Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington | |
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Season 3, Episode 2 | |
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Air date | July 20, 2000 |
Episode Guide | |
Previous Brian Does Hollywood |
Next Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater |
Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington is the second episode of the third season of Family Guy. It is the forty-third episode, overall.
Synopsis[]
When the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory is purchased by a conglomerate that also owns a major tobacco company called El Dorado Cigarette Company, the new management fires his boss and makes Peter President of the company. While Peter enjoys the new perks of being President, he's unaware the real reason of him being made president is the company using his stupidity to help encourage underage smoking.
Plot[]
Peter takes the family is going to a Boston Red Sox baseball game at Fenway Park. To get out of going to work, Peter calls Mr. Weed and tells him that he was in a terrible plane crash and that his entire family was killed. When Peter is at the game, he encounters Mr. Weed and Mr. Weed calls him a liar. Peter, upset that Mr. Weed might fire him, tells Mr. Weed that his "identical twin brother" was at the ballgame. Mr. Weed disregards Peter's comment, and tells him that the El Dorado Cigarette Company is now taking over the toy factory, but Peter, much to his delight, is retained.
Peter goes home and brings his family lobster, which he was able to afford due to the company giving him a raise and shows the family the one of the prototype toys El Dorado Cigarettes is making. Lois and Brian see that the company is making toys that are corrupting children and promoting underage smoking and Lois advices Peter to confront the management about it the following morning. Peter agrees, and when he talks to his bosses, the executive says that they're just fun toys, and they compare it to Barbie with a dream car because they influence children to start doing things they're not supposed to be doing. The executive says that smoking is the last things they want kids to do, and Peter believes it is a graph his son made him in art class. Peter then notices that the graph says that it wasn't made in art class, and the company wants kids to start smoking. The executive says they're a caring company, and he tells Peter that he could be President of the El Dorado Cigarette Company, and Peter agrees.
Peter tells the family that the El Dorado Cigarette Company made him President, and is glad he has earned so much respect from his bosses. Lois asks Peter why the company made him President, and Peter claims that he could recite all 50 states in a quarter of a second (which turns out to be a loud yelping noise). With the president role, comes new perks that he was able to negotiate for his family, including hiring an ugly girl to stand next to Meg so she'll can look better by comparison, an artist for Chris to study his art with and Martha Stewart to help Lois around the house that make Lois forget her opposition. However, Brian, not being swayed from the distractions and annoyed they're accepting the bribes, quits smoking.
On Peter's side, he enjoys being the President of the El Dorado Cigarette Company when he gets an executive parking space, and he even gets his own company suck-up (which turns out to be a robot after Peter got him to say something contradictory). After receiving an anti-smoking bill, El Dorado holds a meeting and decide that the only way to communicate with the idiots in Congress is to send someone just as dumb, and they decide to send Peter. He makes friends on Capitol Hill of both parties. He gladhands Senators, even taking some to a strip club where one of the senators accidentally kills a stripper. Meanwhile, back at home, Lois is horrified when she catches Stewie smoking and remembers the company's abuses, and she and Stewie follow Peter to Washington, D.C., but Peter believes that Stewie smoking is only a sign that Stewie is growing up.
Peter is easily able to communicate with the Congressmen (convincing them simply by saying "come on"). Peter prepares to deliver his speech on the floors of Congress assembled, but when he hears Stewie's hacking cough, he himself remembers the evils of smoking and tells Congress to reject El Dorado's proposal. Congress agrees (along with two other congressists, one that tells that cigar's smoke pollutes air and another that says that the cigars killed his father and "raped" his mother) and decides to fine the company $100 million, which makes the company bankrupt.
In the stinger of the episode, it features a reminder from the cast about the risks of killing strippers.
Characters[]
Major Roles[]
- Peter Griffin
- Lois Griffin
- Stewie Griffin
- Brian Griffin
- Mr. Weed
- Jerry
- Mr. Harrison
Minor Roles[]
- Meg Griffin
- Chris Griffin
- Jeremy the Terminally ill Boy
- Kenneth
- Johnson
- Connor
- Bobby
- Frank
- The Bill
- Dilbert
- Aunt Bea
- Lassie and Timmy
- Bob Dole
- Dick Armey
- Al Gore
- George W. Bush
- Mike Tyson
- Martha Stewart
- Jim Carrey
- Boston Red Sox
- New York Yankees
- Alyssa Milano
- Joel
Quotes[]
- Peter: Children under four shouldn't smoke!
- Peter: Mr. Weed, I can't come to work today. I was in a terrible plane crash, my entire family was killed and I am a vegetable... I'll see you tomorrow.
- Brian: Oh, please, Peter, your excuses are lamer than FDR's legs.
- Everyone else: [Gasp]
- Brian: Too soon?
- Chris: I'm so hungry, I could ride a horse... I don't get it.
- Toy Employee: [about Kenneth] Well, that badass just gave half his paycheck to orphans. Orphans with diseases!!!
- Gang Member: It's 3:00. Where the hell is Louie?
- Gang Member 2: Well, you tell me. Louie left his house at 2:15 and has to travel a distance of 6.2 miles at a rate of 5 miles per hour. What time will Louie arrive?
- Gang Member: Depends if he stops to see his ho.
- Gang Member 2: That's what we call a variable!
- Peter: I'm tired of Mr. Weed treating me like a common doormat. I want him to treat me like one of those deluxe one from Pottery Barn with the fancy straw.
