North by North Quahog
Encyclopedia
"North by North Quahog" is the first episode of season four of Family Guy
, following the revival
of the series three years after its cancellation in 2002. Directed by Peter Shin
and written by series creator Seth MacFarlane
, the episode was first broadcast on May 1, 2005, on FOX
, though it had premiered three days earlier at a special screening at the University of Vermont
, Burlington
. In "North by North Quahog", the show's main characters Peter
and Lois Griffin
go on a second honeymoon to spice up their marriage, but are eventually chased by Mel Gibson
after Peter steals the sequel to The Passion of the Christ
from Gibson's private hotel room. Meanwhile, their anthropomorphic dog Brian
and their infant son Stewie
take care of their teenage kids Chris
and Meg
.
Family Guy had been canceled in 2002 due to low ratings, but was revived by FOX after reruns on Adult Swim
became the network's most watched program, and more than three million DVDs of the show were sold. Much of the plot and many of the technical aspects of the episode, as well as the title, are direct parodies of the 1959
Alfred Hitchcock
movie North by Northwest
; in addition, the episode makes use of Bernard Herrmann
's theme music from that film. The episode contains many cultural references; in the opening sequence Peter lists 29 shows that were canceled by FOX after Family Guy was cancelled and says that if all of those shows were to be canceled, they might have a chance at returning.
Critical responses to the episode were mostly positive; critics praised the opening sequence in particular. The episode was watched by 12 million viewers and received a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)
. Shin won an Annie Award
for Directing in an Animated Television Production for this episode.
As Peter and Lois are having sex, she yells out George Clooney
's name. Peter realizes that she is imagining him as Clooney to maintain her libido
. Lois and Peter decide to take a second honeymoon
to enliven their marriage, and leave their anthropomorphic dog Brian to take care of their children Stewie, Chris, and Meg. Brian is unable to control the children, but Stewie offers to help and together they manage the home. The pair chaperone a dance at Chris's school, during which a school staff member catches Chris in the boys' restroom with vodka
that belongs to his classmate Jake. Although Brian and Stewie punish Chris, they try to clear his name. Jake's father Tom refuses to believe Brian and Stewie, so they resort to planting cocaine
in Jake's locker
, and Jake is sentenced to community service
.
On the way to their vacation spot, Peter reads a comic book
while driving (while Lois takes a nap) and crashes his car into a tree. They are forced to spend their entire honeymoon money on car repairs and are about to return home when Peter discovers that actor
/director
Mel Gibson
has a private suite at a luxurious hotel nearby, which he barely uses. He and Lois then go to the hotel, where Peter poses as Mel Gibson to gain access to Gibson's room. When Lois yells out Gibson's name during intercourse, Peter, again, decides to return home. As the two are about to leave, Peter accidentally stumbles upon Gibson's private screening room and discovers a sequel to The Passion of the Christ
entitled Passion of the Christ 2: Crucify This. To spare the world from "... another two hours of Mel Gibson Jesus mumbo-jumbo," Peter steals the film. However, when they leave the hotel, they are noticed by two priests, Gibson's associates, who were there to collect the film.
Pursued by the priests in a car chase that leads them through a shopping mall
, Lois and Peter escape from the priests and drive to a cornfield where Peter buries the film. While he is doing so, the priests fly down in a crop-duster
and kidnap
Lois. Peter is then given a message telling him that if he does not return the film to Gibson at his estate on top of Mount Rushmore
, his wife will be killed. Peter arrives at the house and gives Gibson a film can. As Peter and Lois are about to leave, Gibson discovers that the film has been replaced with dog feces, leading to a chase on the face of the mountain. While being chased, Lois slips but hangs on to George Washington
's lips. Peter grabs her and, while being held at gunpoint, he tells Gibson that the film is in "President Rushmore's" mouth and points to the other side of the monument. Gibson follows Peter's direction, walks off the edge (because "Christians don't believe in gravity"), and falls to his presumed death as Peter pulls Lois to safety. Upon climbing back to the top of the mountain, the two make love on Washington's head, bringing the spark back into their marriage. As the two make love the 4 Presidents talk about Gibson's death.
. The show was first canceled after the 1999–2000 season, but following a last-minute reprieve, it returned for a third season in 2001. Fox tried to sell rights for reruns of the show, but it was hard to find networks that were interested; Cartoon Network
eventually bought the rights, " basically for free", according to the president of 20th Century Fox Television Production. When the reruns were shown on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim
in 2003, Family Guy became Adult Swim's most-watched show with an average 1.9 million viewers an episode. Following Family Guys high ratings on Adult Swim, the first season was released on DVD in April 2003. Sales of the DVD set reached 2.2 million copies, becoming the best-selling television DVD of 2003 and the second highest-selling television DVD ever, behind the first season of Comedy Central
's Chappelle's Show
. The second season DVD release also sold more than a million copies. The show's popularity in both DVD sales and reruns rekindled Fox's interest in it. They ordered 35 new episodes in 2004, marking the first revival of a television show based on DVD sales. Fox president Gail Berman
said that it was one of her most difficult decisions to cancel the show, and was therefore happy it would return. The network also began production of a film based on the series.
