Big Man on Hippocampus
Encyclopedia
"Big Man on Hippocampus" is the tenth episode of the eighth season
of the Fox
animated comedy Family Guy
. It originally aired on Fox
in the United States on January 3, 2010. The episode features Peter
after he suddenly begins suffering from amnesia, and can no longer remember anything about his life, including his own family and friends. His wife, Lois
, then attempts to reintroduce Peter to his surroundings, but he soon discovers partying, and having sex with other women is much more entertaining. Frustrated, Lois decides to leave her husband, causing her neighbor, Quagmire
, to attempt to win her over.
The episode was written by Brian Scully
and directed by Dominic Bianchi
. It received generally mixed reviews from critics, for its "promising start," as well as its many cultural references. According to the Nielsen ratings
, it was viewed in 8.1 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Dwayne Johnson, Adrianne Palicki
, and Rick Pasqualone, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "Big Man on Hippocampus" will be released on DVD
along with ten other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011.
watching television. A commercial for local auditions of the syndicated game show Family Feud
is shown, prompting them to try out the next day. The Griffins are chosen for the show, and play through to the final round. During a fight with Richard Dawson about welching on the prize money, Peter
then hits his head. This causes him to forget everything about his life, including his family and friends. In an attempt to jog his memory, Lois
decides to reintroduce Peter to his old self, including his children and his sex life. This unfortunately causes Peter to mistakenly believe himself free to have sexual relations with others in his new-found "bachelor
hood." Deeply angered and dismayed, Lois, along with the rest of the family, decide to move out of their home and leave Peter. Quagmire
then decides, with Peter out of the picture, that is finally the opportunity to pursue a meaningful relationship with Lois.
Brian
returns home and warns Peter about the consequences of this development. Peter surprisingly reveals that he had regained his memory after Ernie the Giant Chicken had hit him on the head with "an odd number of objects," earlier that day. Alerted by Brian's warnings, Peter rushes to reclaim Lois, just as Quagmire's plans had been delayed by guilt-induced impotence
when Lois confessed that she "trusted" him. Peter then professes his love for her, and desire to be with her for the rest of his life, causing Lois to love him again. The two then decide to walk home, happy in their reunion, leaving Quagmire as he frustratedly attempts increasingly drastic measures to "resuscitate" his genitalia using: a penis pump, intravenous therapy
, and a crash cart
with a defibrillator in his closet.
, older brother of long-time Simpsons writer and producer Mike Scully
. This was his second Family Guy episode, the first being "I Dream of Jesus
" from the seventh season. Series regular Dominic Bianchi
directed the episode, before the conclusion of the eighth production season
.
"Big Man on Hippocampus", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guys eighth season, will be released on a three-disc DVD
set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer
", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
In addition to the regular cast, actor Dwayne Johnson made a brief live action appearance in the episode, appearing as himself, along with two action figures of Peter and Lois, which he proceeds to bang on top of each other in order to illustrate a censored sex scene. Commenting on his appearance in the episode, Johnson stated that he was a "big fan" of Family Guy, having quickly befriended show creator Seth MacFarlane
after he had in a minor role in Johnson's 2010 film Tooth Fairy
. While filming the movie, Johnson had reached out to MacFarlane, saying that he would love to "return the favor" by appearing on Family Guy, which eventually led to his role in this episode. Actress Adrianne Palicki
and voice actor Rick Pasqualone also guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Alex Breckenridge
, writer Steve Callaghan
, voice actor Ralph Garman
, writer Mark Hentemann
, writer Danny Smith
, writer Alec Sulkin
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
Family Feud
. Deciding to try out, the family is quickly chosen, along with the family of show writer Steve Callaghan
. The segment features a re-creation of the game show's original 1976 set and rules, including host Richard Dawson's practice of kissing the female contestants. As an answer to one of the questions, Peter supplies "the flute that Captain Picard
played, first in his imagination, and then in real life, in the episode 'The Inner Light' from Star Trek: The Next Generation
." Then, during Fast Money round, when Lois
was asked to name a favorite holiday, Stewie
answered 9/11.
