# Family Guy - 5/7/2006 Petergeist **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843 "2006-05-08T03:31:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/1 "2006-05-08T03:31:13Z")
Head for Meg’s ass! - A family in Quahog lost their house because of ghosts! Who are they gonna call? - Uh, Ghost Busters? - No, their insurance company! That was a stupid thing to say Diane!. This was a great parody of _Poltergeist_ (1982) Great reference to the Lord of the Rings. Was Stewie’s talk to the TV a reference to Friends? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/2 "2006-05-08T04:18:31Z")
Yeah, Stewie’s TV talk was in reference to _Friends_ and it’d spin-off _Joey_. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/3 "2006-05-08T05:28:34Z")
Some good ones here. -Peter becoming Hank Hill. -Peter disrespecting the skull. -The Balcony joke was great. -Meg Abuse and plenty of it. Dragged a little at the end, but still pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/4 "2006-05-08T06:54:21Z")
The balcony joke was great, not only did we have Statler and Waldorf but they also mentioned Lost. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/5 "2006-05-08T10:27:30Z")
Lois, we agreed! If we can only save two, Meg is the one who goes! ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/6 "2006-05-08T11:10:27Z")
I thought that was the best one since the FCC episode. “Peter, are you _peeing_ in that skull?!” ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/7 "2006-05-08T12:09:57Z")
The good jokes in this ep probably matched the # of good jokes in the last 5 combined. Great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/8 "2006-05-08T13:24:02Z")
I liked this one quite a bit. The Joe Theaters stuff was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/9 "2006-05-08T14:29:33Z")
One of the better eps, IMHO. Poltergeist was one of favorite flicks, and it was ripe for parody. I wonder if they toyed with the idea of Peter turning into Homer Simpson? They used Homer a recent episode, so maybe it was too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/10 "2006-05-08T18:26:15Z")
First two thirds were great, the last part wasn’t quite up to snuff. But damn, the _Poltergeist_ parody was spot on! Probably the funniest segment of the entire season (so far). And yeah, that _LOTR_ reference–with the old perv as Gandalf, no less–was hilarious. Mostly, I loved Stewie talking to the spirits through the TV, but only for inane conversations about _Friends._ And the Joe Theaters/Tri-Star ripoff was a riot. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/11 "2006-05-09T12:02:09Z")
Stewie: “Ew, wait, wait, I want to try something…‘Well, I remembah…I remembah, don’ worry…how could I ever forget…” Quagmire: “And we’re busy…doing sex!” ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/12 "2006-05-09T13:25:48Z")
“So many ostriches!” ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/13 "2006-05-09T14:35:35Z")
Best episode in the last dozen or so. hilarious! The creepy old guy (Harold? Herbert?) always makes me laugh uncomfortably, but this was the best use of him ever. Great jokes throughout, and the plot actually held together. nice. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/14 "2006-05-09T19:57:50Z")
It’s amusing how many shots of the beginning of TTT they copy exactly for the LoTR parody (Gandalf diving after his staff/walker, the faraway shot of Balrog and Gandalf falling towards the water, and so on) ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/15 "2006-05-09T20:56:53Z")
What’s interesting was the appearance of Statler and Waldorf, the Muppet critics. Wouldn’t Disney have a case for copyright infringement? The two were perfectly in character, so they can’t claim satire or parody - it was basically de facto employment of a liscense they didn’t pay to use. Does anyone familiar with copyright law have any opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/16 "2006-05-09T21:27:25Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > What’s interesting was the appearance of Statler and Waldorf, the Muppet critics. Wouldn’t Disney have a case for copyright infringement? The two were perfectly in character, so they can’t claim satire or parody - it was basically de facto employment of a liscense they didn’t pay to use. Does anyone familiar with copyright law have any opinion? Merely mentioning a licensed character, which is what the joke basically amounts to, isn’t usually considered infringement. Years ago when I was reading Marvel comics, I remember an editor saying something like, “We don’t mind when Stephen King characters read Spider-Man or the Hulk, and Brooks Brothers doesn’t mind if Tony Stark [Iron Man] wears one of their suits.” Meaning: no damage to either brand is done, no endoresement could be construed, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to crack down on everyone who so much as mentions one of your trademarks or properties. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/17 "2006-05-09T22:12:01Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Merely mentioning a licensed character, which is what the joke basically amounts to, isn’t usually considered infringement. The joke was more than a mere mention - the two were on the show, perfectly within their element (i.e. they weren’t commenting on a porno, or a dog fight, which would lend to the parody defense), delivering their shtick. Family Guy is a comedy show and it used two copyrighted comedic characters genuinely to enhance their program. That’s not like Tony Stark wearing a Brooks Brothers suit, but like a Ken doll being sold wearing a Brooks Brothers suit. Or Carrie dating Peter Parker, not merely reading about him. Or having the CSI: New York team hand over some evidence to Batman for him to give an opinion on. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-guy-5-7-2006-petergeist/355843/18 "2006-05-09T23:19:59Z")
Could Disney sue FG? Sure, anyone can sue for pretty much anything. Would they have anything approaching a worthwhile case? No. Even if the use weren’t covered by some First Amendment defense, Disney hasn’t suffered any harm from it. No harm, no damages. No damages, no reason to sue.