Peter-assment
Encyclopedia
"Peter-assment" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season
of the animated
comedy series
Family Guy
. It originally aired on Fox
in the United States on March 21, 2010. The episode follows Peter
after he becomes a paparazzo
, and begins to annoy the citizens and local celebrities in Quahog, and eventually breaks his glasses. Peter then becomes the target of sexual lust by his boss at the Pawtucket Brewery, Angela, who finds him attractive without his occasional eyewear. Continually refusing to have relations with her, Peter tries to avoid Angela, but she fires him and attempts suicide
, leaving him with no other choice but to acknowledge her deep-rooted sexual desires.
The episode was written by Chris Sheridan and directed by Julius Wu
. It received mostly mixed reviews from critics for its storyline and many cultural references, in addition to receiving some criticism from the family of Terri Schiavo
for its opening act. According to Nielsen ratings
, it was viewed in 6.65 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Max Burkholder
, Richard Dreyfuss
, Carrie Fisher
, Jim Goldenberg, Max Hodges, Maurice Lamont, Harvey Levin
, Jack Samson, Will Shadley
, Anthony Skillman and Steve Urquilla, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "Peter-assment" will be released on DVD
along with ten other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011.
, the Griffin family
wait eagerly to see Stewie
appear in the starring role as "The Plug." Succumbing to stage fright, however, Stewie wets himself, and begins crying, with Peter
recording it all on video tape. Panning the camera down to another row in the auditorium, Peter notices actor Richard Dreyfuss
, and begins recording him, while pestering him with personal questions. Deciding to sell the video to TMZ
, Peter quickly becomes enthralled with being a paparazzo
, and decides to buy a professional-grade video camera. He then begins recording other town celebrities, including Tom Tucker, Mayor Adam West
, and Ollie Williams, who smashes Peter's camera, as well as his glasses. Unable to fix them in time for work the next day, he decides to wear contacts
instead. Once he arrives at work, his boss, Angela, notices something different about his appearance and develops a sexual attraction for him. Angela begins hitting on Peter, enlisting him to do various odd sexual favors for her. This culminates in her inviting Peter to her house one evening, which Peter realizes as an attempt to have sex with him. Peter fears of going against her will result in being fired, and agrees to visit Angela. He then enlists his neighbor, Quagmire
, to go with him, and hides inside Peter's clothing, planning to have sex with Angela, in the place of Peter. He soon backs out, however, when he finds Angela to be unattractive, leading Peter to have to refuse to have sex with her, and eventually being fired from his job.
Deciding to drink away his sorrows, Peter begins watching an old film featuring Robert Mitchum
, in which he slaps a woman. Mitchum then breaks the fourth wall
and tells Peter to stand up for himself. Deciding to use physical violence against Angela, Peter drives to her house, and discovers his boss attempting to commit suicide in her garage by inhaling the exhaust from her car. Quickly resuscitating her, Angela confesses that she has no hope in life, after not having been with another man for more than ten years. Deciding to help her out by getting her a date with another man, Peter disguises himself as a high society Englishman
named "Reginald." The two then have dinner together, before Angela brings her date back to the house and tries to seduce him, while still threatening to kill herself if he refuses. Peter, as Reginald, reluctantly agrees, rekindling her will to live. Seeing through his disguise, Angela then rehires Peter. Later, at The Drunken Clam with Quagmire and Joe, Peter then reveals that he had actually secretly paid Mort Goldman to have sex with his boss.
, writing the second episode of the series "I Never Met the Dead Man
". It was directed by series regular Julius Wu
, who joined the show in its fifth season
, directing the episode "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou
". Series regulars Peter Shin
and James Purdum
served as supervising directors, with Andrew Goldberg
and Alex Carter working as staff writer
s for the episode. Composer Walter Murphy
, who has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for "Peter-assment". Actress Carrie Fisher
, who is most famous for her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars
, first joined the series as Peter's boss, Angela, in the fourth season
episode "Jungle Love
". Fisher has been given high praise for her portrayal of the character, with The Hollywood Reporter
calling it one of her "5 Most Iconic Roles."
