Peter's Cheating Helps Their Marriage

Family Guy, S11E14

Peter got sued for stealing someone's property and the financial loss made it necessary for Lois to take up a job.  She thought she was getting an opportunity to do voice-over work, but it was only a job for phone sex.  Lois eventually got used to it, but she was shocked and hurt when Peter became one of her customers and seemed to get emotionally attached to her persona "Classy."

Somehow Lois getting into the sex industry didn't seem outrageous.  After all, being married to Peter is expensive with all of the random damages and fees that he builds up from his day-to-day mischief.  She basically needs to do whatever she can do to keep the family afloat, even if it's catering to people who need sexual relief over the phone.  Naturally, Lois didn't take too long to get the hang of it, nor even let her family know what she was doing.  I guess that's why she couldn't bust Peter right away because she would have to admit that she was doing phone sex in the first place.

As for Peter's infatuation with her over the phone, I felt like it did dance the line between cheating and being completely linked to Lois for life.  I would probably just call it a technical cheating because Peter was subconsciously falling for his own wife.  I do think it's weird that he would so quickly want to meet the woman and commit adultery, though.  Even if he felt strongly about her, he should have given it some time.  No wonder Lois wanted to fool him when he was being so impulsive about throwing their marriage away (as far as he knew).  Sure Lois was being distant lately, but that was no excuse for him to prepare to leave his family after what seem like a few phone calls.

However, I liked how Lois and Peter came to terms with the odd situation.  Sometimes, because Peter is always making jokes about Lois being old and unattractive, I forget that Peter loves Lois at all.  They have been married for over a decade, so they shouldn't be without their quarrels or complaints about one another.  Still, I liked seeing them reaffirm their feelings for each other in this story, no matter how twisted it was that Peter thought he was actually cheating on her.  For this show, it was sort of sweet that Peter fell in love with her voice and knew deep in his heart that the owner of the voice was the one that he was meant to be with.  It makes me wish that they had more sweet moments like that more often.

As for the jokes in this episode, there weren't many that I liked.  One that did work for me was when there was a cutaway to a man on a plane who decided to go back to coughing in a very annoying way when his magazine had a toenail in it.  It was funny that he grabbed a random baby and coughed in its face too.  I like how this was an exaggerated version of those types of people who seem to have coughing fits just when they happened to be trapped in a plane for a few hours.

Another that I liked was when Lois talked about Peter being in his anime phase.  It's not the first time that I've seen a cartoon poke fun at anime, but I still liked seeing Peter being drawn in a different way.  He had those too-shiny eyes and his body was all shaped like a big block.  He looked ridiculous, and I liked it.  I guess I enjoyed it because it was just so random for what was going on, like most good cutaways.

The last joke that I liked was when Peter was saying goodbye to his kids.  When he got to Chris he was unexpectedly abrupt with him:

Chris, people are gonna tell you you're stupid and that you're no good.

He totally left him hanging just like that.  Wow.  If those were the last words my father said to me, I'd be so struggling with that the rest of my life.   It was even funnier because he wasn't as mean with the other two (I mean, him farting on Meg is basically how he shows his love for her).

This was a pretty good episode.  There wasn't anything too gross and irritating about it, so I liked it a lot better than most stories I've seen.  Also, this was an unusually sweet story between Peter and Lois that involved being unfaithful.  It's strange that their night started off as Peter planning to go to bed with a woman he just met and Lois coming to see if her husband was going to go that far.  Instead of having a horrible and depressing ending, it turned out to make Peter and Lois stronger for the experience.  They may not be the sweetest couple in the cartoon world, but at least they do take the time every once in a while to remind us why the two of them have bothered to get married in the first place.

Just Do It--Don't Talk!

Family Guy, S11E11

Peter and the guys had a wild night of drinking that led to Quagmire accidentally getting married to a prostitute.  At first, Quagmire tried to make their marriage work, so that he wouldn't have to lose everything in a divorce, but he changed his mind when Charmese thought he was gay.  However, she wouldn't consent on a divorce unless Quagmire proved that he was really into men.

The biggest shock about Quagmire being married isn't who he married because let's face it--him marrying a prostitute doesn't sound below the quality of life he's lived so far.  It's just weird to see him married at all.  This was true when he had that fiancee in another episode who was too crazy for Quagmire.  At least this time Quagmire was involved with a woman who didn't seem so bad, despite her profession.  I mean, she was mostly just a sight to look at.  She did refuse to divorce him unless he had sex with a man in front of her, but since Quagmire was playing her in the first place, I couldn't see her as being psycho.  She probably never intended to let it get as far as it did.

I was surprised that Peter agreed to do that for Quagmire.  He's a really good friend, even though Peter seemed sort of into it more than he was letting on.  I can't forget that he said he had been "full sail" way before he and Quagmire got into the room.  Raises an eyebrow, but not such much that I'll probably remember it by the time the next episode comes out.

More than not wanting to see Peter and Quagmire actually get it on, I just wanted them to stop narrating what they were doing and "feeling."  They made it so much more uncomfortable to watch when they were saying such unnatural things.  And when they were barfing back and forth in each others' mouths--one of the grossest parts of the story.  It definitely beat when Charmese spit on Chris' face (yuck!)

There were a few jokes that I liked in this episode.  The first was a cutaway when Peter was comparing them sticking out at Harvard to a black guy in Sweden.  Unexpectedly when they started saying "Blackin sippin," I was laughing.  It was such bad fake Swedish that it couldn't be anything else but humorous.  It almost makes me want to say that next time I see a black guy sipping from a cup.

Next, I liked when Peter was confused about Beowulf:

[Peter] Hey, was Beowulf a Teen Wolf sequel with Scott Baio? 

[Joe] No.

[Peter] Then I just totally failed that Medieval Lit midterm.

I don't know why, but any kind of joke about Beowulf that you can make is funny to me.  I guess because since high school, I've always thought that title and story were strange to me.

The last joke I liked was a parody of It's A Wonderful Life:

[Girl] Look, Daddy. Teacher says every time a bell rings, some gay guy’s gonna have sex with another gay guy. 
[Father] We’re gonna pull you out of that school.

I'd like to know what school it is that says things like that to their students.  Sounds like a bizarre place.


This was a good episode.  I wouldn't mind watching it again, except I don't really want to listen to Quagmire and Peter talk about what they're going to do to each other in bed.  If they had just been a little quieter it might have been more tolerable to watch (although, I doubt they would show Quagmire screwing Peter for real).  There were enough jokes throughout that it was generally funny, and the story itself about Quagmire was interesting enough that I wasn't entirely so concerned about laughing every few minutes.

