(S05E16) After watching this episode the first thing that came to mind was the scene from the season four episode "Jungle Love" where Stewie traveled across the country to slap Will Ferrell. I'm starting to get the feeling that Seth MacFarlane, or someone at Family Guy central, could use some Griffin family negative reinforcement. I'm speaking of the chicken fight scene. Well, scene isn't really appropriate. Segment would be more apt I suppose. I'm generally one that enjoys when shows reference back to things they have done in the past. Things like Chris' roommate at Morningwood being the son of James Bottomtooth from "Brian Goes Back To College" are great. But there are only 22 minutes per episode. Taking a quarter of that for the chicken fight is just ridiculous.
Really, the one thing I enjoyed about that entire mess was the Indiana Jones bit. And when one three second cut of a five minute chunk of the show is the only thing it has going for it, there is a problem with the episode. That's unfortunate, because had someone cut about four minutes out of the chicken sketch, they did have the makings of a really good episode in there.
I liked the opening with the ballet. Peter and Quagmire text messaging across the theater was pretty funny. That's the dumb Peter that I like. Dumb enough to be funny, but not so dumb that you wonder how he can remember to breathe. Brian taking off with Meg because she has a pot connection was interesting, and I would have liked to see more of that.
The No Child Left Behind Act leading to Chris being expelled was actually a rather timely reference for the show. The act is up for possible reauthorization this year, and this was a funny way to reference what some believe are some of its shortcomings. It also led to what was probably the best part of the episode, his time at Morningwood Academy.
Of course, Lois only went to Carter after her first two choices didn't really pan out. The Quahog School for the Deaf and the Quahog Maritime School were both very funny. "Men. Just men. For many days at a time." and "...a certain kind of pirate." were great lines. And Stewie topped it off with his sudden interest in the school.
Once at Morningwood, there were a number of good scenes. As I mentioned earlier, I liked that they brought out James Bottomtooth IV. The Full Metal Jacket blanket party was also good. And I liked Carter inviting Chris to join the Skull and Bones club. Although, that one suffered from two different things. First, I would have liked to see a little more of Chris and Carter bonding over Skull and Bones adventures. Again, a quarter of the episode was burned on the chicken fight. And second, what the hell is the deal with Herbert? The character is one joke. Why does he end up in every episode? At this point I'd rather see Bonnie than Herbert.
As to the cutaways this week, it was a pretty good collection. The average was helped greatly by the How I Met Your Father bit, which was fantastic. Not only did they get Neil Patrick Harris and Josh Radnor to voice the roles, the "Suit up!" punch line was perfect. Along with that, I thought that the horse turning the gun on the trainer, Lois and Meg as hookers, and King Friday were all very good. The only one that I thought really failed was the slave ship. 
Overall, it's a hard one to score. The episode had its moments, but the chicken fight and my growing resentment of having Herbert shoehorned into every episode are marks against it. Including a bonus point for my favorite cutaway of the season, I'll give it a 4, out of 7.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-07-2007 @ 8:36AM
Hugeliver said...
I completely agree!!! WTF was THAT about?? I got so annoyed at the drag out fight that I couldn't watch any more!!
Family Guy owes me a half hour of my life back. I would give it a 2.
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5-07-2007 @ 8:38AM
Chris said...
I didn't mind the chicken fight scene as much as you did, though I will agree it went on a *bit* too long, but a short scene wouldn't have worked either. The sheer absurdity of the entire fight made it entertaining enough to not look at the time.
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5-07-2007 @ 8:52AM
Stacy said...
I agree completely with your review. The chicken fight was waaaaaaaaay too long, although the more absurd it got as time went by (and so much time too...) the funnier it became. Still, it brought the flow of the rest of the show to a screeching halt. I almost peed in my pants from the King Friday/Stewie scene. I want a King Friday/Stewie puppet!
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5-07-2007 @ 8:58AM
Douglin said...
I'll admit that I didn't like the 2nd chicken fight they did a while ago but this is the 3rd time so I knew it was going to last for 5 minutes and was just able to enjoy it for the great animation.
I thought this was a really good episode where the plot was just a thread to hang all the cutaway joke off of. It proved that sometimes it's better to just accept that the cutaways are the funnier and embrace it.
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5-07-2007 @ 9:01AM
nick said...
Someone's gotta defend the chicken fights. I love them each and every time. The length is what makes them so good! It only works if you bring it out once a year, but you can tell they really enjoy writing it. And I wasn't a big fan of the Morningwood scenes, so I guess to each their own...
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5-07-2007 @ 9:08AM
Franklin said...
They should do an episode where within the first minute, right at the start of what appears will be the episode's story, Peter and the Chicken fight... and it goes on and on up until the last minute of the show (when the fight ends, and they return to the storyline that was being set up in the first minute, but which is quickly resolved when they return to it -- THAT would be great!).
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5-07-2007 @ 9:54AM
JW said...
I interned at Mr. Rogers when I was in college so the Stewie as King Friday had me rolling!
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5-07-2007 @ 10:31AM
funk99 said...
I am tired of the chicken fights. Enough already.
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5-07-2007 @ 10:39AM
Cat said...