"Peter-assment", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guys eighth season, will be released on a three-disc DVD
set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer
", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
In addition to the regular cast and Fisher, voice actor Max Burkholder
, actor Richard Dreyfuss
, producer Jim Goldenberg, reporter Max Hodges, actor Maurice Lamont, media reporter Harvey Levin
, voice actor Jack Samson, voice actor Will Shadley
, actor Anthony Skillman, and actor Steve Urquilla guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Ralph Garman
, writer Danny Smith
, writer Alec Sulkin
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
and Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane
's spin-off series The Cleveland Show
. It was also followed by the short-lived live-action series Sons of Tucson
. It was watched by 6.65 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings
, despite airing simultaneously with Desperate Housewives
on ABC
, The Amazing Race
on CBS
and Celebrity Apprentice on NBC
. The episode also acquired a 3.5/8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show and Sons of Tucson, in addition to significantly edging out all three shows in total viewership. The episode's ratings decreased slightly from the previous week's episode, "Go Stewie Go
".
Reviews of the episode were mostly mixed, calling the storyline "a string of poorly executed jokes with some mild successes sprinkled here and there." Ramsey Isler of IGN
also called out the episode as "a mashed together mess of two stories that would have worked much better separately," in addition to praising actress Carrie Fisher in her returning role as Angela. In a subsequent review of Family Guys eighth season, Isler listed "Peter-assment" as being "full of the lowest of the lowest-common-denominator "jokes", with heavy reliance on toilet humor and the characteristic cutaway gags that have steadily gotten more random and less funny." In a simultaneous review of The Simpsons episode "Stealing First Base
" and The Cleveland Show episode "Once Upon a Tyne in New York" that preceded "Peter-assment", Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
called the storyline a "junk drawer," criticizing the writers overuse of jokes, "in the hopes some of them land." Jason Hughes of TV Squad also criticized the storyline, saying the interaction between Peter and Angela "went to pretty uncomfortable levels," while praising the episode for " us that harassment can and does go both ways."
In reaction to the opening musical number about Terri Schiavo
, Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, Jr., said, "My family was astonished at the cruelty and bigotry towards our beloved sister, and all disabled people that we witnessed in this show. My first thought was how this attempt at satire must have been enormously difficult and painful for my mother." He continued, "The depiction of Terri in the Family Guy episode on March 21 is not only inaccurate, it seems to take the position that certain people are simply not worthy of receiving medical care because they are viewed as burdens on the health care system." In addition, Schindler has also stated that he hopes to soon enlist the aid of other advocacy groups to protest the episode, "and perhaps see some sponsors end support of the show." Other pro-life activists, including Jill Stanek
, wrote of the opening, "Last night's episode of Family Guy opened with a truly shocking scene This is the same television series that had an abortion episode canceled in August 2009. Creator Seth MacFarlane's goal is get buzz by being offensive."
Family Guy (season 8)
Family Guy eighth season first aired on the Fox network in twenty episodes from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It ran on Sunday nights between May and July 2010 on BBC Three in the UK...
of the 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 March 21, 2010. The episode follows 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 becomes a paparazzo
Paparazzi
Paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people...
, and begins to annoy the citizens and local celebrities in Quahog, and eventually breaks his glasses. Peter then becomes the target of sexual lust by his boss at the Pawtucket Brewery, Angela, who finds him attractive without his occasional eyewear. Continually refusing to have relations with her, Peter tries to avoid Angela, but she fires him and attempts suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, leaving him with no other choice but to acknowledge her deep-rooted sexual desires.
The episode was written by Chris Sheridan and directed by Julius Wu
Julius Wu
Julius Wu is an American animation director. Wu is most notably known for directing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy.Wu has also served as a director, assistant director and storyboard artist on King of the Hill and The Oblongs, before their cancellation.-Family Guy:Wu joined...
