The Former Life of Brian

"The Former Life of Brian"

"Former Life of Brian" is the eleventh episode of the sixth season of Family Guy. The episode originally broadcast on April 27, 2008. It guest stars Harvey Fierstein as the older repulsive Tracy (Brian's old girlfriend) and Chace Crawford as Paul, the ne'er-do-well boyfriend of another woman. The episode title is a reference to the Monty Python film The Life of Brian (a cutaway joke even mentions the popular series).

Plot

Brian decides to start a relationship with a nice young widowed woman he meets one day. He agrees to perform magic at her son's birthday party just to impress her, only to learn that she already has a boyfriend she never told him about. Feeling he may be losing his chances at love, Brian ultimately decides to meet up with a former flame named Tracy who, once being quite attractive, has since become fat and slovenly. Partially repulsed, Brian decides to leave, but Tracy insists he stay after revealing that she has a son named Dylan and that he is the father.

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Brian with a younger, more attractive Tracy.

Dylan proves to be quite the unruly teenager and Brian laments to Peter and Lois about his experiences with him. Despite his objections, they attempt to convince him that he should take responsibility for his son. At this time, Dylan arrives at the Griffins' house, explaining that Tracy dropped him off for Brian to raise. There he begins tearing the house apart and acts hostile toward everyone, especially Brian, who decides to take control and kick him out. However, after they discover they both enjoy smoking marijuana, they begin to connect, and Brian swears to turn Dylan's life in the right direction.

Brian quickly shapes Dylan up to be a fine young man, though he himself begins to act a bit self-righteous. Peter feels very uncomfortable about this, so he decides to convince Tracy to take Dylan back to live with her in the hopes that Brian would go back to normal. Lois supports Peter's position as she, too, has been feeling disturbed that Brian has become a stereotypically overprotective parent right after taking Dylan under his wing. Dylan then steps up, saying it is time for him to turn his mother's life around just as Brian had done for him. Brian agrees, and the two part ways.

Notes

In the commentary for "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", Seth MacFarlane says the writers had a very long and "weird" discussion about whether the children of Brian and Pearl Burton should all be toddlers or puppies in a virtual reality simulation of their life married. That episode had a mix of both (some toddlers, some puppies). In this episode, Dylan appears entirely human.

When Brian and Stewie walk over to Jareds mom at the birthday party, Stewies face paint disappears.

Dylan is the third Family Guy character (the other two being Chris and Peter, though Peter thought it was Meg) to see the Evil Monkey in The Closet. In fact, Dylan gives the Evil Monkey a pretty savage beating. It is likely the monkey was simply knocked out, as other characters have survived much worse assaults.

This marks the second time Brian describes the plot to his still-unfinished novel. The plot sounds familiar to Aces: Iron Eagle 3. Brian described the plot to Lois in "Movin' Out (Brian's Song)," in which Lois says that the plot is like the movie Iron Eagle and its sequels. Unlike Lois, who teased Brian about this fact, Dylan's reaction to the novel's plot was positive, but the two were both high at the time.

When Stewie points out that Brian is 7, while his son Dylan is 13, Brian tells Stewie to go on the Internet and complain about it. Some fans of Family Guy, as well as fans of other shows, discuss continuity errors and gaps in logic, such as Brian and Dylan's age, on the Internet. This also suggest that the writers dislike in-depth discussions about their continuity errors.

One of the posters hanging up in Tracy's home is a cat doing a pull-up, a reference to the premiere episode of the fifth season of Family Guy, "Stewie Loves Lois". The picture (owned by Seamus) was one of the few that accompanied that of the diseased prostate which intimidated Peter.

