Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington” | |
|---|---|
| Family Guy episode | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 31 |
| Guest stars | Alyssa Milano |
| Written by | Ricky Blitt |
| Directed by | Ben Hogan |
| Production no. | 2ACX11 |
| Original airdate | July 25, 2001 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Brian Does Hollywood" | "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea" |
| List of Family Guy episodes | |
"Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington" is an episode of Family Guy. The title parodies the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Guest starring Alyssa Milano as herself, Ricky Blitt as her agent, Joel, and Jack Sheldon as the Bill.
[edit] Plot summary
Peter is almost fired from the toy factory for skipping work to go to a baseball game. But the El Dorado Cigarette Company takes over the toy factory and Peter is retained.
El Dorado immediately starts making toys to promote underage smoking. Lois is concerned and prods Peter to confront the management about it, but when he does, the El Dorado board makes Peter president of the toy company to distract him.
They then send him to Washington, D.C. to lobby on their behalf. Peter finally has a change of heart when he realizes that Stewie has not only started smoking but has developed a hacking cough.
[edit] Cultural references
- The episode's title is a reference to the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- A cutaway shows an episode of the 1950s/60s children's television series Lassie with subliminal pro-smoking messages. Subliminal advertising was a popular urban legend during the early days of television.
- A flashback shows Peter giving false testimony at the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thomas, where Thomas’ alleged sexual harassment of former aide Anita Hill became an issue. After his lies are called out, he screams “Baba Booey! Baba Booey! Howard Stern’s penis! Baba Booey! Baba Booey!” Stern encourages listeners to interrupt high-profile political and media events and give him publicity, often shouting "Baba Booey," the nickname of Stern’s producer Gary Dell'Abate, as a codeword.
- According to Seth McFarlane on the DVD commentary, the Bush and Gore scene originally was going to predict that Gore would win the election, because as McFarlane put it, "We never thought that Bush could actually fuckin win".
- Peter says that, since he’s been president, "profits have been higher than Alyssa Milano," referring to tabloid accusations about the actress’s drug abuse. In a live action scene, Milano appears as herself and urges her lawyer to sue the Fox Network. Her lawyer was played by the episode's writer, Ricky Blitt.
- The series of magazine ads features Peter drawn like Joe Camel
[edit] References
- S. Callaghan, "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington." Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1-3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 136 - 139.
- A. Delarte, "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 3" in Bob's Poetry Magazine, 2.August 2005: 37 - 38 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Au.pdf
| Preceded by "Brian Does Hollywood (2)" |
Family Guy Episodes | Followed by "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea" |
