Mind over Murder
Encyclopedia
"Mind Over Murder" is the fourth episode of the first season
of the animated
comedy series
Family Guy
. It originally aired on Fox
in the United States on April 25, 1999. The episode features Peter
after he is placed under house arrest, and decides to open his own bar in the family's basement. The bar immediately becomes a success among Peter's male friends when his wife, Lois
, begins to sing and dance in front of them while wearing revealing clothing. Meanwhile, Stewie
attempts to create a time travel
device in order to escape the pain of teething
.
The episode was written by Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan
and directed by Roy Allen Smith
, all series firsts. Much of the episode's humor is structured around cutaway sequences that parody popular culture, including those centered around The Chronicles of Narnia
, Sesame Street
, Homicide: Life on the Street
, Mentos
, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The title "Mind Over Murder" was inspired by 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology Suspense, which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder. The episode featured performances by guest stars Carlos Alazraqui
, Butch Hartman
, Alex Rocco
, Leslie Uggams
and Wally Wingert
, along with several recurring voice actors for the series.
The episode received praise from IGN
television critic Ahsan Haque for its storyline and use of cultural references.
is in terrible pain from teething
and cannot find comfort anywhere. When his mother Lois
tells him that his pain will ultimately pass, it gives him the idea to build a machine that will move time forward to the point where his teething will have already stopped. Meanwhile, Lois tells Peter
to drive their other son Chris
to his soccer
match, then come right back to look after Stewie. However, Peter's friend Quagmire
is there, and has brought beer, so Peter decides to ignore Lois and stay at the game. While there, another member of the crowd insults Chris. Angered, Peter punches this person in the face, only to discover that it is a pregnant woman who looks and sounds like a man.
Peter is put under house arrest
for assault and soon begins to miss his friends. Peter has a vision of the Pawtucket Patriot, a fictional beer mascot, from his beer can label and on his advice opens a bar in his basement so that his friends can come to visit. The basement bar soon becomes a local hotspot. Lois is upset about this, until she gets a chance to sing on stage before an appreciative crowd. As she savors the spotlight over the next few days, Peter becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the attention she is getting, especially from the male patrons. Peter demands that she quit singing, but she refuses.
Peter is soon cornered by the neglected wives of his bar's patrons, and invites them to drag their husbands out from his bar. Meanwhile, Stewie’s time machine
plans are accidentally discovered by Lois, who shows them around to the bar's patrons. Angered and upset that his plans have been discovered, Stewie runs upstairs. Soon after, the wives storm the bar and Lois tells them that she only wants to feel appreciated and special, something which all the other women relate to. Meanwhile, Quagmire accidentally starts a fire.
Upstairs, Stewie takes drastic measures to protect his plans, programming the machine to go back in time before he drew them up. In the bar, Peter and Lois have a heart-to-heart conversation, and they do not immediately notice that the bar is burning. When they try to escape, the stairs become blocked and they are trapped. Stewie reverses time just as Peter is having an epiphany
about how poorly he treats Lois, and seconds before the basement bar goes up in flames. They all travel back in time, to when Lois asked Peter to take Chris to the game. While he is getting ready, Peter trips on Stewie's time machine, destroying it and injuring his leg, thus preventing him from taking Chris to his soccer match.
and directed by Roy Allen Smith
, all of whom made their series debut with this episode. Peter Shin
, who has since supervised other episodes of the show, acted as supervising director. Writer Andrew Gormley and voice actor Mike Henry acted as staff writers in this episode, while Ricky Blitt
and Chris Sheridan worked as the story editors. In addition to the regular cast, the episode featured the voices of actors Leslie Uggams
, Wally Wingert
, Alex Rocco
and Carlos Alazraqui
. Recurring guest voice actors included actress Lori Alan
and writer and animator Butch Hartman
.
The title "Mind Over Murder", like the titles of the first three episodes of the season, was inspired by 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology Suspense, which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder. This convention was dropped in the fifth episode of the season, "A Hero Sits Next Door
", partly to make the episodes easier to distinguish by their titles.