There are five references to Stewie's sexuality (mostly aimed towards Dylan):

• When trying to convince Brian to let him be Brian's magic assistant, Stewie says "You can even split me in half." When Brian questions it, Stewie quickly says "Saw me in half."
• As Brian's assistant in his magic act, Stewie is dressed as a female (again). He states, "I can't believe I agreed to four costume changes. Oh, who am I kidding? I insisted on it!"
• When Lois asks Stewie how he would feel if Dylan stays in his room, Stewie sarcastically states "No, my pants just got shorter because I hated the idea."
• When Brian is monitoring Dylan with Stewie's baby monitor, an apparently naked Stewie asks Dylan to join his "Naked Tea Party." "Got my teacup here. Now all I need is a teabag," Stewie says. When Dylan calls Stewie "weird," Stewie retorts with "Yeah, and you're attractive. NOW TAKE YOUR FUCKING PANTS OFF!" (The word "fuck" is bleeped out).
• When Brian and Dylan are high in Stewie's/Dylan's room, Stewie walks by, naked, and states, "Just passin' on through. See anything you like, speak up," referencing his series-long attraction to Brian and his episode-long attraction to Dylan.

Cultural references

• Peter told Lois that "Now we know what we should get him for Christmas!", this is a reference to A Christmas Story, where the main character asked for a BB Gun.
• At the beginning of the show, Stewie's face had been painted to look like a cat, although he wanted to look like Darth Maul.
• A cutaway scene shows a "Mexican funeral" in which over a dozen people are stuffed into one casket; this is a reference to the stereotype of large Mexican-American families living in homes that are too small for them (which was also referenced in the episode "No Meals on Wheels," with the "Mexican Superfriends" gag). The organist is playing La Cucaracha which Peter played for Paul McCartney in the season twelve South Park episode "Canada on Strike".
• In a cutaway, the Pink Panther passes away due to years of overexposure to Owens Corning fiberglass insulation; this is a parody of the fact that the Panther has been used in Owens Corning's commercials for years.
• When Brian discovers that he has a son, Stewie, with much anticipation, yells, "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" in reference to The Jerry Springer Show.
• A cutaway parodies the farewell scene in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz; when Dorothy tells the Scarecrow that she'll miss him most of all, the Lion and the Tin Man take offense.
• As a form of torture, Dylan tied Meg to a chair and made her watch 178 hours of Monty Python's Flying Circus that weren't "funny or memorable"; the scene makes fun of the absurd and often silly type of comedy the show was known for. While watching, Meg replies, "I'm a girl! I don't even like the good Monty Python sketches!"
• The scene in which Peter "pushes" extra hair out of his scalp is a reference to Play-Doh and the toy extrusion devices that are made for it. This also seems to explain how Peter can regrow his hair so quickly when it is lost.
• As already seen in several other episodes, Stewie's hatred of Matthew McConaughey is depicted in a cut-off scene. Stewie killed Matthew with a crossbow (and even disposed of the body) in You May Now Kiss the...Uh...Guy Who Receives.
• This Episode uses a dialogue reference from the sister show American Dad! episode "Stannie Get Your Gun" where Steve walked in and threw the bookcase on top of his father, with Stan replying something on your mind champ? This was the same as in this episode where Dylan threw a vase into the wall and Peter remarking with the exact line something on your mind son?
• Al Harrington from an advert in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story for the "Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube Man" product which "due to a shipping error" left Al Harrington's Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube Man Warehouse And Emporium "currently over-stocked" returns with a new product. He still has the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube Man Warehouse And Emporium with Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube Men on top of the roof but has changed focus to advertising "Crudely Painted, Not-So-Funny, Plywood Cut-Out Folk Art". This time the reason for having such ridiculous products to try and shift is due to "an unwanted result of a recent lawsuit" and Al is particularly keen to get rid of them as they are "an enormous fire hazard." This is also the first time that Al Harrington and his store advertisement in a canon episode.
• A cutaway scene shows Sonny the Cuckoo Bird being trained as an astronaut; as a psychological test, Sonny is shown a bowl of Cocoa Puffs, to which he's indifferent (as opposed to his maniacal reactions in the commercials).
• The "Canadian" Alcatraz is mentioned, refering to the maximum-security prison (which is in fact located in San Francisco, CA.)
• After undergoing his transformation with Brian, Dylan is seen wearing a polo shirt, similar in design to those of American Eagle Outfitters, Hollister Co., Mossimo, and Ralph Lauren (solid color with an animal logo on the breast pocket).

External links

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