. It received mostly mixed reviews from critics for its storyline and many cultural references, in addition to receiving some criticism from the family of Terri Schiavo
Terri Schiavo
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
for its opening act. According to Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, it was viewed in 6.65 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Max Burkholder
Max Burkholder
Maxwell Henry Wolf "Max" Burkholder is an American child actor most noticeable for his role Max Braverman, who has Asperger Syndrome, in the NBC series Parenthood. Prior to that, he became known as a voice actor, among his many roles were those of Chomper in The Land Before Time television series...
, Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
, Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
, Jim Goldenberg, Max Hodges, Maurice Lamont, Harvey Levin
Harvey Levin
Harvey Robert Levin is an American television producer, lawyer, legal analyst and a celebrity reporter. He is the founder of celebrity gossip website TMZ.com.-Education:...
, Jack Samson, Will Shadley
Will Shadley
Will Shadley is an American child actor, perhaps best known for his role in the 2010 film The Spy Next Door.Shadley was born in Winter Park, Florida to Shari and Rick Shadley, a landscape architect. He has an older sister. Shadley's first acting role was in a play of A Christmas Carol in which he...
, Anthony Skillman and Steve Urquilla, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "Peter-assment" will be released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
along with ten other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011.
Plot
Attending a play being held at the Little Clam Pre-School about Terri SchiavoTerri Schiavo case
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
, the Griffin family
Griffin family
The Griffin family is a family from the animated television series Family Guy. The Griffins are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Peter and Lois, their three children Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their dog Brian. They live at 31 Spooner Street in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode...
wait eagerly to see 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....
appear in the starring role as "The Plug." Succumbing to stage fright, however, Stewie wets himself, and begins crying, with 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....
recording it all on video tape. Panning the camera down to another row in the auditorium, Peter notices actor Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
, and begins recording him, while pestering him with personal questions. Deciding to sell the video to TMZ
TMZ.com
TMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...
, Peter quickly becomes enthralled with being a paparazzo
Paparazzi
Paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people...
, and decides to buy a professional-grade video camera. He then begins recording other town celebrities, including Tom Tucker, Mayor Adam West
Adam West (Family Guy)
Adam West, also known as Mayor West, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. The character, voiced by the actor of the same name, is the eccentric mayor of the town of Quahog, Rhode Island, where the series is set.-Character:...
, and Ollie Williams, who smashes Peter's camera, as well as his glasses. Unable to fix them in time for work the next day, he decides to wear contacts
Contact lens
A contact lens, or simply contact, is a lens placed on the eye. They are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, for cosmetic or therapeutic reasons. In 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide, including 28 to 38 million in the United...
instead. Once he arrives at work, his boss, Angela, notices something different about his appearance and develops a sexual attraction for him. Angela begins hitting on Peter, enlisting him to do various odd sexual favors for her. This culminates in her inviting Peter to her house one evening, which Peter realizes as an attempt to have sex with him. Peter fears of going against her will result in being fired, and agrees to visit Angela. He then enlists his neighbor, Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
, to go with him, and hides inside Peter's clothing, planning to have sex with Angela, in the place of Peter. He soon backs out, however, when he finds Angela to be unattractive, leading Peter to have to refuse to have sex with her, and eventually being fired from his job.
Deciding to drink away his sorrows, Peter begins watching an old film featuring Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
, in which he slaps a woman. Mitchum then breaks the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
and tells Peter to stand up for himself. Deciding to use physical violence against Angela, Peter drives to her house, and discovers his boss attempting to commit suicide in her garage by inhaling the exhaust from her car. Quickly resuscitating her, Angela confesses that she has no hope in life, after not having been with another man for more than ten years. Deciding to help her out by getting her a date with another man, Peter disguises himself as a high society Englishman
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
named "Reginald." The two then have dinner together, before Angela brings her date back to the house and tries to seduce him, while still threatening to kill herself if he refuses. Peter, as Reginald, reluctantly agrees, rekindling her will to live. Seeing through his disguise, Angela then rehires Peter. Later, at The Drunken Clam with Quagmire and Joe, Peter then reveals that he had actually secretly paid Mort Goldman to have sex with his boss.
