| "The Splendid Source" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Guy episode | |||
Peter, Joe and Quagmire attempting to find the source of all the world's dirty jokes. |
|||
| Episode no. | Season 8 Episode 19 |
||
| Directed by | Brian Iles | ||
| Written by | Mark Hentemann Richard Matheson (short story) |
||
| Production code | 7ACX17[1] | ||
| Original air date | May 16, 2010 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
|
|||
| Episode chronology | |||
|
|||
| Family Guy (season 8) List of Family Guy episodes |
|||
"The Splendid Source" is the nineteenth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. Directed by Brian Iles and written by Mark Hentemann, the episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 16, 2010. The episode follows Peter, Joe and Quagmire as they set out on a journey to find the ultimate source of all the world's dirty jokes. Along the way, the group is reunited with their old friend, Cleveland Brown, while traveling through Stoolbend, Virginia. The friends soon discover that it is much more difficult than they thought, however, as they are unexpectedly kidnapped and taken to a remote island, before discovering a secret society of the world's greatest geniuses at the center of all the world's dirty jokes.
The episode served as a follow-up to the exit of the main character Cleveland Brown, who left Family Guy in order to star in his own Fox spin-off, entitled The Cleveland Show. Main cast member and former series writer Mike Henry returned to the series to provide the voice of Cleveland. The episode also featured the first official crossover between Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, both of which were created by executive producer Seth MacFarlane, and included cameo appearances by several of The Cleveland Show's main characters. It was first announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Critical responses to the episode were mostly mixed; critics praised the episode for its original premise, and its under reliance on cultural references, but criticized the episode's main storyline. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 7.59 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Marc Alaimo, Gary Cole, Ioan Gruffudd, Sanaa Lathan, David Lynch, Kevin Michael Richardson and Wally Wingert, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "The Splendid Source" was released on DVD along with ten other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011.
Contents |
As Peter and Lois discuss a family trip to Maine, Chris suddenly enters the kitchen, and alerts his parents that he has been suspended by Principal Shepherd for telling an inappropriate joke. Assuring Principal Shepherd it will not ever happen again, Chris reveals that it was actually Quagmire who told him the joke in the first place. Deciding to confront Quagmire at the Drunken Clam later that day, Peter finds the joke to be hilarious and accidentally defecates himself. Quagmire and Joe soon discover that Peter actually does so every time they tell him the joke, and the two set out to continually make him defecate himself even to the point that Quagmire hires Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare On Elm Street film series to make Peter soil himself in his dreams and in real life where he quotes in fears, "When you poop in your dreams, you poop for real." Tired of their antics, Peter decides to wear Quagmire's pants to the bar the next day, preventing them from making him laugh. Going on to question where Quagmire heard the dirty joke in the first place, he reveals that it was actually Bruce who told him the joke. Locating Bruce at his job at the bowling alley, the group eventually discovers that the joke (which among other people was passed on by Futurama character Bender and REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin) originated with a Virginia bartender.
Setting out from Quahog, along with Bonnie and Lois, expecting to go on vacation to Maine, Quagmire distracts the two women, as they begin on their journey to Virginia instead. The group then enters the local bar in Stoolbend, Virginia, and discover that it was actually Cleveland who told Gus the Bartender the joke. Asking who Cleveland heard it from, he reveals that it was a bellhop named Sal Russo who told him the dirty joke. The group, along with Cleveland, then set out on the road once more to Washington, D.C., but are soon attacked by a black vehicle, who fires gunshots at them, in an attempt to stop them from learning the joke's origin (they fail when Joe shoots out one of the car's tires, causing it to spin out of control and it crashes on its roof). The group then arrive at a Washington hotel, and locate Sal, who is reluctant to tell them where he heard it from, and races away on a handcart through Washington. Losing track of Sal, they are soon captured by several men in black suits, who beat them with their guns.
Kidnapped and thrown on a plane, they soon approach an island and land, being led by the men in suits through the jungle wilderness to a large stone temple. The Dean of the Secret Order of Dirty Joke Writers then appears from the shadows, and leads the group into a large library with the world's greatest geniuses studying inside. The Dean then leads the four on a tour, explaining that the world's great thinkers have come together to make dirty jokes, and through a network of agents (like the bellhop), have been introducing them into the world, and eventually takes them into a dark room. Revealing that they are not permitted to leave the island, now that they know the source of all the world's dirty jokes, they are locked in a jail cell. In an attempt to escape, Peter stabs Cleveland with a pencil, requiring a guard to unlock their cell. The group then escape, and are confronted by the Dean, and his armed guards immediately. As they are about to be shot by the guards, a man revealing that he has written the world's greatest dirty joke suddenly dies, with Peter stealing the joke that he had written on a small paper. Escaping on a plane, flown by Quagmire, the group soon watch the castle be blown to pieces in a huge fireball, after it is set on fire by a candle that Peter had thrown at a curtain. Peter quickly questions their actions, realizing that they just destroyed the source of all dirty jokes. The group quickly realizes though, that as long as there are people there will be dirty jokes. Peter, Joe, Cleveland and Quagmire then fly off into the sunset, and set back to Quahog, before finding out the supposed greatest joke ever written is "Guess what? Chicken butt". Peter questions if that is really the world's greatest joke, to which Cleveland replies, "No, this is!" in which Cleveland stabs Peter with a pencil much like how Peter stabbed him earlier and saying to them to take him back to Virginia. The final scene details with Peter showing footage of a gorilla scratching himself instead of a public service announcement from the March of Dimes Foundation.
First announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California on July 25, 2009, by future showrunner Mark Hentemann,[2][3] the episode was directed by Brian Iles, written by Hentemann, and based on a short story by Richard Matheson before the conclusion of the eighth production season.[4] Series regulars Peter Shin and James Purdum acted as supervising directors of the episode, with Andrew Goldberg and Alex Carter working as staff writers for the episode.[4] The episode saw the fourth re-appearance, the first being an equally brief appearance in "Spies Reminiscent of Us", the second in "Road to the Multiverse" and the third being "Go Stewie Go", by former main cast member Mike Henry as the voice of Cleveland Brown. The actor had previously left the role on Family Guy, in order to star as the character in his own spinoff, entitled The Cleveland Show.[5] This episode is also the first crossover with The Cleveland Show, which was created by Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane, voice actor Mike Henry, and former animated comedy writer Richard Appel.[6]
"The Splendid Source", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guy's eighth season, was released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.[7][8]
In addition to the regular cast, actor Marc Alaimo, actor Gary Cole, actor Ioan Gruffudd, actress Sanaa Lathan, film director David Lynch, voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson and voice actor Wally Wingert guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Chris Cox, actor Ralph Garman, writer Patrick Meighan, writer Danny Smith, writer Alec Sulkin, actress Jennifer Tilly, and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.[4]
The dirty joke told through the episode by Glenn Quagmire is taken from a joke the character Marty Funkhauser told in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.[6] In one of Quagmire's plots to have Peter soil himself, Quagmire falls asleep and encounters Freddy Krueger, the principal character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series, in a dream and hires him to go into Peter's dream, and tell the joke to him.[9]
While tracking down the person who first told the joke, Peter and the gang find Bender, from the Fox series Futurama, who is shown telling the joke.[5] When Peter, Joe and Quagmire get to Virginia they meet up with Cleveland and his new family from The Cleveland Show. There is a scene where Cleveland chases after the other three guys in the car, which alludes to the opening from What's Happening!!, and uses the music from the show's opening as well. When the group gets to Washington D.C., Peter, Joe, Cleveland and Quagmire see the Washington Monument, and next to it appears the Barack Obama Monument, which resembles the Washington monument, but is bigger and is colored black.[9]
With the plane, they land on an island which has the source for every dirty joke ever made, the base looks similar to a temple-compound from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now.[9] The base is inhabited with many great minds, including Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking, who pass their time writing the world's dirty jokes.[6] It is shown that the first dead baby joke was written in the era of Ancient Egypt.[9]
In a slight improvement over the previous episode, the episode was viewed in 7.59 million homes in its original airing, according to Nielsen ratings, despite airing simultaneously with the season finale of Desperate Housewives on ABC, the season finale of Survivor on CBS and Celebrity Apprentice on NBC. The episode also acquired a 3.8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show and American Dad!, in addition to edging out all three shows in total viewership.[10]
Reviews of the episode were mostly mixed, calling it "the only show with any sense of mystery."[11] John Teti of The A.V. Club found the episode to have a "fantastic premise for a Peter Griffin adventure" but went on to state that he gives the episode "points for a strong first half, but I wish that the writers had pushed themselves a little harder to make this one go the distance."[11] Ramsey Isler of IGN reiterated his own enjoyment of the premise of the episode, but went on to state, "While I can appreciate the point that good comedy does take a certain degree of wit and cleverness, this just wasn't a very satisfying end to an idea that had so much potential."[5] In a much more positive review, Jason Hughes of TV Squad praised the underuse of cutaways, going on to note, "Reducing the reliance on cutaways seems to be the continuing trend for the series, and I think it's a good move [...] It forces smarter writing, and creates a better narrative structure."[12]
| Preceded by Quagmire's Dad |
Family Guy (season 8) | Succeeded by Something, Something, Something, Dark Side |
|
||||||||||||||