Screwed the Pooch

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“Screwed the Pooch”
Family Guy episode

Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 13
Guest stars	Bob Barker
Written by	Dave Collard and Ken Goin
Directed by	Pete Michels
Production no.	3ACX08
Original airdate	November 29, 2001
Episode chronology
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"To Love and Die in Dixie"	"Peter Griffin: Husband, Father...Brother?"
List of Family Guy episodes

"Screwed the Pooch" is the 41st episode of Family Guy. Guest starring Bob Barker as himself.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Peter, Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe are playing poker; Joe suggests they take Peter to Atlantic City, but however Peter and his family are going to visit his inlaws; despite the fact that his father-in-law hates him. Peter starts cultivating himself, without success. Earlier, Brian, sniffing the rectum of a female dog at the park, starts a sex drive. Lois and Peter are oblivious to it until they catch him in the bathroom. Lois believes it is normal, and suggests that Brian goes with them to get time off, which he does.

The family goes to visit Lois' parents, and Peter finally wins the respect and friendship of Carter Pewterschmidt, Lois's wealthy and elitist father.

The cordiality is destroyed when Brian humps Seabreeze, Pewterschmidt's prize winning, racing greyhound, at the racetrack. Sea Breeze ends up pregnant, and Brian is immediately blamed. Brian wants to raise the puppies himself, but Carter disapproves, so Brian elopes with Sea Breeze.

With help from Michael Eisner and Bill Gates, Sea Breeze is tracked down to a motel and the custody case goes to court. Carter brings up sordid details of Brian's past and personality to destroy his chances at trial.

It is decided by the judge that in order to have custody of his puppies, he must get neutered. Brian is finally faced with a tough decision: would he rather have custody of his puppies or keep his testicles? Just as Brian goes under the knife, he, Lois, and Peter discover that the puppies are born, but they don't resemble Brian; they resemble Ted Turner. Carter accuses Sea Breeze of being a whore and Brian goes home with his testicles intact.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Notes

During the trial, to prove that Brian is a competent father, Peter mentions things that he cannot remember about his children, but Brian does, such as Stewie's favorite bedtime story (Goodnight Moon) or Meg's real father (Stan Thompson). When the latter statement is mentioned, Meg is seen listening to music, unaware of the truth.
After Carter gets angry with Peter for Brian's behavior, Peter offers to go "back in time" to stop Brian from "getting it on" with Seabreeze, which ends up destroying everything in the room.
The New Yorker cartoon Peter stares at for days is signed "Hentemann," after Family Guy writer and producer Mark Hentemann.
After Brian is found, there is a picture of the "Quahog News". The title of the newspaper states that "RACE DOG FOUND". There is also an article there with the title "Sleazy Prostitute Given Important Position At Local News Station", with the picture of the black prostitute that came out of Tom Tucker's motel room.
The poker game of Texas Hold 'Em is supposedly played during a scene in the episode, but the game actually shown is not Hold 'Em. It appears to be a form of Five-card draw.

[edit] Cultural references

Peter says he is like Roo when he is in the kangaroo's pouch. He is referencing Winnie the Pooh.
When Brian turns on the TV by himself, he sees a show called "World's Sluttiest Dogs", which airs on The Fox Network. This is a reference to FOX airing shows with moderate sexual undertones (Family Guy being one of many) and airing sensationalistic reality shows (usually starting with the phrase "World's...", such as "World's Wildest Police Chases.")
After Joe tells Peter to find a common ground with Lois' father, Peter acts upon the advice as if he were Ebenezer Scrooge; he shouts at Bob Cratchit, who's copying letters in the corner, telling him he has to work through Christmas, like in A Christmas Carol. Cratchit asks, "But, sir, what of Tiny Tim?" Peter responds, "Bah, he and his ukulele shall go wanting." (A reference to Tiny Tim the musician, not Cratchit's son).
In another attempt to find common ground with Carter, Peter stands in front of a newspaper stand for several days attempting to understand a cartoon in The New Yorker, the caption of which reads "I'd be more apathetic if I weren't so lethargic."
Lois Explains to Carter that Peter has "cultured himself like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman"
Carter mentions that, at a party, Peter approached the Premier of China and said, "Dong, where is my automobile?". The line is a reference to John Hughes's movie Sixteen Candles.
The way Peter falls down and destroys everything after attempting to go back in time is reminiscent of Chris Farley's Matt Foley character destroying chairs and other furniture during his motivational speeches on Saturday Night Live.
Peter leaves the set of Survivor and trips into the set of The Price is Right. Interestingly, the numbers on the Showcase Showdown wheel are in the correct order.
When Lois asks Carter if Peter can play in his poker game, he replies that he would rather be stuck in an elevator with Nathan Lane, Gilbert Gottfried, Carrot Top, and Sean Hayes.
The guests of the poker game are Michael Eisner, Bill Gates, and Ted Turner (Carter told them not to invite him).
Bill Gates' signal for a helicopter to pick him up is the Microsoft Windows symbol, and is a parody of the iconic method of signalling for Batman. The Windows logo's colours are upside-down, despite the fact that the Windows logo is from top row to bottom row: red-green, blue-yellow.
When Peter and Carter are smoking cigars at the greyhound racetrack, the ends of their cigars each glow in the shape of a circle with a diagonal line through it. This appears to be a "No Smoking" reference.
Brian having sex with Sea Breeze right on the race track and presumably impregnating her is a possible reference to the The Simpsons' episode Two Dozen and One Greyhounds, with Santa's Little Helper and a female greyhound, though it is so brief and incidental that this is ambiguous. The puppies born with human faces recalls the pig who looked suspiciously like Herbert Garrison in "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig" (South Park).
A sign outside a motel reads "As seen on America's Most Wanted."
Brian and Sea Breeze are photographed being discovered in a closet by a soldier, just like Elián González.
Brian rented for Peter two Pauly Shore films, Bio-dome and Son in Law after Peter was banned from the video store for taping over their movies. Peter taped over a rented copy of Citizen Kane to let future viewers know Rosebud was "his sled. It was his sled from when he was a kid. There, I just saved you two boobless hours."
Linda Blair from The Exorcist is at Brian's trial, and does her famous 360-degree head-turning and vomiting.

[edit] References

S. Callaghan, "Mr. Saturday Night." 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: 47 - 48 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Au.pdf