Emission Impossible
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| Family Guy Episode | |
|---|---|
| "Emission Impossible" | |
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| Episode no.: | 39 |
| Prod. code: | 3ACX01 |
| Airdate: | November 8, 2001 |
| Writer(s): | Dave Collard and Ken Goin |
| Director: | Peter Shin |
| Guest star(s): | Majel Barrett , and Wallace Shawn |
"Emission Impossible" is an episode of Family Guy that first aired November 8, 2001. This episode was originally scheduled to air on September 19, but was postponed due to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Written by Dave Collard and Ken Goin, directed by Peter Shin. Majel Barrett guest-starred as the voice of Stewie's microbionautical ship, and Wallace Shawn as Bertram, one of Stewie's potential brothers.
[edit] Plot summary
Quagmire babysits Meg, Chris & Stewie while Peter accompanies Lois on a visit to her pregnant, newly single sister Carol. When Carol goes into labor, Peter drives her to the hospital, stopping only for cheeseburgers. Carol's obstetrician mistakenly jabs himself with several needles and faints, leaving Peter to deliver the baby himself. Reminded of the wonderful experience of childbirth, Peter tells Lois that he wants to have another child. Lois gleefully tells the rest of the family, but Stewie is less than enthusiastic. He feels threatened in his position as the youngest and resolves to prevent the conception of another sibling.
Stewie attempts to interfere in a romantic moment by crying for attention. Foiled in this effort, he smears one of Peter's shirt collars with lipstick but gets distracted by his own image in the mirror. In another attempt, he chloroforms Peter and utilizes a mechanical replica of him to insult Lois, but Chris accidentally knocks him out the window. When a candlelit dinner threatens to lead to intimacy between his parents, Stewie shrinks himself and a spaceship-like vessel and enters Peter's body to destroy his sperm.
In his well-armed craft, Stewie easily slaughters the defenseless sperm with one exception: Bertram, who seems to be just as diabolically clever as Stewie himself. After a brief struggle and standoff, Stewie realizes that they have much in common. Additionally, with Bertram's help, he could accomplish many goals, including Lois' murder. They part on amicable terms, but Stewie has only moments before the ship reverts to its normal size. After a narrow escape through Peter's tear duct, Stewie steers the craft back to his room with no time to spare.
Lois reconsiders having another child, to Stewie's horror. He frantically tries to get she and Peter to resume their plans ("You must receive his seed!"), but Peter retreats to the bathroom and masturbates with the assistance of a lingerie catalog. Stewie, appalled at the apparent death of Bertram, despairs until he notices a twinkle in Peter's eye signifying that Bertram is still alive. His relief is only momentary as he realizes that his unborn brother may be too clever.
[edit] Notes
Bertram returns in the later episode "Sibling Rivalry", as well as in the video game.
[edit] Cultural references
- The title of the episode is a reference to the television series Mission: Impossible.
- Stewie's dialogue after opening the fridge is taken verbatim from a Sunny Delight commercial
- Stewie watches an episode of The Smurfs which spoofs the way the characters use the word smurf as a euphemism for an endless number of words.
- Before Peter and Lois leave the kids with Quagmire, he mumbles "Well, in accordance with Megan's Law, I'm obligated to inform you..." Megan's Law, named after seven-year-old rape and murder victim Megan Kanka, is a New Jersey law requiring convicted sex offenders to identify themselves to neighbors. The term is used colloquially to refer to similar laws in other states.
- Peter asks Carol to say "David Banner, I just slashed your tires" before he rips through one of Ted's shirts. This is meant to mimic the transformation of David Banner into the Incredible Hulk in the 1977-82 Hulk TV series (in all other adaptations of the Hulk, he was named Bruce Banner). The show has been referenced in several other Family Guy episodes.
- Stewie performs the 1987 Eric Carmen hit "Hungry Eyes" at Quagmire's party
- Peter finds the Griffins' pet rock, which were a popular 1970s trend
- Stewie asks the family to inform when the 1970s detective series Kojak comes on television.
- A part shows Peter building a crib for the new baby, saying "That's What She Said" after Brian says an instruction for building the crib. This could be from the band Angry Amputees' song "She Said".
- A cutaway shows the Brady family abusing the youngest boy Bobby after Cousin Oliver arrives. The character was added during the last season of The Brady Bunch because the younger children on the show had grown older and were not capable of the same "cute kid" humor they once were.
- After Cleveland sees Stewie escape the Peter robot, he says "I see nothing, nothing!" This was a catch phrase of Sergeant Hans Schultz, a bumbling German Sergeant, on the 1960s sitcom Hogan's Heroes, in which a group of Allied prisoners of war sabotage the German war effort from a POW camp. Schultz, who was sympathetic to the allies, shouted the phrase to indicate that he would refuse to report the prisoners shenanigans to his military superiors.
- Stewie's vessel is similar in function to that in the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage.
- The ship's computer voice (Majel Barrett) is the same computer voice heard in all of the Star Trek series.
- Stewie's air battle with Peter’s sperms parodies that of the Millennium Falcon and the ships of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi with one of Peter’s testicles representing the Death Star.
- Stewie cues music from the '80s soft rock band Air Supply on his ship (the song is "Lost in Love").
- Peter watches the 1960s Batman television series while Lois is preparing for sex.
- Stewie and Bertram both exclaim their hatred of actor Jason Patric.
- Stewie says farewell (by now) to Bertram using the popular Shave and a haircut.
- To make Peter cry, Stewie and Bertram perform the Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes duet "Up Where We Belong," popularized by the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman. This caused Peter to exclaim "I love you, Lou Gossett, Jr." referring to an actor featured in the film.
[edit] References
- S. Callaghan, "Emission Impossible." Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1-3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 152 - 155.
- A. Delarte, "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 3" in Bob's Poetry Magazine, 2.August 2005: 46 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Au.pdf
| Preceded by: "A Fish out of Water" |
Family Guy Episodes | Followed by: "To Love and Die in Dixie" |
