Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington
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"Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington" is the 31st episode of Family Guy. It guest-stars Alyssa Milano as herself; Ricky Blitt as her agent, Joel and Jack Sheldon as the Bill. The title parodies the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
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[edit] Plot summary
Peter is almost fired from the toy factory for skipping work to go to a Boston Red Sox baseball game with his family, but the El Dorado Cigarette Company takes over the toy factory and Peter is retained.
El Dorado immediately starts making toys to promote underage smoking. Lois and the others grow concerned and prod Peter to confront the management about it, but when he does, the El Dorado board makes Peter president of the toy company to distract him. Included with the new jobs are perks that make the Griffins, including Lois, forget their opposition. Two such perks are a micro-thin coating of Teflon on the inside of the house to make it easier to clean and Martha Stewart as a housekeeper. Brian, however, is not swayed, and pledges to quit smoking.
Peter says that, since he's been president, "profits have been higher than Alyssa Milano", referring to tabloid accusations about the actress' drug abuse (in a live-action scene, Milano appears as herself and urges her lawyer, the episode's writer Ricky Blitt, to sue).
El Dorado holds a meeting and decide that the only way to communicate with the idiots in Congress is to send someone just as dumb, and they decide to send Peter. He makes friends on Capitol Hill, such as Bob Dole. He gladhands Senators, even taking some to a strip club. Meanwhile, back at home, Lois is horrified when she catches Stewie smoking and remembers the company's abuses, and she and Stewie follow Peter to Washington, D.C.. Peter is easily able to communicate with the Congressmen (convincing them simply by saying "come on"). Peter prepares to deliver his speech on the floors of Congress assembled, but when he hears Stewie's hacking cough, he himself remembers the evils of smoking and tells Congress to reject El Dorado's proposal. Congress agrees and decides to sue the company with an impossibly heavy fine (after Peter resigns as president, of course).
[edit] Censorship
- Syndication edits:
- When Brian says that El Dorado "turned a whole generation of Americans into smokers with their damn subliminal advertising", the word "damn" is cut.
- The first scene where Brian lashes out at Lois and Meg as a result of his nicotine withdrawal, (where he tells Meg to stop staring at his tail) is cut.
- The scene where Peter is featured in several smoking ad parodies is cut.
[edit] Cultural references
- A cutaway shows Dilbert, depicting the strip's characters as not being funny.
- A cutaway shows an episode of the 1950s/1960s children's television series Lassie with subliminal pro-smoking messages. Subliminal advertising was a popular urban legend during the early days of television.
- When Peter and his friend go up to the window in the cigarette Co., they talk to Aunt Bee who was on The Andy Griffith Show.
- When the tobacco executives committee chooses Peter to represent them in Washington, D.C.. as a lobbyist, the boss exclaims "That guy!". As Peter's about to put his tongue in the fan, the scene freezes & then goes into the opening theme song (including lyrics) of That Girl a classic sitcom from 1966, with Peter stepping in for Marlo Thomas.
- A flashback shows Peter giving false testimony at the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, where Thomas' alleged sexual harassment of former aide Anita Hill became an issue. After his lies are called out, he screams "Baba Booey! Baba Booey! Howard Stern's penis! Baba Booey! Baba Booey!". Stern encourages listeners to interrupt high-profile political and media events and give him publicity, often shouting "Baba Booey", the nickname of Stern's producer Gary Dell'Abate, as a codeword.
- The series of magazine ads features:
- Peter in an ad with the slogan "Alive with flavor!", which is similar to "Alive with pleasure!", a motto for Newport cigarettes.
- Peter as a parody of the Marlboro Man.
- Peter drawn like Joe Camel.
- Peter in an ad with the slogan "You've come a long way honey!", which is similar to the motto for Virginia Slims.
- According to Seth MacFarlane on the DVD commentary, the Bush and Gore scene originally was going to predict that Gore would win the election, because as MacFarlane put it, "We never thought that Bush could actually fucking win".
- The "Dick Armey" gag refers to former U.S. Representative Dick Armey.
- The scene where Peter consoles a senator over the body of a stripper is based on a the scene in The Godfather Part II where Tom Hagen gives a similar talk to Senator Geary.
- Lois is reading People magazine, whose cover depicts Jim Carrey, and she points out there is a photo in the magazine showing Peter and Carrey together, saying afterwards that they are "sssssmokin'!". This is a reference to The Mask's catchphrase, made famous in the mainstream media after the 1994 film that starred Carrey in the title role.
- The scene where there is an anthropomorphic legal bill singing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building is a reference to the I'm Just a Bill episode of the 1970s educational cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock!.
- At the ball game Peter mentions that they haven't done anything like this together since they've seen Mike Tyson get beat. We then see Mike Tyson at a spelling contest misspelling the word onomatopoeia (actually, the only letter he spells out is C).
- Chris makes a sign that says "John 3:16" and Meg asks what that means. Brian is surprised to find the Bible passage reads "And The Lord said: 'Go Sox!'"
[edit] References
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This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations. |
- S. Callaghan, "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington". Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 136–139.
- A. Delarte, "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 3" in Bob's Poetry Magazine, 2.August 2005: 37–38 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Au.pdf
[edit] External links
| Preceded by “Brian Does Hollywood (2)” |
Family Guy Episodes | Followed by “One If by Clam, Two If by Sea” |