. While Peter is under house arrest he states that he is becoming bored of everything in the house including the television shows, which he feels have blended together. A cutaway features Bert and Ernie
from the children's television series
Sesame Street
, in a mix with the crime drama
Homicide: Life on the Street
. The episode also makes references to history. When the Griffin family is watching television they see a commercial for Mentos
-brand mints
, which features the American stage actor John Wilkes Booth
as he attempts to assassinate Abraham Lincoln
. When Stewie starts to feel pain around the inside of his mouth, Lois notices and states that he is teething. Stewie quickly responds by asking her to kill him, or to shake him like a British nanny, a reference to the Louise Woodward case.
praised the episode, rating it a 9/10, praising the "integration between the random jokes and the storyline", in comparison to later episodes. He criticized the "one-dimensional" nature of Stewie's character, but was impressed by the amount of story featured in this half-hour episode. In another article, Haque named Stewie's time machine plan from "Mind Over Murder" number five in his list of "Stewie's Top 10 Most Diabolical Evil Plans".
Robin Pierson of The TV Critic gave the episode a mixed review, giving it a 55%. Pierson praised the episode's plot, the handling of Peter and Stewie, and some of the cutaways. He criticized the relationship between Lois and Peter as unconvincing. At the end of his review he stated, "Family Guy doesn’t seem to have found the right balance yet between silliness and seriousness. So far its plots have been either irrelevant or emotionally unappealing. This was also a bit short on good jokes."
Family Guy (season 1)
The first season of the animated comedy series Family Guy aired on Fox from January 31, 1999, to May 16, 1999, and consisted of seven episodes. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stewie and their anthropomorphic dog Brian,...
of the animated
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
comedy series
Television comedy
Television comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting. Among the earliest BBC television programmes in the 1930s was Starlight, which offered a series of guests from the music hall era — singers and comedians amongst them...
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 April 25, 1999. 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 is placed under house arrest, and decides to open his own bar in the family's basement. The bar immediately becomes a success among Peter's male friends when 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...
, begins to sing and dance in front of them while wearing revealing clothing. Meanwhile, 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....
attempts to create a time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
device in order to escape the pain of teething
Teething
Teething is the process by which an infant's first teeth sequentially appear by emerging through the gums. Teething may start as early as three months or as late, in some cases, as twelve months. The typical time frame for the first teeth to appear is somewhere between six and nine months...
.
The episode was written by Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are a television writing team who have worked on television comedies Family Guy and Scrubs. Their most recent project was the television pilot Nobody's Watching, which they created and wrote with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.The character on Family Guy named Neil...
and directed by Roy Allen Smith
Roy Allen Smith
Roy Allen Smith is an American animator, film director and producer, who is well known for the Land Before Time series and Family Guy.-Film:-Television:-External links:* at TV.com...
, all series firsts. Much of the episode's humor is structured around cutaway sequences that parody popular culture, including those centered around The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
, Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
, Mentos
Mentos
Mentos is a brand of mints, of the "scotch mint" type, sold in many markets across the world by the Perfetti Van Melle corporation. Mentos was first produced in the Netherlands during the 1950s. The mints are small oblate spheroids, with a slightly hard exterior and a soft, chewy interior...
, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The title "Mind Over Murder" was inspired by 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology Suspense, which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder. The episode featured performances by guest stars Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Jaime Alazraqui is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and voice actor. He is best known for his role as Deputy James Garcia on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. His voice-over work includes the role of Bobbi Fabulous on Phineas and Ferb, the Taco Bell chihuahua, Denzel Q...
, Butch Hartman
Butch Hartman
Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV is an American animator, executive producer, animation director, storyboard artist, voice actor, occasional singer, producer, and creator of the animated series The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom and T.U.F.F. Puppy.-Childhood:Hartman was born in Highland Park,...
, Alex Rocco
Alex Rocco
Alex Rocco is an American actor. His roles have ranged from comedy to playing gangsters in Mafia movies.-Early life:...
, Leslie Uggams
Leslie Uggams
Leslie Uggams is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her work in Hallelujah, Baby! She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.-Singing:...
and Wally Wingert
Wally Wingert
Wallace E. "Wally" Wingert is an American actor and voice artist. He is originally from Des Moines, Iowa but he currently works and lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the current announcer for the second incarnation of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the current voice of Jon Arbuckle in...
, along with several recurring voice actors for the series.
