Friends of Peter G.

"Friends of Peter G."
Family Guy episode
Episode no. Season 9
Episode 10
Directed by John Holmquist
Written by Brian Scully
Featured music "Mr. Booze"
by Jimmy van Heusen (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics)[1]
Production code 8ACX13
Original air date February 13, 2011
Guest appearance(s)

"Friends of Peter G." is the tenth episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It aired on Fox in the United States on February 13, 2011. The episode follows Peter and Brian as they are forced to join Alcoholics Anonymous, due to their excessive drinking, much to their chagrin. Soon, however, Peter crashes his car while driving home drunk, and is approached by Death, who shows him what his life will be like if he continues to drink alcohol, as well if he had never drunk at all.

The episode was written by Brian Scully and directed John Holmquist. It received mostly mixed reviews from critics for its storyline and many cultural references. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 5.99 million homes in its original airing.[2] The episode featured guest performances by H. Jon Benjamin, Adam Carolla, Carrie Fisher, Phil LaMarr, Jessica Stroup and Laura Vandervoort, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. It was first announced at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Plot

When Brian and Peter decide to go and see The Sound of Music together, Peter sneaks in liquor, and the two become extremely intoxicated, disrupting the entire audience. Joe is then called upon to arrest them, and bring them to court, where Brian and Peter, much to their annoyance, are sentenced to thirty days in Alcoholics Anonymous. At the first meeting, Peter is told that alcohol is a bad part of his life, with Brian becoming reluctant to give up drinking. Realizing that the people in Alcoholics Anonymous have nowhere to drink without being judged, Brian and Peter decide to bring several cases of beer to their next meeting. Joe is once again called upon, under a noise complaint, causing everyone to transform the center into a church and spring into a musical number based on Bing Crosby's "Mr. Booze" from Robin and the 7 Hoods, in order to trick Joe into leaving.[3]

Afterwards, Peter decides to drive home drunk, and ends up passing out at the wheel and crashing into a tree, killing him. Death arrives, and Peter's soul exits his body. To teach Peter a lesson, Death takes Peter into the future, where he sees the result of his continual association with alcohol: an abusive, drunken and filthy man who tortures his family with cigar burns (which Stewie enjoys) and has sex with his boss Angela while at work. After seeing this, Peter wishes that he had never touched a drop of alcohol in his life, so Death also shows Peter what his life would be like without alcohol, where Peter is also disdained about the future: he is extremely cheerful, has a different voice and drinks milk with uptight friends at the Drunken Clam, and he also does not know Joe or Quagmire, but instead looks at them as noisy and uncouth. Peter does not like this version of himself at all as he thinks he is a douche. Death convinces Peter to try to live his life without depending on alcohol but to use it in moderation.

Production and development

Seth MacFarlane announced the episode at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.

First announced at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International by series creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane,[4] the episode was written by series regular Brian Scully and directed by series regular John Holmquist during the course of the ninth production season.[5] Series veterans Peter Shin and James Purdum, both of whom having previously served as animation directors, served as supervising directors for the episode,[5] with Andrew Goldberg, Alex Carter, Elaine Ko, Spencer Porter and Aaron Blitzstein serving as staff writers for the episode.[5] Composer Walter Murphy, who has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for "Friends of Peter G".[5]

In addition to the regular cast, voice actor H. Jon Benjamin, actor and radio host Adam Carolla, actor Chris Cox, actress Carrie Fisher, voice actor Phil LaMarr, actress Jessica Stroup and actress Laura Vandervoort guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Ralph Garman, writer Steve Callaghan, writer Danny Smith, writer Alec Sulkin and writer John Viener made minor appearances throughout the episode.[5][6]

Reception

"Friends of Peter G." was broadcast on February 13, 2011, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by American Dad!, The Simpsons and Bob's Burgers, and followed by Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane's spin-off, The Cleveland Show. It was watched by 5.99 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, despite airing simultaneously with Desperate Housewives on ABC, the 53rd Grammy Awards on CBS and Harry's Law on NBC. The episode also acquired a 3.2 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating American Dad!, The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers and The Cleveland Show in addition to significantly edging out all four shows in total viewership.[7] The episode's ratings decreased significantly from the previous week's episode, largely due to the episode's airing simultaneously with the Grammy Awards.[7]

Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club gave "Friends of Peter G." a negative review, calling it unfunny and stating that its message is "vaguely offensive", and he rated the episode D.[8] Jason Hughes of TV Squad reacted positively to the episode, praising the musical number and the appearance of Adam Carolla as Death.[9]

References

  1. ↑ The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television, p. 631
  2. ↑ Gorman, Bill (2011-01-14). "TV Ratings Sunday: 'Grammy Awards' Rise; 'Desperate Housewives,' 'Brothers & Sisters,' 'Makeover' Hit Lows; 'American Dad,' 'Simpsons,' 'Bob's Burger's,' 'Family Guy' Down". TV By the Numbers. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
  3. ↑ Family Guy Season 11 DVD Review - The talking dog and the gay baby still carry the day blokely.com, 7 November 2011
  4. ↑ Iverson, Dan (2010-07-27). "SDCC 10: Family Guy Returns With Jedi". IGN. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Scully, Brian; Holmquist, John; MacFarlane, Seth (2010-02-13). "The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair". Family Guy. Season 09. Episode 10. Fox.
  6. ↑ "Family Guy Episode: "Friends of Peter G."". TV Guide. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  7. 1 2 Gorman, Bill (2010-02-14). "TV Ratings Sunday: 'Grammy Awards' Rise; 'Desperate Housewives,' 'Brothers & Sisters,' 'Makeover' Hit Lows; 'American Dad,' 'Simpsons,' 'Bob's Burger's,' 'Family Guy' Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  8. ↑ Kaiser, Rowan (2011-02-14). ""A Piñata Named Desire"/"The Blue And The Gray"/"Sexy Dance Fighting"/"Friends Of Peter G."/"A Short Story And A Tall Tale"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  9. ↑ Hughes, Jason (2010-02-14). "Sundays With Seth: 'American Dad,' 'Family Guy' and 'Cleveland Show' Recaps". TV Squad. Retrieved 2010-03-08.

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