(S05E09) For the first time in a month and a half, we finally have a new Family Guy. I'm not sure I understand the thought process behind the programming at Fox, but the bright side is it means we'll have plenty of new episodes for the second half of the season.The FG team went back to familiar territory this week, bringing us another "Road to..." episode. If you close your eyes really tight, you can almost see the eventual special edition DVD commercial. Like "Road to Rhode Island" and "Road to Europe" before it, this one was split into two separate stories that had virtually nothing to do with each other. And also like those that came before, I preferred the Stewie and Brian story.
That's not to say that the Peter part of this episode wasn't good. It had its moments. I did enjoy when Peter insanely bargained to buy his own Evil Knievil gloves. After successfully talking himself down he pauses to reflect, "I'm stupid." Not news to anyone that has watched more than a few minutes of the show to be sure, but having him acknowledge it struck me as particularly funny.
The suspended license plot was a little thin, but that's forgivable given that this was the b-story for the episode, and there are only 22 minutes to work with. For what it was, I liked what they did with it. The Peter/Meg relationship is so often relegated to that one note that it's nice to see it in a different light occasionally. Peter finally finding a reason to be proud of Meg and have some kind of a relationship was interesting, even if it did come about as a result of her bludgeoning a motorist after Peter set her head on fire. The best part of their story though was Peter's explanation that he's going to have to keep treating her like crap to "keep up appearances." It could make for something fun in future episodes if their special secret friendship comes up again, but it could just as easily be forgotten. Time will tell.
The Stewie and Brian story is what made the episode for me. It was very well done, right down to the goofy little details. Things like Stewie looking up Stanford Cordray (Rob Lowe) using his DNA and finding that he watches Cold Case, Without A Trace, and Yu-Gi-Oh. Or the welcome sign for Colorado, "More than just Kobe and Columbine." They even managed to get another Jack's Joke Shop reference in there. Although, if you want to be nitpicky, the computer readout had Conrad's age wrong. He should be 40, not 39.
As soon as they left on their adventure, and the bit with Mayor West driving them was great, I was expecting a song and dance number. Just like "Road to..." episodes have become a Family Guy thing, so have lavish musical numbers. The cash, check, or jaunty tune payment choices for the helicopter was a clever way to work it in. I liked the number, and thought it was a nice bit of animation replacing Jerry the mouse with Stewie in the Gene Kelly, Anchors Aweigh footage. It did go on a little long though.
Two scenes stood out from the road trip as my favorite. First, the ski race. More specifically, the toasty cabin, complete with butler that was hidden in Stewie's skis. It was just so random. I also really enjoyed the aftermath of the race when Stewie acknowledges that he isn't ready to let go of Rupert and calls in Crone to dump hot tea on little Timmy so he can take the bear back.
As far as bits and gags go, I thought this week had a nice collection. My favorites included Rupert taking Spock's place in the funeral scene from Star Trek, Peter's My Black Son sitcom with Emmanuel Lewis (he's also a ninja), the Ghostbusters Zul reference, and Pat Roberts and Jerry Fallwell after the rapture. I thought the Dana Plato joke and the Lost In Translation bit both fell a little flat. Nothing that was downright terrible though.
Overall, another solid episode. Not an instant classic, but well worth seeing. It's good to have Family Guy back.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-29-2007 @ 8:27AM
Matt said...
I have to agree with you on Stewie's skis during the race. It's nice that they touched upon that part of the chararcter. They have not done that in a while. The episode definitely kept me entertained.
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1-29-2007 @ 8:36AM
Bill said...
That Gene Kelly number dragged on forever. It would've been a clever little thing had it been a little 10 second bit, but it just wouldn't stop.
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1-29-2007 @ 9:30AM
WheelSee said...
I don't think it was Fox that took awhile to get episodes back on...I thought there was a disagreement with the writing staff...
in fact you guys wrote about it like three weeks ago
http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/01/05/production-begins-on-sixth-season-of-family-guy/
-wC
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1-29-2007 @ 10:16AM
Omar said...
the line about when greyhounds run the new york times and the world bank was enough to make this my favorite episode this season.
the show has reverted to the mean since it came back from the scrap heap so i've changed my expectations.
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1-29-2007 @ 10:34AM
Will said...
It was a cool episode. It's great to have this show back on, even if it was for only one week. I also agree that the Gene Kelly joke dragged on too long, but Family Guy is known for doing that.
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1-29-2007 @ 10:35AM
Tim UF said...
I'm guessing the Grace Kelly theing went so long because they tried to haggle with the content owner for just the 10 second snippet, but the owner made them pay for the full thing, so, damnit seth had to use the whole thing!
two things: what was with Sharon Stone biting some dudes head off in the afterglow?
And secondly, why is it always little 'Timmy', not Tommy??
From now on, call me Bob, heh
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1-29-2007 @ 10:50AM
Douglin said...
I thought the Gene Kelly bit was great and the reason they used the whole thing is because they're musical fans, if you didn't know that by now you've not been paying attention (Shipoopi, the previous road episodes, the Frank Sinatra jr. ep, the barber shop quartet jokes)
Anyway the animation was great considering they probably didn't have a clean master copy and had to animate over Jerry.
Also did anyone else notice the copy of the Stewie Griffin DVD movie at the yard sale? it was on the table in front of Brian.
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1-29-2007 @ 1:10PM
Brian said...
The part where Stewie said he was one and Brian said "still?" was pretty clever.
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1-29-2007 @ 1:22PM
G said...
that disagreement with the writers was regarding next seasons scripts, not the current season
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1-29-2007 @ 4:42PM
Doogla61920 said...
Fox knows that Family Guy is popular and a valuable part of the Sunday night line-up. Unless you all have been living in a box, the NFL Football season has been going on since late August and many times games run late on Sundays, or there is a late start time for games in the post season. Scheduling is EVERYTHING, as you know from the first time the show was cancelled, and I think FOX knows not to show new episodes at weird times after games run long. In addition, Fox has been airing reruns of the Simpsons for the same reason. I don't think that both shows are having problems with their writers that would cause the same airing schedules. Blame it mostly on football!
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1-29-2007 @ 8:17PM
John said...
Did anyone make note of what 80s sitcom credits they made fun of? There were a couple I didn't recognize...
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1-30-2007 @ 11:50AM
Adam said...
I am sorry to burst the positive bubble, but I don't think last night's show was that good either. All it is anymore is Brian and Stewie this, Brian and Stewie that... The scripts are poorly written and the jokes are becoming so inside-ish that they're impossible to follow (or find funny). And the musical sing-a-longs (groan)... the way that dancing thing took 4.5 minutes just illustrates how desperate the writers are to come up with ideas to fill an entire 22 minute show.
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1-30-2007 @ 9:12PM
GhaleonQ said...
Remember when "Family Guy" had brilliant timing?
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1-30-2007 @ 10:50PM
Don G said...
Can anyone advise on the Gettysburg scene as to script lines and purpose. My telephone rang just when that scene started and I can't seem to find any references to its purpose meaning in the episode.
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1-31-2007 @ 11:42AM
Happy Steve said...
The scene that STILL has me laughing is the 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles' reference when Brian looks at Stewie and he's got the devil costume on and cackling.
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