Dammit Janet (Family Guy)

"Dammit Janet" is the 15th episode from the second season of the FOX animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on June 13, 2000.^[1] This episode features the youngest son of the Griffin family, Stewie, as he develops romantic feelings for Janet, a female infant at a daycare. Lois begins working as a stewardess, but soon wishes to quit; Peter convinces her to keep working because he gets to fly anywhere for free. Stewie realizes that Janet only played with him because he shared his cookies with her. Peter inadvertently flies in the same plane that Lois is working on; while they are arguing about his actions the plane is hijacked to Cuba. Lois and Peter return to the United States via a refugee raft.

The episode was written by Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman and directed by Bert Ring. The episode received a positive review from Ahsan Haque of IGN for its storyline and use of Stewie. The episode features guest performances by Tara Charendoff, Mo Collins, Camryn Manheim, and Haley Joel Osment. This episode marks the first appearance of the "Evil Monkey" character.

Plot

Lois Griffin is concerned that her and Peter's intelligent infant son, Stewie, is not getting along with other children at the park; so she and Peter decide to put him in a daycare so he can be around children his own age. With Stewie out of the house, Lois begins to feel rather bored, so her anthropomorphic dog, Brian, suggests she get a part-time job to add some excitement to her life.

When Peter tells his friends about Lois wanting to get a job, Quagmire offers to get Lois a job as a flight attendant at the airport he works at, explaining that flight attendants get to travel to all kinds of exotic places and that relatives of flight attendants (including spouses) can fly anywhere in the world for free, which inspires Peter to encourage Lois to work as a flight attendant. Since Lois is unaware of this, Peter visits many different locations without telling her. Lois ends up hating the job and wants to quit but Peter tells her not to give up so soon. The next flight Peter takes has Lois as one of the attendants. Lois becomes furious and takes Peter inside the plane's bathroom to argue with him for using her. While they are occupied, the plane is hijacked to Cuba. Unable to get documents to return to the US, they ride a refugee raft back home.

Meanwhile, at the daycare, Stewie meets a female infant named Janet (voiced by Tara Charendoff). For reasons that Stewie does not comprehend, he cannot stop thinking about her and Brian explains that he is in love with her. At first Stewie denies his feelings for Janet, but he soon becomes aware of his interest for her after he gives her the cookie that he brings daily as lunch; and he starts playing with her. Janet starts eating cookies with another infant of the daycare, after witnessing this Stewie feels betrayed and tries to make her jealous with another infant but is unsuccessful. At the end, Janet tells Stewie she likes him and asks if she could eat his cookie. Stewie is heartbroken when he figures out that she only wanted his cookies.

Production

Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman wrote the episode.

The episode was written by series regulars Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman and directed by Bert Ring, before the conclusion of the second production season.^[1] Peter Shin and Pete Michels acted as supervising directors for the episode. Steve Callaghan, Alex Borstein, Jim Birnstein, Michael Shipley, and Bobby Bowman acted as staff writers while Mike Henry and Mark Hentemann acted as story editors.^[1]

This episode features the first appearance of "The Evil Monkey" who lives inside one of the closets in the Griffin house. The monkey, who becomes a recurring character, is voiced by Danny Smith and was created by the episode's writers, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman.^[2][3]

In addition to the regular cast, voice actress Tara Charendoff, comedian Mo Collins, actress Camryn Manheim, and actor Haley Joel Osment guest starred in the episode.^[4] Recurring guest voices include Lori Alan, Mike Henry, and Wally Wingert.^[4][5]

Cultural references

After admitting his feelings for Janet, Stewie sings Frank Sinatra's "You Make Me Feel So Young". Peter puts on a one-person show about Winston Churchill while on a plane.^[2] During the episode Peter travels to Kentucky and visits a Kentucky Fried Chicken, hoping to meet Colonel Sanders.

Reception

In his 2009 review, Ahsan Haque of IGN rated the episode an 8.6 out of a possible 10, stating that "Dammit Janet!" has "plenty of laughs" and "watching Stewie bumble his way around when he's in love is always fun". However, he noted that Peter is "particularly obnoxious" in the episode, and he "increasingly becomes more and more unrealistic". ^[2]

References

Bibliography

• Callaghan, S. (2005). "Dammit Janet!". Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. pp 100–102.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Dammit Janet!

• "Dammit Janet" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Dammit Janet" at TV.com