North by North Quahog
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"North by North Quahog" is the first episode of season four of Family Guy, and is the first new episode of Family Guy after the series revival. It premiered at University of Vermont in Burlington at a special screening on April 28, 2005[1] and was first broadcast publicly on Fox on May 1, 2005. The episode accumulated a Nielsen rating/share of 6.3/9 on its first airing, making it the most-watched episode in the series.[2] In the opening scene, Peter jabs at FOX by listing shows that had minor successes on the network but ended too quickly, many of which did so while Family Guy was off the air. The show was saved by very high DVD sales and cable ratings on Adult Swim.
The episode’s plot revolves around Peter and Lois, as they try to help their marriage by taking a second honeymoon, but the two are chased by Mel Gibson after Peter steals the sequel to The Passion of the Christ from Gibson’s private hotel room. Much of the plot and many of the technical aspects of the episode, as well as the title, are direct parodies of the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock movie North by Northwest.
Like the very first episode of the series, "Death Has a Shadow," "North by North Quahog" was written by Seth MacFarlane and directed by Peter Shin, who won an Annie Award for Directing in an Animated Television Production for this episode. The episode itself was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program.
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[edit] Plot
Lois and Peter are having sex in their new squeaky bed, much to the horror of their children, when Lois yells out George Clooney's name. Upset that their relationship has gotten so dull that Lois has to fantasize about other men, Peter decides that the two should go on a second honeymoon to put the spark back into their marriage.
While the two are on their way to their vacation spot, Peter crashes the car into a tree when he decides to read an Archie comic book while driving. They are forced to spend all their honeymoon money on repairs. Peter feels they should head for home, feeling his plans won't work out at this rate, until he finds out about Mel Gibson's personal suite at a swanky hotel. Peter then poses as Mel Gibson in order to get the room, which seems to be the ideal place for a honeymoon. In the suite, they try to rekindle the spark by making love again; however, Lois calls out Mel's name. Seeing that their honeymoon idea isn't working as he hoped, Peter once again opts to head home early.
As they are about to leave, Peter accidentally stumbles upon Gibson's private screening room and view the trailer to Gibson's newest film, Passion of the Christ 2: Crucify This, a fictional sequel to The Passion of the Christ, in which Jesus and Chris Tucker's character from Rush Hour engage in high-speed car chases and shoot-outs against the police. In order to spare the world from "two hours of sacrelengen", Peter steals the film. As the two are leaving the hotel, however, they are spotted by two priests, Gibson's associates, who were there to pick up the film.
Peter and Lois are pursued by the priests in a car chase that leads through a shopping mall. After they elude the two cronies, Peter buries the film in a cornfield. While he is doing so, the priests fly down in a cropduster as in North by Northwest, and kidnap Lois. Peter is given a message telling him if he does not return the film to Mel Gibson at his estate on top of Mount Rushmore, Lois will be killed.
Peter arrives at the house and gives Gibson a film can. As Peter and Lois are about to leave, however, Gibson discovers that the film has been replaced with a dog turd, leading to a chase on the face of the mountain. Being held at gunpoint, Peter tells Gibson that the film is in President Rushmore's mouth and points to the other side of the monument. Gibson follows Peter's direction and walks off the edge to his death. Upon climbing back to the top of the mountain, the two make love on George Washington's head, bringing the spark back to their marriage.
In the subplot, Brian is left in charge of the kids while Peter and Lois are gone, though he is unable to keep Chris and Meg under control until Stewie offers him advice. The two team up to manage the home, which turns them into a traditional couple. Brian and Stewie chaperone a dance at Chris's school. During the dance, Chris is caught with vodka in the bathroom that actually belongs to Tom Tucker's son, Jake. Though Brian and Stewie ground Chris (and Stewie also spanks Chris) for nearly succumbing to peer pressure, they go out to clear his name. A friendly visit to the Tuckers' house the next day makes the situation worse, so Brian and Stewie plant drugs in Jake's locker.
[edit] Notes
On May 8, 2005, the Parents Television Council branded the episode "worst show of the week," the second Family Guy episode to be given this title after "And the Wiener Is...".[3]
[edit] Cultural references
While most of the episode is a spoof of Hitchcock's North by Northwest, several other aspects of the plot are parodies of other films and pop culture as a whole. The chase scene in the shopping mall is a direct parody of the similar scene in The Blues Brothers and includes the music from the original scene "Can't Turn You Loose." The fictional sequel to The Passion of the Christ stars Jim Caviezel (whose last name appears spelled as "Caviziel" on-screen, the production crew even admits they had spelled it wrong) and Chris Tucker and spoofs Tucker's previous buddy cop films Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3, with Caviezel replacing Jackie Chan. Also, Peter tells Lois that prostitutes' vision is based on movement, a reference to the Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park, and Brian reads a novelization of the film Caddyshack. In another scene, Geppetto is shown as a pedophile trying to get Pinocchio to lie and grow his nose into Geppetto's buttocks. While dragging his buttocks across Tom Tucker's living room rug, Brian refers to himself as Benji.
The episode contains many other references outside of film, including television and print. While watching Two and a Half Men (two men and a man who got sliced in half), Meg tells Chris that she wants to watch The George Lopez Show, only for Chris to retort by saying the show furthers the stereotype that George Lopez is funny. When Peter crashes the car on the way to Cape Cod, he is reading from a Jughead comic book. Also, Stewie reads from the first Garfield comic strip collection, Garfield at Large (although he mistakenly mentions that Garfield has to put up with Nermal, whose first appearance was reprinted in the third Garfield book).
In the final scene of the episode, recurring character The Greased Up Deaf Guy makes an appearance and breaks the fourth wall by waving to the audience and saying, "It's good to be back, America!" This is a self-reference regarding the show's cancellation and subsequent revival and return to television.
- Peter says that Family Guy was cancelled to make room for all of the FOX shows listed below. All of these shows were cancelled after short runs, usually not even airing their first season. Some of these shows (most notably Undeclared, Firefly, Wonderfalls, and The Tick) have found cult status through DVDs.
- When Peter gets to Greg the Bunny on the list he shoots a quick glance at Chris. This is in reference to Seth Green who was the star of Greg the Bunny, and the voice actor of Chris on Family Guy. Though he makes no nonverbal remarks, he also mentions The Tick, which starred Patrick Warburton (the voice actor of Joe Swanson) as the title superhero.
- When Brian is changing Stewie, Stewie pees on Brian and yells "Aft torpedoes, fire!" This is a reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which the line is used by Khan when ordering the Reliant to fire on the Enterprise during the climactic battle in the Mutara Nebula.
- While Stewie spanks Chris and Brian is smoking a cigarette, a Dennis Kucinich bumper sticker is visible on Brian's car.
- When Peter tells Mel Gibson that his movie is in the Rushmore's mouth, he steps in midair and falls onto the ground, with a scene similar to the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons (Peter claims that Mel did this because "Christians don't believe in gravity").
- One of the priests that pursued Peter at the hotel is similar to Father Sapienza from "Lethal Weapons."
[edit] References
- ^ The UVM Connection > Class of 2005. The University of Vermont. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
- ^ http://www.tvweek.com/docs/docs/chart091506.pdf. Crain Communications. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
- ^ Bowling, Aubree. Worst TV Show of the Week. Family Guy on FOX. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
[edit] External links
- "North by North Quahog" at Family Guy Wiki.
- "North by North Quahog" at the Internet Movie Database
- "North by North Quahog" at IGN.com
| Preceded by “When You Wish Upon a Weinstein” |
Family Guy Episodes | Followed by “Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High” |
