Family Guy (1999) - 50 questions

Question: Can someone explain some of the episode titles to me, mainly "Death has A Shadow" (no one dies) and "I Never Met The Dead Man" (ditto) "Chitty Chitty Death bang", the list goes on.

Answer: When the creators were naming the shows, they wanted to incorporate "Death" in the title as one big run along joke. This eventually stoppped when even they were confused on which shows were which.

Question: I know that Seth MacFarlane does many voices, such as those of Brian, Peter, Stewie and other generic sorts of voices for background characters. I just wondered if anyone knew which of these voices was his own, or the closest to his own. He seems to use the "Brian" voice the most.

Answer: The "Brian" voice is almost exactly like his own.

Question: Does anyone know if the new episodes of Family Guy will be on Cartoon Network or Fox?

Answer: FOX will air them first, but not until next year at the earliest. After that, I am sure Cartoon Network will reshow them in syndication shortly thereafter.

Question: Can the Griffins understand what Stewie says (like the audience can), or does it just sound like gibberish?

Answer: Of course they can understand him, they talk to him all the time. They just think he is being silly or a baby when he expresses a want to take over the world.

Question: I've noticed that every time Louis mentions Quagmire's name, she calls him Glen. I don't remember it mentioned anywhere in any of the episodes that his first name is Glen. Does anybody know for sure if this is his first name, and if not, why does Louis call him by that name?

Answer: I have come across this many times with family and friends. It is quite informal calling someone by a nickname or surname and is usually only done by close friends. Maybe Lios would find it impolite to call Glen "Quagmire" as she does not know him as well as Peter does.

Question: What does Stewie say in the opening sequence when only he is singing?

Answer: He sings "Laugh and cry."

Question: In the episode where Lorreta cheats on Cleveland, who was that Guy in the Orange Afro Wig(?) who kicks Peter in the "nuts"? Is he from a show and, if so, which one?

Answer: Family Guy writer and voice of Cleveland, Mike Henry, has an online show called "Kicked in the nuts" where he dresses up exactly as the character in the episode. Check out http://www.kickedinthenuts.com/

Question: How come they only made three series? Was the show axed?

Answer: The show was originally cancelled because of poor ratings, but many people believe this is because although people *wanted* to watch the show, Fox kept changing its time slot so no one knew when it was on. However, new series are being made (and aired) right now due to the high sales figures of the DVDs.

Question: Why is it that in the newer episodes, the Griffins seem to hate Meg?

Answer: They don't hate Meg, it's just a recurring joke in the show about how she's so uncool, even her family can make fun of her for it.

Question: In the episode 'Don't Make Me Over' Peter is excited to be going on SNL because he'll get to meet John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley and Horatio Sanz. I get the first part of this joke, the first four comedians named are deceased, but what is the joke about Horatio Sanz? Is it simply because he's still alive and the others aren't but he's lumped in with them? Or is it something else?

Answer: Since there is suppose to be a curse of SNL, they are just joking that Horatio Sanz will be the next one to die, the reason they probably chose him is because two of the deceased were the overweight guys on the show, Belushi and Farley, so they are guessing that since Sanz is overweight he will be the one to die next.

Question: In one of the first episodes, Brian sees a miniature horse-drawn wagon come around the couch and he chases it into the kitchen, where it disappears into the wall. What is this a joke about or reference to?

Answer: Chuck Wagon dog food commercials - the Chuck Wagon would ride through the house with the dog chasing it only to disappear into the kitchen cabinet where the box of dogfood was kept.

Question: Do we know anything about Brian's father?

Answer: He isn't mentioned much, but in season 4, episode 2 - "Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High" when Brian introduces himself to Chris's class, it is revealed that Chris has been told that Brian's father's name was Coco and that he was hit by a milk truck.

Question: In the episode where Peter and his friends get stuck on an island, just before that happens they're on the boat and death comes and asks for a beer. Why does he come if no one dies?

Answer: Death apparently expected one of them to die in the storm but he was obviously mistaken. As seen in pretty much all his appearances in Family Guy, Death really isn't quite on the ball with who is actually dead (or going to die) and who isn't.

Question: I know this is a stupid question, but who is the "Family Guy"? I was told it was Peter, but I'm not so sure?

Answer: It's Peter; he's the main protagonist in the series so naturally the title and theme song are referring to him.

Question: What episode is it where Stewie is on the playground, and has a massive air strike with Bertram and his army and Stewie says Behold the Armada.

Answer: It's called "Sibling Rivalry".

Question: When the show makes jokes about scenes from other shows or movies (such as when they show TIE Fighters from Star Wars, which sound just like the ones in the movies), do they have to get some kind of permission to do the scenes or use the sounds?

Answer: Not generally, no. As long as the use isn't too extended, copyrighted material can be used for the purposes of parody. This wouldn't necessarily exclude the makers asking out of courtesy, but there's no legal requirement to do so.

Question: Is there any reason why, In Road to Rupert Stewie perfectly named out the name, city and state of the joke shop where he got the chattering teeth?

Answer: It was referencing an identical joke made in the second season, where he referenced the joke shop multiple times in the episode.

Question: I seem to remember a parody where Stewie dresses like Maria from The Sound of Music when she sings "I have Confidence." If it is not just my imagination, can anyone tell me what episode and season this was?

Answer: This actually came from the "Stewie Griffin: Untold Story" DVD. It was split into three episodes, and I believe this particular scene came from the first one.

Question: Is it just me, or does the way Stewie says "Laugh and cry" in the opening titles change in different episodes? In some episodes it sounds like he's saying something like "Leff en cry" but in other episodes it sounds like "Laugh and cry".

Answer: In the first two seasons, it was timed so as to sound like he might be saying 'effing cry' (or 'f-ing cry'), but were forced to change it to the more distinct 'laugh and cry' in the third season. From the fourth season onwards, it's back to the original way.