This is the last Xmas special I’m starting tonight, I promise 
. Has Drew Barrymore joined the FG cast 
? Is it just me or did Meg sound more pathetic that usual?
Funny episode (although it didn’t have anything to do with Christmas :smack: ). What was up with the Hs?
That’s what we sophisticated comedy writers call a “running gag,” or simply a “runner” if you want to sound ostentatious.
Generally, they’re written like this:
Writer 1: Hey, I have this bit about how some people pronounce words that begin with “wh.”
Writer 2: Hey, that’s funny. So, how long is the script now?
Writer 1: 19 pages.
Writer 2: Hmm, we need three more. Better put that great “wh” joke in there six more times.
Writer 1: Wow, what a great idea!
Yeah. It was pretty funny.
[Garrett Morris]It was pretty funny.[/Garrett Morris]
Brian pukes - “Are…are you gonna eat that?” I think I hurt myself laughing at this ep.
What was the reference to Meg sitting in her room flicking the light on and off? The only thing I could think of was “Castaway”…
The whole episode was full of great moments.
‘Oh, my God, Lois! I hit you!’ ‘Yeah, now stick your finger in there and twist it!’
Lois is a very kinky woman.
There were a couple gags I knew exactly where they’d go as soon as the premise was set up - aside from the Garret Morris bit, which I recognized, and the repeated ‘wh’ bit, which were obvious, of course.
Anyway, the Police Academy reference, and the bit with Quagmire at the end were telegraphed by a mile - they actually surprised me by not taking the Police Academy bit all the way and having, say, Cleveland start in with sound effects, and Peter going all Hightower.
I also want to know what Meg sitting in the dark in her room was a reference to.
Yeah, me too. And wasn’t she wearing Brian’s dog collar and fingering the tag while she was doing it? I was a little far away from the TV at that point and couldn’t make it out completely.
Isn’t that “Fatal Attraction”, with Glenn Close? Or at least similar?
Was the musical number in the middle of the episode a specific reference? I didn’t recognize it.
The musical number parodies “The Wiz.” When the Wicked Witch is killed, the ugly slaves in her sweatshop unzip their outer shells and are beautiful black men and women in yellow underpants. The song was right from The Wiz.
That was the theme to the Police Academy movies.
And there was also that. 
That’s what that was! I knew it seemed familiar. I don’t think I’ve seen the Wiz since it first came out. Thanks.
I think I missed something, why was Joe the only cop in Quahog? I gather it had something to do with a crazy idea from Mayor West*?
- Speaking of Adam West; did his character also play Batman in the Family Guy universe?
I am having trouble placing which Simpsons ep that Family Guy stole the plot about having an adult dog making out with the teenage daughter of his best friend.
Mayor West was watching a rerun of “Romancing the Stone” and took it for real, so he sent the entire police force to Cartagena to rescue Joan Wilder. Joe was left back because “South America is not handicap accessible.”
Don’t know about the second question, though.
One of the things that I found to be so quirky about this ep is how the writers kept shifting between “Brian as Dog” and “Brian as human”…
I always love those bits where Brian is shown to have dog characteristics, like when he couldn’t stand up in the back of a van that was moving.
Did you notice his tail wagging when Meg did the “You’re a good dog!” thing to him last night? Yeah, those jokes are always great.
How many times have we seen Cleveland’s bath tub fall out of his house? He made a remark that implied it’s happened several times.
Liked Lois getting hot over Peter shooting her, and the way she started slugging Brian after he fessed to making out with Meg (and kept getting himself in deeper with everything he said).
A strong episode.