During the episode, Peter spots a video tape of Pretty Woman
, and begins reading the critic's comments. One of the comments is from the late Gene Siskel
, indirectly mentioning the brain cancer that would eventually cause Siskel's death to the disease in 1999. The comment states that the movie gave him blurred vision and headaches, leading him to go to the doctor for tests, the results of which were, at the time of the movie release, pending, despite being nearly a decade before he would suffer any serious complications.
When Peter is introduced to Meg, he exclaims "D'oh!
", to which Lois replies "No, Peter, that's not your catchphrase", a slight reference to Homer Simpson
in The Simpsons
. In a further attempt to restore Peter's memory, Lois decides to show Peter footage of their honeymoon, which is reminiscent of the Corona
commercials with its scene of a bottle of beer placed between the couple, as they are both sitting on a beach. Going on to teach Peter how to drive, Lois gives him a copy of the video game Grand Theft Auto
. As a result, he kills a prostitute with a baseball bat, steals her money then steals a car, in a parody of the actions the player is allowed to perform in the game itself. Peter also rediscovers "Surfin' Bird
" by The Trashmen
and sings to it while dancing, annoying the family. The Griffins had been previously tormented by it in the seventh season episode "I Dream of Jesus
", which the writer of the episode, Brian Scully, also wrote. As the episode then cuts to commercial, a series of white on black text is shown, in a parody of the Cartoon Network
block Adult Swim
. The Adult Swim broadcast also features the Animation Domination graphics package used by Fox, but replaces Fox with Adult Swim.
Paul Hogan
from "Crocodile" Dundee makes an appearance when Lois is teaching Peter how to use silverware. She says "this is a knife" saying his machete
is a knife, referencing it from a famous scene of the movie.
Returning home from a night out, Peter brings home Tiffani Thiessen
from Saved by the Bell
, naively thinking he is allowed to have sex with her. The reference is made clear when Peter asks her if she bought a necklace using her money from the show. Tiffani also tells Peter he need not worry about her conceiving
, as she is "already pregnant
." In real life, Thiessen was expecting her first child at the time. After Lois decides to leave Peter, she is shown shopping for groceries at the Quahog Market. Quagmire
sneakingly approaches her from behind, saying his "giggity" catchphrase to the shark motif
composed by John Williams
for the 1975 film Jaws
.
The title is a reference to the Canadian series 'Big Wolf on Campus
' (1999-2002)
of 3.9/9 in the 18-49 demographic. In addition, it was also the second most viewed and second highest rated show on Fox's Animation Domination lineup, losing slightly to The Simpsons
, but continued its lead over both The Cleveland Show
and American Dad!
in total viewership and ratings.
Reviews of the episode were mixed, citing the storyline as "safe," without any offensive jokes for the sake of being offensive." Ahsan Haque of IGN
praised the "cohesive story" as " on its simplicity," but criticized the series for continuing to broadcast in the 4:3 format, as opposed to widescreen like MacFarlane's other two shows. Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
reviewed the episode more negatively, however, criticizing the writers for using "storylines as a thin spine to hang jokes on," giving the episode a D rating. Jason Hughes of TV Squad commended the live-action sequence featuring Johnson, as well as the utilization of Meg's personality to create an awkward situation with the family. Despite the somewhat negative criticism, the episode still ended up on the most downloaded episodes list on iTunes 2010 Rewind.
Family Guy (season 8)
Family Guy eighth season first aired on the Fox network in twenty episodes from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It ran on Sunday nights between May and July 2010 on BBC Three in the UK...
of the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
animated comedy Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
. It originally aired on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on January 3, 2010. The episode features Peter
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
after he suddenly begins suffering from amnesia, and can no longer remember anything about his life, including his own family and friends. His wife, Lois
Lois Griffin
Lois Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by writer Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Lois was created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane...
, then attempts to reintroduce Peter to his surroundings, but he soon discovers partying, and having sex with other women is much more entertaining. Frustrated, Lois decides to leave her husband, causing her neighbor, Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
, to attempt to win her over.