The episode received praise from 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...
television critic Ahsan Haque for its storyline and use of cultural references.
Plot
StewieStewie 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....
is in terrible pain from teething
Teething
Teething is the process by which an infant's first teeth sequentially appear by emerging through the gums. Teething may start as early as three months or as late, in some cases, as twelve months. The typical time frame for the first teeth to appear is somewhere between six and nine months...
and cannot find comfort anywhere. When his mother 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...
tells him that his pain will ultimately pass, it gives him the idea to build a machine that will move time forward to the point where his teething will have already stopped. Meanwhile, Lois tells 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....
to drive their other son Chris
Chris Griffin
Chris Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is the son and middle child of Peter and Lois Griffin, brother of Stewie and Meg Griffin. Chris is voiced by Seth Green.-Personality:...
to his soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
match, then come right back to look after Stewie. However, Peter's friend 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...
is there, and has brought beer, so Peter decides to ignore Lois and stay at the game. While there, another member of the crowd insults Chris. Angered, Peter punches this person in the face, only to discover that it is a pregnant woman who looks and sounds like a man.
Peter is put under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
for assault and soon begins to miss his friends. Peter has a vision of the Pawtucket Patriot, a fictional beer mascot, from his beer can label and on his advice opens a bar in his basement so that his friends can come to visit. The basement bar soon becomes a local hotspot. Lois is upset about this, until she gets a chance to sing on stage before an appreciative crowd. As she savors the spotlight over the next few days, Peter becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the attention she is getting, especially from the male patrons. Peter demands that she quit singing, but she refuses.
Peter is soon cornered by the neglected wives of his bar's patrons, and invites them to drag their husbands out from his bar. Meanwhile, Stewie’s time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
plans are accidentally discovered by Lois, who shows them around to the bar's patrons. Angered and upset that his plans have been discovered, Stewie runs upstairs. Soon after, the wives storm the bar and Lois tells them that she only wants to feel appreciated and special, something which all the other women relate to. Meanwhile, Quagmire accidentally starts a fire.
Upstairs, Stewie takes drastic measures to protect his plans, programming the machine to go back in time before he drew them up. In the bar, Peter and Lois have a heart-to-heart conversation, and they do not immediately notice that the bar is burning. When they try to escape, the stairs become blocked and they are trapped. Stewie reverses time just as Peter is having an epiphany
Epiphany (feeling)
An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
about how poorly he treats Lois, and seconds before the basement bar goes up in flames. They all travel back in time, to when Lois asked Peter to take Chris to the game. While he is getting ready, Peter trips on Stewie's time machine, destroying it and injuring his leg, thus preventing him from taking Chris to his soccer match.
Production
"Mind Over Murder" was written by Neil Goldman and Garrett DonovanNeil Goldman and Garrett Donovan
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are a television writing team who have worked on television comedies Family Guy and Scrubs. Their most recent project was the television pilot Nobody's Watching, which they created and wrote with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.The character on Family Guy named Neil...
and directed by Roy Allen Smith
Roy Allen Smith
Roy Allen Smith is an American animator, film director and producer, who is well known for the Land Before Time series and Family Guy.-Film:-Television:-External links:* at TV.com...
, all of whom made their series debut with this episode. Peter Shin
Peter Shin
Peter Shin is the:*supervising director of Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story*director of Big Bug Man.*director of Family Guy episodes:**"Death Has a Shadow"**"Emission Impossible"**"North by North Quahog"**"It's a Trap!"...
, who has since supervised other episodes of the show, acted as supervising director. Writer Andrew Gormley and voice actor Mike Henry acted as staff writers in this episode, while Ricky Blitt
Ricky Blitt
Ricky Blitt is a screenwriter, executive producer, show creator, and voice actor based in West Hollywood, California. Early in his career, Blitt was a writer on The Parent Hood, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, The Jon Stewart Show, On the Record with Bob Costas, Costas Now, and Brotherly Love...
and Chris Sheridan worked as the story editors. In addition to the regular cast, the episode featured the voices of actors Leslie Uggams
Leslie Uggams
Leslie Uggams is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her work in Hallelujah, Baby! She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.-Singing:...
