And I'm Joyce Kinney
"And I'm Joyce Kinney" | |
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Family Guy episode | |
Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 9 |
Directed by | Dominic Bianchi |
Written by | Alec Sulkin |
Production code | 8ACX12 |
Original air date | January 16, 2011 |
Guest appearances | |
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"And I'm Joyce Kinney" is the ninth episode of the
The episode was written by
Plot
As the family gathers around the television to watch the local news,
Confronting Joyce about the story, Lois questions her intentions, with Joyce revealing that the two attended
Production and development
"And I'm Joyce Kinney" was written by series regular Alec Sulkin, in his first episode for the season. The episode was directed by series regular Dominic Bianchi, shortly after the conclusion of the eighth production season, also in his first episode for the season. Series veterans Peter Shin and James Purdum, both of whom having previously served as animation directors, served as supervising directors for the episode. Alex Carter, Andrew Goldberg, Elaine Ko, Spencer Porter and Aaron Blitzstein served as staff writers for the episode.[1] Composer Walter Murphy, who has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for "And I'm Joyce Kinney".[1]
The episode served as a continuation of the
In addition to the regular cast, former series writer and The Cleveland Show writer Kirker Butler, actor Colin Ford, actress Christine Lakin, voice actress Rachael MacFarlane (sister of series creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane), singer Helen Reddy, and actress Jennifer Tilly guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Ralph Garman, writer Chris Sheridan, writer Danny Smith, episode writer Alec Sulkin and writer John Viener made minor appearances throughout the episode.[1][4]
Cultural references
In the opening scene of the episode, instead of the usual theme song, a sequence similar to that of the 1977 CBS series The Incredible Hulk is played, with Stewie portraying Bruce Banner, Tom Tucker portraying Mr. McGee, and Peter portraying Hulk.[5] After Lois meets Joyce Kinney at the local supermarket, the two decide to meet up at the news studio later that evening. Admitting her enjoyment of their friendship, Lois continually praises Joyce for her celebrity status, calling her as much of a bigshot as The Muppets character Miss Piggy.[6] The scene then cuts to Kermit the Frog, who has been badly beaten, with Fozzie Bear approaching him about a proposed "Bears in Space" number. Kermit then reveals that the skit has been changed to "Pigs in Space" instead.[7]
Returning home, the Griffin family are shown to be watching the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show with actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres appearing as host of the show.[8] Lois then interrupts the family, and announces that she is going out to drink with Joyce. The two then share their darkest secrets, with Lois revealing that she had participated in the making of a pornographic film. Asked if the film still exists, Lois states that it is "long gone," just like the original ending to the 1978 musical film Grease.[7] Joyce's original surname, Chevapravatdumrong, is a reference to Family Guy writer and producer Cherry Chevapravatdumrong; in light of this, Joyce explains that she changed her surname to Kinney as "they'd never let that name on TV".[5] The scene then transitions into a Facebook cutaway gag, showing Lois's Facebook profile.[7] Becoming depressed once she is kicked out of her church, Lois is confronted by Brian, who suggest that she take the criticism head on, giving the example of television host Ryan Seacrest taking on jokes about his alleged homosexuality.[7]
Reception
"And I'm Joyce Kinney" was broadcast on January 16, 2011, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by
Television critics reacted with mixed reaction toward the episode, with one critic calling the storyline "pretty dull."[11] In a simultaneous review of the episodes of American Dad!, The Simpsons and Bob's Burgers that preceded the show, and the episode of The Cleveland Show that followed it, The A.V. Club's Rowan Kaiser wrote, "I don't have much to say about tonight's Family Guy. Last week, we had some comments about how Family Guy seems to be willing to play with its format this season. That didn't happen this week at all."[11] Kaiser went on to criticize the flashback involving Lois and Joyce in high school, stating, "Having a previously unknown flashback as the big reveal feels like cheating, if you're inclined to view Family Guy as consistent."[11] He concluded his review by praising "the burning bush" joke, and ultimately gave the episode a C− rating, the worst rating of the night. It was beaten by the American Dad! episode "Fart-Break Hotel", The Cleveland Show episode "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Roberta?", The Simpsons episode "Flaming Moe", and the Bob's Burgers episode "Crawl Space".[11] In a slightly more positive review of the episode, Jason Hughes of TV Squad praised the episode for some of its "silly side jokes," but felt disappointed by the ending to the show, commenting, "it didn't follow any real logic [...] It was an easy way out, as if they'd written themselves into a corner."[5] Hughes also criticized the episode for its dependence on cutaway gags, writing, "at least there were some funnier moments in this one. Unfortunately, a lot of those came in the cutaways. And I thought we were starting to move away from a dependence on them."[5] Hughes went on to comment that he felt confused by Stewie possibly being fathered by a porn star, adding that "it would be far more likely that Chris or Meg was fathered by the porn star."[5]
The episode was among four other episodes submitted by the Family Guy production team for consideration of an
References
- ^ a b c Sulkin, Alec; Bianchi, Dominic; MacFarlane, Seth (2011-01-16). "And I'm Joyce Kinney". Family Guy. Season 09. Episode 09. Fox.
- ^ a b Hughes, Jason (2010-10-04). "Sundays With Seth: 'American Dad' Celebrates Its 100th Episode". TV Squad. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
- ^ Lang, Derrik (2009-08-13). ""Family Guy" Censored Abortion Episode Performed Live". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2011-01-17.
- ^ "And I'm Joyce Kinney – Credits". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2011-01-17.
- ^ a b c d e Hughes, Jason (2010-01-17). "Sundays With Seth: 'American Dad,' 'Family Guy' and 'Cleveland Show' Recaps". TV Squad. Archived from the original on 2011-01-20. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
- ^ "Family Guy Review: "And I'm Joyce Kinney"". TV Fanatic. 2011-01-17. Archived from the original on 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
- ^ a b c d Hentemann, Mark (2011-12-13). Family Guy Volume Nine Audio Commentary (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Jefferson, Whitney (2011-01-17). "You're Not the Only One Who Hates Ellen's Talk Show". Gawker. Archived from the original on 2011-01-20. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2010-01-17). "TV Ratings Sunday: 'Golden Globes' Down A Fraction; 'Desperate Housewives,' 'Brothers & Sisters' At Series Lows". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (2010-01-11). "TV Ratings Sunday: With Help from NFL Fox Animations Surge, 'Bob's Burgers' Strong ; 'The Cape' Premieres OK". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
- ^ a b c d Kaiser, Rowan (2011-01-17). ""Fart-break Hotel"/"Flaming Moe"/"Crawl Space"/"And I'm Joyce Kinney"/"How Do You Solve A Problem Like Roberta?"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2011-01-17.
- ^ Beachum, Chris (2011-06-21). "Can 'Family Guy' get back into Comedy Series race at Emmys?". Gold Derby. Archived from the original on 2011-06-26. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
External links
"And I'm Joyce Kinney".
- "And I'm Joyce Kinney" at IMDb