Production and development
The episode was written by Family Guy executive producer Chris Sheridan, who joined the show in its first seasonFamily 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,...
, writing the second episode of the series "I Never Met the Dead Man
I Never Met the Dead Man
"I Never Met the Dead Man" is the second episode of the first season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 11, 1999. The episode follows Peter Griffin as he teaches his daughter Meg how to drive. Due to his horrible advice they crash into a...
". It was directed by series regular Julius Wu
Julius Wu
Julius Wu is an American animation director. Wu is most notably known for directing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy.Wu has also served as a director, assistant director and storyboard artist on King of the Hill and The Oblongs, before their cancellation.-Family Guy:Wu joined...
, who joined the show in its fifth season
Family Guy (season 5)
Family Guy fifth season first aired on the Fox network in eighteen episodes from September 10, 2006 to May 20, 2007 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It premiered with the episode "Stewie Loves Lois" and finished with "Meet the Quagmires"...
, directing the episode "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou
"The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou" is the eleventh episode of season five of Family Guy, which originally aired on February 18, 2007. After discovering Chris is being tormented by a bully, Peter goes to the bully's house to speak with him, but ends up beating him up...
". Series regulars 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 James Purdum
James Purdum
James Purdum is an American animation director. Purdum is most notably known for directing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy....
served as supervising directors, with Andrew Goldberg
Andrew Goldberg (TV writer)
Andrew Goldberg is currently a writer for Family Guy, where he has written several episodes. He is also the author of Brian Griffin's Guide to Booze, Broads, and the Lost Art of Being a Man, a book published by HarperCollins focusing on Brian Griffin's beliefs.- Biography :Andrew Goldberg was born...
and Alex Carter working as staff writer
Staff writer
Staff writer is a byline that indicates that the author of the article at hand is employed by the periodical that published the article as a regular staff member, and not as a freelance writer or special contributor....
s for the episode. Composer 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 has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for "Peter-assment". Actress Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
, who is most famous for her role as Princess Leia in 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...
, first joined the series as Peter's boss, Angela, in the fourth season
Family Guy (season 4)
The fourth season of Family Guy aired from May 1, 2005 to May 21, 2006. The season consisted of thirty episodes. The first half of the season is included within the Volume Three DVD box set, which was released on November 29, 2005 and the second half is included within the Volume Four DVD box set,...
episode "Jungle Love
Jungle Love (Family Guy)
"Jungle Love" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Family Guy. Chris runs away from his home after getting hazed on his first day of school and joins the Peace Corps, after which he is dropped off in South America...
". Fisher has been given high praise for her portrayal of the character, with The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
calling it one of her "5 Most Iconic Roles."
"Peter-assment", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guys eighth season, will be released on a three-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer
And Then There Were Fewer
"And Then There Were Fewer" is the first episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 26, 2010. The episode follows the citizens of Quahog, Rhode Island, after they are invited by actor James Woods to his stately...
", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
In addition to the regular cast and Fisher, voice actor Max Burkholder
Max Burkholder
Maxwell Henry Wolf "Max" Burkholder is an American child actor most noticeable for his role Max Braverman, who has Asperger Syndrome, in the NBC series Parenthood. Prior to that, he became known as a voice actor, among his many roles were those of Chomper in The Land Before Time television series...
, actor Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
, producer Jim Goldenberg, reporter Max Hodges, actor Maurice Lamont, media reporter Harvey Levin
Harvey Levin
Harvey Robert Levin is an American television producer, lawyer, legal analyst and a celebrity reporter. He is the founder of celebrity gossip website TMZ.com.-Education:...
, voice actor Jack Samson, voice actor Will Shadley
Will Shadley
Will Shadley is an American child actor, perhaps best known for his role in the 2010 film The Spy Next Door.Shadley was born in Winter Park, Florida to Shari and Rick Shadley, a landscape architect. He has an older sister. Shadley's first acting role was in a play of A Christmas Carol in which he...
