The Splendid Source
Encyclopedia
"The Splendid Source" is the nineteenth episode of the eighth season
of the animated
comedy series
Family Guy
. Directed by Brian Iles
and written by Mark Hentemann
, the episode originally aired on Fox
in the United States on May 16, 2010. The episode follows Peter
, Joe and Quagmire
as they set out on a journey to find the ultimate source of all the world's dirty jokes. Along the way, the group is reunited with their old friend, Cleveland Brown
, while traveling through Stoolbend, Virginia. The friends soon discover that it is much more difficult than they thought, however, as they are unexpectedly kidnapped and taken to a remote island, before discovering a secret society of the world's greatest geniuses at the center of all the world's dirty jokes.
The episode served as a follow-up to the exit of the main character Cleveland Brown, who left Family Guy in order to star in his own Fox spin-off, entitled The Cleveland Show
. Main cast member and former series writer Mike Henry returned to the series to provide the voice of Cleveland. The episode also featured the first official crossover
between Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, both of which were created by executive producer Seth MacFarlane
, and included cameo appearances by several of The Cleveland Shows main characters. It was first announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Critical responses to the episode were mostly mixed; critics praised the episode for its original premise, and its under reliance on cultural references, but criticized the episode's main storyline. According to Nielsen ratings
, it was viewed in 7.59 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Marc Alaimo
, Gary Cole
, Ioan Gruffudd
, Sanaa Lathan
, David Lynch
, Kevin Michael Richardson
and Wally Wingert
, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "The Splendid Source" will be released on DVD
along with ten other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011.
discuss a family trip to Maine
, Chris
suddenly enters the kitchen, and alerts his parents that he has been suspended by Principal Shepherd for telling an inappropriate joke. Assuring Principal Shepherd it will not ever happen again, Chris reveals that it was actually Quagmire who told him the joke in the first place. Deciding to confront Quagmire at the Drunken Clam later that day, Peter finds the joke to be hilarious and accidentally defecates
himself. Quagmire and Joe soon discover that Peter actually does so every time they tell him the joke, and the two set out to continually make him defecate himself even to the point that Quagmire hires Freddy Krueger
from the Nightmare On Elm Street
film series to make Peter soil himself in his dreams and in real life where he quotes in fears, "When you poop
in your dreams, you poop for real." Tired of their antics, Peter decides to wear Quagmire's pants to the bar the next day, preventing them from making him laugh. Going on to question where Quagmire heard the dirty joke in the first place, he reveals that it was actually Bruce who told him the joke. Locating Bruce at his job at the bowling alley, the group eventually discovers that the joke (which among other people was passed on by Futurama
character Bender
and REO Speedwagon
frontman Kevin Cronin
) originated with a Virginia bartender.
Setting out from Quahog, along with Bonnie and Lois, expecting to go on vacation to Maine, Quagmire distracts the two women, as they begin on their journey to Virginia instead. The group then enters the local bar in Stoolbend, Virginia, and discover that it was actually Cleveland
who told Gus the Bartender the joke. Asking who Cleveland heard it from, he reveals that it was a bellhop named Sal Russo who told him the dirty joke. The group, along with Cleveland, then set out on the road once more to Washington, D.C.
, but are soon attacked by a black vehicle, who fires gunshots at them, in an attempt to stop them from learning the joke's origin (they fail when Joe shoots out one of the car's tires, causing it to spin out of control and it crashes on its roof). The group then arrive at a Washington hotel, and locate Sal, who is reluctant to tell them where he heard it from, and races away on a handcart through Washington. Losing track of Sal, they are soon captured by several men in black suits, who beat them with their guns
.
Kidnapped and thrown on a plane, they soon approach an island and land, being led by the men in suits through the jungle wilderness to a large stone temple. The Dean of the Secret Order of Dirty Joke Writers then appears from the shadows, and leads the group into a large library with the world's greatest geniuses studying inside. The Dean then leads the four on a tour, explaining that the world's great thinkers have come together to make dirty jokes, and through a network of agents (like the bellhop), have been introducing them into the world, and eventually takes them into a dark room. Revealing that they are not permitted to leave the island, now that they know the source of all the world's dirty jokes, they are locked in a jail cell. In an attempt to escape, Peter stabs Cleveland with a pencil, requiring a guard to unlock their cell. The group then escape, and are confronted by the Dean, and his armed guards immediately. As they are about to be shot by the guards, a man revealing that he has written the world's greatest dirty joke suddenly dies, with Peter stealing the joke that he had written on a small paper. Escaping on a plane, flown by Quagmire
, the group soon watch the castle be blown to pieces in a huge fireball, after it is set on fire by a candle that Peter had thrown at a curtain. Peter quickly questions their actions, realizing that they just destroyed the source of all dirty jokes. The group quickly realizes though, that as long as there are people there will be dirty jokes. Peter, Joe, Cleveland and Quagmire then fly off into the sunset, and set back to Quahog, before finding out the supposed greatest joke ever written is "Guess what? Chicken butt". Peter questions if that is really the world's greatest joke, to which Cleveland replies, "No, this is!" in which Cleveland stabs Peter with a pencil much like how Peter stabbed him earlier and saying to them to take him back to Virginia. The final scene details with Peter showing footage of a gorilla
scratching himself instead of a public service announcement from the March of Dimes
Foundation.