"North by North Quahog" was the first episode to be broadcast after the show's cancellation. It was written by MacFarlane and directed by Peter Shin
. MacFarlane believed the show's three year hiatus was beneficial because animated shows do not normally have hiatuses, and towards the end of their seasons "... you see a lot more sex jokes and (bodily function) jokes and signs of a fatigued staff that their brains are just fried". With "North by North Quahog", the writing staff tried to keep the show "... exactly as it was" before its cancellation, and did not "... have the desire to make it any slicker" than it already was. Walter Murphy
, who had composed music for the show before its cancellation, returned to compose the music for "North by North Quahog". Murphy and the orchestra recorded an arrangement of Bernard Herrmann
's score
from North by Northwest
, a film referenced multiple times in the episode.
Fox had ordered five episode scripts at the end of the third season; these episodes had been written but not produced. One of these scripts was adapted into "North by North Quahog". The original script featured Star Wars
character Boba Fett
, and later actor, writer and producer Aaron Spelling
, but the release of the iconic film The Passion of the Christ
inspired the writers to incorporate Mel Gibson into the episode. Multiple endings were written, including one in which Death comes for Gibson. During production, an episode of South Park
was released entitled "The Passion of the Jew
" that also featured Gibson as a prominent character. This gave the Family Guy writers pause, fearing accusations " that we had ripped them off."
Three days before the episode debuted on television, it was screened at the University of Vermont
(UVM) in Burlington
, accompanied by an hour-long question-and-answer session with MacFarlane. The UVM's special screening of the episode was attended by 1,700 people. As promotion for the show, and to, as Newman described, "expand interest in the show beyond its die hard fans", Fox organized four Family Guy Live! performances, which featured cast members reading old episodes aloud; "North by North Quahog" was also previewed. In addition, the cast performed musical numbers from the Family Guy Live in Vegas comedy album. The stage shows were an extension of a performance by the cast during the 2004 Montreal Comedy Festival. The Family Guy Live! performances, which took place in Los Angeles and New York, sold out and were attended by around 1,200 people each.
The episode opens with Peter telling the rest of the family that Family Guy has been canceled. He lists the following 29 shows, that he says Fox has to make room for: Dark Angel
, Titus
, Undeclared
, Action
, That '80s Show
, Wonderfalls
, Fastlane
, Andy Richter Controls the Universe
, Skin
, Girls Club, Cracking Up
, The Pitts
, Firefly
, Get Real
, Freakylinks
, Wanda at Large
, Costello, The Lone Gunmen
, A Minute with Stan Hooper
, Normal, Ohio
, Pasadena
, Harsh Realm
, Keen Eddie
, The $treet
, The American Embassy
, Cedric the Entertainer Presents
, The Tick, Luis
and Greg the Bunny
. Lois asks whether there is any hope, to which Peter replies that if all these shows are canceled they might have a chance, the joke being all these shows had indeed already been canceled by Fox. The New York Times
reported that, during the first Family Guy Live! performance, "... the longer [the list] went, the louder the laughs from the Town Hall crowd [became]".
Australian-American actor Mel Gibson is prominently featured in the episode; his voice was impersonated by André Sogliuzzo
. Gibson directed the film The Passion of the Christ and, in the episode, is seen making a sequel entitled Passion of the Christ 2: Crucify This. The fictional sequel is a combination of The Passion of the Christ and Rush Hour, and stars Chris Tucker
, who starred in Rush Hour, and James Caviezel
who portrayed Jesus
in The Passion of the Christ. Gibson was approached to voice himself but passed on it, which he later regretted because he enjoyed the episode.
The episode contains several references to Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 film North by Northwest
. Besides the title of the episode, several scenes in "North by North Quahog" are inspired by the Hitchcock film. In the scene in which Lois is kidnapped by Gibson's associates, the two priests chase Peter through a cornfield, flying a crop-duster, parodying the crop-duster scene from the film. The final face-off between Peter, Lois and Gibson that takes place on Mount Rushmore is also a reference to North by Northwest.
