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Partial Terms of Endearment

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"Partial Terms of Endearment"

"Partial Terms of Endearment" is the twenty-first episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. Directed by Joseph Lee and written by Danny Smith, the episode originally aired on BBC Three in the United Kingdom on June 20, 2010, and has never been allowed to air in the United States on Fox, the original television network of the series. In "Partial Terms of Endearment", Lois is approached by an old friend from college who asks her to become a surrogate mother. After arguing with her husband Peter who is against the idea, Lois decides to become a gestational carrier and undergoes in vitro fertilisation. However, while Lois is pregnant, the biological parents are killed in an automobile accident. Lois and Peter have to decide whether to abort the fetus, or carry it to term and give the baby up for adoption. Peter attempts to persuade his wife to get an abortion before changing his mind after pro-life activists convince him that abortion is murder.

The episode was banned from airing on the Fox Broadcasting Company due to concerns over its portrayal of the controversial subject of abortion. This is the second episode of Family Guy to be prevented from airing during the episode's respective regular season run; the first episode, third season's "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", eventually aired on Cartoon Network's adult-oriented block Adult Swim, unlike "Partial Terms of Endearment". It was first announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Critical responses to the episode were mostly positive; critics praised the storyline, cultural references, and its assessment of the subject of abortion. The episode was watched in just under a million homes in its original airing in the United Kingdom. Guest performances included Gary Beach, Jackson Douglas, Phil LaMarr, Will Sasso, Julia Sweeney, Wil Wheaton and Michael York, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "Partial Terms of Endearment" was released on DVD along with Seth and Alex Almost-Live Comedy Show on September 28, 2010.

Plot

While attending her college reunion at Salve Regina University with her husband Peter, Lois spots Naomi Robinson, an old friend whom she dated and experimented with in school. Peter is shocked, but excited to discover that Lois had dated a woman a college. Naomi indicates that she would like to discuss a proposal of some importance with them at their home. Assuming he will participate in a three-way with his wife and Naomi, Peter throws Chris, Meg, Stewie, and Brian out of the house. After Naomi arrives at the Griffin family home, she introduces her husband, Dale. Peter still expects to have sex with the group, and tries to seduce the three of them while dressed in various costumes. As the four decide to have a discussion in the family room, Peter expresses his disappointment that they will not be participating in an orgy. This causes Naomi to reveal her and her husband's difficulties in conceiving a child. Naomi asks Lois whether she will consider being the couple's surrogate, leading Lois to think the matter over.

The next morning, as the family is eating breakfast, Lois reveals her intention to become a surrogate mother for Naomi and Dale, causing Peter to become upset at the thought of her being pregnant for nine months. Despite this, Lois decides to go to Dr. Hartman to have the in vitro fertilization performed. A pregnancy test comes back positive the next day, and a furious Peter attempts to cause Lois to have a miscarriage before ultimately confronting her about the pregnancy. While she continues asserting her intention to provide a child to Naomi and Dale, Quahog 5 News suddenly reveals a car crash, with Dale and Naomi pronounced dead at the scene. Devastated by the announcement, Lois questions whether she should abort the baby, or put it up for adoption. In an attempt to come to a decision, Lois and Peter decide to visit the local family-planning center, and ultimately decide to abort the embryo. However, as Peter exits the center he encounters an anti-abortion rally, where he is shown an anti-abortion video by one of the protesters. The video causes him to change his mind about aborting the unborn baby. Returning home, Lois continues to advocate her right to choose, while Peter now attempts to argue the unborn child's right to life and whether Lois has the responsibility of carrying it to term. At their wits' end, the two decide to discuss the matter, once and for all. The next day, Lois talks with the family about "the wonderful new member of the Griffin family". But then Peter, at the very last moment of the episode, says that the abortion had occurred anyway.[1]

Production and development

The episode was first announced at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International on July 25, 2009, by series creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane.[2][3] It was written by fellow executive producer and series regular Danny Smith[4] and directed by Joseph Lee, during the show's eighth production season. The storyline was pitched by series regular Tom Devanney,[5] and periodically references Carl Sagan's novel Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1997). Seth MacFarlane asked Danny Smith to read Sagan's essay from the book, "Abortion: Is It Possible to Be Both 'Pro-Life' and 'Pro-Choice'", before beginning to write the script.[6][7] The episode was originally intended to air along with the rest of the eighth season schedule, and was approved for production by 20th Century Fox. However, the Fox Broadcasting Company asserted their right not to air the episode due to the subject matter.[7][6][8] This was the second time that MacFarlane had been warned by Fox about the sensitive nature of an episode's subject. The network also disapproved of the third season episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", which was also originally prevented from airing on Fox, although it did finally air on Adult Swim, and eventually on Fox more than four years after it was rejected.[6][7] Thinking the same would happen with "Partial Terms of Endearment", MacFarlane believed that Fox would eventually run the episode on their network, stating, "Most of the time these things turn out to be nothing."[7] In a statement released by Fox, they noted their full support of "the producers' right to make the episode and distribute it in whatever way they want."[7]

Series creator Seth MacFarlane announced that the episode had been banned by the Fox Broadcasting Company, on July 25, 2009, at the San Diego Comic-Con.