on July 25, 2009, by future showrunner Mark Hentemann
, the episode was directed by Brian Iles
, written by Hentemann, and based on a short story by Richard Matheson
before the conclusion of the eighth production season
. Series regulars Peter Shin
and James Purdum
acted as supervising directors of the episode, with Andrew Goldberg
and Alex Carter working as staff writers for the episode. The episode saw the fourth re-appearance, the first being an equally brief appearance in "Spies Reminiscent of Us
", the second in "Road to the Multiverse
" and the third being "Go Stewie Go
", by former main cast member Mike Henry as the voice of Cleveland Brown
. The actor had previously left the role on Family Guy, in order to star as the character in his own spinoff, entitled The Cleveland Show
. This episode is also the first crossover with The Cleveland Show, which was created by Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane
, voice actor Mike Henry, and former animated comedy writer Richard Appel
.
"The Splendid Source", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guys eighth season, will be released on a three-disc DVD
set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer
", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
In addition to the regular cast, actor Marc Alaimo
, actor Gary Cole
, actor Ioan Gruffudd
, actress Sanaa Lathan
, film director David Lynch
, voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson
and voice actor Wally Wingert
guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Chris Cox
, actor Ralph Garman
, writer Patrick Meighan
, writer Danny Smith
, writer Alec Sulkin
, actress Jennifer Tilly
, and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
. In one of Quagmire's plots to have Peter soil himself, Quagmire falls asleep and encounters Freddy Krueger
, the principal character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series, in a dream and hires him to go into Peter's dream, and tell the joke to him.
While tracking down the person who first told the joke, Peter and the gang find Bender
, from the Fox series Futurama
, who is shown telling the joke. When Peter, Joe and Quagmire get to Virginia they meet up with Cleveland and his new family from The Cleveland Show. There is a scene where Cleveland chases after the other three guys in the car, which alludes to the opening from What's Happening!!
, and uses the music from the show's opening as well. When the group gets to Washington D.C., Peter, Joe, Cleveland and Quagmire see the Washington Monument
, and next to it appears the Barack Obama
Monument, which resembles the Washington monument, but is bigger and is colored black
.
With the plane, they land on an island which has the source for every dirty joke ever made, the base looks similar to a temple-compound from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now
. The base is inhabited with many great minds, including Bill Gates
and Stephen Hawking
, who pass their time writing the world's dirty jokes. It is shown that the first dead baby joke was written in the era of Ancient Egypt
.
, despite airing simultaneously with the season finale of Desperate Housewives
on ABC
, the season finale of Survivor on CBS
and Celebrity Apprentice
on NBC
. The episode also acquired a 3.8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons
, The Cleveland Show
and American Dad!
, in addition to edging out all three shows in total viewership.
Reviews of the episode were mostly mixed, calling it "the only show with any sense of mystery." John Teti of The A.V. Club
found the episode to have a "fantastic premise for a Peter Griffin adventure" but went on to state that he gives the episode "points for a strong first half, but I wish that the writers had pushed themselves a little harder to make this one go the distance." Ramsey Isler of IGN
reiterated his own enjoyment of the premise of the episode, but went on to state, "While I can appreciate the point that good comedy does take a certain degree of wit and cleverness, this just wasn't a very satisfying end to an idea that had so much potential." In a much more positive review, Jason Hughes of TV Squad praised the underuse of cutaways, going on to note, "Reducing the reliance on cutaways seems to be the continuing trend for the series, and I think it's a good move It forces smarter writing, and creates a better narrative structure."
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...
. Directed by Brian Iles
Brian Iles
Brian Iles is an American animation director. Iles is most notably known for directing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy....
and written by Mark Hentemann
Mark Hentemann
Mark Hentemann is an American animation writer. Hentemann is most notably known for writing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy...
, the episode 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 May 16, 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....