As Peter and Lois are driving to Cape Cod for their second honeymoon, Peter is reading a Jughead comic book
and their car crashes. The fictional Park Barrington Hotel, where Peter and Lois steal Gibson's film, is located in Manhattan
. The car chase scene through a shopping mall is a recreation of a scene from the 1980 comedy film The Blues Brothers
. To stop Meg and Chris from fighting, Brian reads to them from one of the few books Peter owns, a novelization of the 1980 film Caddyshack
and quotes a line by Chevy Chase
's character, Ty Webb.
The episode contains a number of other cultural references. When Peter and Lois enter their motel room and find a hooker on the bed, Peter warns Lois to stay perfectly still, as the prostitute's vision is based on movement. This is a reference to a scene in the movie Jurassic Park
in which Dr. Grant gives this warning in reference to a Tyrannosaurus Rex
. Pinocchio
appears in a cutaway gag, in which Gepetto bends over and deliberately sets Pinocchio up to tell a lie in an attempt to emulate anal sex
. This was based on a joke MacFarlane's mother had told her friends when he was a child. Lois yells out George Clooney
's name when she and Peter are having sex. The 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners
is also referenced when a fictional episode of the sitcom is shown in which Ralph Kramden, the show's main character, hits his wife, something he would only threaten to do on the show. Meg watches an episode of the CBS
sitcom Two and a Half Men
, which shows three men, one of whom is cut in half. Fictional army soldier Flint
of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
appears briefly after Chris is caught drinking vodka, and educates the children on drinking and informs them that "... knowing is half the battle". Flint's voice was provided by Bill Ratner
, the actor who had voiced the character in the G.I. Joe television series. According to Seth Green
, who voices Chris, the reason the Family Guy cast members did not voice Flint themselves is because if you have the original actor providing the voice " you take it with a little bit more gravitas".
(including the show's 350th episode
), and was followed by the premiere of MacFarlane's new show, American Dad!
. It was watched by 11.85 million viewers, higher than both The Simpsons and American Dad. The episode's ratings were Family Guys highest ratings since the airing of the season one episode "Brian: Portrait of a Dog
". Family Guy was the week's highest-rated show among teens and men in the 18 to 34 demographic, and more than doubled Fox's average in its timeslot. The episode's first broadcast in Canada, on June 5, 2005, on CTV
, was watched by 1.27 million viewers, making it fourth for the week it was broadcast, behind CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
, CSI: Miami
and the third series of Canadian Idol
.
The reactions of television critics to "North by North Quahog" were mostly positive. In a simultaneous review of the two episodes of The Simpsons that preceded this episode and the American Dad! pilot, Chase Squires of the St. Petersburg Times
stated that "North by North Quahog" "... score[d] the highest". Multimedia news and reviews website IGN
was pleased to see Stewie and Brian get more screen time as a duo, something they thought had always been one of the show's biggest strengths. IGN placed Peter's idea to pose as Mel Gibson and steal Passion of the Christ 2 in 9th place on their list of "Peter Griffin's Top 10 Craziest Ideas". Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe
commented that the episode's material "would wear thin after a while if the character's weren't as distinct and endearing as they are, most notably Stewie, the wrathful infant."
Critics reacted positively to the opening sequence; in his review of the episode, Mark McGuire of The Times Union wrote: "... the first minute or so of the resurrected Family Guy ranks among the funniest 60 seconds I've seen so far this season." Variety
critic Brian Lowry considered the opening sequence to be the best part of the episode. M. Keith Booker, author of the book Drawn to Television: Primetime Television from The Flintstones to Family Guy, called the opening sequence an "... in-your-face, I-told-you-so rejoinder to the Fox brass followed by one of the most outrageous Family Guy episodes ever".
However, the episode also garnered negative responses. Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
stated that "Three years off the air has not made the 'Family Guy' team that much more creative". Kevin Wong of PopMatters
thought the episode made fun of easy targets such as Gibson and The Passion of The Christ, although he felt Family Guy regained "... its admirable mix of niche nostalgia and hysterical characterizations" after the first two episodes of the new season. Though Alex Strachan, critic for The Montreal Gazette, praised the opening sequence, he felt "it's all downhill from there". Bill Brioux of the Toronto Star
considered the show to be similar to The Simpsons. Media watchdog group the Parents Television Council
, a frequent critic
of the show, branded the episode the "worst show of the week".
"North by North Quahog" was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)
, the eventual recipient of the award being South Park episode "Best Friends Forever
". Peter Shin, director of the episode, won the Annie Award
for Best Directing in an Animated Television Production. Fellow Family Guy director Dan Povenmire
, was nominated for the same award for directing "PTV
".
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...
, following the revival
Revival (television)
A television revival is an attempt to revive a defunct series by producing new episodes created for broadcast. Network executives may decide to attempt to revive a television program when they feel that a market once again exists for it....
of the series three years after its cancellation in 2002. Directed by 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!"...
and written by series 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,...
