Brian: Portrait of a Dog

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“Brian: Portrait of a Dog”
Family Guy episode

Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 7
Guest stars	Dick Van Patten
Written by	Gary Janetti
Directed by	Michael Dante DiMartino
Production no.	1ACX07
Original airdate	May 16, 1999
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List of Family Guy episodes

"Brian: Portrait of a Dog" is an episode of Family Guy from Season One. Guest starring Dick Van Patten as Tom Bradford. This is the last episode of the first season. The title is a reference to the movie Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Quahog is in the grip of an unusual heatwave and, not having air conditioning, the Griffins are suffering. Peter learns of an upcoming dog show offering a top prize of $500, which he sees as the perfect way to buy an air conditioner. He persuades a reluctant Brian to participate, so Brian does it anyway. After Brian performed his tricks at the dog show, Peter put a bone biscuit on Brian's nose that was demeaning to Brian. Brian is angry because he refuses to demean himself "perpetuating the stereotype of the 'good dog'". Brian refuses to do anything so degrading and exits in a huff.

On the way home, Peter and Brian argue until, finally, an angry Brian gets out of the car. The Police give Brian a ticket for violating local leash laws, which Peter has to pay, only further widening their rift. Brian leaves the house, whereupon he is treated shabbily by the community, and ultimately forced to sleep at the bus station. By the time Peter decides to apologize to Brian, Brian has hit rock bottom, having actually attacked a man on the street and being hauled off by the police.

At the pound, Brian is sentenced to a lethal injection. But when he finally gets the chance to plead his case, its Peter who actually steps in and delivers an emotional appeal on his behalf. The charges against Brian are finally waived and the town shows him new respect.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Note

This episode introduces Stewie's teddy bear Rupert and Tom Tucker's upside-down face son, Jake.

[edit] Cultural references

Before the dog show, Brian acts like the director in All That Jazz, using eye drops, taking a deep breath, and then saying "Showtime!"
In the dog show, Brian is introduced as "Brain", the opposite of what occurs when Brain from Pinky and the Brain appear on Gyp-Parody.
When Brian is kicked out of the Sicilian restaurant, he comes across the dogs from the Lady and the Tramp, in a parody of the famous spaghetti scene.
When Brian is hiding from the cops (a scene which parodies Raiders of the Lost Ark), he finds Joyce DeWitt, who played Janet Wood on Three's Company.
Peter writes MacGyver asking him to save his dog; he sends him a drinking straw, a rubber band and a paper clip.
During Brian's parole hearing, he references the court case Plessy v. Ferguson, a famous U. S. Supreme Court case that approved segregation.
When Brian got out of the car, Lois was singing the song "Anything Goes" from the Cole Porter musical of the same name.
Lois flattens the Pillsbury Doughboy.
The final scene, in which Brian drinks from the "people" water fountain, is a reference to the ending of the novel and TV movie, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, in which the title character, a black woman in the segregated South, does the same at a "white" water fountain.

[edit] References

Callaghan, Steve. "Brian: Portrait of a Dog." Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1-3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 38 - 41.
Delarte, Alonso. "Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 1." Bob's Poetry Magazine March 2005: 15. http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Mr.pdf