Just Stop Writing, Brian

Family Guy, S11E10

Brian finally had success with his writing when his play become popular in town, but after seeing the incredible play that Stewie had written, Brian was devastated and tried to sabotage Stewie's play by saying it was terrible.  Stewie figured out what he was doing and later got his show on Broadway, to Brian's dismay.

This was another depressing story about how Brian is never going to get anywhere with his writing.  I thought something was up when Brian was having people excited about his play--the few bits that we got to see were like the worst sitcom ever.  Plus, as Stewie had pointed out, Peter was really engaged in the whole thing.  If that wasn't a red flag that he was writing crap than nothing else is.  Still, I could have been content to see Brian enjoying the thrills of being semi-famous in town if one, he wasn't always an ass about his "genius," and two, he didn't decide to listen to Jasper and try to crush Stewie's aspirations.  I hate that I feel both bad for Brian and hate him for his selfish actions and cocky attitude.  Why can't Brian be either humble or not be jealous of someone else?  I'd settle for him just being one of those things.  I wish he didn't have to constantly be so insecure and desperate to be great (or even good).

One thing that was obvious in this story was how Stewie is absolutely Brian's friend and biggest supporter, even though Brian's deceitful and untalented.  Stewie did bring him to a party where people made fun of him and he sort of threw his own possible success on Broadway in Brian's face, but in the end he threw away his chance to be a big playwright to please his friend.  Brian does not deserve Stewie, as crazy as that baby is.  That's what makes it a little less touching because I'm still angry at Brian for trying to ruin Stewie when Stewie would sabotage his own play for Brian.  When has Brian ever sacrificed himself like that for Stewie?  It's times like this that I love Stewie and wish that prehistoric bird that got them would just swallow Brian and end his miserable life.

I wish there were more jokes to offset Brian moping and crying about how brilliant Stewie would be and how mediocre he was and will always be.  My favorite cutaway was when Chris was stuck in the seats and he met another guy in the same boat:

[Guy stuck in chair] She's not coming back, you know.
[Chris] How do you know that?
[Guy stuck in chair] Cuz she's my mom too.

More than be funny, this was just sort of shocking.  But I can totally see Lois doing that because while she seems to love her kids, she also has this side where she would abandon them if they were too troublesome for her tastes.  I mean, she once told Meg to stop crying or go ahead and kill herself.  She's not always the best mother around.

A little more shocking and unnerving moment was when Brian snapped the neck of the squirrel that he was yelling at.  But from the beginning I had a feeling that Brian was going to do something bad to that squirrel, so I wasn't taken aback that much.

There weren't any jokes that I loved, but some of them were okay.  One of such was when Peter went crazy from tasting real butter, but thinking it was I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.  I don't know why it would encourage him to kill three kids, but it was almost funny enough to make me laugh.  Another was when Peter was trying to figure out Stuart Little and he commented that he felt "old and in the way."  I've had a moment in life where someone was having a revelation about a movie where there was none to be had (because it wasn't complicated or trying to create mystery). So I suppose that's why I liked that scene.

I think I'm about done with these sort of stories with Brian hating himself and Stewie barely being able to keep him afloat from drowning in his own self-pity.  Brian's not ever going to get anywhere with his writing, so it'd be nice if maybe he tried to do something else with his short life.  Or at least if we have to see another pathetic chapter in Brian's short-lived fame there should be adequate jokes to distract us.  If I wanted drama without comedy relief, I'd go watch something like Mad Men.

Yes, Chris Is An Idiot

Family Guy, S11E09

Chris caught Peter and Lois talking about how dumb he was, and they tried to rebuild his self-esteem by sending him to a camp.  Chris picked Space Camp, which was mistakenly put in his brochures to choose from, and he quickly found out that he was miserable there.  The family came to bring him home and got trapped in space when they toured an active space shuttle before leaving.

 Chris being dumb is nothing new.  There's been many episodes about him struggling in school and such, but this time he just got sent away to camp.  Even though he went to Space Camp, it still wasn't very interesting, overall.  I mean, it didn't even help that the family got sent into space by mistake.  That part just seemed really unlikely and too much of a stretch for me (which is saying a lot because Peter sent himself up into space at one point when he got free gasoline).  But I realize that their problem was just an excuse to show that Chris had learned something and wasn't as dumb as dirt.  That's all well and good, but it didn't do much for me in the comedy department.

The jokes didn't have much impact on me, but there were a few that stood out to me.  The first was the one about Nathaniel Hawthorne.  I did like that he remarked that he was writing stuff to ruin the ninth grade for everyone.  I'm pretty sure anyone who completed high school could relate to that.

The second was when Chris called from Space Camp and wanted to come home and Peter also called.  Apparently Stewie was bullying him at the gym.  I didn't expect it to be his own son, so that joke wasn't too bad either.

The last I thought that was semi-funny was when Peter was being passive-aggressive about his annoyance to come pick Chris up at camp:

We spent thousands of dollars to send you here and made two trips to Florida in four days.  I'm glad we had you.

Usually I don't like when Peter's being a backhanded asshole, but in this situation it worked.  I think because I can sort of imagine a lot of parents who think this sort of thing when they agree to retrieve their kids from camps and whatnot.  Personally, I would make his ass stay.  Or at least say something worse than Peter to make Chris feel bad about it.  Haha.

They poked some fun at two things that I approved of.  One was Bob's Burgers.  They were horrified that the picture of Bob was turned in for Chris's art project.  Sometimes I forget that they're on the same network because the shows are so different.  But it's nice that Family Guy can get around to mocking all of the cartoons on FOX and not just The Simpsons.  The second that they mocked was Russell Brand.  Can't stand his ass, and they made his success seem dependent on simply an accent rather than his talents.  Even if they were just kidding, I agree with that.

There were also some racist jokes that I didn't care for.  The one about not being the black guy to stay alive wasn't too bad, but I think the one about the Chinese guy in the Japanese company was as bad as I was hoping it wouldn't be.  Really?  We have to show a guy with the hat, the teeth, and the water buffalo?  But I guess if they want to make sure that it's seen as a joke, they needed to go a little over the top.  Still, it would have been nice for them to do the opposite of what I was thinking they would do.  

Last, I just wanted to say it was kinda gross that Chris wanted to watch Peter and Lois have sex.  Uh, eww!  Even if he was curious, it's so freaking creepy.  And he was being obvious about it by listening by the door (which they should have closed if they were going to bad mouth any of their kids--they should know by now that they don't have any privacy with kids floating around).