At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International, MacFarlane announced that the episode would become available on a special DVD release, with series producer Kara Vallow confirming the release would be available on September 28, 2010, along with Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show.[9] A month after the announcement, Kevin Reilly, President of Fox Entertainment, stated that the final decision not to air the episode was largely due to concerns about finances and advertisers: "Of all the issues, [abortion] is the one that seems to be the most of a hot button. Particularly at that moment in time, the economy was really struggling and there were a lot of very tough conversations going on with clients."[10] Reilly said that "the advertisers know what they’re getting" with Family Guy, and he thought that the episode handled the subject fine, but "this one felt like it could cause trouble, and it was just not worth it."[10] Despite the concerns in the United States about the episode, it aired on June 20, 2010, on BBC Three in the United Kingdom, as a part of the season's regularly scheduled Sunday night run on the station.[1] Although it was originally speculated that Adult Swim might air the episode, the company stated that there were no plans to air it on their network.[7] Several months before the episode debuted on television, the script was performed in a live table read at the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood, California on August 12, 2009. The special reading was attended by Academy of Television Arts and Sciences voters on the heels of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards.[8] Family Guy was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, becoming the first animated program to be nominated in the category since The Flintstones in 1961.[11] Commenting about the event, Seth MacFarlane said, "We did this to drum up Emmy votes, so we could lose by fewer votes."[8]

In addition to the regular cast, actor Jackson Douglas appeared in the episode as Dale Robinson, actress Julia Sweeney appeared as Naomi Robinson, actor Wil Wheaton cameoed as an anti-abortion protester and actor Michael York voiced the nature narrator. Actors Gary Beach, Phil LaMarr and comedian and actor Will Sasso guest starred as various characters. Recurring guest voice actress Alex Breckenridge, actor Ralph Garman and writers Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin and John Viener made minor appearances throughout the episode.[12]

"Partial Terms of Endearment", along with Seth and Alex Almost-Live Comedy Show, was released on DVD in the United States on September 28, 2010. The set includes a brief audio commentary by Seth MacFarlane, voice actress Alex Borstein, writer Danny Smith and director Joseph Lee,[9] as well as animatics, a table read of the episode, and nine downloadable original Family Guy songs.

Cultural references

The episode parodied anti-abortion protesters.

In the opening scene of the episode, Peter and Lois are shown entering her alma mater at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.[13] Later, after they are approached by Lois's ex-roommate Naomi and her husband Dale, Lois announces her intention to carry the couple's baby, causing Peter to question why Lois is the one who has to become the couple's surrogate. Their daughter, Meg, then suggests that she could carry the baby herself, with Lois objecting due to Meg's inability to have a boyfriend "for more than a few weeks." Meg then notes her relationship with Sesame Street character Count von Count, who only left her after discovering she had three nipples.[7]

Before Lois prepares to undergo in vitro fertilisation, Dr. Hartman shows her several photos of babies conceived by celebrity couples, including actress Shelley Duvall and singer-songwriter James Blunt, actress Hilary Swank and actor Gary Busey, Olympic medalist Florence Griffith-Joyner and physicist Stephen Hawking, and actress, writer and comedian Tina Fey and actor Joaquin Phoenix.[14] Later, in an attempt to cause Lois to have a miscarriage, Peter lays down a series of Grey's Anatomy DVDs in order to lure Lois into being punched in the stomach by the "Acme Miscarriage Kit", a boxing glove attached to a crossbow. In a reference to the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon series Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner,[7] Peter ultimately ends up missing with the crossbow, causing the glove to bounce and hit a large rock and land inches in front of him as he is standing on a narrow cliff. The ground then drops out from underneath his feet, causing him to fall like Wile E. Coyote.[8][15]

As Peter exits the abortion clinic, he notices a pro-life rally nearby. At the rally, a protester shows Peter a video tape discouraging abortion, portraying it as murder, larceny, jaywalking and securities fraud. The tape claims that abortion prevented Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's would-be assassin, a fourth Stooge brother, of The Three Stooges, and Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden's America-loving brother from being born.[15][16][17]