, the episode was first broadcast on May 1, 2005, 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...
, though it had premiered three days earlier at a special screening at the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
, Burlington
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
. In "North by North Quahog", the show's main characters 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....
and Lois Griffin
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...
go on a second honeymoon to spice up their marriage, but are eventually chased by Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
after Peter steals the sequel to The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
from Gibson's private hotel room. Meanwhile, their anthropomorphic dog 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...
and their infant son 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....
take care of their teenage kids 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:...
and Meg
Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is the eldest child of Lois and Peter and elder sister of Chris and Stewie. Meg is considered as the black sheep of the series due to the lack of attention she receives....
.
Family Guy had been canceled in 2002 due to low ratings, but was revived by FOX after reruns on 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...
became the network's most watched program, and more than three million DVDs of the show were sold. Much of the plot and many of the technical aspects of the episode, as well as the title, are direct parodies of the 1959
1959 in film
The year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
movie North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
; in addition, the episode makes use of Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
's theme music from that film. The episode contains many cultural references; in the opening sequence Peter lists 29 shows that were canceled by FOX after Family Guy was cancelled and says that if all of those shows were to be canceled, they might have a chance at returning.
Critical responses to the episode were mostly positive; critics praised the opening sequence in particular. The episode was watched by 12 million viewers and received a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series which is judged to have been the best...
. Shin won an Annie Award
Annie Award
The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
for Directing in an Animated Television Production for this episode.
Plot
In the opening sequence, Peter tells his family that "We've been cancelled" and lists 29 shows that were canceled by FOX after Family Guy was cancelled and says that if all of those shows were to be canceled, they might have a chance at returning.As Peter and Lois are having sex, she yells out George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
's name. Peter realizes that she is imagining him as Clooney to maintain her libido
Libido
Libido refers to a person's sex drive or desire for sexual activity. The desire for sex is an aspect of a person's sexuality, but varies enormously from one person to another, and it also varies depending on circumstances at a particular time. A person who has extremely frequent or a suddenly...
. Lois and Peter decide to take a second honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
to enliven their marriage, and leave their anthropomorphic dog Brian to take care of their children Stewie, Chris, and Meg. Brian is unable to control the children, but Stewie offers to help and together they manage the home. The pair chaperone a dance at Chris's school, during which a school staff member catches Chris in the boys' restroom with vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
that belongs to his classmate Jake. Although Brian and Stewie punish Chris, they try to clear his name. Jake's father Tom refuses to believe Brian and Stewie, so they resort to planting cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
in Jake's locker
Locker (cabinet)
A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, work places, schools, transport centres, and the like...
, and Jake is sentenced to community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
.
On the way to their vacation spot, Peter reads a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
while driving (while Lois takes a nap) and crashes his car into a tree. They are forced to spend their entire honeymoon money on car repairs and are about to return home when Peter discovers that actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
/director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
has a private suite at a luxurious hotel nearby, which he barely uses. He and Lois then go to the hotel, where Peter poses as Mel Gibson to gain access to Gibson's room. When Lois yells out Gibson's name during intercourse, Peter, again, decides to return home. As the two are about to leave, Peter accidentally stumbles upon Gibson's private screening room and discovers a sequel to The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
entitled Passion of the Christ 2: Crucify This. To spare the world from "... another two hours of Mel Gibson Jesus mumbo-jumbo," Peter steals the film. However, when they leave the hotel, they are noticed by two priests, Gibson's associates, who were there to collect the film.
Pursued by the priests in a car chase that leads them through a shopping mall
The Blues Brothers (film)
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...
, Lois and Peter escape from the priests and drive to a cornfield where Peter buries the film. While he is doing so, the priests fly down in a crop-duster
Aerial application
Aerial application, commonly called crop dusting, involves spraying crops with fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides from an agricultural aircraft. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known as aerial topdressing....
and kidnap
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
Lois. Peter is then given a message telling him that if he does not return the film to Gibson at his estate on top of Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
, his wife will be killed. Peter arrives at the house and gives Gibson a film can. As Peter and Lois are about to leave, Gibson discovers that the film has been replaced with dog feces, leading to a chase on the face of the mountain. While being chased, Lois slips but hangs on to George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's lips. Peter grabs her and, while being held at gunpoint, he tells Gibson that the film is in "President Rushmore's" mouth and points to the other side of the monument. Gibson follows Peter's direction, walks off the edge (because "Christians don't believe in gravity"), and falls to his presumed death as Peter pulls Lois to safety. Upon climbing back to the top of the mountain, the two make love on Washington's head, bringing the spark back into their marriage. As the two make love the 4 Presidents talk about Gibson's death.