I didn't care for this episode too much.  The jokes weren't that great and it focused too much on Chris.  He's not particularly boring, but we have seen a few stories already about him being an idiot and proving that he's probably not as bad as at least his father.  I'm just thankful it wasn't a Meg episode--the last one made me content not to see anything about her for a good while.

Meg Can't Let Go Of The Fantasy

Family Guy, S11E07

Meg finally went out with the boy she's been fantasizing about, Kent, to find out that he was gay and liked Chris.  Wanting to live through Chris, Meg schemed to roofie Chris so that Kent could have sex with him and Meg could hear the details later.

Well, for an episode about Meg, this one wasn't too bad.  I think that's mainly because even though she still couldn't catch a break, the one who made things worse for her was Meg herself instead of someone victimizing her.  Yeah, it sucked that Kent ended up being gay after she finally asked him out, but her refusal to accept reality was really pathetic.  She could have easily been Kent's friend, at least--that was better than him hating her like he did at the end.  Meg was also pretty selfish, wanting to disregard Chris's feelings just to fulfill her fantasy.  I don't know.  Meg should really take the small victories when she can.  She wanted the gold prize (a real relationship with Kent), when she could have been really content with bronze (friendship).

Also, Meg was really rude when she kept denying that Kent was gay because he didn't act like a stereotypical gay man.  I would think that she would be smarter to know that you can't cook-cut people like that.  But maybe she was too blinded by her desire for Kent to use her brain.  Just one more reason that Meg looked like a horrible person who sort of deserved to be bullied upon like she always is.

Anyway, there were a few moments that I liked.  My second favorite was when Meg was squealing with joy about successfully asking out Kent.  Stewie came to the door and before closing it said:

I’m gonna go ahead and shut this for you.

Stewie's irritation at her loud voice just made me laugh.  It's like he was doing something so important that Meg was interrupting or something.

My favorite part, though, was when Meg told Kent that Chris had a dark side.  I wasn't sure if she was making it up (because she was lying about Chris being gay in the first place), but that cutaway was so creepy!  Chris was sitting in their room in the dark, sitting in a rocking chair or something.  Then he got up started to gently stroke Peter's face while Peter was trembling in the bed.  I don't know what the hell was going on, but it was so uncomfortable that it was hilarious.

I also thought it was kind of funny that one of Meg's teachers informed her and her friends that he would be in the park later, which was one of his technically not illegal invitations.  That teacher is like intentionally being the bare minimum sleaze-bag that he's allowed.

There were some disturbing things as well in this episode.  The number one thing was the plant that kept raping things.  First it raped a roofied plant, and then it raped a roofied Stewie.  Eww!  It was almost funny because you wouldn't expect a plant to do that, but instead it was just a frightening thought to imagine a plant attacking a person like that.

Another thing was when Meg went to get roofies from Quagmire.  That wasn't too weird because it was Quagmire, but his comment after she left was a bit unsettling:

That’s what it’s all about, Glenn.  Don’t rape it back, rape it forward.

Yeah, let's not rape it forward or back or at all.  I can see why Quagmire would be willing to be Meg's contact if she got arrested for those roofies because he has no business having them nor giving them to unbalanced teenagers.

There was this moment when Peter was on the slip-n-slide and a giant spider was pulling him away wrapped in a web.  That wasn't disturbing, but more like what the hell was going on??  I almost wish that it had come back later in the episode to sort of answer that question because it was so random (but not unwelcome).

Finally, the last thing I wanted to comment on was how I was a little annoyed with that cutaway about how women and men differ in friendships.  I don't think that the difference is as simple as women use half-insult compliments to their friends, while men are straightforward.  I guess what bothers me the most is that whenever there are gender-difference jokes, it's always to paint women in a worse light than men.  I can't think of time when it was the other way around.  Just gets a little tiring to see that constantly.

I liked this episode, even though Meg was being an obsessive jackass. It's not the first time she's let her fantasies run wild, nor will it be the last.  For someone who is so desperate like her, these sort of stories are kind of a given.  She doesn't get affection or positive attention, so if she has a chance for it, she's definitely going to use unorthodox methods to get it and not give up easily.  Luckily, there were quite a few jokes to distract you from Meg trying to help someone unknowingly date rape her brother.  I can't imagine how horrible it would have been if there wasn't some good comedy to shift the focus away from that.

Stewie Versus Sheldon

Family Guy, S11E06

Lois started acting like a 20-year old after Peter gave a speech at her birthday party that compared her to an old horse.  Peter was enjoying the perks of having a "younger wife" until he couldn't keep up with Lois' wild new behavior.  Stewie also got a new pet turtle who turned out to be stirring up trouble and trying to murder him.

This is far from the first time that Peter has mentioned in a not so tactful way that Lois is getting older.  So I didn't really have much of an reaction to his insensitive speech because that's what Peter does all the time.  I also didn't feel too surprised that Lois handled the problem in an extreme way because she's shown many times that she has a wild side.  The best part of the story besides when Peter decided to stop being a dick and appreciate Lois for the mature woman she has become was just seeing Peter so ragged from hanging out with Lois night after night.  He was having fun with her new attitude until his old body couldn't keep up.  Serves his ass right.  I could have been completely pleased with this story had Peter not went back to his regular jerk of a self by telling Lois to get out because she was older than 35.  There are only so many times I can watch a husband give shit to his wife about being old before the joke because tired and annoying.  We're definitely at that point by now.

Also, in that story, there was another cutaway to a Conway Twitty video.  I groaned more than usual to see the return of this gag because he was sporting some Bieber hair this time.  I don't know if it was because it was digitally altered so badly that I was annoyed or just annoyed that they would even try to put that on him.  Either way, it wasn't funny and I'm over those Conway Twitty jokes too.

The best part of the episode was definitely that Stewie had taken in Sheldon.  We don't know why the turtle was so damn evil, but it was pretty hilarious is a creepy way.  I would have never expected a little thing like that to be knocking over bookshelves and snapping seagulls' necks.  You would think that with Stewie being a bit of an evil person himself that he and the turtle would get along great, but I guess that just gave them a reason to have a fight.  I liked that Stewie was nearly bested by Sheldon (of all the people he's managed to defeat and a little turtle takes him down??), but at the end Super Mario appears out of nowhere and stomps on Sheldon.  And that was it.  Because it was Mario and very random, I had to laugh and enjoy that convenient conclusion to their fight.  Actually, that was the best ending I could think of.  After all, either Stewie or Sheldon would have had to kill the other.  I'm sure it wouldn't have ended up being funnier than a plumber dropping down on the turtle.  I just wonder if non-Mario fans liked that ending, though.

