Family Gay
"Family Gay" | |
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Family Guy episode | |
Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 8 |
Directed by | Brian Iles |
Written by | Richard Appel |
Production code | 6ACX12 |
Original air date | March 8, 2009[1] |
Guest appearances | |
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"Family Gay" is the eighth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 8, 2009. In the episode, Peter becomes temporarily gay after participating in a medical drug test.
The episode was written by
Plot
While on his way to buy groceries,
Lois is initially upset that Peter is now gay, but she warms up to the change when he begins exhibiting stereotypical gay behaviors like shopping for clothes and cooking muffins, only to reconsider her stance when Peter rejects her sexual advances. Upon learning that the effects of the gene may be permanent, she decides to make the best of things when Peter suddenly leaves her for a man named Scott. Seeing Lois heartbroken and depressed, Stewie (who might be gay) and Brian (who is hesitant due to his support of gay rights) attempt to bring Peter back to his normal self by kidnapping him and sending him to a straight camp for conversion therapy.
When Scott comes over looking for Peter, Brian admits his actions. Lois states that she is willing to accept Peter the way he is now and takes him out of the straight camp, telling him to go back to Scott. However, the effects of the gene wear off right when Peter is in the middle of an orgy with Scott and nine other men. Peter returns to his family, and they agree to never speak of the incident again. The episode ends when Mort throws the horse's dead body through the Griffins' living room window in revenge for throwing it into his store.
Production
"Family Gay" was written by at the time Executive Producer and future co-creator of the Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show, Richard Appel. This episode being his first and to date his only writing credit on the show.[2] John Viener worked as the executive story editor for the episode.[3] MacFarlane found a list of plot ideas from the third season that says "Peter goes gay" and he decided to make an episode with that premise. The writers originally wanted to take "the high road" with the episode. In the first draft, Peter's homosexuality was so subtle, that he just appeared a little more refined.[3] When the writers could not come up with any high road jokes, they "went with what they know".[3] The writers had fun "gaying up the episode" by including Peter in a different outfit during every scene after he turned gay.[3] The writers wanted to further the idea that sexuality is inborn, not chosen.[4][3]
The episode was directed by Brian Iles. He was assisted by James Purdum and Peter Shin worked as the supervising directors for the episode. Other crew members that collaborated in the animation of the episode included Deborah Cone who directed the retake of the episode and Kenji Ono who was the assistant director of the episode. Iles sketched out several clothing ideas for Peter to wear. He got ideas by flipping through catalogs.[3] The name of all the horses at the race track are named after canceled Fox shows from May 2005 until this episode aired. It is a tribute to a similar mentioning of canceled shows when Family Guy came back on the air in May 2005 in the episode "North by North Quahog".[3] When the episode got close to airing, MacFarlane kept thinking they should remove the cutaway gag with Matt Damon, due to MacFarlane liking Damon's criticism of Sarah Palin.[3]
"Family Gay", along with the first eight episodes of the seventh season were released on DVD by
All the
Cultural references
The episode begins with Peter playing the 1983 video game
Reception
The episode received a 4.2/6
The episode received divided reviews from critics. Ahsan Haque of IGN rated the episode a 7.9/10, saying, "Overall, while it's far from being the funniest episode of the season, there were more than enough laughs and uncomfortable moments to make this episode entertaining." He went on to say that the episode could have been more though, due to the fact that the show has used many clever gay jokes in the past.[15] Likewise, Alex Rocha of TV Guide commented, "'Family Gay' fell way short of my expectations. Even with its traditional pop culture references and flashbacks, this week's episode could not simply keep me tuned in. I'll admit, I did manage to laugh at times, but as in previous times, Family Guy simply fell short again."[16] Steve Heisler from The A.V. Club gave the episode a negative review, calling it "yet another pointless exercise in Family Guy insider smugness", and rating it C−.[17]
In March 2009, the
References
- ^ "Family Guy – 'Family Guy' Episode Info". MSN TV. Archived from the original on 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- Film.com. Retrieved 2009-10-13. [dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Family Guy season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Family Gay" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 2009.
- ^ a b Voss, Brandon (2008). "Big Gay Following: Seth MacFarlane". The Advocate.
- ^ "Family Guy, Vol. 7". Amazon. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
- ^ a b "Family Guy – Season 8". EzyDVD. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
- ^ a b "Family Guy – Family Gay – Cast and crew". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
- ^ a b c d "Family Gay". Family Guy. Season 7. Episode 8. March 8, 2009.
- ^ "TV Ratings: CBS and ABC split Sunday". Zap2it. 2009-03-09. Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ^ a b c James Hibberd (2009-07-17). "Family Guy smashes Emmy barrier for cartoons". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
- ^ Barker, Andrew (2009-08-13). "'Family Guy' opens Emmys to toons". Variety. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
- ^ Collins, Scott (July 17, 2009). "Family Guy breaks the funny bone barrier with Emmy nod". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 24, 2009.
- ^ Holloway, Diane (February 2, 1993). "'Simpsons' get Emmy 's respect – Academy lets series drop cartoon status to compete as sitcom". Austin American-Statesman. p. B4.
- ^ Jean, Al (2004). The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Mr. Plow" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Haque, Ahsan (March 9, 2009). "Family Gay Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ^ Rocha, Alex. "Family Guy Episode Recap: "Family Gay"". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 2012-11-11. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
- ^ Heisler, Steve (March 8, 2009). ""No Loan Again, Naturally"/"Bwah My Nose"/"Family Gay"/"Roy Rogers McFreely"". The Breakfast Club. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
- ^ a b Eggerton, John (2009-11-12). "PTC Outraged Over 'Family Guy' Episode". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
- ^ "Worst TV Show of the Week". Parents Television Council. Archived from the original on 2010-08-16. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
- New York magazine. January 30, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
External links
- "Family Gay" at IMDb