, Joe and 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...
as they set out on a journey to find the ultimate source of all the world's dirty jokes. Along the way, the group is reunited with their old friend, Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
, while traveling through Stoolbend, Virginia. The friends soon discover that it is much more difficult than they thought, however, as they are unexpectedly kidnapped and taken to a remote island, before discovering a secret society of the world's greatest geniuses at the center of all the world's dirty jokes.
The episode served as a follow-up to the exit of the main character Cleveland Brown, who left Family Guy in order to star in his own Fox spin-off, entitled 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...
. Main cast member and former series writer Mike Henry returned to the series to provide the voice of Cleveland. The episode also featured the first official crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
between Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, both of which were created by 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,...
, and included cameo appearances by several of The Cleveland Shows main characters. It was first announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Critical responses to the episode were mostly mixed; critics praised the episode for its original premise, and its under reliance on cultural references, but criticized the episode's main storyline. 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 7.59 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Marc Alaimo
Marc Alaimo
Michael Anthony "Marc" Alaimo is an American actor, known for his villainous roles. He is known to Star Trek fans for his role as recurring villain Gul Dukat in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Career:...
, Gary Cole
Gary Cole
Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...
, Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
, Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa McCoy Lathan is an American actress and voice actress. She has starred in numerous movies, including the box-office hits Love & Basketball, Alien vs. Predator, Something New, and The Family That Preys. Lathan was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun...
, David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
, Kevin Michael Richardson
Kevin Michael Richardson
Kevin Michael Richardson is an American actor and voice actor who currently stars as Cleveland Brown, Jr. in The Cleveland Show...
and Wally Wingert
Wally Wingert
Wallace E. "Wally" Wingert is an American actor and voice artist. He is originally from Des Moines, Iowa but he currently works and lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the current announcer for the second incarnation of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the current voice of Jon Arbuckle in...
, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "The Splendid Source" 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
As Peter and LoisLois 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...
discuss a family trip to Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, 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:...
suddenly enters the kitchen, and alerts his parents that he has been suspended by Principal Shepherd for telling an inappropriate joke. Assuring Principal Shepherd it will not ever happen again, Chris reveals that it was actually Quagmire who told him the joke in the first place. Deciding to confront Quagmire at the Drunken Clam later that day, Peter finds the joke to be hilarious and accidentally defecates
Defecation
Defecation is the final act of digestion by which organisms eliminate solid, semisolid or liquid waste material from the digestive tract via the anus. Waves of muscular contraction known as peristalsis in the walls of the colon move fecal matter through the digestive tract towards the rectum...
himself. Quagmire and Joe soon discover that Peter actually does so every time they tell him the joke, and the two set out to continually make him defecate himself even to the point that Quagmire hires Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a fictional, horrifying character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams,...
from the Nightmare On Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
film series to make Peter soil himself in his dreams and in real life where he quotes in fears, "When you poop
Poop
Poop may refer to: * Feces, waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus** Defecation, the act or process by which organisms eliminate feces** Pooper-scooper, used by pet owners to pick up their pet's fecal matter...
in your dreams, you poop for real." Tired of their antics, Peter decides to wear Quagmire's pants to the bar the next day, preventing them from making him laugh. Going on to question where Quagmire heard the dirty joke in the first place, he reveals that it was actually Bruce who told him the joke. Locating Bruce at his job at the bowling alley, the group eventually discovers that the joke (which among other people was passed on by Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
character Bender
Bender Bending Rodríguez
Bender Bending Rodríguez, designated Bending Unit 22, is a fictional robot character in the animated television series Futurama. He was created by series creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and is voiced by John DiMaggio. In the series, Bender plays the role of a comic anti-hero, and is...
and REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
frontman Kevin Cronin
Kevin Cronin
Kevin Cronin is the lead vocalist/ rhythm guitarist/ occasional pianist for the American rock band, REO Speedwagon. REO Speedwagon had two #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 written by Cronin, "Keep on Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling" .- Early life and career :Cronin was born in Evanston,...
) originated with a Virginia bartender.
Setting out from Quahog, along with Bonnie and Lois, expecting to go on vacation to Maine, Quagmire distracts the two women, as they begin on their journey to Virginia instead. The group then enters the local bar in Stoolbend, Virginia, and discover that it was actually Cleveland
Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
who told Gus the Bartender the joke. Asking who Cleveland heard it from, he reveals that it was a bellhop named Sal Russo who told him the dirty joke. The group, along with Cleveland, then set out on the road once more to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, but are soon attacked by a black vehicle, who fires gunshots at them, in an attempt to stop them from learning the joke's origin (they fail when Joe shoots out one of the car's tires, causing it to spin out of control and it crashes on its roof). The group then arrive at a Washington hotel, and locate Sal, who is reluctant to tell them where he heard it from, and races away on a handcart through Washington. Losing track of Sal, they are soon captured by several men in black suits, who beat them with their guns
Pistol-whipping
Pistol-whipping is the act of using a handgun as a blunt weapon, wielding it as if it were a club or blackjack. "Pistol-whipping" and "to pistol-whip" were reported as "new words" of American speech in 1955, with cited usages from 1940s...