There were a few cutaways that I liked.  The first was when Stewie, as a king, was being mocked by a court jester and his response to the jester was unexpected:

In my office.  Now.

I had thought he might say off with his head or something, but instead his reply was much more contemporary, so it was a good joke to me.

Another good cutaway was when Lois was being tricked by Peter with a fake grocery store.  I don't know why, but when she knocked it over and was just standing around in the middle of nowhere with these huge cutouts, including the clerk who had just been talking to her, I started laughing.  I guess the idea of someone going to such trouble to fool someone (and someone falling for said trick) was just too ridiculous to imagine.

The third cutaway I liked stared Johnny Depp in his popular role of Edward Scissorhands.  You knew that as soon as he held that baby that it wasn't going to end well, but it still managed to be funny.  Especially since it was the actual actor and he was saying all these assuring things before he came back in the room immediately to tell the couple that their baby was dead.  How sick, but how nice to see them referencing one of my favorite Johnny Depp movies.

The only other thing I thought was kinda funny was when Stewie received Rupert's head in a box and then got an additional box with a stranger's head in it.  I just liked how Stewie was clueless of the guy's identity and indifferent to his death.  I don't know what Sheldon was trying to achieve with that.

I liked this episode.  For a story where Peter was making Lois feel shitty, it didn't make me that angry, so I was able to enjoy the comedy of it all.  I loved seeing Stewie fight a new pet and just watching that sinister turtle walking slowly around doing devious things.  I'm almost a little disappointed that Mario got him because I would love a round two.  Sheldon would make an excellent rival to Stewie in the same way that Chicken is to Peter (except not nearly as frustrating to watch).

Leave My TV Alone, Peter

Family Guy, S11E02

The Griffins were selected to be a Nielsen family, which gave Peter a lot of power to influence local TV shows.  Peter stole more of the Nielsen boxes when he realized this and started to ruin TV nationwide.

This episode poked a lot of fun at many different TV shows while Peter took advantage of being a part of the Nielsen family.  They also went after some of the people who play a hand in making some of the popular TV as well, which was nice as well.  I'm glad that Family Guy didn't go too crazy with bashing any particular show, but they did make sure they got a jab at as many as possible before the half hour was over.

One of Peter's first changes to TV when he suggested that prairie dogs pop up during the news whenever Tom said something sad was kind of funny in a cute way.  I just find news in general to be a little too serious (and rightly so), so I enjoy Peter's attempt to make it a little more entertaining for the simple-minded (which I can tend to be).

I was a little annoyed later when Stewie was concerned that the volume on their TV wasn't working:

No matter how low I turn the volume, Aziz Ansari is always shouting at me.  What did I do?

He's not that loud!  I know it's a joke and all, but come on.  When I think of Aziz, him shouting all the time isn't the first thing that comes to mind, so I'm annoyed that they didn't think of something more clever for him.  Boo.  But least they didn't say anything racist because they love to go down that road whenever they can.

My favorite TV star they mentioned was definitely Jon Hamm.  I think he is hilarious when he's not playing a dramatic role (though sometimes I think Don is hilarious), and I had no idea he was gonna to pop up on this show.  He and Peter had a pretty funny conversation:

[Peter] Hello, Jon Hamm?  Peter Griffin, Nielsen family.  Listen, did I catch you at a good time, or are you and the critics busy sucking each other’s butts?
[Hamm] Excuse me?
[Peter] Look, your show is really boring. But don’t worry, I got some ideas on how you can jazz it up.
[Hamm] Listen, I don’t need your suggestions, pal.  I’ve been a big celebrity for a year and a half now.

But then Hamm changes his mind when Peter makes their ratings drop and listens to his suggestions to put in light sabers and Kiss (I think) playing the theme to Star Wars.  For a show like Mad Men, that is just the craziest thing ever, but I feel like it would be so off the wall that I would totally watch an episode like that.  I'd like Family Guy to make some more jokes about Mad Men if they are going to give me as good as a laugh I had last Sunday night.

That was about the best thing in the episode, but I also liked Mayor West complaining about Cougar Town:

You put a real cougar on Cougar Town, and now that cougar’s dead because Courtney Cox ripped it apart with her teeth and claws!

And I also liked Peter basically summarizing what J.J. Abrams' shows are like while speaking to him:

[Peter] J.J. Abrams, you take wonder and complexity and present it in a way that no one can possibly understand.  Whaddaya got?!
[Abrams] I’ve got an alien that goes back in time and encounters a koala bear in an Eastern European town.
[Peter] Totally confused.  Do it!

I'm still not sure what the hell was going on in Lost, which was really aptly named.  Haha.

I also thought it was nice of them to do this episode in memory of the deceased Phyllis Diller and Michael Clarke Duncan.  I enjoy when they dedicate these episodes because it just sort of helps the memory of their lives live on.

This could be one of my favorites for this season, but it is a little early to know whether something will top it later on.  I hope that there are a lot of stories with a lot of good jokes, like this one, instead of like last season where I felt I spent most of my time complaining about what I didn't like.  Good job this time!

No Chicken Fights, Please

Family Guy, S10E23

Joe decided to have an affair after experiencing problems with Bonnie and being convinced from his friends that it was only fair since she cheated first.  At Kevin's birthday, Bonnie learned of his infedelity and Joe learned that Bonnie had never cheated.  They two seemed to be on the road to divorce until Peter helped Joe and Bonnie recreate they first meeting.

We had another long Peter and Chicken fight that we hadn't seen in a good while.  The absence of this long-running gag helped me not pull out my hair at the sight of it again, but it was hardly the best 5 minutes of the episode.  I did like that they had a part where Peter and Chicken went back to the Old West, via Stewie's time machine.  They were able to get back by hitching a ride on car being pushed by a train in a scene that looked just like Back to the Future.  Besides that, I found myself wanting to push a fast-forward button so that the fight would hurry up and end.  I'm not sure if this is the final fight between them since Chicken did open his eyes at the end, but he was burnt to a rotisserie crisp, so maybe we never have to suffer through another of their fights.  I'm begging for the latter.

 The fight between Bonnie and Joe wasn't that interesting except that we learned that she didn't cheat on Joe in France.  Maybe they told us this already, but I thought she had.  It made reconciliation for the couple look bleaker after what Joe had done.  I doubted that after their big blowout at Kevin's birthday party that they would even want to look at each other again.  But then we saw how Joe and Bonnie first met.  That was another surprise--didn't expect Bonnie to have been a stripper when they first met.  Makes me wonder if it was all a fairy tale from then on.  After all, when Peter succeeded in making them feel like it was their fateful first meeting again, they were swept away enough by their love to agree to work on their marriage.  It's been a long time since this show has done something that was even remotely sweet.  That was the last thing I thought I would see in their season finale.

