Baby Not On Board
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"Baby Not On Board" is an episode of Family Guy and originally aired on November 2, 2008.[1] The Griffin family gets a year of free gas, and decide to take a vacation to the Grand Canyon. They soon realize they left Stewie at home, and rush home to get him. The episode was written by Mark Hentemann and directed by Julius Wu. The episode was watched by 9.97 million viewers on its first airing.[2]
Plot
When Chris asks Peter for personal advice concerning Chris' testicles at the convenience store where Chris works, Peter threatens to sue the store for sexual harassment. Peter is given a coupon for unlimited gas for a year by the store owner to keep quiet. Lois suggests Peter use the card for a family vacation. The family decides to drive to the Grand Canyon. They leave early the next morning but inadvertently leave a sleeping Stewie behind at home. He wakes up to discover that he is home alone, and that he can do whatever he wants.
While stopping off at the ruins of the World Trade Center to pay respects, the rest of the family realizes that they left Stewie behind in Quahog. They call Cleveland and Quagmire to babysit him. As soon as they come in to the house, Stewie believes they are intruders and knocks them out with a noxious gas but, discovering their true identities, he chains them to the basement wall and force them to watch the 24-Hour DirecTV help channel. When Stewie eats up all the food in the house, he gets a job at McBurgertown, but is fired for sneaking food on the job.
After not receiving any calls from Cleveland and Quagmire for the past eight hours, Lois insists they return home to get Stewie. While driving the car, Peter somehow enters the car next to them to watch a movie, causing the Griffins' car to crash. The Griffins attempt to take a train home, but Peter squanders all the money they have with them for tickets on helium shower rings. Lois loses her temper and blames all their misfortunes on Peter's stupidity, but is taken aback when Peter calls her a cold-hearted cynic and says that everyone else likes him for who he is. Brian manages to get the Griffins a ride on the back of a pickup truck bound for Quahog.
In his solitude, Stewie realizes how much he depends on his family and is thrilled to see them return. When Peter questions where Cleveland and Quagmire are, the credits roll over Cleveland and Quagmire as they are still in the basement, reciting everything that is being said on TV, when Cleveland casually mentions he's getting a spin-off.
Cultural references
When Stewie is reunited with the family, the song, from the film Home Alone, can be heard in the background.[3] When Peter is skateboarding, the song, "The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News is playing. The flashback is a direct reference to the movie Back to the Future. [3] During the drive the family sings Bette Midler's song "The Rose".[3] Peter's speech at the train station after buying the shower curtain rings is nearly directly quoted from the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. [4] Peter also parodies the opening scene from Back to the Future.
Reception
Alex Rocha of TV Guide said, "By the time the end rolled around on this week's episode, I was overall, satisfied. It was a definite step up from the previous Germany episode." He went on to say there were "memorable moments including crazy fight between Peter and Quagmire and also, one of my favorites, the Griffins singing Bette Midler's 'The Rose.'"[3] Ahsan Haque of IGN was much more critical of the episode. He said, "It seems as if the writers decided to forgo any effort to put together a decent plot and instead picked out whatever crap they could find from their barrel of manatee jokes and strung them together with absolutely no sense of pacing or theme." He continued by saying, "Overall, this was one of those lazy, haphazardly put-together episodes that has terrible timing, no real plot, overlong jokes that simply are not funny, uninspired musical numbers, and some terribly out of character moments. Despite the fact that there are a small handful of genuinely funny gags." He concluded by saying, "This is definitely one of the worst Family Guy episodes in years."[5]
References
- ^ a b http://foxflash.com/div.php/main/page?aID=1z4&mo=10&d=26
- ^ Sunday Ratings: Best Numbers for The Simpsons Since January 2004
- ^ a b c d Rocha, Alex. "Family Guy: Episode Recap: "Baby Not on Board"". TV Guide. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ name=IMDB>"Planes, Trains & Automobiles".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|1=and|2=(help) - ^ Haque, Ahsan. "Family Guy: "Baby Not On Board" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
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