The episode was written by Brian Scully
Brian Scully
Brian Scully is an American television writer and producer.Scully initially worked as a TV salesman before eventually getting a job writing on Out of This World...
and directed by Dominic Bianchi
Dominic Bianchi
Dominic Bianchi is an American animation director. Bianchi is known for directing multiple episodes of the animated series Family Guy, most notably the show's celebrated 150th episode, "Brian & Stewie"....
. It received generally mixed reviews from critics, for its "promising start," as well as its many cultural references. According to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, it was viewed in 8.1 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Dwayne Johnson, Adrianne Palicki
Adrianne Palicki
Adrianne Palicki is an American actress best known for her role as Tyra Collette on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights.-Early life:...
, and Rick Pasqualone, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "Big Man on Hippocampus" will be released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
along with ten other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011.
Plot
The episode opens with the Griffin familyGriffin family
The Griffin family is a family from the animated television series Family Guy. The Griffins are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Peter and Lois, their three children Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their dog Brian. They live at 31 Spooner Street in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode...
watching television. A commercial for local auditions of the syndicated game show Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
is shown, prompting them to try out the next day. The Griffins are chosen for the show, and play through to the final round. During a fight with Richard Dawson about welching on the prize money, Peter
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
then hits his head. This causes him to forget everything about his life, including his family and friends. In an attempt to jog his memory, Lois
Lois Griffin
Lois Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by writer Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Lois was created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane...
decides to reintroduce Peter to his old self, including his children and his sex life. This unfortunately causes Peter to mistakenly believe himself free to have sexual relations with others in his new-found "bachelor
Bachelor
A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...
hood." Deeply angered and dismayed, Lois, along with the rest of the family, decide to move out of their home and leave Peter. Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
then decides, with Peter out of the picture, that is finally the opportunity to pursue a meaningful relationship with Lois.
Brian
Brian Griffin
Brian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
returns home and warns Peter about the consequences of this development. Peter surprisingly reveals that he had regained his memory after Ernie the Giant Chicken had hit him on the head with "an odd number of objects," earlier that day. Alerted by Brian's warnings, Peter rushes to reclaim Lois, just as Quagmire's plans had been delayed by guilt-induced impotence
Erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during sexual performance....
when Lois confessed that she "trusted" him. Peter then professes his love for her, and desire to be with her for the rest of his life, causing Lois to love him again. The two then decide to walk home, happy in their reunion, leaving Quagmire as he frustratedly attempts increasingly drastic measures to "resuscitate" his genitalia using: a penis pump, intravenous therapy
Intravenous therapy
Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the infusion of liquid substances directly into a vein. The word intravenous simply means "within a vein". Therapies administered intravenously are often called specialty pharmaceuticals...
, and a crash cart
Crash cart
A crash cart or code cart is a set of trays/drawers/shelves on wheels used in hospital emergency rooms for transportation and dispensing of emergency medication/equipment at site of medical/surgical emergency for life support protocols to potentially save someone's life.The contents of a crash...
with a defibrillator in his closet.
Production and development
This episode was written by Brian ScullyBrian Scully
Brian Scully is an American television writer and producer.Scully initially worked as a TV salesman before eventually getting a job writing on Out of This World...
, older brother of long-time Simpsons writer and producer Mike Scully
Mike Scully
Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...
. This was his second Family Guy episode, the first being "I Dream of Jesus
I Dream of Jesus
"I Dream of Jesus" is the second episode of the seventh season of Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 5, 2008. In the episode, Peter finds an incognito Jesus Christ working at a record shop, and convinces Jesus to make his second coming public.The episode was...
" from the seventh season. Series regular Dominic Bianchi
Dominic Bianchi
Dominic Bianchi is an American animation director. Bianchi is known for directing multiple episodes of the animated series Family Guy, most notably the show's celebrated 150th episode, "Brian & Stewie"....
directed the episode, before the conclusion of the eighth production season
Family Guy (season 8)
Family Guy eighth season first aired on the Fox network in twenty episodes from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It ran on Sunday nights between May and July 2010 on BBC Three in the UK...
