Reversing its decision in one of the most criminally inept cancellations of all time, FOX will be bringing back its manic, hyper-intensive animated comedy “Family Guy” this Sunday. Right in time to hype the premier of the belated fourth season of the show, the University Cultural Forum will be presenting the “six most controversial episodes” of the first three seasons at 180 PLC on Friday at 9 p.m.
Having seen each episode of this show so many times that they have become deeply ingrained in my mind, I’ve sort of lost perspective on the offensive content. But let’s go over the Cultural Forum’s choices anyway and see what merits discussion, m-kay?
The first pick for most controversial episode is the first episode of the series, “Death Has a Shadow” (this was back when the creators were trying to give each episode a name evocative of an old radio mystery, a practice quickly dropped). The episode could be taken as offensive for two reasons. First is a specific joke concerning Hitler at the gym; second is just the style of the show, which defined “madcap” for a new era. Right from the start people took everything the wrong way.
“Mind Over Murder” is next, also from the first season. This episode concerns the main character, Peter Griffin, punching out a pregnant woman he mistakes for a man and ending up on house arrest. Other than the whole “punching an ugly pregnant woman” thing, this is actually one of the tamer episodes,
content-wise.
In “E Peterbus Unum,” Peter discovers that his home is not on the map and decides to form his own country, leading to a rather convoluted series of results which culminate in his inviting various past and present dictators to a backyard barbecue. (“Fidel, no running around
the pool!”)
“To Love and Die in Dixie” is an audience favorite because, to be honest, nobody likes the South. The Griffin family enters witness protection and heads south of the Mason-Dixon to live in the town of Bumblescum. They get attacked by raccoons, drink moonshine and make
“The Dukes of Hazzard” references aplenty. I suppose people in the southern states would be offended by this, but who cares about
their opinion?
“Peter Griffin: Husband, Father… Brother?” deals with race issues, which automatically qualifies it for controversy. In it, Peter discovers he has a black ancestor and tries to act appropriately, thus alienating himself from all sides of the racial spectrum, especially after he uses his slave reparations to turn his house into a replica of “Pee Wee’s
Playhouse.”
Finally, we have the episode that never was, “When You Wish Upon a Weinstein,” which went through production but was never aired on FOX. In this one, Peter comes to believe that Judaism equals success and tries to get his son Chris quickly converted in a Las Vegas bar mitzvah.
The episode is hilarious and not as offensive as some of the others . In fact, the creators had it approved by rabbis beforehand to make a case for it, but FOX still said “no go.” Like all of the “offensive” episodes of this show, the only real harm comes from taking things the wrong way. In the end, Peter realizes the error of his ways and comes to a deeper understanding of religion (if you can call it that). Catholics and Irish people have more to be offended about by this show than anyone else, but nobody seems to be complaining.
While the Cultural Forum’s selections for “most controversial” certainly do include some of the most talked-about episodes, it’s unfortunate they didn’t choose a few that actually pushed the taste boundaries for network television a bit further. But often these didn’t get the same level of recognition, for whatever reason, so they can’t really be called controversial. A few of my favorites include “Ready, Willing, and Disabled,” which pokes fun at the Special Olympics; “And the Weiner Is,” which includes the classic line “Remember, guns don’t kill people. Dangerous minorities do,”; and “Brian Goes to Hollywood,” which includes a list of faux porn film names such as “Purple Head of Cairo” and “You’ve Got Male Genitalia.”
Still, the night looks to be a nice way to celebrate the upcoming season. Let’s just hope it deserves the praise.

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