Mother Tucker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Mother Tucker”
Family Guy episode
Peter with Tom Tucker, his new stepdad.
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 2
Written by	Tom Devanney Seth MacFarlane[1]
Directed by	James Purdum
Guest stars	Tamera Mowry Phyllis Diller H. Jon Benjamin Gore Vidal Tara Strong
Production no.	4ACX31
Original airdate	September 17, 2006
Season 5 episodes
Family Guy - Season 5 September 10, 2006 – May 20, 2007
Stewie Loves Lois Mother Tucker Hell Comes to Quahog Saving Private Brian Whistle While Your Wife Works Prick Up Your Ears Chick Cancer Barely Legal Road to Rupert Peter's Two Dads The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou Airport '07 Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey No Meals on Wheels Boys Do Cry No Chris Left Behind It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One Meet the Quagmires
← Season 4	Season 6 →
List of Family Guy episodes

"Mother Tucker" is the second episode of season five of Family Guy. The episode broadcast on September 17, 2006.^[2] Guest stars on the show were Max Burkholder, Phyllis Diller and Tamera Mowry.^[3] The plot follows Peter's mother, Thelma, getting a divorce from Peter's non-biological father, Francis. After beginning dating, she develops an interest in news anchorman Tom Tucker, only to end the relationship shortly after, much to Peter's annoyance.^[4] The title of the episode, "Mother Tucker", is a pun of the common insult "motherfucker". The show was reviewed positively by critics, with few negative comments.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Cultural references 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

After attending the Quahog Airshow, the Griffins lose Stewie in the crowd. When Brian searches for him, where a radio worker approaches him and tells him he should consider a job as a radio presenter, which he accepts. After hosting a lunchtime talk show, Brian is told to get Stewie to work as a copresenter to his show after prank calls made by Stewie during the show. Meanwhile, Peter's mother, Thelma comes to the house and tells Peter that she has ended her relationship with Peter's father, Francis. Lois takes Thelma to a meeting for single people in an attempt to find her a new partner, where she finds Tom Tucker and the two begin dating, annoying Peter, because she is dating so soon after leaving his father. Peter makes several attempts to end the relationship between Tucker and his mother, all of which are unsuccessful.

Stewie turns Brian's radio show into a comedy show, which annoys Brian. However, he is pleased when he becomes a local celebrity in Quahog when people recognize his voice. Brian eventually resigns from his radio career after displeasing Gore Vidal, among other antics organized by Stewie. They are then replaced by Cleveland and Quagmire. Peter is persuaded by Tucker to refrain from attempting to ruin his relationship with Thelma, which Peter agrees to; but Thelma ends the relationship shortly after, much to the despair of Peter. Tucker apologizes to Peter for spanking him earlier when he ate ice cream when told not too, and resumes to spending time with his own son, Jake, after being told it would be for the best by Peter.^[4]

[edit] Production

During the scene of the "Weenie and the Butt" radio stall, several sound effects can be heard, each of these were recorded individually by people who have sung at The Oscars and other high publicity events; MacFarlane commented that these sound effect recordings took much longer than expected, due to them not sounding professional enough.^[5]

There were several scenes throughout this episode that were removed from the script and not broadcast. One of these was a scene just after Tucker was apologizing to Peter about losing his temper when Peter ate the ice cream, it was intended that Jake Tucker would appear and the location of where he is originally from, would be revealed.^[6][5] The scene of "The Peanuts Reunion" was originally meant for season four episode "Patriot Games", however the scene was changed to be shown in this episode, mainly because they needed to shorten the timing for the Patriot Games episode, and this episode under running its time limit. The scene was described by 20th Century Fox worker Leann Siegel as being depressing.^[7]

[edit] Cultural references

The scene showing Darth Vader as a parking attendant writing a ticket for the upper-class man is a reference to Star Wars. All of the scenes which contain references to Star Wars or its characters are sent to Lucasfilm for approval, in order to protect copyright.^[5] MacFarlane also comments that every film should have a scene of a man standing in the shower and letting the water run down his back, to "wash the pain away".^[5]

When Peter is still upset and frustrated about his mother, Thelma, leaving Tucker (whom he refers to as "Papa Tom"), he is eating his dinner with Tucker, however, he decided to rebel against his mother leaving Tucker. He reaches for the freezer to take out some ice cream, and as he is lifting the spoon in slow motion up to his mouth, he is warned several times not to eat it, by Tucker. When he eats it, Tucker repeatedly spanks him; this is a reference to Kramer vs. Kramer. The slow motion animation of Peter slowly going to eat the ice cream, was described to be "very well animated".^[5] After Brian mentions Stewie selling out, the resulting flashback parodies the Butterfinger commercials, which The Simpsons did in the early 1990s. Stewie exclaims Bart Simpson's catchphrase from the commercials, "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger", then referring to the to popular Homer Simpson catchphrase, "D'oh!".^[8]

Peter makes reference to the film Harold and Maude and Stewie features in the scene with the priest'

[edit] Reception

IGN's Dan Iverson gave the show a positive review, saying that Mother Tucker "would make even the most anti-Family Guy television viewers out there laugh pretty hard".^[9] Iverson also commented that "it probably won't be remembered as fondly as some of the episodes from the first few seasons".^[9], commenting that "the funniest aspect of the episode was the radio scene", further describing that "the first time we see radio jockeys, we get the impression that they are immature, simple-minded idiots".^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "Mother Tucker" at Family Guy Wiki.
• Mother Tucker at TV.com.
• Mother Tucker at the Internet Movie Database.