.
"Big Man on Hippocampus", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guys eighth season, will be released on a three-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer
And Then There Were Fewer
"And Then There Were Fewer" is the first episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 26, 2010. The episode follows the citizens of Quahog, Rhode Island, after they are invited by actor James Woods to his stately...
", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
In addition to the regular cast, actor Dwayne Johnson made a brief live action appearance in the episode, appearing as himself, along with two action figures of Peter and Lois, which he proceeds to bang on top of each other in order to illustrate a censored sex scene. Commenting on his appearance in the episode, Johnson stated that he was a "big fan" of Family Guy, having quickly befriended show creator Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
after he had in a minor role in Johnson's 2010 film Tooth Fairy
Tooth Fairy (film)
For other uses, see Tooth Fairy .Tooth Fairy is a 2004 short film about a father who forgets to leave money for his daughter from the "tooth fairy"...
. While filming the movie, Johnson had reached out to MacFarlane, saying that he would love to "return the favor" by appearing on Family Guy, which eventually led to his role in this episode. Actress Adrianne Palicki
Adrianne Palicki
Adrianne Palicki is an American actress best known for her role as Tyra Collette on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights.-Early life:...
and voice actor Rick Pasqualone also guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Alex Breckenridge
Alex Breckenridge
Alexandra "Alex" Breckenridge is an American film and television actress, photographer and voice artist. Noted for her role as Willa McPherson on the television series Dirt, she also had a supporting role on the short lived series The Ex List...
, writer Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan is an American screenwriter, producer and voice actor, best known for his work on Family Guy. He is a graduate of the Department of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs...
, voice actor Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman is an American actor, comedian, and radio host best known as the host of The Joe Schmo Show, for his voice work in Family Guy, and as the entertainment reporter and impressionist for the Kevin and Bean morning show on Los Angeles radio station, KROQ-FM...
, writer Mark Hentemann
Mark Hentemann
Mark Hentemann is an American animation writer. Hentemann is most notably known for writing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy...
, writer Danny Smith
Danny Smith (writer)
Daniel "Danny" Smith is an executive producer, writer and voice actor on the American animated television series Family Guy. He has been with the show since its inception and throughout the years has contributed many episodes, such as "Holy Crap", "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", "Chitty...
, writer Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin is an American television writer. Most notable for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy, he has also contributed to The Cleveland Show, another series by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane....
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
Cultural references
The episode contains numerous in-jokes and references to other events. As the episode opens, the family sees an announcement about auditions for the game showGame show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
. Deciding to try out, the family is quickly chosen, along with the family of show writer Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan is an American screenwriter, producer and voice actor, best known for his work on Family Guy. He is a graduate of the Department of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs...
. The segment features a re-creation of the game show's original 1976 set and rules, including host Richard Dawson's practice of kissing the female contestants. As an answer to one of the questions, Peter supplies "the flute that Captain Picard
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
played, first in his imagination, and then in real life, in the episode 'The Inner Light' from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
." Then, during Fast Money round, when Lois
Lois Griffin
Lois Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by writer Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Lois was created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane...
was asked to name a favorite holiday, Stewie
Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Once obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, and the brother of Chris and Meg....
answered 9/11.
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
, and begins reading the critic's comments. One of the comments is from the late Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
, indirectly mentioning the brain cancer that would eventually cause Siskel's death to the disease in 1999. The comment states that the movie gave him blurred vision and headaches, leading him to go to the doctor for tests, the results of which were, at the time of the movie release, pending, despite being nearly a decade before he would suffer any serious complications.
When Peter is introduced to Meg, he exclaims "D'oh!
D'oh!
"D'oh!" is a catchphrase used by the fictional character Homer Simpson, from the long-running American animated sitcom The Simpsons . It is typically used when Homer injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him...
