Family Guy

The Academy Awards are on tonight, so Fox scheduled two Family Guy repeats. From 9-10 pm/ET tonight I switched back and forth between Oscar coverage and Family Guy, so this post will be about both. Right before I hit the Fox pre-set button on my remote, they had just handed out the first Oscar of the evening. It only took almost 30 minutes. And what a first award it was! Art Direction. Riveting! I couldn’t hit the button fast enough. I love movies and although every year I rant and rave about the Academy Awards, I watch. It’s a televised gaper delay.

The clock turned 9:00, and I moved over to Family Guy. The first episode provided one of the best sight gags this season: Joe’s legs floating to the surface of the beer vat every three seconds. And the idea of messing about with the opening credit sequence was inspired. During the first commercial break I switched back over to the Oscars. Alan Arkin won Best Supporting Actor for Little Miss Sunshine! Now that made me happy. I’ve been an Arkin fan since I saw The In-Laws when I was a kid. Serpentine Shel! Serpentine! After Arkin’s speech it was time to get back to Family Guy. I needed to wash my dinner dishes, so I cranked up the volume in order to listen while I scrubbed. OK, back to the awards. Wow! Time has been cruel to Randy Newman! His movie soundtracks are timeless though, mainly because he rewrites the same song for every movie. How did this Melissa Etheridge tune get nominated? It’s middle-of-the-road pap! I never thought I’d say this, but I long for the days of Phil Collins belting out Against All Odds.

I missed the end of the first episode, so I figured I should get back to the show that I really should be writing about. This is without a doubt my favorite episode this season for many reasons, among them: David Cross, the Tooth Fairy subplot, the text-message gags, but mainly for the “Sexy Grimace” bit. Commercial time again and it looks like William Monahan won Best Adapted Screenplay for The Departed. Good deal. I loved that flick. If Scorsese doesn’t win this year I want him to drop-kick every member of the Academy! It’s bad enough that he’s lost so many times, but look at two of the folks he has lost to: Costner (Costner!?!?!?!?!) and Roman Polanski. They gave it to the guy who would later direct The Postman, and a man who is looking at a nice stretch in jail if he ever sets foot in America. If he doesn’t win tonight they’ll give him an honorary Oscar right before he dies, just like they did for Altman.

Well, now it’s time to finish watching the Oscars. And by that I mean, I’ll fall asleep on the couch in about 40 minutes, and I’ll find out the Best Picture winner tomorrow morning when I’m brushing my teeth. New episode next week!

When I was a freshman in college, a story broke about an unsavory character named “Uncle Eddie.” For over 15 years “Uncle Eddie” preyed on teenage boys in the Philly area. He was finally busted after the police conducted an extensive investigation. If you’re not familiar with this monster, you can find out all of the gory details by doing a Google search. The day that I picked up a newspaper and read about the bust, I was overwhelmed by the sheer creepiness of the whole case. It’s the same sense of creepiness that I feel whenever Mr. Herbert shows up in an episode.

Don’t get me wrong, I find Mr. Herbert and the jokes that involve him hilarious. The only difference between him and the other characters is that the other characters do not make me laugh and feel ill at the same time. One of Family Guy’s strengths is that it can take such a despicable character and find the dark humor that orbits around his sleazy universe. I don’t know too many shows that would take such a vile subject, satirize the matter and then dare you to laugh at it. I do agree with the adage that the best way to attack something that you find deplorable is to laugh at it. I believe that’s what the Family Guy writers are accomplishing with Mr. Herbert. I’m just glad that Mr. Herbert’s appearances aren’t as prevalent as other supporting characters. Mayor West may be insane, but he doesn’t make me cringe while I laugh.

Once again, another top-notch episode tackling such an After School Special subject: bullies. And it was a blast to see Chris at the forefront of an episode. He’s been buried in the background too much this season, much like Meg was two seasons ago. And as far as subplots go, Stewie becoming obsessed with being tan was as odd as they come. I applaud the writing staff for not making a George Hamilton-tan joke during the Stewie segments. That would have been too obvious a target. I’m still shocked that a couple of jokes, especially a certain sight-gag involving suntan lotion, made it past the network censors last night. All-in-all a funny episode, and I can’t wait until the next one. I just hope Mr. Herbert is on vacation that week.

I’m going to miss Francis Griffin. Now that he’s been killed off, that means we’ll probably never hear Charles Durning’s voice again on the show, except maybe for the occasional flashback. One of Family Guy’s strengths has been to clean house with its supporting characters. From Mr. Weed to the vaudeville comic and his piano-playing pal, these characters have passed on in order to keep the stories from becoming repetitive. This is something other Fox Sunday-night animated shows should take note of. (King of the Hill, I’m looking in your direction.)

That being said, we were treated to all of the things that comprise a classic episode. The plot and subplot were terrific, the cutaways were hilarious, and brilliant references were in full swing. Add to that a trip to Ireland, which became Peter’s ancestral homeland when he learned that his biological father lives there. It was a huge surprise to find out that Francis was not Peter’s dad, but not much of a shocker to be told that Mickey McFinnegan, a town drunk in Ireland, was. After being introduced to Mickey, it’s clear to see that Peter gets all of his bad habits honestly.

