When You Wish upon a Weinstein
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Family Guy Episode | |
|---|---|
| "When You Wish upon a Weinstein" | |
 |
|
| Episode no.: | 50 |
| Prod. code: | 2ACX05 |
| Airdate: | November 9, 2003 |
| Writer(s): | Ricky Blitt |
| Director: | Dan Povenmire |
| Guest star(s): | Mark Hamill , Ed McMahon and Ben Stein |
"When You Wish upon a Weinstein" is an episode of Family Guy that would have first aired in 2000, but due to concerns about its content it was not aired until November 9, 2003, when it was broadcast on Cartoon Network. It was later aired on FOX on December 10, 2004. Its production code of 2ACX05 suggests the episode was meant to take place early on in Season 2, but because it was first aired between Seasons 3 and 4, and since it is included as the last episode in the Season 3 DVD box set for Region 1 (as a "bonus un-aired episode"), it is customarily placed at No. 22 in most episode lists (although in the Region 2 and 4 DVD releases it is included as the last episode of Season 2). It is also included in the "Freakin' Sweet Collection". The episode title is derived from that of the famous Disney song "When You Wish Upon a Star".
Guest starring Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Ed McMahon as himself and Ben Stein as Rabbi Goldberg.
[edit] Plot summary
Peter gives Lois's "rainy day fund" to a scam artist selling volcano insurance. On that same night Stewie breaks Meg's glasses, because he hates being watched while he sleeps, and so Lois tells Peter that he needs to recover the money to buy their daughter a new pair of glasses. Peter decides that he needs a Jew to handle his money in an elaborate musical number based on When You Wish upon a Star. When a Jewish man named Max Weinstein has car trouble outside the Griffin house, Peter takes it as a sign and after a footchase, Peter pressures Max into helping him get the emergency money back. Max later recovers the money from the scammer. After accompanying Max to synagogue ("Temple Beth Thupporting Actor") and inviting him over for dinner, Peter comes to the conclusion that Chris would get better grades and be more successful if he converted to Judaism. He secretly drives Chris to Las Vegas, Nevada for a quick Bar Mitzvah after Lois displays objection to his idea, but she arrives just in time to stop the ceremony. A crowd, angry that Lois is apparently insulting their religion, chases the Griffins until they escape onto a bus which is full of nuns who are not happy about Peter's straying from Catholicism.
[edit] The controversy
Some FOX network executives were concerned that the episode could be construed as anti-Semitic, and made the decision not to air the episode after it had completed postproduction.[1]
On the DVD commentary for the episode, Seth MacFarlane mentions that he showed the script of the episode to two rabbis, both of whom approved the episode "because Peter learns the right lesson at the end." MacFarlane also points out that the writer, Ricky Blitt, is Jewish himself; as is Ben Stein, who plays the Rabbi.
One line considered particularly offensive by some occurs during Peter's song when he sings "Even though they killed my Lord, I need a Jew," in the song "I Need A Jew". MacFarlane recorded an alternate version of the line (replacing "Even though they killed my Lord" with "I don't think they killed my Lord") which was used when Cartoon Network aired the episode and then when FOX aired the episode (TBS also airs this episode with the alternate line, even though the original line is shown in closed captioning), but he defends the original line giving a "consider the source" defense. Plenty of previous episodes, as well as this episode, make the point that Peter lacks very general knowledge (he believes that a volcano could come down the road mere minutes prior to the song) as well as knowledge of his own Catholic religion.
[edit] Cultural references
- Peter claims Math is biology's lesbian sister.
- A short cutscene, which parodies the rumored unsafety of laser eye surgery, references the Star Wars character Luke Skywalker (voiced by Mark Hammil), who wields a lightsaber to execute the surgery on the encouragement of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- Brian watches a clip from Seinfeld, where George and Jerry are conversing and repeating themselves, which is a common theme in the show.
- After Stewie breaks Meg's glasses, he holds up an undetermined long brown object and asks her if it's a Toblerone or a "poopie".
- At the beginning of the episode there is a parody of the Lifetime channel, making fun of female stereotypes and calling the channel "Lifetime: Television for Idiots".
- Peter tells Weinstein "Thanks for Spaceballs!", in reference to Spaceballs, the Star Wars parody, written and directed by Mel Brooks, who is Jewish. Also, later in the episode Peter makes a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark; that movie's director, Steven Spielberg, is also Jewish.
- When Peter tells Lois that he and Max solved their financial woes, Lois shakes her head in disbelief while a twangy noise is heard, similar to classic cartoons such as The Flintstones.
- When Peter says that people have taken credit for the achievements of Jews for too long, a cutaway reveals Woody Allen writing Louis Farrakhan's speeches. Allen then complains that he hasn't been so humiliated since he was at the Friars club and Soon-Yi's retainer fell out of his pants.
- When Max Weinstein says he has to go to temple, Peter says "Temple? You mean like Indiana Jones?" The scene cuts to Indiana Jones in front of a monkey statue. He stares at it, then starts juggling a sack, a clear reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark. He does this until Jackie Gleason appears and yells "Will you just pick it up already?!"
- Optimus Prime (leader of the Autobots on Transformers) shows up to the Quahog synagogue for the Sabbath service as the last of a series of persons Peter hadn't expected to be Jewish, such as Bill Nye and Lenny Kravitz, who is shown with only half of his body present, being only half-Jewish. His list is a possible reference to Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song".
- When the nuns are leaving the church and boarding the bus, the Penguin is outside jumping for joy going "Excellent, Excellent!" and delivers his signature laugh. The gag is probably a reference to the slang term "penguins" which is often used to describe nuns, as if the nuns are literal penguins off to do the Penguin's bidding. Alternately, it could be a specific reference to the movie The Blues Brothers, in which the head nun was referred to as "The Penguin".
- The nuns search for Peter while riding in a bus, parodying a similar scene in The Warriors.
- A scene depicts William Shatner performing a scene of Fiddler on the Roof. Unexpectedly, he shouts "Khan!!!" as a reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- Stewie references Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray when he tells Meg: "Somewhere in the attic, there's a portrait of you getting prettier."
- The cutaway scene where Stewie is on Star Search and he loses to comedian Sinbad is based on a real episode of Star Search where comedian/Saturday Night Live alum Dennis Miller loses to Sinbad.
- Chris's bar mitzvah is performed by magician Rabbi Copperfeld, a reference to David Copperfield.
- The last few scenes of the episode parody the ending of The Graduate. At the Vegas synagogue, Lois uses a Star of David to lock the door, then she, Peter, and Chris board a bus, sitting all the way at the rear.
[edit] Notes
- This is the only episode to originally air on Cartoon Network before airing on FOX.
- The FOX version of this episode not only used the "I don't think they killed my Lord" line instead of the original one, but they also radically shortened the scene where Quagmire is "finding his car keys" for Lois so that it doesn't look as if he is pleasuring himself. The Cartoon Network version, as well as the DVD version, have aired this scene uncut.
- The synagogue Max Weinstein and the Griffins go to is Reform.
| Preceded by: "Family Guy Viewer Mail #1" |
Family Guy Episodes | Followed by: "North by North Quahog" |