", to which Lois replies "No, Peter, that's not your catchphrase", a slight reference to Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. In a further attempt to restore Peter's memory, Lois decides to show Peter footage of their honeymoon, which is reminiscent of the Corona
Corona (beer)
Corona Extra, better known as Corona and labeled as Coronita in Spain, is a brand of pale lager owned and produced by Cerveceria Modelo at a number of breweries in Mexico. It is one of the best-selling beers in Mexico and is one of the top-selling beers worldwide...
commercials with its scene of a bottle of beer placed between the couple, as they are both sitting on a beach. Going on to teach Peter how to drive, Lois gives him a copy of the video game Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
. As a result, he kills a prostitute with a baseball bat, steals her money then steals a car, in a parody of the actions the player is allowed to perform in the game itself. Peter also rediscovers "Surfin' Bird
Surfin' Bird
"Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by the American surf rock band The Trashmen; it is also the name of the album that featured this hit single. It was released in 1963 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" by The Trashmen
The Trashmen
The Trashmen are a rock and roll band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1962. The group's original lineup was Tony Andreason on lead guitar and vocals, Dal Winslow on guitar and vocals, Steve Wahrer on drums and vocals, and Bob Reed on bass guitar...
and sings to it while dancing, annoying the family. The Griffins had been previously tormented by it in the seventh season episode "I Dream of Jesus
I Dream of Jesus
"I Dream of Jesus" is the second episode of the seventh season of Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 5, 2008. In the episode, Peter finds an incognito Jesus Christ working at a record shop, and convinces Jesus to make his second coming public.The episode was...
", which the writer of the episode, Brian Scully, also wrote. As the episode then cuts to commercial, a series of white on black text is shown, in a parody of the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
block Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
. The Adult Swim broadcast also features the Animation Domination graphics package used by Fox, but replaces Fox with Adult Swim.
Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...
from "Crocodile" Dundee makes an appearance when Lois is teaching Peter how to use silverware. She says "this is a knife" saying his machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
is a knife, referencing it from a famous scene of the movie.
Returning home from a night out, Peter brings home Tiffani Thiessen
Tiffani Thiessen
Tiffani Thiessen is an American actress best known for her roles as Kelly Kapowski in Saved by the Bell and as Valerie Malone in Beverly Hills, 90210. She is also known for her role on Fastlane as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers...
from Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell...
, naively thinking he is allowed to have sex with her. The reference is made clear when Peter asks her if she bought a necklace using her money from the show. Tiffani also tells Peter he need not worry about her conceiving
Fertilisation
Fertilisation is the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism. In animals, the process involves the fusion of an ovum with a sperm, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo...
, as she is "already pregnant
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
." In real life, Thiessen was expecting her first child at the time. After Lois decides to leave Peter, she is shown shopping for groceries at the Quahog Market. Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
sneakingly approaches her from behind, saying his "giggity" catchphrase to the shark motif
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
composed by John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
for the 1975 film Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
.
The title is a reference to the Canadian series 'Big Wolf on Campus
Big Wolf on Campus
Big Wolf on Campus is a Canadian television series created by Peter A. Knight and Christopher Briggs that ran from 1999 to 2002. In the lighthearted horror/teen drama tradition of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, it is about a teenage boy named Thomas "Tommy" P. Dawkins, who was bitten by a werewolf...
' (1999-2002)
Reception
The episode was viewed in 8.1 million homes, and received a Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 3.9/9 in the 18-49 demographic. In addition, it was also the second most viewed and second highest rated show on Fox's Animation Domination lineup, losing slightly to The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, but continued its lead over both The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States...
and American Dad!
American Dad!
American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television...
in total viewership and ratings.
Reviews of the episode were mixed, citing the storyline as "safe," without any offensive jokes for the sake of being offensive." Ahsan Haque of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
praised the "cohesive story" as " on its simplicity," but criticized the series for continuing to broadcast in the 4:3 format, as opposed to widescreen like MacFarlane's other two shows. Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
reviewed the episode more negatively, however, criticizing the writers for using "storylines as a thin spine to hang jokes on," giving the episode a D rating. Jason Hughes of TV Squad commended the live-action sequence featuring Johnson, as well as the utilization of Meg's personality to create an awkward situation with the family. Despite the somewhat negative criticism, the episode still ended up on the most downloaded episodes list on iTunes 2010 Rewind.