I hated the chicken fight. Goes on forever, and just becomes painful to watch. Seriously. I would have preferred a much shorter scene.
Loved the Mr. Rogers bit.
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5-07-2007 @ 10:58AM
ferley said...
Herbert is the worst character!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every week a piece of my soul dies when he comes on the screen. I HATE the fact that they think child molestation is funny. It is not and it what makes family guy suck more and more every week. Do not get me wrong I Love FG but drop that guy and his crippled dog!!!!!
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5-07-2007 @ 11:01AM
Benjy said...
The Chicken Fight went on waaaaaaayyyyyyy too long. What the hell were they thinking?
Stewie as King Friday was AWESOME! Not only did the puppet have me in stitches, but...
"Ugh. What kind of of king lives next to the train tracks anyway? What is this... Mexico?"
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5-07-2007 @ 12:11PM
osky_ said...
I liked Stewie's job playing the tuba behind fat people.
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5-07-2007 @ 12:16PM
RedStarRevolution said...
LOVE the chicken fight. I jumped up when I saw the chicken in the window, and was enthralled the entire time. Each time Peter and his arch enemy the Chicken clash, it always gets more and more over the top.
I loved how they stopped fighting and asked wut it was all about, went to dinner, and started another fight. Now I know most of you were probably eye rolling near the end of the first fight, and reached for the remote after the second started...but this is Family Guy, sometimes you have to sit back and relish in the ridiculousness of it all
And I don't care they burned half the ep on the chicken fight, totally worth it to see Peter and his nemesis go at it again, and you can just see Seth and all the other guys in the room squealing with delight that they get to plot out another ridiculous fight scene. I hope Seth was some part of the new Die Hard movie, seems like he was made for it lol.
And we all better be ready for another chicken fight, b/c as before, and as always, that chicken still aint dead...I hope they plan an entire ep about it one of these days, like Peter and the Chicken in a prize fight or something like that. But never settle it, always leave it open for another random over the top action sequence...
As for the other gags, Loved King Friday with Stewie, I do agree Herbert is getting waaaaay too much screen time for a one-shot kinda character, the slave thing seemed like a bit of a reach, and kinda forced.
Now I might have missed something in the comments or the article, but did no one think Stewie telling Meg to go bulimic was horrifying and hilarious all at the same time? lol
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5-07-2007 @ 1:36PM
Borat said...
What was the academy sign again? "No blacks" "Irish allowed"
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5-07-2007 @ 3:36PM
malren said...
1. The sign said "No Irish" which was crossed off, then under it it said "Irish Welcome."
2. The only great thing about that episode was the chicken fight that ended with a celebratory dinner, only to revive itself. It's the "too long" joke done right. It's also one of the only times the show ever gets that joke right.
3. Last night had funny jokes and cutaways that actually worked within the episode. It was...refreshing.
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5-07-2007 @ 6:27PM
Bill said...
I hated the second chicken fight, but I thought this one was really well done.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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5-07-2007 @ 7:32PM
Matt said...
I just wish they hadn't spoiled the fact that the chicken fight was coming in the preview. When Peter said "Oh crap!" I remembered the preview JUST in time for it to fail to be as funny as it could have been. I love that it just comes out of nowhere. And it did go on a little too long. Its not that I think the fight itself wasn't funny. My problem is more that I feel like I'm missing out on other jokes that could be happening. I guess all in all it was worth it for the payoff of the dinner in between.
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5-07-2007 @ 10:44PM
jgs said...
Yes the chicken fight was WAY too long, but thats the point. I hate cause it takes time away from the rest of the episode, and I know I'll have to wait another whole week for more Family Guy. It's kind of like the vaudeville duo - Vern and Johnny that finally got killed off. Hopefully the same will happen to the chicken and we'll hear "Okay, they're dead, alright? You're not gonna be seeing 'em again."
I love Herbert. He always pops in at the perfect moment, like Quagmire. Especially when Chris is around.
The slave ship thing was funny. I was like whoa - did they just do that?
Wasn't the best episode, probably because of the chicken fight. Still love Family Guy.
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7-23-2007 @ 12:09PM
André said...
I just don't get why people think the chicken fight was bad. To me it holds the core of what makes FG great. I can always vividly recall the "Charlie and the chocolate factory" episode in which Peter runs home and falls on his knee and goes oooh, sssssssssh, oooh ssssssssh, for what feels minutes on end.
This is the most singularly daring and very well executed thing that puts family guy above shows like the simpsons. They really know how to drag out a good joke.
When Stewe asks Brian how the writing of his book is going, it goes on forever, with an ever increasing pitch in Stewies' voice, it just never ends. Doing this takes talent and guts, something the makers of this show have plenty of.
Besides I love gratuitous violence that has no consequences, child molesting is the same. I have my own brain that can see the difference between reality and fiction and where the borders are. Besides, Herbert is harmless, he never actually gets his "Popsicle" out.
What made the chicken scene perfect for me is that when Peter gets back after fighting for a day, having dinner with the chicken and fighting again, is that he seamlessly continues the conversation with Lois, no questions asked.
So as Bottomtooth would say: "Hmm uhuhmm dummhhmm duh hmmm".
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