Finally, I think I only liked one cutaway this time.  Stewie went into a door that said "This is not an exit" and found there was a gorilla on the other side to beat him up.  He complained the door should have been less vague about what awaited behind the door.  It's funny how such a rather simple joke works so well for me.

For the last episode in the season, there wasn't a lot of comedy, unless it amuses you to see Peter fight Chicken for the fifth or whatever number of times.  I will say it's probably the fight I hate the least of them all.  Also, it's nice to see that they haven't abandoned completely the idea of ending a story on a happier note rather than something bitter and mean-spirited.  It gives me a little hope for what the next season might bring.  There were probably as many episodes I liked this season as there were ones that I didn't.  But I don't think this show has quite peaked yet, so I'm definitely still firmly strapped in await for what things they will shock and amuse us with in the 11th season.

Some Governent Better Than None

Family Guy, S10E21

Peter, annoyed by the government's ability to persecute him for running an unlicensed business, joined a Tea Party rally in town.  He got involved deeper when Carter started using him to gear up more support, and the numbers of Tea Party supports grew so large that they were able to convince Mayor West to resign and abolish city government.  When Quahog quickly began to decline without government to maintain order and public services, Peter fixed the problem by suggesting to the townspeople that they implement a system that was exactly the government that he had earlier opposed.

I didn't think this episode was that funny, but I did think it was predictable.  There's no way that Quahog was going to function better without government, so I was simply annoyed by the full circle of events that happened.  I think the overall message that people who come down on the government for being too intrusive don't realize the general necessity of government.  But I don't really watch this show for the social/political commentary--I come for laughs.  I can't recall any jokes that were good, but there were a lot of disturbing moments throughout that I enjoyed.

One was when Stewie mentioned that some man had tried him on in the closet.  I don't know what that meant at all, but it sounds really bad, especially since Stewie said he "fit."  What the hell??  Another that was quite similar in that fashion was when Meg agreed that the lack of government had benefits.  She and her Spanish teacher were allowed to hold hands, and he wanted to screw her in the library.  Eww!  But when you think about it, if you got rid of government, adults would be allowed to freely take advantage of underage people.  That's a damn good reason to not want to abolish it all together.  The last joke that was unsettling was when Hebert came into the Griffin house and just kidnapped Chris.  That made me gasp.  Again, it speaks to the idea that a lawless town would not just be filthy and lacking electricity, but would also have perverts like Herbert rolling up in your house and taking any kids they damn well pleased.  Makes me want to shudder.  But it was slightly funny in a "I can't believe this is happening" creepy way.

I would say this isn't the best episode this season, but it's not the worst.  I think it works for a certain kind of audience, and I just don't happen to fall into that category.  I applaud them for making a story about the Tea Party and not taking their satire over the top.  However, I'll be very content for them to address something less significant in the next episode, so that I can enjoy a little more of the jokes than I did this week.

Meg Gets "Taken"

Family Guy, S10E20

Meg went overseas to Paris with a friend and got kidnapped by human smuggling group.  Brian and Stewie went to save her, going through many typical action movie steps before they do so.  Meg almost had a terrible thing turn into a wonderful dream, but it was literally blown up in front of her face before that could happen.

For a Meg story, which are rarer in these days, I wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be a spoof of the movie Taken, which made it a lot more interesting.  I had a feeling it was based on that story when Meg and Ruth got in the car with a dubious stranger, but as soon as I saw the place that she and Meg were staying, I instantly knew it had to be going down that road.  It's a little exciting to watch a spoof  that I recognize on any of the Seth MacFarlane shows because I feel like I don't know even a fourth of the movie references they make.

I liked that when Peter got a call from Meg as she was getting kidnapped, Peter realistically told the man on the phone that he would never be able to find him and told Lois that Meg was dead.  Even for this show, no one would have been able to believe that Peter would have the skills to rescue Meg in a foreign country he's never been to.  I actually thought they were going to be cruel enough to just let Meg be, but thankfully Brian seems to have a bit of a soft spot when it comes to Meg (he's about the only one), and he got Stewie to come with him to get her.  When I saw that Stewie was on the job, I knew that they would be able to successfully get Meg back.  Plus, it also meant that this was more of a Brian and Stewie story than Meg, really, so it wasn't going to be as bad.

Most of the jokes, however, weren't that great while they were finding out information about where Meg had been taken.  They weren't necessarily bad, but they didn't make me laugh either.  My favorite joke was when Brian and Stewie stole a car and it had "car chase GPS."  That was a cool way to mock the typical development of most car chases in any given action movie.  If there was such a car that had that, it would be pretty cool.  I mean, most people would crash within a few minutes of attempting most of things that people try in those sorts of scenes.

Because bad things always happen to Meg and it's treated like normal, I was a bit happy when her kidnapping turned into her being possibly engaged to a wealthy, handsome prince.  But I already knew that before their lips touched that Stewie was going to shoot him in the head.  There was no question in my mind.   I think Meg deserved a happier ending after all the shit she has to put up with her family, but of course, it wouldn't be funny in a horribly ironic way if Meg had her dreams come true.  At least Stewie wiped her mind (though not the part where she met the man of her dreams) and got her to safety.  Even with Peter poking fun at Meg that she got no mail while she was gone at the end, at least she was home in one piece.  I guess, this show can't be that heartless to her and have her abandoned somewhere.  No point in sending her somewhere exotic to be miserable when she can be miserable at home.

I think I liked the spoof element best in the episode, overall anything else.  It would have been great if they could have had better jokes, but it was at least nice to see a Meg-centered story where she wasn't treated too much like a lesser person.  Thank goodness for Brian who cares enough about Meg not to treat her life like garbage and for Stewie who is a bad ass skilled and equipped well enough to handle an international rescue.

Stewie Finds His Soulmate

Family Guy, S10E19

Lois got she and Peter separate beds after suffering another injury after he rolled over her in his sleep.  Peter, unable to sleep properly without someone to cuddle, asked Quagmire to be his substitute in that manner.  However, Peter started living with Quagmire completely, living his life with him in an intimate way that looked like they were a couple.  He finally went home after Lois agreed to sleep in the same bed with him and confessed that she missed cuddling with him too.  Stewie met his soul-mate with a wicked girl named Penelope.  Brian, after watching the news of the international terrors Stewie and Penelope had perpetrated together, told him that she was a bad influence on her and should stop seeing her.  When Stewie told Penelope about Brian's thoughts, she demanded that Stewie kill him.  Stewie couldn't do it, so Penelope came to do it herself.  After an intense battle, Stewie bid farewell to Penelope and admitted to Brian that he was right about her.

