need of the exam all along.

The other story told in the episode starts with Stewie having his stuffed animal destroyed by a dog, only to be sewn back together by Lois. The combined action of the restoration of his doll and a nice meal show Stewie that his mother is not his enemy but his best friend. After some nice bonding time, Lois finds that Stewie is just too clingy, leading her to homicidal thoughts. In the end things go back to the way they started as Lois ignores Stewie's cries and he hurts himself.

The Stewie/Lois story was really kind of funny. This bit was a nice window in on parenting. Although parents want to be closer to their children, they can find that it isn't as good of an idea as they initially thought. Plus, this new relationship led to a couple great confrontations between Stewie and Brian. As always Brian is working his best to impress Lois, while Stewie's new found love for his mother springs jealousy - what follows are a couple hilarious scenes with the two competing for her (one argument ends with Stewie screaming in Spanish which is very funny).

The other storyline is where my big problem is with the episode. I know that the story comes full circle and Peter realizes that he needs the prostate exam, but that does not excuse the rather frank and explicit rape jokes leading to this revelation. One of the scenes in particular - Peter giving his trumped up testimony of being violated in court - went from creepy and awkward to just plain disturbing. A black and white dream depicts Peter's interpretation of the "incident" which is just graphic depictions of him being uncomfortably groped, probed and kissed. I know that a couple of the flashbacks were direct movie parodies, but it was just wrong. Whereas a prostate joke can be offensive and funny, a rape joke can almost never be both.

I'm a fan of the Family Guy, and I admit that some of the better episodes and jokes are those that are offensive. But it is tough to tell people to watch a television program that treats these real issues with such nonchalance. I'm hoping that the new season is funnier than this episode - please, MacFarlane, think before you write.

Family Guy: Mother Tucker

The episode starts off at a disappointing air show (no crashes), which leads to a new job opening for Brian as a radio talk show host. Creating a sophisticated morning show, Brian doesn't do very well - until he receives help from Stewie, who makes his show a Howard Stern-esque program featuring more noises and profane dialog than any of the wholesome content that Brian was striving for. But with ratings up Brian ditches all self-respect and adds as many fart noises to his program as possible. By the end of the episode Brian sees how he has sold out and quits the program.

While this is happening Peter's mother comes back to town and reveals that she has left his father, and is going to date again. After going to a singles meeting, she eventually hooks-up with the local news reporter Tom Tucker. Like a child dealing with his new stepfather, Peter goes through this transition like a five year old - denying, hating, and then embracing. Eventually Peter's mother leaves Tom, but Tucker stays the good stepfather and continues to help Peter grow up. In the end, we find that Peter recognizes that Tom's actual son needs his father more than he does, and so he allows Tom to leave - and reject his own responsibility as a parent (in true Family Guy form).

There were many things that were great about this episode, but the funniest aspect of the show this time around was their take on radio. From the first time I saw the radio jockeys I got the impression that they are immature, simple-minded idiots who pander to the lowest common denominator - and isn't that the truth? Everything about these type of radio shows was dead-on: the overplaying of excessively long soundbytes, the made-up mascots (i.e. the manic monkey), the stupid show titles (i.e. Weenie and the Butt), and the total aloofness to tact.

When seeing Stewie and Brian duplicate this mentality with their hilarious characters, I got something that is way out there… but somehow remains within the realm of feasibility in the world of shock-jocks and radio DJs - and that just adds to the humorous nature of the show. So even though this storyline seemed to end rather abruptly, it was still funnier than anything I have seen on the show in a long time.

The other very funny bit of the show was Peter's reverting to a child. Even though he is pretty stupid, he conducts himself as an (dumb) adult most of the time, so when I get to see him act like a young child it is pretty funny. Now this is something that could easily be overdone, and not be funny at all - but MacFarlane did a great job with Peter's voice making him sound exactly as a child would in the given situations.

My favorite scene was taken almost exactly taken from the movie Kramer vs. Kramer - when Peter's mother left and it was just Tom Tucker and Peter at the dinner table together, and Peter disobeys Tom by leaving the table and eating ice cream leading to a spanking. So even though this could have easily gone over the line, or been pretty lame, it was actually really funny.

The random jokes were really funny (especially the celebrity monotone roundtable and the Mannequin/The Ring bit), the story was actually crafted well, and the characters didn't act too far off from what you would expect.