.
Kidnapped and thrown on a plane, they soon approach an island and land, being led by the men in suits through the jungle wilderness to a large stone temple. The Dean of the Secret Order of Dirty Joke Writers then appears from the shadows, and leads the group into a large library with the world's greatest geniuses studying inside. The Dean then leads the four on a tour, explaining that the world's great thinkers have come together to make dirty jokes, and through a network of agents (like the bellhop), have been introducing them into the world, and eventually takes them into a dark room. Revealing that they are not permitted to leave the island, now that they know the source of all the world's dirty jokes, they are locked in a jail cell. In an attempt to escape, Peter stabs Cleveland with a pencil, requiring a guard to unlock their cell. The group then escape, and are confronted by the Dean, and his armed guards immediately. As they are about to be shot by the guards, a man revealing that he has written the world's greatest dirty joke suddenly dies, with Peter stealing the joke that he had written on a small paper. Escaping on a plane, flown by 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...
, the group soon watch the castle be blown to pieces in a huge fireball, after it is set on fire by a candle that Peter had thrown at a curtain. Peter quickly questions their actions, realizing that they just destroyed the source of all dirty jokes. The group quickly realizes though, that as long as there are people there will be dirty jokes. Peter, Joe, Cleveland and Quagmire then fly off into the sunset, and set back to Quahog, before finding out the supposed greatest joke ever written is "Guess what? Chicken butt". Peter questions if that is really the world's greatest joke, to which Cleveland replies, "No, this is!" in which Cleveland stabs Peter with a pencil much like how Peter stabbed him earlier and saying to them to take him back to Virginia. The final scene details with Peter showing footage of a gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
scratching himself instead of a public service announcement from the March of Dimes
March of Dimes
The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...
Foundation.
Production and development
First announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on July 25, 2009, by future showrunner Mark Hentemann
Mark Hentemann
Mark Hentemann is an American animation writer. Hentemann is most notably known for writing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy...
, the episode was directed by Brian Iles
Brian Iles
Brian Iles is an American animation director. Iles is most notably known for directing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy....
, written by Hentemann, and based on a short story by Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
before the conclusion of the eighth production season
Family Guy (season 8)
Family Guy eighth season first aired on the Fox network in twenty episodes from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It ran on Sunday nights between May and July 2010 on BBC Three in the UK...
. 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....
acted as supervising directors of the episode, 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 writers for the episode. The episode saw the fourth re-appearance, the first being an equally brief appearance in "Spies Reminiscent of Us
Spies Reminiscent of Us
"Spies Reminiscent of Us" is the third episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 11, 2009...
", the second in "Road to the Multiverse
Road to the Multiverse
"Road to the Multiverse" is the first episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. Directed by Greg Colton and written by Wellesley Wild, the episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2009...
" and the third being "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...
", by former main cast member Mike Henry as the voice of Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
. The actor had previously left the role on Family Guy, in order to star as the character in his own spinoff, entitled 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...
. This episode is also the first crossover with The Cleveland Show, which was created by 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,...
, voice actor Mike Henry, and former animated comedy writer Richard Appel
Richard Appel
Richard "Rich" Appel is an American writer, producer and former attorney. Growing up in Wilmette, Illinois, Appel developed a love of comedy and dreamt of a career as a comedy writer; he attended Harvard University and wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. Following in his mother's footsteps Appel...
.
"The Splendid Source", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guys eighth season, will be released on a three-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer
And Then There Were Fewer
"And Then There Were Fewer" is the first episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 26, 2010. The episode follows the citizens of Quahog, Rhode Island, after they are invited by actor James Woods to his stately...
", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
In addition to the regular cast, actor Marc Alaimo
Marc Alaimo
Michael Anthony "Marc" Alaimo is an American actor, known for his villainous roles. He is known to Star Trek fans for his role as recurring villain Gul Dukat in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Career:...
, actor Gary Cole
Gary Cole
Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...
, actor Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd
Ioan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
, actress Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa McCoy Lathan is an American actress and voice actress. She has starred in numerous movies, including the box-office hits Love & Basketball, Alien vs. Predator, Something New, and The Family That Preys. Lathan was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun...
