| "Padre de Familia" | |||
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| Family Guy episode | |||
Peter showing off his American side |
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| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 6 |
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| Directed by | Pete Michels | ||
| Written by | Kirker Butler | ||
| Production code | 5ACX20 | ||
| Original air date | November 18, 2007 | ||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Family Guy (season 6) List of Family Guy episodes |
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"Padre de Familia" is a season six episode of the FOX animated series Family Guy, an episode produced for Season 5. Guest starring are Carrie Fisher as Peter's supervisor, Angela, Phyllis Diller as Peter's mother, Thelma Griffin and Gabriel Iglesias as Gerardo.
This episode aired November 18, 2007, two weeks after the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike interrupted the show's production. At the time of the strike, the episode was not entirely finished. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, a member of the Writers Guild of America, went out on the picket lines. As the showrunner, he would normally have been at work overseeing the final touches on the episode and would still voice his roles (Peter, Stewie, Brian, etc.).[1]
The title of this episode is the same as the title of the Spanish version of the show, which literally translates to "Father of the Family" or "Family Father."
Contents |
The Griffins attend a Veteran's Day parade where, after listening to Herbert sing "God Bless the USA," Peter realizes he is proud of his American citizenship. He begins showing off his patriotism everywhere he goes, even going as far as buying a suit themed after the American flag (Brian takes this as a sign that he is merely giving into post-9/11 paranoia). He also becomes frustrated with the presence of illegal immigrants, especially with the fact that they are "taking away the good jobs". Peter goes to great lengths to make Quahog immigrant-free, such as patrolling the town border and banning all non-American influences from his house (much to his family's chagrin). At the brewery, Peter convinces his supervisor to initiate an inspection, laying off any immigrants employed. After doing so, he goes to his mother Thelma's house for his birth certificate to prove his citizenship. However, Thelma tells Peter a startling secret: he was born not in America, but rather in Mexico.
She explains that after learning she had been impregnated by an Irish drunk, she went to Mexico to get an abortion; however, Peter was born right there in the clinic. As soon as he was, she immediately realized she loved him and took him home with her. Unfortunately, Thelma was so afraid of being judged that she never filled out his citizenship papers, making Peter an illegal immigrant.
Peter is subsequently unemployed and the family begins to fall into debt. Lois suggests that Peter try to take a naturalization test. After confusing Christopher Columbus with the two actors that played Darrin Stephens on Bewitched, confusing the ending of The Star-Spangled Banner with the onetime slogan of Burger King for its Whopper sandwich, and playing The $10,000 Pyramid with the employee at the naturalization office, he fails and he and Lois are informed that their marriage, which has lasted for 20 years, may not even be legitimate.
After Peter fails to find any good jobs, Lois turns to her father Carter for assistance. Carter agrees to employ Peter as a servant on his estate, and the Griffins move into a settlement of other Mexican immigrants near Carter's mansion. Of course, working as a servant, especially under Carter, proves grueling for Peter, who begins to empathize with the immigrants. He forms a friendship with them, and they in turn invite him and his family to a party to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. However, Carter crashes the party by reminding him of American regulations. Peter is outraged and rallies up the immigrants to form a rebellion. Carter decides to negotiate with Peter, saying he will arrange for Peter to gain American citizenship if he calls off the rebellion. Peter demands that everyone must gain citizenship, but the others insist that he take this opportunity, saying that their day will come someday. Peter agrees, and from this point onward Peter becomes an official American citizen; the family moves back to their house, Peter regains his job, and all is well.
When Peter applies for the housekepping job at a motel, he puts on a spanish voice and continuingly says Housekeeping. and repeating questions. This is a parody from a scene from the movie Tommy Boy. When patrolling the town border for immigrants, Peter hires Michael McDonald to provide back-up vocals for whatever he, Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe say. This is referring to the frequency of times Michael McDonald has done back-up singing for other singers or musical groups.[2] During the scene in which Peter and Brian are talking about immigrants, Peter says that "they are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take 'em away!" This is a reference to a line spoken by Darth Vader to Princess Leia Organa in the movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Upon the oral test of nationalization, Peter mistakes the phrase "Home of the Brave" for the phrase "Home of the Whopper", which is the popular slogan for the Burger King franchise. When Peter acts like a super U.S. Patriot, he sacrifices his goat to Toby Keith, which Lois says "Toby Keith doesn't want to be fed, he wants to hunt", then the goat disappears (which is a reference to Sam Neill's line in Jurassic Park), and terminates anything associated with illegal immigration, such as arresting Brian's 85-year old Korean Buddhist accupuncturist and discarding Stewie's Speedy Gonzales video. Fastidious with illegal immigrant-related topics, Peter creates Speedy Gonzales' American equivalent, Rapid Dave, depicting a rat from the Upper West Side of New York City. When Peter says that he, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Joe are going to patrol the border, this is a direct reference to the Minuteman border patrollers in the Arizona-Sonora desert along the U.S./Mexico border.
This episode was watched by 10.5 million viewers when it first aired.
The producers submitted this episode to compete in the Emmy Awards' Best Comedy Series category after finding out it could submit a special for the Animated category.[3]
| Preceded by Stewie Kills Lois/Lois Kills Stewie |
Family Guy (season 6) | Succeeded by Peter's Daughter |