| "Stew-Roids" | |||
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| Family Guy episode | |||
A muscular Stewie teases Brian for a hallway toll. |
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| Episode no. | Season 7 Episode 13 |
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| Directed by | Jerry Langford | ||
| Written by | Alec Sulkin | ||
| Production code | 6ACX18[1] | ||
| Original air date | April 26, 2009 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Family Guy (season 7) List of Family Guy episodes |
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"Stew-Roids" is the thirteenth episode of the seventh season of the American animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on the Fox network on April 26, 2009. The episode features Stewie after he is attacked at an outdoor party by Joe's infant daughter, Susie. While training Stewie, Peter injects him with performance-enhancing drugs, and Stewie becomes incredibly muscular. Meanwhile, Chris becomes the fake boyfriend of popular student Connie D'Amico. He begins to like her, and the two begin a serious relationship, causing him to become mean and self-centered towards everyone around him.
The episode was written by Alec Sulkin and directed by Jerry Langford. It received mixed reviews from critics for its storyline and many cultural references, in addition to receiving criticism from the Parents Television Council. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in The episode featured guest performances by Meredith Baxter, Jeff Bergman, Gary Cole, Chace Crawford, Camille Guaty, Wentworth Miller, Mae Whitman and Lisa Wilhoit, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series.
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The Swansons host a backyard barbecue, where Joe's baby daughter, Susie, gets into a fight with Stewie over a Barbie doll and attacks him. Upset by this, Peter takes Stewie to train at the local gymnasium. A trainer notices Stewie struggling with barbells and offers steroids. Peter injects the drugs into Stewie, who becomes incredibly buff and develops an aggressive personality, much to the horror of his family. As time passes, Stewie's drugs gradually wear off, much to his shock. His skin becomes incredibly loose and flabby. Stewie jumps out of his bedroom window to avoid Brian's wrath, only to have his loosened skin help him glide to safety. Like Season 2's "He's Too Sexy for His Fat", the plot-line is never resolved, and his body returns to normal at the end of the episode, with no explanation. Stewie then ends the episode by saying "I Flew Today".
Elsewhere, Connie D'Amico (Lisa Wilhoit) decides that she is tired of dating the popular boys and instead tries to find the least popular in school. She settles on Chris almost immediately. During their first date, Chris reveals that he really likes Connie, who is surprised by his true heart and actually becomes attracted to him. Chris' popularity increases at school, which leads to accolades by the jocks and other socially powerful students. Meg, however, refuses to accept the relationship. Later, Chris and Connie plan a house party at the Griffins, but she becomes upset when she finds out that he is cheating on her, making Connie a social outcast. She turns to a reluctant Meg, who relents when a javelin thrown by Chris impales Meg's shoulder. They (with the help of Neil Goldman) publicly release a video of Chris dancing naked in his room, before he is caught by Peter. Chris quickly becomes unpopular and apologizes to Meg for his behavior.
"Stew-Roids" was written by series regular Alec Sulkin and directed by former Mission Hill and The Oblongs director Jerry Langford before the conclusion of the seventh production season.[2] Despite being credited in the episode, none of Mike Henry's characters (including Cleveland) appear in the episode. However, Cleveland appears in the zoomed out view of Joe's barbecue cookout, immediately following the intro. He's in the pool, and he doesn't appear anywhere else in the episode.
In addition to the regular cast, actors Meredith Baxter, Jeff Bergman, Gary Cole, Chace Crawford, Camille Guaty, Wentworth Miller, Mae Whitman and Lisa Wilhoit guest starred in the episode.[3][4] Recurring guest voice actors Alexandra Breckenridge, Chris Cox, Ralph Garman, and writers Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin, and John Viener also made minor appearances.[3] Recurring guest voice actors Jennifer Tilly and Patrick Warburton reprise their roles of Bonnie and Joe Swanson respectively.
The episode includes various cultural references, including Johnson & Johnson's "No more tears" slogan.[5] Spike TV was also parodied.[6] Stewie composes a song about his toned body, pronouncing the word body as "bah-dy" a reference to the pronunciation of the word in John Mayer's "Your Body Is a Wonderland".[6] Chris's nude dance is a reference to a similar scene in The Silence Of The Lambs.
In a slight drop from the previous week, "Stew-Roids" was viewed in 6.80 million homes in its original airing. It also received a 4.0/6 in Nielsen ratings.[7]
Ahsan Haque of IGN gave the episode a score of 8.2 out of 10, commending Chris's storyline and praising Stewie's temporary build, but criticizing the staleness of Meg's continued poor treatment.[5] Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club gave a much more critical review giving the episode a grade of a C. Heisler stated that neither of the storylines "held any water", because they were "ridiculously short". He also commented: "I'm starting to wonder if this show is even watchable anymore — 18 minutes of filler, 45 seconds of inspired silliness."[8]
The Parents Television Council, a frequent critic of Family Guy, named "Stew-Roids" its "Worst TV Show of the Week" for the week ending August 28, 2009; the review was based on a repeat airing. The PTC's review cited the episode's crude jokes, "tiresome pop culture cutaways" and "its conceit that its content is original." The latter referred to the plotline about Chris's sudden popularity at school and having a swelled ego as a result. "As a story, this plot has been done to death – and done better – on shows ranging from Father Knows Best to The Brady Bunch to Family Ties. Apparently, originality is not a requirement for writers on Family Guy," the PTC concluded.[9]
Stew-Roids, along with the seven other episodes from Family Guy's eighth season and seven from the seventh season, were released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on June 15, 2010. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Seth MacFarlane and various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "Road to the Multiverse", and mini-feature entitled Family Guy Karaoke.[10]
| Preceded by 420 |
Family Guy (season 7) | Succeeded by We Love You, Conrad |