I had to agree with Lois' decision to not sleep with Peter in the same bed since he didn't seem to think her breaking numerous ribs was a problem, nor did the doctor want to admit that Peter had any fault in her injuries.  If that wasn't bad enough, he was really annoying with his plume pen writing at night where he would actually say "dip" each time he dipped his pen into the ink.  It might not have been a bad idea for her to get her own place entirely if he was going to be that obnoxious.

It was also smart of her to leave Peter be for a while after he decided to sleep with Quagmire.  It was kind of weird when they first laid together and Peter was taking off Quagmire's boxers with his foot.  At least let him take it off himself.  Eww.  But I think when Peter moved into Quagmire's and they had a montage about how their were interacting with each other every day, it was kind of sweet (if you imagined they were a couple).  It's funny that just snuggling in the same bed could make them that close. I could have stood to see more of how their relationship deepened (besides that "giggity band") before Lois came to get her man back.  I'm glad that Peter didn't make too much of a fuss about it since, as his wife, I would hope she would be his top choice for spooning.  I felt bad for Quagmire that he was stuck to Peter's back and crushed just like Lois had been at the beginning.  Not sure if I can call that karma or not.  Or ironic.  But it is a little funny.

Stewie's story was okay.  It was interesting to see him find another person like himself who was perhaps a bit more evil.  She, unlike Stewie, didn't have a dog best friend who could convince her to stop creating havoc for kicks.  I liked when Stewie had to make a 20s theme with his tidal wave destruction and he chose flappers dancing on surf boards on the waves.  That was cute.  I'm just surprised that Brian figured out what Stewie and Penelope were up to so quickly, seeing as they were doing everything by themselves.  It was even better when Stewie defended his actions by saying it was nothing new for him:

[Stewie] I’ve always been about world domination.  What the hell did you think I was talking about when I said, “Victory shall be mine”?

[Brian] You have not said that in a very long time.
[Stewie] Well, I’m back on it.

I laughed at that because I had forgotten that Stewie did use to say that.  This episode reminds me of when Stewie killed Lois (in a simulation) because Brian questioned whether he had gotten soft about being evil.  Truth be told, I don't miss that Stewie too much because he's funny enough without being a mastermind trying to take over the world.  With Brian usually by his side, there's hardly any time for him to be thinking about killing his mother and such.

It was cute when Stewie kept coming up behind Brian and trying to kill him different ways, but just couldn't kill him.  We've seen enough episodes to know that Stewie doesn't give a damn about anyone when push comes to shove unless it's Brian, so it would be a little out of his character for him to off Brian now, even when he met the love of his life.  It wasn't surprising that a girl  who surpassed Stewie in evil would go off to finish the job herself.  I liked that before she arrived, the mail carrier kept looking like he was listening in on Brian and Stewie's conversation and even waiting at the door to for them.  However, he had just been killed by Penelope and was standing there dead.  Nice.

What I noticed about the Stewie and Penelope fight was that she really came prepared.  I mean, she had all kinds of gadgets and weapons ready to slash and fry someone to death.   My favorite part of their fight was when Penelope shrunk a car and Stewie later threw it at her and enlarged it to full size while it was still in the air so it would fall on her.  Too much happened that I can remember it all, but I did like her blade in her shoe.  I just kept wondering when Stewie would reveal some weapon on himself because he was a little disadvantaged.  Finally, at the end he pulled out a knife from his ankle and told her to stay away from his dog.  Aww.  He does care.  Plus, Penelope kissed him and sent him flying so the cord around him would be tied around a light pole.  It's possible she might return one day.  But I kept wondering how Stewie would get down from there.  Then again, a baby like him that can fight on top of a moving truck is capable of anything.

It was stupid at the end they had Brian ask Meg about her day, but she just opened her mouth and no sound came out.  Come on now.  Stop shoving it our faces that you don't give a damn about Meg's character.  You might as well kill her off instead of treating her like a roach.  Seriously.  It's hardly funny anymore.  It's like that damn chicken Peter fought or those vaudeville guys.

Not the funniest episode, but not bad.  I wish I could have enjoyed the guest star, but I'm not too familiar with her work, so it wasn't anything special for me.  I did like to see that Stewie could fall in love for once, instead of watching Brian's many desperate one-night stands.  That's getting old.  I wish that there had been more jokes that I enjoyed, but I guess it the stories were interesting enough that it didn't matter too much.

Peter and Brian: True Blue Friends

Family Guy, S10E17

Basically, the answer to the question that no one was probably wondering beyond Stewie was given last Sunday:  Are Peter and Brian friends of convenience or friends through and through?  Well, through the magic of science, Peter and his buddies are thrown into a world by themselves where a spoof newspaper article makes the others think that Peter is an evil, human-destroying alien.  It was very interesting to see how these four would get along if their memories were wiped and they were the sole residents of the world.  It was a little eerie in a Twilight Zone-like way and funny in the regular Family Guy way.

I think what I liked the best was when Quagmire was trying to teach Brian "gimme paw," and it took forever.  Brian contrasts his normal dog qualities by blurting out some pseudo-intelluctual crap afterwards before Quagmire tells him to shut up.  No surprise that the deep-rooted hatred that Quagmire has for Brian still manages to seep out even though they don't have their memories back.  Two other gags that I enjoyed were Peter pulling out the Chex Mix to see if anyone else was around, and the revised "Who Else But Quagmire?" joke ("Who Else But Shirt Pants?").  However, I will say that the oddity of their situation and whether the mystery would be revealed was a lot more interesting to me than the comedy in this episode.

What I didn't particularly like was the "shock" joke this time.  There was a cutaway to a gorilla petting a kitten next to a pile of dead ones it had already torn to bits.  So gross.  It's very hard for me to laugh at a dead animal or one suffering in a bloody manner.  I would have preferred that Peter had just told us that had happened rather than us having to see the death pile.

Also, I didn't much care for the ending of this episode where the girls were put in the same scenario as the guys, but all they were doing was fighting and pulling each others' hair.  Apparently they hadn't even tried to name each other.  What bullcrap.  As if women would naturally just hate each other and not work together.  I think women would fight less if men were out of the picture.  Damn you, Seth MacFarlane, and your anti-women position.  Sometimes when I stop to think about it (which I do more now that he has more than one show where I can compare the women characters he's made), it irritates me how women are represented in SF world.  But then again, it's just a cartoon.  It's nothing to march about.  Still, I wish he would have a women character who wasn't in a position where it seemed like she was ranked lower than her husband (or father).

