Peter's Daughter
| "Peter's Daughter" | |
|---|---|
| Featured music | "Hello Darlin'" by Conway Twitty |
"Peter's Daughter" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of Family Guy and originally aired November 25, 2007. When a flood hits Quahog, Meg winds up in the hospital in a coma, and an over-protective Peter vows he will take extra care of her. As a side plot, Stewie and Brian decide to renovate a wrecked house and sell it to get rich.
The episode was written by Chris Sheridan and it was directed by Zac Moncrief. This is one of the episodes that did not have show creator Seth MacFarlane's work in post-production because he was participating in the Writers Guild of America strike. The episode guest started Damien Fahey and Tamera Mowry. Recurring voice actors Alexandra Breckenridge, Lori Alan, John Viener, Jeff Bergman, Lisa Wilhoit, Patrick Warburton and Mark Hentemann also made appearances. It received positive reviews from critics.
The original episode is dedicated in memory of Paul B. Sheridan. On Adult Swim, the full version has an onscreen message that reads "Dedicated to Paul B. Sheridan, 1940-2007" that features a picture of him on a kayak. He was Chris Sheridan's father.
Plot summary
When the house is flooded due to a flash flood, Peter orders Meg to get a case of beer, but she drowns. Peter saves her, and they find out that Meg has fallen into a coma, prompting Peter to rethink his constant cruel behavior towards her. When Meg recovers, Peter swears to become a better father. She starts dating a medical intern named Michael Milano, to whom she awoke at the hospital. Peter spies on them to make sure Michael will not hurt Meg; however, this behavior ends up driving Michael away. Later, Meg shocks the family when she announces that she is pregnant. Peter concludes that the only thing to do is force Michael to marry her, and heads to his house with a shotgun; however, after learning of Meg's pregnancy, Michael turns out to be completely willing. Lois tells Meg "There are other options," but Meg doesn't want to get an abortion. Meg decides to go through with it, until the wedding ceremony, where she reveals to Lois that she just found out she is not actually pregnant, instead, she had her period and assumes she read the pregnancy test wrong. Lois suggests that Meg tell Michael the truth, and says that if Michael really cares about her, he will still understand and stay. When she tells him, however, Michael bails out completely without a word. The episode ends with Peter introducing a live action clip of Conway Twitty.
Meanwhile, Stewie proposes to Brian that they buy and renovate a wrecked house and sell it to get rich. However, Brian is unable to cope with Stewie's protocol, and they are unable to get the job done. In the end, the two go broke and the house begins to deteriorate beyond repair, so Stewie intentionally destroys it by lighting a tank of gasoline on fire. However, they realize too late that the explosion also accidentally killed the electrician (whom they had forgotten was inside).
Production
"Peter's Daughter" was written by series veteran Chris Sheridan, who has been a part of the shows staff since its first season when he wrote the episode "I Never Met the Dead Man".[1][2] It was the last episode directed by Zac Moncrief, who has been directing episodes for the show since its fourth season episode "Peter's Got Woods".[1][3] Series regulars Peter Shin and James Purdun acted as supervising directors for the episode.[1]
This is one of the episodes of Family Guy that was released after the show's creator, Seth MacFarlane, joined Writers Guild of America strike.[4] MacFarlane participated in the writing process and did record the voices of the characters he normally plays for the episode but he did not approve or participate in any post-production done to the episode.[4]
In addition to the regular cast, actor Damien Fahey and actress Tamera Mowry guest starred in the episode.[1][5] Recurring voice actors Alexandra Breckenridge, Lori Alan, writer John Viener, Jeff Bergman, Lisa Wilhoit, Patrick Warburton and writer Mark Hentemann also made appearances.[1]
Cultural references
The episode featured various references to the popular culture. The town of Quahog is going through a flood which has many similarities to the flood caused in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.[6] Dean Cain was lampooned in the episode and in the episode he is wearing a shirt of the symbol of Superman.[6] An alien from the film franchise of the same name appeared in the episode.[6] Fred and Wilma Flintstone from the animated show The Flintstones are shown arguing.[6] Since Peter can't find the traditional wedding cake figurines he uses a toy of The Iron Giant.[6] Peter says that he has been a worse father than Abraham.[7] When Stewie blows up the house he and Brian have been working on, the shot is repeated from several angles echoing the final scene from Zabriskie Point. The episode ends with "Hello Darlin'" performed by Conway Twitty.[6]
Reception
On the Fox network, the first airing of the episode received a 4.7/10 Nielsen rating/share.[8] Ahsan Haque of IGN praised "Peter's Daughter", saying that it has "the perfect blend of comedy and story", and "thoroughly entertains from start to finish". He graded the episode 8.7 out of 10.[4] Brad Trechak of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review, stating that he enjoyed it "much more than last week's".[6] However, Genevieve Koski of The A. V. Club stated that the episode was "pretty bland", though it had "a handful of good laughs". She graded "Peter's Daughter" B-.[9] Robert Pierson from the TV Critic also gave the episode a positive review praising the writers for telling a plausible and logical story although he did feel that the jokes were hit and miss, he ended his review by giving the episode a 60 out of 100.[7]
9.60 million people watched this episode in the US on its first airing.
References
- ^ a b c d e "Family Guy: Peter's Daughter". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ "Family Guy — I Never Met the Dead Man Cast and Crew". Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ "Family Guy: Peter's Got Woods". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ a b c Haque, Ahsan (November 26, 2007). "Family Guy: "Peter's Daughter" Review". IGN. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ "Family Guy Episode: "Peter's Daughter"". TV Guide. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Trechak, Brad (November 25, 2007). "Family Guy: Peter's Daughter". TV Squad. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ a b Pierson, Robin. "Episode 7 - Peter's Daughter". The TV Critic. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
- ^ Kissell, Rick (November 27, 2007). "'Dancing' dynamite on Monday". Variety.
- ^ Koski, Genevieve (November 25, 2007). "Tears Of An Inflatable Clown"/"Funeral For A Fiend"/"Peter's Daughter". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
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