Overall, this episode cracked me up more than the "Road to Rupert." Primarily it’s because the reasons for Peter and Brian’s trip to Ireland weren’t forced like Brian and Stewie’s trip to Colorado last month. Peter’s quest to meet his real father flowed better and provided better jokes than Stewie’s quest to find a teddy bear. I cracked up when Stewie drew a picture of David Tua on the kitchen wall, and Peter’s clown gag had me crying. And someone on the writing staff must have grown up in a house that has Bing Crosby’s Shillelaghs and Shamrocks album, because the ditty sung at the end was a spot-on parody of several of that album's classic tracks. But the one that knocked it out of the park this week for me was the Mother Teresa joke. I’m surprised my neighbors didn’t throw something at their wall after I watched that bit, because I sounded like a hyena on meth. That leads me this week’s brain teaser. Who will go to hell first: the makers of Family Guy for using that joke, or me for laughing at it to the point of passing out?

Wow! Finally a new Family Guy episode! And it’s a “Road” episode! Following the tradition that started with “Road to Rhode Island” and continued with “Road to Europe,” Stewie and Brian once again do their best demented Hope and Crosby routine and head off to Colorado — which, according to its welcome sign, is “more than just Kobe and Columbine” — in this week’s “Road to Rupert." Creator Seth MacFarlane’s love of musicals may have reached nirvana as a number sung by Stewie and Brian morphed into footage from the movie Anchors Aweigh, with Stewie taking the place of Jerry Mouse in the legendary live-action/animated dance sequence with the immortal Gene Kelly. Critics may say that the success of “Chicago” and “Dreamgirls” is responsible for the rebirth of Hollywood musicals, but we all know it’s really due to the musical sequences in cartoons like The Simpsons and The Family Guy.

As much as I enjoyed “Road to Rupert," I do have to admit that it wasn’t nearly as good as the previous “Road” episodes. For what may be the first time in Family Guy history, I wasn’t too impressed with the plotline for Stewie and Brian’s escapades. There was a serious lack of the antagonism and clever banter that we’ve come to expect between the two characters. They were just a little too nice to each other in this one, and conflict never showed up. It’s good to try something different but don’t stray too far from what we really want when these two team up. One change from the norm that did work tonight was seeing Meg get some respect (albeit short-lived) from Peter. The reason that worked was that it was over as soon as it started, and ended with Peter being the same jerk that we all love.

OK, now it’s time to open the floor to debate. How many fans do you think get most of the references on Family Guy? Every episode is chock-full of pop-culture references — some really obscure and some not so obscure — and tonight’s episode seemed to have more than usual. From Spock’s funeral in Wrath of Khan to almost every '80s sitcom opening credit sequence (my favorite being the Bosom Buddies homage) to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, I wonder how many jokes aren’t registering with some viewers. Can an episode of Family Guy be perceived by some fans as being weak not because of the plot, but rather because they don’t get some of the referential jokes? Let me know what you think.

Since the Super Bowl airs next Sunday, and Fox is airing a repeat of X-Men United, Family Guy will return with a new episode on Sunday, Feb. 11. Until then, remember to say hello to the cool side of the pillow.

We’re three weeks into the New Year and still no new “Family Guy” episodes! I know they’re saving ‘em up for Sweeps in February, but come on Fox, how about one taste to hold us over? If we have to settle for repeats until then at least we’re getting solid episodes like this week’s second-helping of the current season’s “Mother Tucker”. I think we can all agree that the “Dingo and the Baby” segments were, to quote Peter, “freakin’ sweet”! Brian and Stewie’s shock-jock radio show was a spot-on assault on all of the hackneyed local morning zoos that pervade the FM airwaves. Once again, a Family Guy subplot outshined the main storyline, which is amazing since the main plot was hilarious.

We’ve met Lois’ rich parents and her long-lost, Jackie Gleason-hating, psychotic brother (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Peter’s hard-nosed, hard-working, devoutly Catholic father (voiced by the great Charles Durning), but we never met his mom until this episode. Phyllis Diller, in what is perhaps her most subdued role, is a wonderful choice as Peter’s mom, Thelma. Her slightly raspy voice is a nice counter-part to the Irish brogue of Peter’s father. Tired and bored with life, she leaves Peter’s dad and ends up dating local news anchor Tom Tucker.

There were lots of great moments with supporting cast favorites like Quagmire, Cleveland and Tom Tucker’s upside-down-faced son. Family Guy also featured the second appearance of an animated Gore Vidal in one night (he showed up at “Wordloaf” in the Simpsons repeat that aired earlier in the evening.) Plus, the “Peanuts” reunion cut-away bit ranks up there with the “Sesame Street/Homicide” segment from the first season. And did anyone spot the voice work of the great cartoon vet Jon Benjamin(“Dr. Katz”, “Home Movies”, “Freak Show”) last night? The man who provided voices for Ben Katz and Coach McGuirk once again lent his distinctive voice to Carl, the convenience store clerk who sells Brian a carton of smokes and a squeaky toy. I hope that we see more of Carl in the future. Until we get a new episode of Family Guy, remember gang, keep your dials tuned to WQHG for the “Weenie and the Butt Show”.