- Executive: Trust me, Peter. The last thing we want is to get kids to start smoking.
- Peter: What about that graph on the wall that says, "The first thing we want is to get kids to start smoking"?
- Executive: That? Oh, that's just something my son made me in art class.
- Peter: Then what about that poster that says, "The graph was not made in art class. We really do want kids to start smoking"?
- [Peter as a swim coach]
- Peter: Great workout, Bobby.
- Bobby: Up yours, sack breath!
- Peter: That's "Mr. Griffin."
- Executive: I don't understand it. We've tried everything to get through to these politicians. Harvard lawyers, lobbyists, wisecracking leprechauns.
- Leprechaun: Excuse me, do you have a dollar? I'm a little short.
- Peter: Lois, this is the best job I ever had! Hey, since I became president, profits have been higher than Alyssa Milano.
- [cut to Alyssa Milano watching "Family Guy"]
- Alyssa Milano: What kind of cheap shot...Joel!
- Joel: I'm suing, I'm suing. I'm on it.
- Peter: Well, that's my mama.
- Brian: Stop staring at my tail!
- Stewie: Baby needs to suck ash. Baby needs to suck ash. Not ass, you pervert. Save it for the interns.
- Worker: Oh, you don't need to park here, Mr. Griffin. You have an executive space now!
- [There is a hole in the parking lot's inner wall with a banner at the end that says "RESERVED FOR PETER GRIFFIN"]
- Peter: But, that looks exactly like my old space.
- Worker:Yeah, but this one comes with your very own company suck-up.
- [There is a man with a green suit and pants and brown hair smiling next to Peter's parking space. Peter begins to walk away with the suck-up.]
- Suck-Up: Morning, Mr. Griffin! Nice day!
- Peter: Eh, it's a little cloudy.
- Suck-Up: It's absolutely cloudy! So, good news about the Yankees-
- Peter: I hate the Yankees.
- Suck-Up:Pack of cheaters, that's what they are! I love your tie!
- Peter: I hate this tie.
- Suck-Up: It's awful. Its gaudy, it's gotta go!
- Peter: [Stops walking]...and I hate myself.
- Suck-Up: I hate you too, you make me sick, you fat sack of crap!
- Peter: But, I'm the President.
- Suck-Up: The best there is!
- Peter: But you just said you hated me.
- Suck-Up:[Starts to shake] But...Not you the...President...The...You. Who. Said...You...Ha...Ted...You...you who love.. Hate...[Whirs, shakes violently] ...Yankees...Clouds...[Head explodes, short circuits]
- Worker 2: I...I'll have that fixed for you by tomorrow, sir.
Songs[]
- That Guy
- They Call Me Bill
Trivia[]
- While this is the first and only appearance of the El Dorado Cigarette Company, Brian had attempted to buy the company's cigarettes at a convenience store in "Brian Griffin: Portrait of a Dog".
- At a Red Sox game, Stewie takes a souvenir bat from a boy he calls "Opie", referring to Opie Taylor of The Andy Griffith Show. Opie is also the name of Peter's r******* co-worker in later seasons.
- According to Seth MacFarlane on the DVD commentary, the Bush and Gore scene originally was going to predict that Gore would win the election, because as MacFarlane put it, “We never thought that Bush could actually fucking win.”
Cultural Refrences[]
- The episode’s title is a reference to the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
- A cutaway shows an episode of the 1950s/1960s children’s television series Lassie with subliminal pro-smoking messages. Subliminal advertising was an experiment during the 1950s.[1]
- A flashback shows Peter giving false testimony at the 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thomas, where Thomas’ alleged sexual harassment of former aide Anita Hill became an issue.[2] After his lies are called out, he screams “Baba Booey! Baba Booey! Howard Stern’s penis! Baba Booey! Baba Booey!” Stern encourages listeners to interrupt high-profile political and media events and give him publicity, often shouting “Baba Booey,” the nickname of Stern’s producer Gary Dell’Abate, as a codeword.
- Peter says that, since he’s been president, “profits have been higher than Alyssa Milano,” referring to tabloid accusations about the actress’s drug abuse. In a live-action scene, Milano appears as herself and urges her lawyer to sue FOX. Her lawyer was played by the episode’s writer, Ricky Blitt.
- The series of magazine ads features Peter as a parody of the Marlboro Man, drawn like Joe Camel, in an ad with “You’ve come a long way honey” which is similar to the motto for Virginia Slims.
- When the tobacco executives decide to send Peter to Washington as a lobbyist, they parody the opening of the sitcom That Girl from 1966.
- The scene where there is an anthropomorphic legal bill singing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building is a reference to the 1970s educational movie series Schoolhouse Rock!.
Season 3 | ||||||||
#01 | Brian Does Hollywood | #02 | Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington | #03 | Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater | |||
#04 | Peter Griffin's All-Stars | #05 | One if by Clam, Two if by Sea | #06 | And the Wiener Is ... | |||
#07 | Blind Ambition | #08 | Breaking Out is Hard to Do | #09 | Mr. Saturday Knight | |||
#10 | A Fish Out of Water | #11 | The Fat Man and the Sea | #12 | A Cheater Runs Through It | |||
#13 | A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas | #14 | From Method to Madness | #15 | Model Misbehavior | |||
#16 | The Fat Guy Strangler | #17 | I Take Thee Quagmire | #18 | Death Lives | |||
#19 | Ready, Willing, and Disabled | #20 | Brian Wallows, Peter Swallows | #21 | Family Guy Viewer Mail #1 |