Untitled Griffin Family History

"Untitled Griffin Family History"
Family Guy episode
The family gathers in Peter's panic room.
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 27
Written by	John Viener
Directed by	Peter Shin, Pete Michels and Zac Moncrief
Production no.	4ACX30
Original airdate	May 14, 2006
Guest stars
Lori Alan as Diane Simmons Chris Sheridan Joey Slotnick Danny Smith Phil LaMarr
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Petergeist" "Stewie B. Goode"
Family Guy (season 4) List of Family Guy episodes

"Untitled Griffin Family History" is the twenty-seventh episode of the fourth season of Family Guy and originally aired on May 14, 2006 on Fox. It was written by John Veiner and directed by Zac Moncrief.^[1] Robbers break in to the Griffins' house, so the family flees to safety in their panic room. Trapped with no way out, Peter decides to pass the time by telling his family the story of the Griffin family history, narrating a chain of events that describe their equally exotic and dysfunctional ancestry.^[2]

The episode was written by John Viener and it was directed by Peter Shin, Pete Michels and Zac Moncrief. It guest started Lori Alan as Diane Simmons and it featured Chris Sheridan, Joey Slotnick, Danny Smith and Phil LaMarr as various characters. The episode's original script included various scenes not included in the broadcasted version. The episode referenced Singin' in the Rain and other cultural references. Overall, the episode received negative reviews from critics, and achieved a Nielsen rating of 8.03.^[3]

Plot

While attempting to make Peter brush his teeth, Lois hears a noise from downstairs and the couple discovers that it is burglars. The rest of the family awakens and flee to Peter's self-built panic room and begin to monitor what the robbers are doing through hidden cameras. Due to the room not having a telephone or an inside door handle, Peter begins to tell stories about the history of the Griffin family.

The stories begin with the big bang, and then moves to the Paleolithic Age, where it is revealed that Peter's ancestor invented the wheel. The second story sees another Moses as a member of the Griffin family during the Bronze Age leading the Israelites to freedom. The family soon discovers that Meg can fit through the vent, so they force Meg through the vent and into the kitchen. Peter uses a loud speaker to contact Meg from the panic room, therefore alerting the burglars that somebody is in the kitchen. In order to take the family's mind off Meg being captured, Peter tells the story of Nate Griffin. Nate lived in the small village of Quahogsuana, but was captured by a white man from South Carolina and taken to America. He, along with Quagdingo and Joe Mama, prank the ship captain. They move his bed so it is floating in the ocean. Nate is discovered after briefly escaping and forced to work on a plantation, where he falls in love with the owner's daughter, and together, they bring up a secret family. After being discovered by his lover's father, the couple and their children escape, where Nate sets up the Department of Motor Vehicles to "get back at the white man".

After finishing the story, Peter carelessly aims a flare gun through an air vent, causing the sprinklers to come on. Meanwhile Meg is trying to persuade the burglars to rape her but they are not interested. The rest of the family, still trapped in the panic room, are preparing to potentially drown from the sprinklers filling the room up with water. Peter tells the story of his ancestor who was silent film star in the 1920s. His career began to fail after his success due to his differing voice when audio starts to come in movies. Peter then tells his family about his great uncle, Peter Hitler. Peter Hitler was able to provide Adolf Hitler with success at his Munich speech, although annoying Adolf greatly. As the water from the sprinklers almost reaches its peak, Peter declares to the family that he did not care for the movie The Godfather and a heated debate ensues. At the last minute Joe rescues them, draining the water out of the room, thus saving their lives. Joe informs the family he has arrested the burglars, but they are pressing sexual harassment charges against Meg. The family ignores Joe when he tells them she needs a lawyer to fight the charges, and she is taken to the police station.

Production

The episode was written by John Viener and was directed by Peter Shin, Pete Michels and Zac Moncrief.^[4] It guest started Lori Alan as Diane Simmons and it featured Chris Sheridan, Joey Slotnick, Danny Smith and Phil LaMarr as various characters.^[4]

During the episode's depiction of how the universe was created, God exclaims "you smell that?" after holding a lighter to his butt when performing flatus; this sketch was not broadcast on the Fox version of the episode.^[5] An additional scene not shown during the televised version was when the Griffins are depicted as dinosaurs.^[6] Originally, a Michael Jackson-related scene was to be included in the episode, but it was re-scheduled for a later episode due to limited time on this episode.^[5] In the original draft of the episode, Brian's speech informing Peter of the dangers in the woods during the Nate Griffin story was intended to be longer, including Brian talking about automobile ratings, though it was shortened for unknown reasons.^[5] MacFarlane praises the animation sequence showing a horse running around Lois' bedroom, describing it as "a piece of brilliance".^[5]

Show producers removed a sketch which would include a rape joke upon Carter's discovery of his daughter, Lois, with her secret family on the southern plantation, although at their own decision – not due to broadcasting standards objections.^[5][7] The sequence showing Peter's silent film star ancestor being stabbed in a card fight was omitted from television broadcasting to save time.^[5][7] Near the end of the episode, the Griffins are shown arguing over the quality of The Godfather; this scene is drawn from an actual argument that has taken place in the Family Guy writing room over its quality.^[8] Hitler talking to his wife about his annoyance at Peter was also removed from television broadcasting for timing purposes.^[8][9]

Cultural references

When Peter's Paleolithic ancestor is attempting to market the wheel, Brian tells him "You so money, you don't even know it," a reference to the film Swingers. The story of Nate Griffin, an ancestor of Peter, makes references to the first installment of Roots,^[5] as well as the LAPD's low-speed pursuit of O. J. Simpson following his wife's murder. The story about Peter's ancestor who was a silent film star is a spoof of Singin' in the Rain, as the girl in "Singin' in the Rain" did not have a good voice for the talking pictures.^[8]

Reception

"Untitled Griffin Family History" got negative reviews from critics. It finished 49th in the weekly ratings for the week of May 8–14, 2006, with a Nielsen rating of 8.03.^[3] In his review of the episode, Bob Sassone of TV Squad commented "All in all, a so-so episode. He enjoyed the story about the african american Griffins but started to feel that the episode was becoming less amusing, he did disliked the story of the silent films and the music that was played in it."^[10] In his review of Family Guy, volume four, Michael Drucker of IGN stated "Untitled Griffin Family History" to be "as cliché as the tropes they're mocking".^[11]

References

External links

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