, actor Anthony Skillman, and actor Steve Urquilla guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman is an American actor, comedian, and radio host best known as the host of The Joe Schmo Show, for his voice work in Family Guy, and as the entertainment reporter and impressionist for the Kevin and Bean morning show on Los Angeles radio station, KROQ-FM...
, writer Danny Smith
Danny Smith (writer)
Daniel "Danny" Smith is an executive producer, writer and voice actor on the American animated television series Family Guy. He has been with the show since its inception and throughout the years has contributed many episodes, such as "Holy Crap", "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", "Chitty...
, writer Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin is an American television writer. Most notable for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy, he has also contributed to The Cleveland Show, another series by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane....
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
Reception
"Peter-assment" was broadcast on March 21, 2010, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by 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...
and Family Guy creator and executive producer 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,...
's spin-off series The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States...
. It was also followed by the short-lived live-action series Sons of Tucson
Sons of Tucson
Sons of Tucson is a comedy television series starring Tyler Labine, Frank Dolce, Matthew Levy and Benjamin Stockham. It premiered on Fox on March 11, 2010...
. It was watched by 6.65 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, despite airing simultaneously with Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race (U.S. TV series)
The Amazing Race is an American reality game show in which teams of two or four race around the world against other teams, with the first-place team winning $1,000,000. As the original version of the Amazing Race franchise, the CBS program has been running since 2001 and is airing its nineteenth...
on 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...
and Celebrity Apprentice on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The episode also acquired a 3.5/8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show and Sons of Tucson, in addition to significantly edging out all three shows in total viewership. The episode's ratings decreased slightly from the previous week's episode, "Go Stewie Go
Go Stewie Go
"Go, Stewie, Go!" is the thirteenth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 14, 2010...
".
Reviews of the episode were mostly mixed, calling the storyline "a string of poorly executed jokes with some mild successes sprinkled here and there." Ramsey Isler of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
also called out the episode as "a mashed together mess of two stories that would have worked much better separately," in addition to praising actress Carrie Fisher in her returning role as Angela. In a subsequent review of Family Guys eighth season, Isler listed "Peter-assment" as being "full of the lowest of the lowest-common-denominator "jokes", with heavy reliance on toilet humor and the characteristic cutaway gags that have steadily gotten more random and less funny." In a simultaneous review of The Simpsons episode "Stealing First Base
Stealing First Base
"Stealing First Base" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 21, 2010. In this episode, Bart falls in love with a girl named Nikki from a second fourth grade class, but when he kisses her, Nikki begins...
" and The Cleveland Show episode "Once Upon a Tyne in New York" that preceded "Peter-assment", Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
called the storyline a "junk drawer," criticizing the writers overuse of jokes, "in the hopes some of them land." Jason Hughes of TV Squad also criticized the storyline, saying the interaction between Peter and Angela "went to pretty uncomfortable levels," while praising the episode for " us that harassment can and does go both ways."
In reaction to the opening musical number about Terri Schiavo
Terri Schiavo
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
, Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, Jr., said, "My family was astonished at the cruelty and bigotry towards our beloved sister, and all disabled people that we witnessed in this show. My first thought was how this attempt at satire must have been enormously difficult and painful for my mother." He continued, "The depiction of Terri in the Family Guy episode on March 21 is not only inaccurate, it seems to take the position that certain people are simply not worthy of receiving medical care because they are viewed as burdens on the health care system." In addition, Schindler has also stated that he hopes to soon enlist the aid of other advocacy groups to protest the episode, "and perhaps see some sponsors end support of the show." Other pro-life activists, including Jill Stanek
Jill Stanek
Jill Stanek is an American pro-life activist from Illinois, best known for her allegations regarding "live birth abortions" that she publicly testified were being performed at Christ Hospital in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn...
, wrote of the opening, "Last night's episode of Family Guy opened with a truly shocking scene This is the same television series that had an abortion episode canceled in August 2009. Creator Seth MacFarlane's goal is get buzz by being offensive."