Production and development
In 2002, Family Guy was canceled after three seasons due to low ratingsNielsen 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...
. The show was first canceled after the 1999–2000 season, but following a last-minute reprieve, it returned for a third season in 2001. Fox tried to sell rights for reruns of the show, but it was hard to find networks that were interested; 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....
eventually bought the rights, " basically for free", according to the president of 20th Century Fox Television Production. When the reruns were shown on Cartoon Network's 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...
in 2003, Family Guy became Adult Swim's most-watched show with an average 1.9 million viewers an episode. Following Family Guys high ratings on Adult Swim, the first season was released on DVD in April 2003. Sales of the DVD set reached 2.2 million copies, becoming the best-selling television DVD of 2003 and the second highest-selling television DVD ever, behind the first season of Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
's Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedian Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in various skits. Chappelle, Brennan and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22,...
. The second season DVD release also sold more than a million copies. The show's popularity in both DVD sales and reruns rekindled Fox's interest in it. They ordered 35 new episodes in 2004, marking the first revival of a television show based on DVD sales. Fox president Gail Berman
Gail Berman
Gail Berman is the former president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Company and the former president of Viacom's Paramount Pictures.She graduated from the University of Maryland in 1978...
said that it was one of her most difficult decisions to cancel the show, and was therefore happy it would return. The network also began production of a film based on the series.
"North by North Quahog" was the first episode to be broadcast after the show's cancellation. It was written by MacFarlane and directed by 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!"...
. MacFarlane believed the show's three year hiatus was beneficial because animated shows do not normally have hiatuses, and towards the end of their seasons "... you see a lot more sex jokes and (bodily function) jokes and signs of a fatigued staff that their brains are just fried". With "North by North Quahog", the writing staff tried to keep the show "... exactly as it was" before its cancellation, and did not "... have the desire to make it any slicker" than it already was. Walter Murphy
Walter Murphy
Walter Anthony Murphy, Jr. is an American instrumentalist, songwriter, and arranger. He rose to fame with the hit instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of passages from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, in 1976, when disco was at the height of its...
, who had composed music for the show before its cancellation, returned to compose the music for "North by North Quahog". Murphy and the orchestra recorded an arrangement of Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
's score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
from North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
, a film referenced multiple times in the episode.
Fox had ordered five episode scripts at the end of the third season; these episodes had been written but not produced. One of these scripts was adapted into "North by North Quahog". The original script featured Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
character Boba Fett
Boba Fett
Boba Fett is a character in Star Wars. A bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi....
, and later actor, writer and producer Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...
, but the release of the iconic film The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ
The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 American drama film directed by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It depicts the Passion of Jesus largely according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...
inspired the writers to incorporate Mel Gibson into the episode. Multiple endings were written, including one in which Death comes for Gibson. During production, an episode of South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
was released entitled "The Passion of the Jew
The Passion of the Jew
"The Passion of the Jew" is episode 114 of the Comedy Central series South Park and was originally broadcast on March 31, 2004. The episode is a satire of the movie The Passion of the Christ, which was released in 2004.- Plot :...
" that also featured Gibson as a prominent character. This gave the Family Guy writers pause, fearing accusations " that we had ripped them off."
Three days before the episode debuted on television, it was screened at the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
(UVM) in Burlington
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, accompanied by an hour-long question-and-answer session with MacFarlane. The UVM's special screening of the episode was attended by 1,700 people. As promotion for the show, and to, as Newman described, "expand interest in the show beyond its die hard fans", Fox organized four Family Guy Live! performances, which featured cast members reading old episodes aloud; "North by North Quahog" was also previewed. In addition, the cast performed musical numbers from the Family Guy Live in Vegas comedy album. The stage shows were an extension of a performance by the cast during the 2004 Montreal Comedy Festival. The Family Guy Live! performances, which took place in Los Angeles and New York, sold out and were attended by around 1,200 people each.
Cultural references
Dark Angel (TV series)
Dark Angel is an American biopunk/cyberpunk science fiction television series created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. The show premiered in the United States on the Fox network on October 3, 2000, and was canceled after two seasons...
, Titus
Titus (TV series)
Titus is an American dark comedy sitcom that debuted on Fox in 2000. The series was created by its star, Christopher Titus, Jack Kenny, and Brian Hargrove...
, Undeclared
Undeclared
Undeclared is an American sitcom that aired on Fox during the 2001–02 season.- Premise :The half-hour comedy was Judd Apatow's follow-up to his earlier television series Freaks and Geeks, which also lasted for one season...
