| "A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks" | |||
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| Family Guy episode | |||
Chris manipulated by Antonio Monatti |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 11 |
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| Directed by | Gavin Dell | ||
| Written by | Craig Hoffman | ||
| Production code | 2ACX07 | ||
| Original air date | April 18, 2000 | ||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Family Guy (season 2) List of Family Guy episodes |
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"A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks" is an episode from the second season of the Fox animated series Family Guy. It is the 18th episode of Family Guy to be aired. It guest-starred Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown, Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood and Charles Kimbrough as Jim Dial. Mila Kunis permanently takes over the role of Meg from Lacey Chabert beginning with this episode.
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For his birthday, a blindfolded Peter drives the family to Bob's Funland and Putt Putt Golf. The attraction's owner, Bob Funland, soon asks them to leave, after Peter makes repeated trouble for other customers. Peter grows unhappy over his lack of accomplishments; he remembers Bob Funland as a loser from high school, and even his own obnoxious cousin Kathy Griffin is famous. Chris gives Peter an astonishingly good painting as a present, but Peter simply uses it to cover a hole in the window of his car. An art dealer named Antonio Monatti buys the painting for $5,000 and urges Peter to bring Chris to Manhattan, where he could become a famous artist.
Under the guise of nurturing his son's natural talent, Peter puts Chris completely in Monatti's hands while the rest of the family tour the city, dazzled by the big-town sights. Monatti gives Chris a total makeover, dying his hair green, dressing him in fashionable clothes, renaming him "Christobel" and introducing him to a two-dimensional Kate Moss (implying that Moss is so thin, when she turns to the side, she disappears). Since Monatti alienates Peter (because he "is a pig"), he tells Chris that he must keep away from his father at all times. When Chris reluctantly complies, Peter disowns him and focuses on Meg's talent for bird calls.
Lois tricks Peter into attending the première of Chris' artwork by telling him that strippers would be distributing free tacos. After a grandiose unveiling, "Christobel's" masterpiece turns out to be a collection of portraits of Peter in a style reminiscent of that of Andy Warhol (who is the person Brian used to know). Monatti and the "art crowd" immediately detest the new work, reject Chris as a poseur, and has Monatti asking Peter for his money back. As the family prepare to return to Quahog, "heterosexual fashion designer" Calvin Klein spots Stewie and immediately casts him as "the face" for his new line of designer diapers. At the end of the episode, the billboard with Stewie wearing a diaper on it reads "Stewie says: I can go anywhere in my Calvin$".
The episode was written by Craig Hoffman and directed by Gavin Dell, before the conclusion of the second production season. Beginning with this episode, Mila Kunis permanently takes over the role of Meg from Lacey Chabert, who left due to school work and her role on Party of Five. Supervising directors Peter Shin and Pete Michels help Dell direct this episode. Series regulars Craig Hoffman and Danny Smith serve as supervising producers, with Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman, and Sherry Gunther serving as producers, Ricky Blitt and Chris Sheridan as co-producers, and Neil Goldman, Garrett Donovan, Mike Henry, Mark Hentemann, Jim Birnstein, and Michael Shipley as story editors.
In addition to the regular cast, voice actors Dee Bradley Baker and Rachael MacFarlane, known for doing voice work on American Dad!, guest starred in the episode as Calvin Klein and Kate Moss/Minnie Mouse respectively. In addition to Baker and MacFarlane, Candice Bergen, Faith Ford, Charles Kimbrough, and Joe Regalbuto guest starred in the episode, reprising their Murphy Brown roles of Murphy Brown, Corky Sherwood, Jim Dial, and Frank Fontana respectively. Bergen and Ford make their second guest appearance this season, their first being in "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar". Along with reprising his roles of Peter, Chris, Stewie, and Quagmire, series creator Seth MacFarlane voices art dealer Antonio Monatti in the episode. Also, Jennifer Tilly and Patrick Warburton reprise their roles of Bonnie and Joe Swanson, while writer Danny Smith has a minor voice appearance.
In his 2009 review, Ahsan Haque of IGN, rating the episode an 8.3/10, called the episode a "strong outing", with "some memorable cutaways, and a few interesting character moments". He also noted, that the part about Chris making portraits of his father was "unusually heartfelt for an episode of Family Guy".[1]
| Preceded by Running Mates |
Family Guy (season 2) | Succeeded by Fifteen Minutes of Shame |
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