Anyway, I was a little touched by how deep Peter and Brian's friendship turned out to be.  Brian may be an asshole most of the time, but he does love Peter, and the feeling is mutual.  Brian took a damn bullet for him.  Sometimes you might question whether Peter has a heart, but seeing his best friend die before his eyes and all the tears, you know that his love for Brian is more than that of a pet.  It's a nice change of pace because they haven't really had a moment where if you were soft-hearted enough you might just say, "Aww" while watching Family Guy.  They used to have touching family moments like this in the first season, but the eventually disregarded this for a general feeling of tolerated hatred among the family (or indifference, at best).

Although this episode reminds me a little of when Stewie killed Lois (it all turned out to be a simulation), I still thought it was good in general.  I wouldn't mind more of this style where things are unusual for a reason you can't determine right away, nor would I mind a little more sentimental stories (if not to offset all the stories where the characters are being jerks to one another).  We're fast approaching the end of this season, and I'd hate to see it end with me disliking more episodes than I liked.

Damnit, That Is A Scary-Ass Robot!

Family Guy, S10E16

This episode was mostly about Peter and Chris going to a fat camp where some of the boys were strangled to death by a mysterious killer, but the Stewie and Brian sidestory was the stronger of the two for me.  Although, unlike most episodes lately, I thought this one was funny overall.  And best of all, the end sort of tied the two stories together.  I don't mind if these kinds of stories run parallel to each other without intersecting, but I like them better when the writers think of a way they can connect in some way.

I didn't expect Peter to make Chris enter the hot dog contest (nor for him to win--I mean, they didn't really train or anything), but I guess a story with Chris in it was overdue.  The best thing is that they addressed that Peter was just as overweight as his son, and he joined Chris at the fat camp for teenagers.  But did anyone else notice that Barry from American Dad was there too?  I asked my sister if that was him, and she just thought it was my imagination, but if you listen to the voice, it's the same guy.

I don't know how I felt about Patrick coming back.  Since this wasn't the first time I have ever watched this show, I knew it couldn't be that easy that he was the killer they were looking for.  It was funny that when Peter was suggesting Patrick might be the killer, he mentioned his role in some musicals, and they showed how bad he was at patter singing (which I didn't know what that style was called--I always learn things from this show).  Even though the murders had nothing to do with Patrick, he disappears at the end for some reason.  Did he run off to kill more fat guys?  Will he show up in another episode?  Hopefully his next appearance will more exciting than last Sunday's.

I didn't have a clue who the killer was until they noticed that the kids getting killed looked like Chris.  I guess I totally forgot about Yamamoto, the only person it could be.  Glad it wasn't someone random, but not someone so obvious that they were practically yelling it (like him leaving hotdogs behind each time he killed--that would have been cheesy).

Now, about Stewie's very rational fear of the Queen album cover.  Oh, my God!  That is one freaky robot!!  I'm not a fan of Queen, so it was the first time I was seeing it too.  I'm sure if that album was laying around somewhere, I would turn it over so I wouldn't have to look at it.  This made the fact that Stewie nearly crapping his diaper each time Brian brought it out even funnier because I understood his fear.  Apparently, Seth MacFarlane had been disturbed by this robot back in the day (according to his twitter).  I can't believe how far Brian went to scare Stewie, though.  I never thought he would manage to get the image inside of the lotto ticket.  Man, those writers are clever.  The jack-in-the-box one was a little more predictable because there was no way those writers were going to do what you expected (thus the lotto ticket) and have the scary thing inside of the box.  That would be too easy.  Overall, I thought Brian did an excellent job of screwing around with Stewie.

I even thought it was funny that Stewie was almost going to kill himself because he was so afraid of that robot coming to get him.  Luckily, Brian stopped him before we had to see baby brains on the walls and gets Stewie to realize that it's just some art, not some kind of message of the future.  Finally, things came full circle when Stewie was able to use the album cover to give Yamamoto a heart attack and save Chris.  However, I didn't like how the actual robot gave Stewie a thumbs up.  Eww--that thing is so unsettling!  But I applaud Family Guy for recognizing this and exaggerating it in a humorous way.

Oh, yeah.  I almost forgot about my favorite cutaway.  Peter was talking about understanding scary teens.  At first it looks like he might reveal that scary teens just want love, but once the boy shows his vulnerable side, Peter beats the crap out of him.  Whatever I might say about this show, it is genius in throwing out violence when I least expect it.

This might be my favorite episode yet this season.  Although, I can't remember all of the others, so I might have to contradict myself later if I take the time to look at the older ones.

Do We Really Care About Mort?

Family Guy, S10E15

This week's episode was about Peter and Quagmire helping Mort commit insurance fraud while Joe tried to get to the bottom of the "accident."  I have nothing against Peter and Quagmire adventures (and even Joe as long as he's in the background), but I have no desire to watch any story that deals mainly with Mort.  He's just annoying and not in a good way where he bothers others to hilarious rage.  Of course, I was even less happy with this setup because I knew that it wouldn't involve Stewie at all (yes, I know--I just love those Seth MacFarlane babies).  The little guy only had 2 scenes in this episode, and it wasn't enough to compensate the boredom I felt through most of it.

If I had to pick the part I disliked the least, it would be when Peter was trying to interrupt Joe's investigation by texting him about dinner arrangements.  Joe's frustration over the endless messages about each detail of it were easy to relate to; who hasn't gotten to the point that they wanted to throw their phone after being beaten by an array of texts?  As a joke it wasn't bad, but wasn't that good either.

Another thing that almost had me smiling was Joe wondering if Chris might be his friend.  However, Peter didn't think it was possible since Chris would be afraid of him:

He thinks you're a transformer that broke halfway through.

I like that only because I like anything that will poke fun at Transformers, a show I've disliked since childhood.

I guess this show doesn't want to always do things so typical, because Peter did, for once, buy something random that wasn't insane (Lois yelled at him for his superfluous spending habit, but it was nothing like the "Petercopter") like a lawnmower.  That led to a steak bone getting stabbed into Quagmire's forehead, but nothing too incredible by Family Guy standards.  I don't mind if they want Peter to act a little normal and then have something extraordinary happen to him, but this time it was almost a story you could see on another show and could be done in the same fashion.  I come to this show for stories that go down roads that you would never think.  Sort of how I used to depend on The Simpsons for that before they got too old.  Where am I supposed to go now if FG ain't gonna bring it?

