Meet the Quagmires

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"Meet the Quagmires"
Family Guy episode
Promotional image.
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 18
Directed byDan Povenmire
Chris Robertson
Written byMark Hentemann
Production code5ACX13
Original air dateMay 20, 2007 (2007-05-20)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Meet the Quagmires" is the 18th and final episode of the

animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox on May 20, 2007. The episode features Peter after he goes back in time to live the single life a little longer, before he meets future wife Lois. This causes Quagmire
to make his own move on Lois, and they ultimately end up marrying and having children; Peter is horrified by this "alternate timeline" and resolves to go back in time again and set things right.

The episode was written by

Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 9.1 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Luke Adams, Jeff Bergman, Adam Carolla, Beth Littleford and Will Sasso
, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series.

Plot

After hearing

Lois Pewterschmidt walking around the country club pool, taking her high-heeled shoes off and jumping off the diving board into the pool with "Mr. Night" playing in the background, a reference to Caddyshack. Appearing to others as his 18-year-old self, Peter cancels his scheduled movie date to see Zapped! with Lois, instead accepting an invitation from Cleveland to go and party at a bar. Peter enjoys the evening, and ends up making out with actress Molly Ringwald
before Death appears to return him to the present.

Back in the present day, Peter discovers that his past actions have had drastic effects on the world: he and Molly have been married for 20 years;

Jane Jetson suddenly falls on the sidewalk and dies, Death arrives and again grants Peter's wish to return to the past. Brian begs Peter not to go back after Death tells them Dick Cheney shot Antonin Scalia and killed Karl Rove and Tucker Carlson
, but Peter does anyway, as he does not know who any of those people are. Back in the past, Peter is determined to accept Lois' invitation but repeatedly blows his opportunity and ends up repeatedly asking Death for a do-over. When Peter finally gets it right, he forgets a few hours later and parties with Cleveland instead of keeping the date. He asks Death for another chance but Death, fed up with Peter's continued blunders, tells him that he will have to fix the problem on his own.

When Peter tries to apologize the next day, Lois is still upset with him for missing their date and has decided to go to the country club dance with Quagmire. Later that night, Peter and Brian sneak into the dance to prevent the kiss that caused Lois to fall in love with Quagmire. They get in by crawling through the air vent, but crash through and accidentally injure one of the guys playing in the band on the stage, so Brian has to play guitar and sing. Peter tries to convince Lois that they belong together but she stubbornly informs Peter that he had his chance and blew it, and therefore she loves Quagmire now. Peter almost gives up. Brian notices Chris, Stewie, and Meg disappearing from a group photo, indicating that they have fallen off the plane of existence. At a distance, but out of earshot, Brian urges Peter to do something that proves to Lois that he loves her. Peter gets up his nerve, punching Quagmire and kissing Lois. He asks her to marry him and she accepts. In honor of this success, Brian and the band play "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. The episode ends with things seemingly back to normal, with the exception of Roger from American Dad! apparently living with the family.

Production

"Meet the Quagmires" was the last episode to be directed by Dan Povenmire.

The episode was written by series regular and future showrunner

Hanna–Barbera, the scene involving The Jetsons was completely reanimated by Povenmire, including the backgrounds and scenery for the sequence.[4]

"Meet the Quagmires", along with four other episodes from the fifth season, and the first seven episodes of the sixth season, were released under the title "Volume 6" by 20th Century Fox in the United States and Canada on October 21, 2008, five months after they had completed broadcast on television.[5] The DVD release also features bonus material including deleted scenes, commentaries, and a 'making of' featurette.[5]

In addition to the regular cast, the episode featured guest performances by voice actors Luke Adams and Jeff Bergman, actors Adam Carolla and Beth Littleford, and comedian and actor Will Sasso. Recurring guest voices include Alex Breckenridge, voice actors Johnny Brennan and Chris Cox, and writers Mark Hentemann, Alec Sulkin, and John Viener.

Cultural references

Rick Astley's single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was performed by Seth MacFarlane as Brian Griffin.

In the opening scene of the episode, Horace the bartender is suddenly knocked unconscious after falling off a ladder, causing Death to appear. After it is discovered that Horace is not actually dead, Death complains that he never likes to be too far from journalist Mike Wallace.[6] Wallace, who died in 2012, was still alive as of the original airing date.

The

chalkboard, is a reference to the alternate 1985 scene in Back to the Future Part II
.

In the past once again, Peter suggests to Lois that they see the 1983 film

Pecan Sandies.[6]

Reception

In a significant improvement over the previous week, the episode was viewed in 9.15 million homes in its original airing, according to

Nielsen ratings. The episode also acquired a 3.2 rating in the 18–49 demographic, slightly being edged out by The Simpsons, while significantly winning over American Dad!, in both rating and total viewership.[9]

Reviews of the episode were mostly positive, noting its ability to "capture some of the appeal from the pre-cancellation days." Ahsan Haque of

TV Squad called the episode "solid," and praised the scenes set in 1984, and the alternate world. Love went on to state, "The show has lost a little of the luster that it once had, but that's no reason to count them out. There were enough bright spots to give hope for a return to that old form when season six comes around in the fall." He graded "Meet the Quagmires" 5 out of 7.[6]

Tom Eames of entertainment website Digital Spy placed the episode at number fifteen on his listing of the best Family Guy episodes in order of "yukyukyuks" and described it as "a brilliant parody of Back to the Future".[10] He added that "any episode that features time travel is usually a winner".[10]

References

  1. ^ "2009 Emmy Awards nominations". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
  2. ^ "Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  3. ^ Smith, Danny (2008-10-21). Family Guy Volume Six Audio Commentary (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. ^ Povenmire, Dan (2008-10-21). Family Guy Volume Six Audio Commentary (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ a b "Family Guy Volume Six DVD". Movieweb. Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Love, Brett (2007-05-21). "Family Guy: Meet The Quagmires". TV Squad. Archived from the original on 2009-05-16. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  7. ^ a b c d Haque, Ahsan (2007-05-21). "Family Guy: "Meet the Quagmires" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  8. ^ a b c d MacFarlane, Seth (2008-10-21). Family Guy Volume Six Audio Commentary (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  9. ^ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. 2007-05-22. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  10. ^ a b Eames, Tom (19 March 2017). "The 16 best ever Family Guy episodes in order of yukyukyuks". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 March 2017.

External links

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