Reception

The episode was viewed in just under a million homes in its original airing on BBC Three in the United Kingdom, earning an audience share of 5.7 percent, despite airing simultaneously with Desperate Housewives on E4.[18] The reception of the episode represented a slight decrease from the previous week's ratings.[19] In a review of the episode's original broadcast, The Mail on Sunday rated the double bill of "Partial Terms of Endearment" and "Go Stewie Go" as four out of five stars.[20]

Reviews of the episode's release on DVD were mostly positive, calling the episode "wickedly funny, no matter how offensive."[15] Frazier Moore of the Associated Press commented that "What, in other hands, could have been a serious, even heart-wrenching story is on Family Guy a devilish burlesque — not to mention a wickedly astute examination of the current abortion clash."[15] Moore also noted, however, that "the uninitiated, the faint-of-heart and, most of all, the anti-abortion crowd should maybe choose to take a pass."[15] Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times deemed the episode "typical of that audacious Fox animated comedy, teeming with rapid-fire jokes and willfully offensive non sequiturs about disabled animals, God, Nazis, bodily functions and the sexual habits of 'Sesame Street' characters."[7] In a slightly more mixed review of the DVD release, Cindy White of IGN criticized the episode for its shock value, but appreciated "that the writers didn't cop out in the end, and actually picked a side." White went on to comment that it was "hard to believe that the writers ever expected 'Partial Terms of Endearment' to make it to air" and that "even devoted, longtime fans of the show may be a little uncomfortable with the subject matter." White gave the release a 7 out of 10 rating.[17] Assessing Family Guy's impact on television, Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon commented on the portrayal of abortion: "That Family Guy, that doofy, generally unfunny bastion of sophomoric jokes, should be one of the few shows brave enough to even address the topic is bananas [...] And that Fox wouldn't air the episode says we're still a long way from having anybody on 'Glee' or 'The Office' or 'House' look at those telltale lines on the stick and finally decide what millions of American women have — that they're just not ready for motherhood."[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c "BBC – BBC Three Programmes – Family Guy, Series 8, Partial Terms of Endearment". BBC Three. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  2. ^ Maxwell, Erin (2009-07-25). "MacFarlane revels in 'Family Guy' noms". Variety. Retrieved 2009-10-31. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Phillips, Jevon (2009-07-25). "The Emmy-nominated 'Family Guy' and the abortion episode you will not see". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-10-31. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Schneider, Michael (2009-08-05). "'Family Guy' to table read abortion ep". Variety. Retrieved 2009-12-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Smith, Danny (2010-09-28). Family Guy Partial Terms of Endearment Audio Commentary (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  6. ^ a b c Itzkoff, Dave (2010-07-19). "How 'Family Guy' Tried to Talk About Abortion". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Itzkoff, Dave (2010-07-19). "Banned TV Episode Has Its Day on DVD". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b c d Cullum, Paul (2009-08-13). "The Banned 'Family Guy' Episode". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2010-06-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ a b Lambert, David (2010-07-07). "Family Guy 'Partial Terms of Endearment' Brings Banned-From-TV Episode to DVD". Retrieved 2010-07-07.
  10. ^ a b Carter, Bill (2009-08-06). "Money, Not Morality, Was Crucial to 'Family Guy' Decision". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-09-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Collins, Scott (2009-07-17). "Family Guy breaks the funny bone barrier with Emmy nod". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-08-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Family Guy – "Partial Terms of Endearment" – Cast and Crew". TV.com. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  13. ^ "The Road to Rhode Island". Quahog.org. Best of Rhode Island. Retrieved 2010-08-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ Viener, John (2010-09-28). Family Guy Partial Terms of Endearment Table Read (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  15. ^ a b c d e Moore, Frazier (2010-08-26). "'Censored' episode of 'Family Guy' for sale on DVD". Associated Press. Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  16. ^ Stanhope, Kate (2009-08-13). "'Family Guy' team talk abortions, variety shows and Emmy odds". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-06-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ a b White, Cindy (2010-09-29). "Family Guy "Partial Terms of Endearment" DVD Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  18. ^ Laughlin, Andrew (2010-06-21). "Sunday's 'Big Brother' recovers to 2.2m". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  19. ^ Laughlin, Andrew (2010-06-14). "Sunday's 'Big Brother' rallies to 2.7m". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  20. ^ "Satellite, Digital and Cable Channels". The Mail on Sunday. Eire edition: Associated Newspapers. 2010-06-20. p. 32.
  21. ^ Williams, Mary Elizabeth (2010-07-20). "American TV: Still not ready for an abortion". Salon. Retrieved 2010-08-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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Preceded by
Something, Something, Something, Dark Side 		Family Guy (season 8) Succeeded by
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