A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Bucks
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| Family Guy Episode | |
|---|---|
| "A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Bucks" | |
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| Episode no.: | 18 |
| Prod. code: | 2ACX07 |
| Airdate: | April 18, 2000 |
| Writer(s): | Craig Hoffman |
| Director: | Gavin Dell |
| Guest star(s): | Candice Bergen, Faith Ford, and Charles Kimbrough |
"A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Bucks" is an episode from the second season of the FOX animated television series Family Guy. Guest starring Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown, Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood, and Charles Kimbrough as Jim Dial.
The title is a parody of the idiom "a picture is worth a 1000 words".
[edit] Plot summary
For his birthday, a blindfolded Peter drives the family to "Bob's Funland and Golf." The attraction's owner, Bob Funland, throws the group out after they cause repeated trouble for other customers. Peter grows depressed over his lack of accomplishments; he remembers Bob Funland as a loser from high school, and even his own obnoxious cousin Kathy Griffin is famous. Chris gives Peter an astonishingly good painting as a present, but Peter simply uses it to cover a hole in the window of his car. An art dealer named Antonio Monatti buys the painting for $5000 and urges Peter to bring Chris to New York City, where he could become a famous artist. Under the guise of nurturing his son's natural talent, Peter puts Chris completely in Monatti's hands while the rest of the family tour the city, dazzled by the big-town sights. Monatti gives Chris a total makeover, dying his hair green, dressing him in fashionable clothes, renaming him "Christobel", and introducing him to a 2-dimensional Kate Moss. He tells Chris that he can never see his uncultured father again. When Chris reluctantly complies, Peter disowns him and focuses on Meg's talent for bird calls.
Lois tricks Peter into attending the premiere of Chris' artwork by telling him that strippers would be distributing free tacos. After a grandiose unveiling, "Christobel"'s masterpiece turns out to be a collection of portraits of Peter in a style reminiscent of that of Andy Warhol. Monatti and the "art crowd" immediately detest the new work and reject Chris as a poser. As the family prepare to return to Quahog, "heterosexual fashion designer" Calvin Klein spots Stewie and immediately casts him as "the face" for his new line of designer diapers.
[edit] Cultural references
- Peter expresses his excitement about going to Bob's Funland and Putt-Putt Golf by parodying a Kellogg Company Frosted Mini-Wheats commercial.
- Stewie sees an evil looking clown at a game stand and comments that "it looks like something out of Stephen King". It is in fact meant to be the evil clown from King's novel and telefilm It.
- At the carnival shooting gallery, Stewie sings "This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for fighting, this is for fun," a classic modern military slogan made famous by Full Metal Jacket.
- The Griffins point out two of the main tourist attractions of New York: Central Park and the Empire State Building.
- Brian is seen ice skating in Central Park, reminiscent of a scene in A Boy Named Charlie Brown where Snoopy skates at Rockefeller Center
- Peter compares Chris to New York City's mayor, Rudy Giuliani, as "the best thing to happen to New York since Giuliani had all the homeless people secretly killed." This is a reference to the mayor's major crackdown on crime.
- Peter rejects the idea of Chris having to go to an art school, saying there's not enough time. He then pulls out a knife and says, "Chris, give me your ear." This is a reference to van Gogh, one of the most well known painters, cutting off his ear.
- In another cutaway, former Murphy Brown colleagues Candice Bergen (as Murphy), Faith Ford (as Corky Sherwood) and Charles Kimbrough (as Jim Dial) inject dated "buzzwords" into a nondescript conversation, poking fun at the show's topical humor.
- When Stewie takes a look at secret papers in a Chinese briefcase at the United Nations, he comments "Ancient Chinese secret, huh?" a catchphrase from a Calgon water softener advertisement.
- Peter's song "I'm Gonna Make You Famous" is a parody of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy: A Musical Fable.
- Peter and Meg walk through New York to music from The Flintstones. The background changes into Bedrock until they back out of it. The background change could also be a reference to Warner Bros's cartoon Duck Amuck, where Daffy Duck is seen wandering from one scenery to another, in particular a sequence in which he is skiing in a snowfield and suddenly wonders into a different Hawaiian-themed scenery.
- Meg's bird calls attract Big Bird from Sesame Street.
- Neptune's line "...and you know nothing of my work" is a reference to Marshall McLuhan's cameo in Annie Hall.
[edit] Notes
- In the opening credits, this is the first episode to clearly show the children in the pictures behind Lois at the piano. The photographs of the Griffin children were redrawn for this episode. Strangely enough, the transition ends showing them in much too high detail, something corrected a few episodes later. Also, a single frame shows the picture of Meg oversized out of proportion.
- The end credits appear in all capital letters instead of the usual mixed-case style.
[edit] References
- S. Callaghan, "A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks." Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1-3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 81 - 85.
- A. Delarte, "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 2" in Bob's Poetry Magazine, 2.May 2005: 17 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02My.pdf
| Preceded by: "Running Mates" |
Family Guy Episodes | Followed by: "Fifteen Minutes of Shame" |
