ROAD TO RHODE ISLAND

"'Road to Rhode Island'" is an episode from the second season of the FOX animated television series ''Family Guy''. Guest starring Victoria Principal as Dr. Amanda Rebecca. This episode is included in the ''Family Guy: Freakin’ Sweet'' DVD Collection, where it includes a scene with Osama bin Laden.

Contents

Plot summary

Notes

Censorship

Cultural references

Goofs

References

Plot summary

The episode begins with Brian visiting his psychiatrist, where he reveals that he was born in a puppy mill and the circumstances under which he was taken from his mother as a puppy. Afterwards, Brian volunteers to pick up Stewie from his vacation at his grandparents’ summer home in Palm Springs, California, where Stewie frames a maid to amuse himself at dinner. At the airport bar, Brian gets very drunk and when Stewie comes to retrieve him their plane tickets are stolen. They stop at a rundown motel. Stewie tries calling home, but fails because he believes his phone number is 8675309, a song made popular by Tommy Tutone. The next day, they have to escape and hijack a car because their credit card was rejected. In order to get home Stewie and Brian masquerade as crop dusters in order to steal a plane, which they immediately wreck. As the pair continue hitchhiking back to Quahog, they pass by a puppy mill near Austin, Texas, Brian’s birthplace. Upon arrival they discover that Brian’s mother was stuffed and turned into a table by the puppy mill owners as a memory. With Stewie’s reluctant help, Brian gives his mother a proper burial. While eulogizing Brian’s mother, Stewie gives an unusual retelling of the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. The pair eventually complete their journey home by riding in an open boxcar where they perform a musical duet.
Meanwhile, Lois urges Peter to watch relationship videos with her, but the videos turn out to be pornography hosted by Dr. Amanda Rebecca. She strips in her videos and says sexual things like “I hope you like big breasts, because mine are so big this itty bra can barely contain them.” Peter is initially reluctant but later becomes addicted to the videos, much to Lois’ chagrin. She manages to get herself on the end of one of the tapes in black lingerie to entice Peter. While kissing, Peter rewinds the tape, playing the part of Lois taking her robe off over and over.

Notes

★ This is the first road adventure featuring Brian and Stewie as the main characters. The second is “Road to Europe,” while the third is “Road to Rupert", and the fourth being "Road to Germany.”

★ This has been referred to by Seth MacFarlane as “everybody’s favorite episode” mainly by its revelation of Brian’s history and using the song and dance number to show the bickering yet close relationship of Brian and Stewie.

★ A clip showing an additional scene of the relationship video is circulating on the internet. In this clip Amanda Rebecca takes off her strapless bra, exposing her breasts. It is unclear whether this is made by the creators of Family Guy or others.

★ This episode includes a special commentary done by Seth MacFarlane in the characters of Brian and Stewie.[[1]]

Censorship

★ A scene in this episode featuring Osama bin Laden only aired once: Stewie sings “The Good Ship Lollipop" to distract airport baggage handlers from noticing the weapons in his luggage, then remarks, “Let’s hope Osama bin Laden doesn’t know show tunes.” [2] The camera pans to show bin Laden singing “I Hope I Get It” from the musical ''A Chorus Line'' as his luggage goes through the detector. This episode aired more than a year ''before'' the September 11th terrorist attacks. The entire scene was taken out of the episode in subsequent airings and the Region 1 “Volume 1” ''Family Guy'' DVD set (although the scene remains intact up until Stewie’s singing in the Season 2 DVD set for Regions 2 and 4), but can be seen on the ''Family Guy: Freakin’ Sweet'' DVD. In the DVD commentary, Seth MacFarlane mentions that the moral is that “the FBI should watch ''Family Guy'' more often.”

Cultural references

★ In the puppy mill flashback scene at the beginning of the episode, Brian notes that he has an “Excedrin headache.”

★ On a train back to Quahog, Brian and Stewie sing “We’re on the Road to Rhode Island,” a parody of a song from the 1942 movie ''Road to Morocco''. The episode itself is a parody of/homage to the “Road to” movies. In the song, there is a reference to the 1991 road movie ''Thelma and Louise''. The song mentions several places in Rhode Island, including the City of Newport and Brown University. It also references the banishment of the founders of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations from the Massachusetts Bay Colony due to religious persecution.

★ A scene of Brian in a bar dealing with a girl is inspired by the film ''Leaving Las Vegas''.

★ The radio in the car Brian and Stewie steal plays “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” by Culture Club.

★ While driving, Stewie and Brian play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, a game in which people link an actor or actress to Kevin Bacon by six (or less) films.

★ During the scene where Brian and Stewie are standing next to his mother, Stewie spots a picture of Jesus and makes the comment "Look at Jesus standing over there by himself, you think those bulldogs would invite him to their card game," apparently referring to one of the ''"Dogs Playing Poker"'' paintings by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.

★ Stewie asks Brian to tape the episode of ''The Brady Bunch'' where Bobby saves Greg’s life and Greg becomes Bobby’s slave. However, it was actually Peter whose life Bobby saved in that episode (“My Brother’s Keeper”).

★ Peter says, “This is going to be worse than the time we had to sit through your uncle Jerry’s snuff film” referring to snuff films which are tapes that supposedly record real deaths.

★ When Stewie tries to call Lois at the hotel for the first time, he dials the number 867-5309. This is a reference to the song ''867-5309/Jenny'' by ''Tommy Tutone''.

Goofs

★ When Stewie tries to get Lois to wire him some money, he doesn't know Lois' phone number. Stewie then attempts the Brute-force method Brute-force search, and he says the numbers that he punches in, but when he says he punches in 1111113, he actually punches in 1111111.

★ When Stewie dials 867-5309 at the motel, he skips the 8 and only punches in 67-5309.

★ Even given enough tries, Stewie's brute-force dialing would not successfully reach Lois. Since the motel is not in Rhode Island, Stewie would need to enter an area code to reach his home in a different state. Furthermore, Stewie is wasting his time dialing any 7-digit number beginning with "1", as all phone numbers in the United States begin with digits 2 through 9.

References

★ S. Callaghan, “Road to Rhode Island.” Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 90–95.

★ A. Delarte, “Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 2” in ''Bob’s Poetry Magazine'', 2.May 2005: 20 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02My.pdf