The Courtship of Stewie's Father

"The Courtship of Stewie's Father"
Family Guy episode
Peter attempts to bond with Stewie.
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 16
Written by	Kirker Butler
Directed by	Kurt Dumas
Production no.	4ACX19
Original airdate	November 20, 2005
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Family Guy (season 4) List of Family Guy episodes

"The Courtship of Stewie's Father" is the sixteenth episode of season four of Family Guy, which originally aired on November 20, 2005.^[1] The title of the episode parodies the title of the classic TV series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The episode sees Peter beginning to bond with Stewie after noticing that Stewie enjoys watching him assault Lois. After Lois tells Stewie to go to his room upon returning from a severe prank she was the subject of, Peter fails to argue with Lois, leaving Stewie feeling betrayed. In an attempt to restore Stewie's faith in him, Peter takes him to Walt Disney World Resort. Meanwhile, Chris is forced to assist Herbert in his household chores after breaking his window, much to the delight of Herbert.^[2]

Plot

After failing to receive the Employee of the Month award at Pawtucket Brewery, Peter attempts to charm his supervisor, Angela, who dislikes him. He organizes a surprise cockfight in her house, but she returns to find the remains of several chickens who have killed each other. When his mentally challenged co-worker, Opie, gets promoted and replaced by Soundwave of The Transformers, Peter still fails to win Employee of the Month. Meanwhile, after playing baseball in the street, Chris accidentally smashes his neighbor Herbert's window. In an attempt to repay his debt to Herbert, Chris agrees to help the elderly man in his household chores, much to Herbert's delight.

After speaking with Stewie's preschool teacher, Lois discovers several pictures Stewie has drawn which show him killing her. She ignores the obvious interpretation and instead notes that Peter is not included in any of the pictures. Lois suggests that Peter should make more of an effort to bond with Stewie. Peter reluctantly agrees, and begins to bond with Stewie after seeing him laugh when he assaults Lois. Lois asks Peter to grab a few jars, and he intentionally hits Lois with them, which makes Lois mad. Lois uses the bathroom, and Peter uses a hose to squirt her with it. Their final prank on Lois is to force her in to the trunk of the family sedan and push it in to the lake. Shortly after, Lois returns home furious and, after Stewie kicks and punches her for yelling at Peter, she demands Stewie go to his room. When Peter fails to back him up and stand up to Lois, Stewie feels betrayed.

To make amends with Stewie, Peter takes him to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Excited at the prospect of visiting Disney World, Stewie forgives Peter, although pretending to be annoyed. When the pair arrive, Peter inadvertently loses Stewie, who is captured by Disney World employees to sing (if anyone refuses they are made to do a Christmas movie with Tim Allen) for those enjoying the rides. Peter finds him and takes him away, but is chased across the theme park by a security guard, who eventually loses them in The Temple of Doom style (with Peter dressed as Indiana Jones and Stewie as Short Round). The pair return home after a brief encounter with Michael Eisner and Stewie's faith in Peter is restored.

Production

This is the first storyline the show has produced which focuses largely on Herbert.^[3] Originally, the Herbert storyline was designed to be longer, and several other gags had been created showing Herbert attempting to come on to Chris,^[4][5][6] but broadcasting standards were nervous about the episode and forced the show to reduce the amount of time spent on the storyline.^[3] Show producer Seth MacFarlane comments that the aftermath of the cockfight which Peter arranged was "a great drawing by Kurt Dumas".^[3] MacFarlane comments that it was "amazing lighting" on the flying car scene and that it is "so cool-looking".^[4] When Herbert comes to the house to tell Peter and Lois that Chris broke his window, he was meant to say more, but it was cut,^[4] one scene was intended to have Peter replying with "If he wants you to do a job, give him the best job you've ever given".^[5][6] When Quagmire is describing how he seduced two homeless twins, Fox censored the gesture which saw Quagmire pretending to put his hand up a woman's vagina (along with many other implied sexual acts) and showed Peter covering Stewie's ears.^[3] When God speaks to his lover after being telephoned by Jesus, he asks her "where were we", which she replies with "right about here" and hands him a condom. After telling her it's his birthday (so he won't have to use it), she replies a firm "no". The gag was designed in this way because broadcasting standards wanted to portray the message that God would not have unprotected sex.^[3]

MacFarlane made the sound effects of Stewie and Peter laughing excessively after attacking Lois,^[3][5] with no sounds of laughter being used from previous episodes.^[4] MacFarlane comments that he was "sweaty and exhausted after it".^[3] The reaction to the Peanut Butter Jelly Time scene astonished MacFarlane, as he believes it has become repetitious and annoying after he visited a karaoke bar in Hollywood and the club played it excessively. Stewie going crazy with excitement after learning Peter is taking him to Disney World is described by MacFarlane to be "a great piece of animation",^[3] and the scene "is a little more crazy than they [the show] normally go".^[3] Upon learning he has lost Stewie, a deleted scene was created showing Peter listing things he was going to do before finding Stewie, always leaving Stewie at the end of the list and putting his own needs before Stewie's.^[3] In the DVD commentary, MacFarlane describes the vocal performance by Mike Henry, when singing as Herbert, to be "nothing short of brilliant", adding that "there's so much feeling in the song, you almost root for Herbert to get at least a wink from Chris".^[3]

Cultural references

The flying car scene is a reference to 1989 sequel-film Back to the Future Part II.^[3][4] When Peter complains about his frustration on workplace, he is shown trying to conduct a chorus entirely made of Sand People from Star Wars, and, after they leave, Obi Wan replies that they will come back in greater number (much like in the original movie). When Opie is promoted and replaced, the job is taken by Soundwave, a character from the TV series The Transformers. The song Herbert is singing when dreaming of living with Chris is the song "Somewhere That's Green" from the 1986 film-adaption Little Shop of Horrors.^[3][4] The security guard chasing Peter and Stewie in to the "Indiana Jones Ride", as well as the following encounter with Michael Eisner, is a reference to the climax of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.^[4] The Halle Berry ride at Disney World where Berry knocks down several people is a reference to when Berry hit a pedestrian with a car then walked away. Peter and Stewie watch Michael Jackson's 3-D film Captain EO, in which Jackson jumps off the screen and kidnaps a child. Stewie is put to work on "It's a Tiny World", which is a parody of It's a Small World.^[3][4]

Reception

The episode was watched by over nine-million people on its original airdate.^[7] The Parents Television Council reacted negatively to the show, branding it the "Worst show of the week" on August 17, 2006, calling it a "sheer vulgar storyline."^[8] In a review of the episode by TV Squad, Ryan J. Budge noted "tonight was another great episode of Family Guy," adding that "these episodes keep getting better and better."^[9]

References

External links

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• The Courtship of Stewie's Father on Family Guy Wiki, an external wiki
• "The Courtship of Stewie's Father" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Courtship of Stewie's Father" at TV.com