, Action
Action (TV series)
Action is a comedy series about a Hollywood producer named Peter Dragon, who is trying to recover from his last box-office failure. It aired on FOX during the 1999-2000 season. The series was critically praised for its irreverent, and sometimes hostile look at Hollywood culture. Thirteen episodes...
, That '80s Show
That '80s Show
That '80s Show is an American sitcom that aired in half-hour long episodes from January through May 2002. Despite having a similar name, show structure, and many of the same writers and production staff, it is not considered a direct spin-off of the more successful That '70s Show, since the...
, Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls
Wonderfalls is a comedy-drama television series that was broadcast on the Fox television network in 2004.The show centres on Jaye Tyler , a recent Brown University graduate with a philosophy degree, who holds a dead-end job as a sales clerk at a Niagara Falls gift shop...
, Fastlane
Fastlane (TV series)
Fastlane is an American action/crime drama series that was broadcast on Fox from 2002 to 2003. On August 14, 2005 G4 began rebroadcasting the complete series. After finishing its initial run on the network, Fastlane stopped airing on G4...
, Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Andy Richter Controls the Universe is a sitcom which aired from 2002–2003 on the Fox network. The series was Andy Richter's first starring role after leaving Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2000....
, Skin
Skin (TV series)
Skin is a television serial drama which aired at 9:00 p.m. Monday on Fox in 2003. It followed the tale of two teenagers who came from feuding families on opposite sides of the moral and legal spectrum. Adam is the son of the Los Angeles District Attorney, and Jewel is the daughter of a pornographer...
, Girls Club, Cracking Up
Cracking Up
For the movie, see Cracking Up .Cracking Up is an American television sitcom created by School of Rock writer Mike White, who also served as the series' head writer. It aired on the Fox Network on Monday nights from March to May 2004. The title of the program and the name of the psychiatrist, Dr...
, The Pitts
The Pitts
The Pitts was a short-lived FOX sitcom that aired 7 half-hour episodes between March and April 2003. It is about a family and their bad luck. It was a satire on typical American sitcoms with over-the-top sight gags.-Premise:...
, Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
, Get Real
Get Real (TV series)
Get Real is a short-lived comedy-drama on the FOX Network centering on the fictional Green family of San Francisco. It ran from September 1999 to April 2000...
, Freakylinks
FreakyLinks
FreakyLinks was an American television show that combined elements of horror, mystery, and comedy. It aired on the Fox Network from October 2000 until June 2001, for a total run of 13 episodes...
, Wanda at Large
Wanda at Large
Wanda at Large is an American sitcom that ran for two seasons on the Fox network in 2003. The series was created by and stars comedian Wanda Sykes.-Synopsis:...
, Costello, The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen (TV series)
The Lone Gunmen is a television show created by Chris Carter and broadcast on FOX. It was a spin-off of Carter's popular long-running television series The X-Files and a part of The X-Files franchise, starring several of the show's characters. The Lone Gunmen was first broadcast in March 2001 and,...
, A Minute with Stan Hooper
A Minute with Stan Hooper
A Minute with Stan Hooper, also known as Stan Hooper, is an American sitcom starring Norm Macdonald. The series was a Carsey-Werner production in association with Paramount Television and aired on Fox...
, Normal, Ohio
Normal, Ohio
Normal, Ohio is an American television sitcom, which aired on the Fox Network in 2000. The show stars John Goodman as William "Butch" Gamble, a gay man returning to his Midwestern home town...
, Pasadena
Pasadena (TV series)
Pasadena is an American primetime soap opera originally broadcast in the U.S. from September to November 2001 on Fox.-Summary:The series starred Alison Lohman as Lily McAllister, an initially naïve young woman who witnesses a stranger's suicide and begins to investigate the secrets being hidden by...
, Harsh Realm
Harsh Realm
Harsh Realm is a science fiction television series about humans trapped inside a virtual reality simulation. It was developed by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files and Millennium, and began airing on the Fox Network on October 8, 1999. The series fared poorly in the ratings and was removed from...
, Keen Eddie
Keen Eddie
Keen Eddie is an American action, comedy-drama television series that aired in 2003 on the Fox Network. The series follows a brash NYPD detective who goes to London when one of his cases goes sour and remains to work with New Scotland Yard...
, The $treet
The $treet
The $treet is an American television drama series that aired on Fox in 2000. 11 episodes were produced and 6 aired in the U.S.The series was about a small brokerage house called Belmont Stevens located in New York and the lives of its employees. Freddie Sacker was one of the most notable...
, The American Embassy
The American Embassy
The American Embassy is an American drama series that aired on Fox from March to April 2002. The series was created by James D. Parriott, and executive produced by Danny DeVito.-Synopsis:...
