Peter's Progress
"Peter's Progress" | |
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Family Guy episode | |
Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 16 |
Directed by | Brian Iles Steve Beers (live-action sequences) |
Written by | Wellesley Wild |
Production code | 6ACX20 |
Original air date | May 17, 2009 |
Guest appearances | |
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"Peter's Progress" is the 16th and final episode in the
The episode was written by
Plot
In 17th-century England, Griffin Peterson proposes to the love of his life Lady Redbush (Lois) upon getting the approval from Carter Redbush. The ruthless King Stewart III (Stewie) has the court jester (Brian) tell him some jokes after "deleting" How I Met Your Mother from his "TiVo" (represented as archers killing Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, and Neil Patrick Harris). While being carried around in his litter, King Stewart spots Lady Redbush strolling through town with Griffin Peterson and decides that he wants to marry her. While Griffin Peterson is on the way to his wedding, Stewart secretly kidnaps him, exiling him to the New World on one of the outgoing ships. As Lady Redbush waits in growing angst, King Stewart walks into the church. He tells Lady Redbush that Griffin Peterson is dead and proceed to marry her himself.
At sea, Griffin Peterson meets fellow exiles Joe (exiled for pleasuring himself in front of a carving), Quagmire (exiled for having sex with an underage girl), and Seamus. Upon reaching the New World, Griffin Peterson establishes the colony of Quahog, which eventually grows into a thriving settlement. Griffin Peterson moves on with his life, even marrying another woman (Meg).
Back in London, Later Redbush suffers a dull sexless marriage with King Stewart since they're never available to each other. Lady Redbush continues to lament Griffin's supposed death until the jester reveals the truth by showing her the newspaper article about Quahog's founding. The jester stated that he was to keep quiet about this under threat of execution. Lady Redbush and the jester immediately depart for the New World on one of the slave ships. In Quahog, Griffin Peterson has grown irritated with his current wife until Lady Redbush arrives. Griffin Peterson and Lady Rebush are reunited and Griffin "divorces" his current wife by killing her with a blunderbuss.
Six months later, King Stewart learns that Redbush is gone and he makes his way to Quahog to reclaim his wife and kill Griffin Peterson. King Stewart's army arrives in Quahog where they terrorise the colony (similar to a scene from Blazing Saddles). King Stewart orders Cockney First Lieutenant (Chris) to search every house for them. Upon being discovered by the First Lieutenant, Griffin Peterson and Lady Redbush are confronted by King Stewart. Griffin Peterson threatens to kill the officer, while King Stewart threatens to kill Redbush. After exchanging threats without getting anywhere, Griffin and Stewart decide to settle their dispute with a talent show, with the winner winning Lady Redbush's hand in marriage, and ownership of the town of Quahog. For his act, King Stewart steals his jester's mostly unfunny jokes about his Aunt Frieda. However, Griffin, Quagmire, Joe, Cleveland, Mort, and Seamus effectively steal the show with a techno-rock number from Revenge of the Nerds. This was enough to defeat King Stewart in the talent show. After King Stewart and his army leaves for England, Griffin and Redbush remain in Quahog to live happily ever after.
After the story is told, Peter, Quagmire, Cleveland, Joe, and Madame Claude see a promo ad for Cross-Armed Opposites.
Production
The episode was written by Wellesley Wild and directed by Brian Iles. The live action sequences used throughout the episode to promote supposed shows on Fox was directed by Bones director Steve Beers.[1] The night the episode aired, the "Animation Domination" block was co-hosted by an animated version of rapper Eminem and Stewie Griffin.[2] Eminem, who provided his own voice, said that it was a "thrill to work with Stewie" and that he is a "big fan of talking babies and their humor".[3]
In addition to the main cast,
Cultural references
The title is a reference to
Parts of the narrative also show similarity to Captain Blood, a novel by Rafael Sabatini, and to the film Restoration. In Captain Blood, the protagonist is transported as a prisoner to a new world colony for false crimes against the king. In Restoration, the king attempts to steal the affections of the protagonist's love interest. Both works are set within the general time period featured in the episode.
Reception
In its original airing in the United States, "Peter's Progress" was watched by 7.33 million homes, which was up from the previous episode, and was the most watched show in the "Animation Domination" block, beating the season finales of
The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Ahsan Haque of IGN said that "Family Guy has never really done anything particularly special for the last episode of any season [...] and despite the obvious efforts to increase the animation quality and try to tell a complete story in this episode, it didn't turn out to be the winning effort that will keep fans eagerly awaiting the show's return next season".[7] Emily St. James of The A.V. Club gave the episode a D, and called it an "unfortunate and unfunny flashback [...] with lots of incest gags [that] was genuinely queasy-making, but not in a way that made anyone laugh from the shock of recognition or anything like that", but said that Family Guy can be "damn funny when it wants to be", referring to the Fox promos that take up the bottom quarter of the screen.[9] Robin Pierson of The TV Critic gave the episode a positive review, stating: "Good fun story, good fun jokes", but said that the end "felt flat" because of the Revenge of the Nerds music sequence.[6]
References
- ^ Family Guy Volume Eight Audio Commentary (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 2010-06-15.
- ^ a b Bloomer, Jeffrey (2009-05-12). "Eminem and Family Guy's Stewie Griffin to co-host Fox on Sunday". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
- ^ Goldner, Jonathan (2009-05-11). "Eminem to get animated with Stewie from Family Guy". MTV. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
- ^ a b c "Family Guy: Peter's Progress Full Episode Cast". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
- ^ a b c "Family Guy: Peter's Progress". Channel Guide Magazine. 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
- ^ a b c Pierson, Robin (2009-07-30). "Peter's Progress Review". The TV Critic. Archived from the original on 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
- ^ a b c Haque, Ahsan (2009-05-18). "Family Guy: "Peter's Progress" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
- ^ a b Gorman, Bill (2009-05-18). "Sunday May 17, 2009 ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (2009-05-18). ""Peter's Progress" Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
External links
"Peter's Progress".
- "Peter's Progress" at IMDb