The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou

"The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of Family Guy, which originally aired on February 18, 2007.^[1] The episode follows Stewie, who develops a tan, but becomes obsessed with his new look and attempts to keep it, eventually stopping after being told by a doctor that he may now have cancer. Meanwhile, Peter discovers Chris being tormented by a bully, and after a series of events, becomes a bully himself.

The episode was written by

While babysitting Stewie, Peter takes him along on an all day golf game and Stewie ends up with a tan all over his body. Stewie decides he likes being tanned and begins frequently to use a tanning bed in his room. He also holds a party for tanned people only. Stewie tells Brian to wake him up after fifteen minutes of tanning but Brian falls asleep and wakes up six and a half hours later. Stewie is extremely sunburned, barely able to move and in great pain. When Stewie eventually begins to peel, Brian spots a mole on Stewie's stomach. Convinced it is skin cancer, Stewie begins to live out his dying wishes with Brian forced to help him since it was partially his fault he caused the cancer in the first place (though Stewie solely blames him). One of Stewie's requests was to visit the Chicago Museum of Art. As his last request he has Brian record his final thoughts. In the end, Stewie hears from Dr. Hartman that he does not have cancer and gives up tanning. Stewie then sees that Brian drew himself being hanged instead of his final thoughts, prompting the baby to quip "Oh, you are just the worst type of person".

Meanwhile,

David Goodman comments, regarding the plot partially following Herbert that "there is always a bit of trouble pitching a Herbert storyline to the network."^[3] Samm Levine had originally been selected to voice Kyle, but the character was recast because, as show producer Seth MacFarlane comments, "it seemed a lot funnier when Peter was beating up a kid if he was younger and more defenseless."^[4] A deleted scene had been made which showed Chris asking for money and stating "I spent my last ten bucks on a ham costume," and Peter replying with "it's just sitting there right now, but you know what the great thing is, it's just three months until Halloween and I am done."^[3] Peter's ancestor shown preparing to wrestle with a kangaroo was described by Seth MacFarlane to be "a very strange gag,"^[4] which was added after the other parts of the episode had been created.^[4] Quagmire's profanity-laced tirade during the golf game was bleeped out on TV, but uncensored on DVD.^[4] The scene of Stewie remembering the time the Griffins had a nymphomaniac from Wisconsin in their attic was edited as FOX objected to the sounds of the woman having an orgasm being shown over a shot of a wide-awake Stewie.^[3][4]

The voice of a guest at the tanning-party which Stewie is hosting was provided by

In addition to Barker and the regular cast, actor Jeff Bergman, voice actor Chris Cox, actor Michael Clarke Duncan, actor Keir Gilchrist, actress Beth Littleford and voice actress Rachael MacFarlane guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Chris Sheridan, writer Danny Smith, writer Alec Sulkin and writer John Viener made minor appearances. Actor Patrick Warburton also has a guest appearance as well.

Cultural references

• Stewie is listening to the instrumental version of "
  I Say A Little Prayer
  " while tanning.
• An unused ending to the episode had been similar to the ending of 1984 American comedy film Revenge of the Nerds, but "it never really clicked," hence, it was not broadcast.^[4]
• Stewie at a party with other tan-obsessed people is a reference to the Tony Lacey scene in Annie Hall.^[5]
• Stewie reciting a poem he wrote to Brian is a reference to non-fiction novel Tuesdays with Morrie.^[3]
• While Peter is confronting Kyle, Kyle begins imitating Peter's voice in a childish way. Peter replies to this by saying that Kyle makes him sound like Michael Stipe: The then-lead singer of rock band R.E.M.
• Stewie and Brian visiting the Art Institute of Chicago as one of Stewie's last wishes is a reference to Ferris Bueller's Day Off.^[4][6]
• There is a dispute between Peter and Lois in regards to how different
  Mega Bloks
  .
• While Stewie is tanning, he begins to sing his own version of the song Kokomo by The Beach Boys.
• A parody of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes’ Tony the Tiger called Terry the Tiger is seen in the Griffin kitchen, saying “They’re food!”
• When Lois notices Stewie's sunburn, she tells Peter that it was similar to the time he fed his
  drumstick, causing it to turn into Fran Drescher
  , whose head Peter then microwaves.
• When Lois wipes off Stewie's
  fake pencil mustache, Stewie compares the saliva being cleaned on his upper lip to the time he had dinner with Martin Landau
  . A cutaway shows Martin Landau having a distinct speech pattern by not chewing up his food as he speaks.
• When Brian advises Stewie to “wait and see” whether or not he has
  Muppets,” a reference to Henson’s deadly Streptococcus pneumoniae infection that was discovered too late which led to his death in 1990. The scene then cuts to Kermit the Frog and the Swedish Chef in a dialogue sequence, with much different voice tones. The two would later appear at the end of the show, discussing the preceding events, when Fozzie Bear walks in, and says in a deep voice (supplied by actor Michael Clarke Duncan
  ): “Wocka wocka. Who wants to hear a funny-ass joke?”.
• When Peter realizes that he should bully Randy Fulcher, he compares this to
  Senator Patrick Leahy, after he asked the vice president about Halliburton
  's alleged war profiteering.
• When Stewie gets off his beach chair during a tan, Stewie is seen drinking a can of TaB, and then slowly looking to the camera – a parody of TaB commercials in the '80s.
• The title of the episode "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou" is a reference to the 2004 Wes Anderson movie "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou".

Reception

In a significant improvement over the previous week, the episode was viewed in 8.53 million homes in its original airing, according to

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou".

• "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou" at
  IMDb