FOX Sunday night was a let down this week.  After being without them for a week, I was ready to be entertained with some of my favorite current animated shows.  Now I'm wondering if I'll like these shows better if a month went by before I watched again.  I might just have too much on my plate at the moment to appreciate the gems in front of me.  However, I'm tempted to give Napoleon Dynamite another chance if things keep going like this.  Perhaps, watching that crap will have the same effect as when I gave Allen Gregory a go.  I was happy to get back to The Simpsons and Seth MacFarlane world after that.

Send That Dolphin Back To The Ocean

Family Guy, S10E14

 I had heard (through some tweets) that Ricky Gervais would guest star on the last episode of Family Guy, so I was anticipating a laugh fest.  I really wish that I hadn't gotten my hopes up at all.  While I did enjoy hearing Ricky's voice, I didn't care much for most of the jokes this time.  Something was missing, but I'm not sure what.

Peter and the boys go to fish out some recently sunk Mercedes from the harbor, but pull out a dolphin named Billy instead.  Billy gets Peter a hood ornament and owes him a favor in return.  The favor turns out to be a place to stay on the surface.  The side story was about Stewie's ghetto preschool and Brian's absent attempt to help him.

I'll talk about the side story first.  The head of the preschool, Miss Emily, turns out to be a young, attractive girl with the brains of a squid, exactly Brian's type.  Not again!  So he does his regular thing of acting like a selfish douche bag, while ignoring the horrible conditions Stewie and the other kids have to go through.  The best of these horrible conditions were a random guy coming into their school and kidnapping a baby, a little boy playing with a piece of wood and a nail, and Stewie having his arm ripped out of its socket.  You would think that when Stewie came home with an arm hanging down to the floor, Brian's conscience would come back, but nope.  He just sinks lower and gags Stewie's mouth with paper and pops his arm back into place against his will.  Although Stewie is a sadistic, evil little baby, he's really a good friend because he doesn't seek revenge against Brian for thinking with his dick rather than his heart.  Actually, he's done some horrible things to Brian before for less, but I guess sometimes Stewie has to act like a baby with little power.

There was one really good line Stewie had about the preschool.  This was when Brian was stupidly defending Emily by saying she was teaching them independence:

We're 1!  Independence means we die!

Brian only comes to his senses when Emily reveals her boyfriend.  Damn you, Brian.  You're such a sorry excuse for a dog!  When she is taken away by the police, he tells her there's a special place in hell for people like her.  If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black.  It's a good thing that Brian doesn't believe in hell because he'd have a lot of things to atone for in the afterlife.  I'd like to see Brian do something outrageous like date a good girl based on her personality, rather than her looks.  But that would be asking too much.  Stewie even thanks Brian for calling the police without making comments that he took his sweet time.  Then they do a crazy freeze frame and plan to stay like that until Lois and Peter finish their conversation.  Loved that little bit.

Peter having a house guest in the main story starts off well for him.  For me, I didn't see the addition of Billy to the Griffin household being that funny.  I almost cracked a smile when Billy said that he understood that they were supposed to all hate Meg through his excellent intuition and by Peter telling him in the hall.  But for the most part, I was bored.  Ricky had a lot of fish puns that were bad, but made me smile because it was him saying them with his infectious laugh, but the more annoying he got, the less I liked him around.  He just didn't annoy anyone in a really amusing way.  At one moment Trisha Takanawa came to harpoon him, and they had this little jingle that went "Japan!  They Kill Things That We Like!"  I had to laugh, as slightly offensive as that was.  I say "slightly" because if you've been watching this show for this many years, you shouldn't be offended by anything they do anymore because they say horrible things about everyone.

They finally get Billy to go back to the ocean when they find out he was kicked out by his wife, and they help him out.  What I found interesting about this was not that Joe helplessly dropped down to the ocean as King Neptune, but was that there was a tender moment in FG, and it involved dolphins.  I feel like it's been a while since they had a heartwarming moment in this show with any of the Griffin members.  Maybe that's not what this show is about; they'd rather be "real."  I dunno.  This is one reason I like The Simpsons better overall; no matter what bad things the characters do, they show that they love each other.  Where's the love, FG??

I was grossed out a bit when Peter smashed 2 birds wiith one big stone.  Man, I can never quite get used to those sort of things in the Seth MacFarlane shows.  All of a sudden there's something bloody going on, and you have to scrunch your face together in disgust.  However, that little moment was probably one of the best things in this episode.

I also will give them credit for being creative with their cutaways.  It was nice that they showed you the script for one of them and didn't animate the scene.  That hasn't been done, as far as I know, so I enjoyed the originality.  Wasn't that funny, but it showed that the writers are always thinking.

Well, it was stupid of me to think that a guest star I liked would necessary mean a good episode.  Thanks for letting me down this week, FG.  I won't get my hopes up again.

A Hollywood Agent Is A Meh Job

Episode 13, season 10, of Family Guy wasn't very interesting to me.  Peter decides to move to Hollywood to become Tom Tucker's agent.  I think it's crazy that Lois doesn't really put up much of a fight, but with Peter, why would you bother?  He'll do whatever he wants whenever he wants.  You could say the same about Homer Simpson, maybe, but I feel like Peter is even more selfish and random about the sorts of endeavors he choose to do.  Anyway, Peter ultimately drops Tom for James Woods (not him again--damnit!!), who later drops Peter.  It's amazing how boring his little time in Hollywood was.  There was nothing really glamorous or funny about it.

What was mildly brow-raising was Chris dating a girl that looked just like Lois.  Um...was this the week for mommy issues, Seth MacFarlane?  Lois is oblivious for a while until Bonnie points it out again (because when Stewie and Brian talk, you have to ignore them).  I'm surprised that things turned out all right without it getting too weird or emotions bubbling over dramatically like this show is known for.  However, all it took was a talk with Chris (about his girlfriend's infidelity), and Lois set him straight.  Huh.

The little twist that made me gasp (if it's a good Family Guy episode, there's at least two of them) was that Lindsay's rebound guy after Chris was Quagmire.  He had her dressed in Lois' clothes.  Oh, God.  I should have seen that coming, but I didn't.  And apparently he had been using Mort as a Lois substitute before her.  Man.  Quagmire is such a creeper.

I hate saying this, but we needed more Stewie and Brian.  Or Peter's adventure needs to be grander and stupider.  This one was just selfish and boring.  And we don't need any guest stars unless they are going to be in the cutaway scenes.  Please, Family Guy, no more James Woods!