, film director David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
, voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson
Kevin Michael Richardson
Kevin Michael Richardson is an American actor and voice actor who currently stars as Cleveland Brown, Jr. in The Cleveland Show...
and voice actor Wally Wingert
Wally Wingert
Wallace E. "Wally" Wingert is an American actor and voice artist. He is originally from Des Moines, Iowa but he currently works and lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the current announcer for the second incarnation of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the current voice of Jon Arbuckle in...
guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Chris Cox
Chris Cox (actor)
Chris Cox is a filmmaker and voice actor. He is best known, as himself, for the 2001 Small Shots TV series for Spike TV.Cox replaced George Eads in the role of Captain Atom for the popular animated series Justice League Unlimited. Eads was unwilling to reprise his voice role after an appearance in...
, actor Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman is an American actor, comedian, and radio host best known as the host of The Joe Schmo Show, for his voice work in Family Guy, and as the entertainment reporter and impressionist for the Kevin and Bean morning show on Los Angeles radio station, KROQ-FM...
, writer Patrick Meighan
Patrick Meighan (writer)
Patrick Meighan is an American animation writer. Meighan is most notably known for writing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy and Titus.Meighan has also served as a production assistant on Dharma & Greg.-Family Guy:...
, writer Danny Smith
Danny Smith (writer)
Daniel "Danny" Smith is an executive producer, writer and voice actor on the American animated television series Family Guy. He has been with the show since its inception and throughout the years has contributed many episodes, such as "Holy Crap", "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", "Chitty...
, writer Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin is an American television writer. Most notable for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy, he has also contributed to The Cleveland Show, another series by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane....
, actress Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
, and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
Cultural references
The dirty joke told through the episode by Glenn Quagmire is taken from a joke the character Marty Funkhauser told in an episode of Curb Your EnthusiasmCurb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
. In one of Quagmire's plots to have Peter soil himself, Quagmire falls asleep and encounters Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a fictional, horrifying character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams,...
, the principal character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series, in a dream and hires him to go into Peter's dream, and tell the joke to him.
While tracking down the person who first told the joke, Peter and the gang find Bender
Bender Bending Rodríguez
Bender Bending Rodríguez, designated Bending Unit 22, is a fictional robot character in the animated television series Futurama. He was created by series creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and is voiced by John DiMaggio. In the series, Bender plays the role of a comic anti-hero, and is...
, from the Fox series Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
, who is shown telling the joke. When Peter, Joe and Quagmire get to Virginia they meet up with Cleveland and his new family from The Cleveland Show. There is a scene where Cleveland chases after the other three guys in the car, which alludes to the opening from What's Happening!!
What's Happening!!
What's Happening!! is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979. The show premiered as a summer series. With good ratings and reviews, and after the failure of several other shows on the network, What's Happening!! returned in November 1976 as a weekly...
, and uses the music from the show's opening as well. When the group gets to Washington D.C., Peter, Joe, Cleveland and Quagmire see the Washington Monument
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...
, and next to it appears the Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
Monument, which resembles the Washington monument, but is bigger and is colored black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
.
With the plane, they land on an island which has the source for every dirty joke ever made, the base looks similar to a temple-compound from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
. The base is inhabited with many great minds, including Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
and Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
, who pass their time writing the world's dirty jokes. It is shown that the first dead baby joke was written in the era of Ancient Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
Reception
In a slight improvement over the previous episode, the episode was viewed in 7.59 million homes in its original airing, according to Nielsen 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...
, despite airing simultaneously with the season finale of 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 season finale of Survivor 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
The Apprentice (U.S. season 9)
The Celebrity Apprentice 3 is the ninth installment of the United States version of the reality television series, The Apprentice. On April 29, 2009, NBC officially announced the renewal of Celebrity Apprentice for Spring 2010. The show premiered on Sunday, March 14, 2010...
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 3.8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States...
and American Dad!
American Dad!
American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television...
, in addition to edging out all three shows in total viewership.
Reviews of the episode were mostly mixed, calling it "the only show with any sense of mystery." John Teti 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...
found the episode to have a "fantastic premise for a Peter Griffin adventure" but went on to state that he gives the episode "points for a strong first half, but I wish that the writers had pushed themselves a little harder to make this one go the distance." 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...
reiterated his own enjoyment of the premise of the episode, but went on to state, "While I can appreciate the point that good comedy does take a certain degree of wit and cleverness, this just wasn't a very satisfying end to an idea that had so much potential." In a much more positive review, Jason Hughes of TV Squad praised the underuse of cutaways, going on to note, "Reducing the reliance on cutaways seems to be the continuing trend for the series, and I think it's a good move It forces smarter writing, and creates a better narrative structure."