, Cedric the Entertainer Presents
Cedric the Entertainer Presents
Cedric the Entertainer Presents was an American sketch comedy television series starring Cedric the Entertainer. The series premiered September 18, 2002 on Fox and after the first season, Fox renewed the show for a second season but right before the show aired its second season, Fox canceled the...
, The Tick, Luis
Luis (TV series)
Luis is an American sitcom starring Luis Guzmán that aired on Fox from September to October 2003. Scheduled in the Friday night death slot, the series received low ratings and was canceled after five episodes. The series was the first show of the 2003-2004 season to be canceled.-Season One:...
and Greg the Bunny
Greg the Bunny
Greg the Bunny is an American television sitcom that originally aired on Fox TV in 2002. It starred Seth Green and a hand puppet named Greg the Bunny, originally invented by the team of Sean S. Baker, Spencer Chinoy and Dan Milano. Milano and Chinoy wrote and co-produced the Fox show. In the show,...
. Lois asks whether there is any hope, to which Peter replies that if all these shows are canceled they might have a chance, the joke being all these shows had indeed already been canceled by Fox. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that, during the first Family Guy Live! performance, "... the longer [the list] went, the louder the laughs from the Town Hall crowd [became]".
Australian-American actor Mel Gibson is prominently featured in the episode; his voice was impersonated by André Sogliuzzo
André Sogliuzzo
André Sogliuzzo is an Italian-American voice actor, comedian, and actor.-Animated roles:* American Dad! – Dill* Avatar: The Last Airbender – King Bumi, Hakoda, Haru* The Batman – Duncan* Brandy & Mr...
. Gibson directed the film The Passion of the Christ and, in the episode, is seen making a sequel entitled Passion of the Christ 2: Crucify This. The fictional sequel is a combination of The Passion of the Christ and Rush Hour, and stars Chris Tucker
Chris Tucker
Christopher "Chris" Tucker is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.-Early life:...
, who starred in Rush Hour, and James Caviezel
James Caviezel
James Patrick Caviezel, Jr. is an American film actor, usually credited as Jim Caviezel. He is known for the roles of Jesus Christ in the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, Bobby Jones in Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, Detective John Sullivan in Frequency, Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte...
who portrayed Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in The Passion of the Christ. Gibson was approached to voice himself but passed on it, which he later regretted because he enjoyed the episode.
The episode contains several references to Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 film North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
. Besides the title of the episode, several scenes in "North by North Quahog" are inspired by the Hitchcock film. In the scene in which Lois is kidnapped by Gibson's associates, the two priests chase Peter through a cornfield, flying a crop-duster, parodying the crop-duster scene from the film. The final face-off between Peter, Lois and Gibson that takes place on Mount Rushmore is also a reference to North by Northwest.
As Peter and Lois are driving to Cape Cod for their second honeymoon, Peter is reading a Jughead comic book
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
and their car crashes. The fictional Park Barrington Hotel, where Peter and Lois steal Gibson's film, is located in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. The car chase scene through a shopping mall is a recreation of a scene from the 1980 comedy film The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers (film)
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...
. To stop Meg and Chris from fighting, Brian reads to them from one of the few books Peter owns, a novelization of the 1980 film Caddyshack
Caddyshack
Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...
and quotes a line by Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
's character, Ty Webb.
The episode contains a number of other cultural references. When Peter and Lois enter their motel room and find a hooker on the bed, Peter warns Lois to stay perfectly still, as the prostitute's vision is based on movement. This is a reference to a scene in the movie Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
in which Dr. Grant gives this warning in reference to a Tyrannosaurus Rex
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
. Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
appears in a cutaway gag, in which Gepetto bends over and deliberately sets Pinocchio up to tell a lie in an attempt to emulate anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
. This was based on a joke MacFarlane's mother had told her friends when he was a child. Lois yells out George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
's name when she and Peter are having sex. The 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners is an American situation comedy television show, based on a recurring 1951–'55 sketch of the same name. It originally aired on the DuMont network's Cavalcade of Stars and subsequently on the CBS network's The Jackie Gleason Show hosted by Jackie Gleason, and filmed before a live...
is also referenced when a fictional episode of the sitcom is shown in which Ralph Kramden, the show's main character, hits his wife, something he would only threaten to do on the show. Meg watches an episode of the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, which shows three men, one of whom is cut in half. Fictional army soldier Flint
Flint (G.I. Joe)
Flint is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. He was originally created as a character for the Sunbow cartoon series in 1984, and later introduced into the comic book and produced as an action figure in 1985.-Profile:...
of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the...
appears briefly after Chris is caught drinking vodka, and educates the children on drinking and informs them that "... knowing is half the battle". Flint's voice was provided by Bill Ratner
Bill Ratner
Bill Ratner is an American voice actor. He is best known for being the voice of G.I. Joe's Flint. He is the movie trailer voice for Will Ferrell's Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory, Kung Fu Panda, Tenacious D, Mike Myers's The Love Guru, Monsters vs...