, Wally Wingert
Wally Wingert
Wallace E. "Wally" Wingert is an American actor and voice artist. He is originally from Des Moines, Iowa but he currently works and lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the current announcer for the second incarnation of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the current voice of Jon Arbuckle in...
, Alex Rocco
Alex Rocco
Alex Rocco is an American actor. His roles have ranged from comedy to playing gangsters in Mafia movies.-Early life:...
and Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Jaime Alazraqui is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and voice actor. He is best known for his role as Deputy James Garcia on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. His voice-over work includes the role of Bobbi Fabulous on Phineas and Ferb, the Taco Bell chihuahua, Denzel Q...
. Recurring guest voice actors included actress Lori Alan
Lori Alan
Lori Alan , sometimes credited as Lori Allen, is an American voice actress who provides the voice of news anchor Diane Simmons on Family Guy, various voices on Hey Arnold!, and SpongeBob SquarePants as Pearl....
and writer and animator Butch Hartman
Butch Hartman
Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV is an American animator, executive producer, animation director, storyboard artist, voice actor, occasional singer, producer, and creator of the animated series The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom and T.U.F.F. Puppy.-Childhood:Hartman was born in Highland Park,...
.
The title "Mind Over Murder", like the titles of the first three episodes of the season, was inspired by 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology Suspense, which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder. This convention was dropped in the fifth episode of the season, "A Hero Sits Next Door
A Hero Sits Next Door
"A Hero Sits Next Door" is the fifth episode of season one of Family Guy, originally aired on Fox on May 2, 1999. The episode features the introduction of Joe Swanson, who would become a recurring character in the series. Peter Griffin must find a replacement player for an upcoming softball game...
", partly to make the episodes easier to distinguish by their titles.
Cultural references
Like other Family Guy episodes, "Mind Over Murder" features multiple references to pop culture. When Lois confronts Peter about the mess he is making in their house, he says he is terrible at housework. From this comes a cutaway which shows Peter doing the laundry. When he climbs into the machine in search of a missing sock, he falls into a wintry world where he encounters Mr. Tumnus from The Chronicles of NarniaThe Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
. While Peter is under house arrest he states that he is becoming bored of everything in the house including the television shows, which he feels have blended together. A cutaway features Bert and Ernie
Bert and Ernie
Bert and Ernie are two muppets on the popular U.S. children's television show Sesame Street. The two appear together in numerous skits, forming a comic duo that is one of the centerpieces of the program. Originated by Frank Oz and Jim Henson, the characters are currently performed by Muppeteers...
from the children's television series
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, in a mix with the crime drama
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
. The episode also makes references to history. When the Griffin family is watching television they see a commercial for Mentos
Mentos
Mentos is a brand of mints, of the "scotch mint" type, sold in many markets across the world by the Perfetti Van Melle corporation. Mentos was first produced in the Netherlands during the 1950s. The mints are small oblate spheroids, with a slightly hard exterior and a soft, chewy interior...
-brand mints
Mint (candy)
A mint is a candy characterized by the presence of mint flavoring or real mint oil, whether it be peppermint oil, spearmint oil, or another natural or artificial source...
, which features the American stage actor John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
as he attempts to assassinate Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. When Stewie starts to feel pain around the inside of his mouth, Lois notices and states that he is teething. Stewie quickly responds by asking her to kill him, or to shake him like a British nanny, a reference to the Louise Woodward case.
Reception
In his 2008 flashback review, Ahsan Haque of IGNIGN
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 episode, rating it a 9/10, praising the "integration between the random jokes and the storyline", in comparison to later episodes. He criticized the "one-dimensional" nature of Stewie's character, but was impressed by the amount of story featured in this half-hour episode. In another article, Haque named Stewie's time machine plan from "Mind Over Murder" number five in his list of "Stewie's Top 10 Most Diabolical Evil Plans".
Robin Pierson of The TV Critic gave the episode a mixed review, giving it a 55%. Pierson praised the episode's plot, the handling of Peter and Stewie, and some of the cutaways. He criticized the relationship between Lois and Peter as unconvincing. At the end of his review he stated, "Family Guy doesn’t seem to have found the right balance yet between silliness and seriousness. So far its plots have been either irrelevant or emotionally unappealing. This was also a bit short on good jokes."