, the actor who had voiced the character in the G.I. Joe television series. According to Seth Green
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
, who voices Chris, the reason the Family Guy cast members did not voice Flint themselves is because if you have the original actor providing the voice " you take it with a little bit more gravitas".
Reception
"North by North Quahog" was broadcast on May 1, 2005 as part of an animated television night on Fox, was preceded by two episodes of The SimpsonsThe 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...
(including the show's 350th episode
Future-Drama
"Future-Drama" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons sixteenth season, the 350th episode overall, and originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 17, 2005. In the episode, Bart and Lisa stumble into Professor Frink's basement, and he gives them a look into their future as...
), and was followed by the premiere of MacFarlane's new show, 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...
. It was watched by 11.85 million viewers, higher than both The Simpsons and American Dad. The episode's ratings were Family Guys highest ratings since the airing of the season one episode "Brian: Portrait of a Dog
Brian: Portrait of a Dog
"Brian: Portrait of a Dog" is the seventh episode and the season finale of the first season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 16, 1999. The episode features anthropomorphic dog Brian after he swallows his pride, and joins a dog show,...
". Family Guy was the week's highest-rated show among teens and men in the 18 to 34 demographic, and more than doubled Fox's average in its timeslot. The episode's first broadcast in Canada, on June 5, 2005, on CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, was watched by 1.27 million viewers, making it fourth for the week it was broadcast, behind CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
, CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
and the third series of Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show Pop Idol. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons...
.
The reactions of television critics to "North by North Quahog" were mostly positive. In a simultaneous review of the two episodes of The Simpsons that preceded this episode and the American Dad! pilot, Chase Squires of the St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
stated that "North by North Quahog" "... score[d] the highest". Multimedia news and reviews website 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...
was pleased to see Stewie and Brian get more screen time as a duo, something they thought had always been one of the show's biggest strengths. IGN placed Peter's idea to pose as Mel Gibson and steal Passion of the Christ 2 in 9th place on their list of "Peter Griffin's Top 10 Craziest Ideas". Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
commented that the episode's material "would wear thin after a while if the character's weren't as distinct and endearing as they are, most notably Stewie, the wrathful infant."
Critics reacted positively to the opening sequence; in his review of the episode, Mark McGuire of The Times Union wrote: "... the first minute or so of the resurrected Family Guy ranks among the funniest 60 seconds I've seen so far this season." Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
critic Brian Lowry considered the opening sequence to be the best part of the episode. M. Keith Booker, author of the book Drawn to Television: Primetime Television from The Flintstones to Family Guy, called the opening sequence an "... in-your-face, I-told-you-so rejoinder to the Fox brass followed by one of the most outrageous Family Guy episodes ever".
However, the episode also garnered negative responses. Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
stated that "Three years off the air has not made the 'Family Guy' team that much more creative". Kevin Wong of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
thought the episode made fun of easy targets such as Gibson and The Passion of The Christ, although he felt Family Guy regained "... its admirable mix of niche nostalgia and hysterical characterizations" after the first two episodes of the new season. Though Alex Strachan, critic for The Montreal Gazette, praised the opening sequence, he felt "it's all downhill from there". Bill Brioux of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
considered the show to be similar to The Simpsons. Media watchdog group the Parents Television Council
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...
, a frequent critic
Criticism of Family Guy
The American animated sitcom Family Guy has been the target of numerous complaints concerning taste and indecency. Parents Television Council has expressed moral opposition to the series, and filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission....
of the show, branded the episode the "worst show of the week".
"North by North Quahog" was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series which is judged to have been the best...
, the eventual recipient of the award being South Park episode "Best Friends Forever
Best Friends Forever
"Best Friends Forever" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series series South Park. It was written and directed by co-creator Trey Parker and first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 30, 2005....
". Peter Shin, director of the episode, won the Annie Award
Annie Award
The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
for Best Directing in an Animated Television Production. Fellow Family Guy director Dan Povenmire
Dan Povenmire
Daniel Kingsley "Dan" Povenmire is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series, best known as the co-creator of the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb in which he also voices the show's villain, Heinz...
, was nominated for the same award for directing "PTV
PTV (Family Guy)
"PTV" is the fourteenth episode of season four of the FOX animated series Family Guy. The episode sees the FCC censor the shows on television after a controversial wardrobe malfunction at the Emmy Awards. Peter starts to create his own TV network which he calls PTV, broadcasting classic shows...
".