Road to Rupert
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| “Road to Rupert” | |
|---|---|
| Family Guy episode | |
| Image:Roadtorupert.jpg | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 9 |
| Written by | Patrick Meighan |
| Directed by | Dan Povenmire |
| Guest stars | Rob Lowe, Ted McGinley, George Wendt |
| Production no. | 5ACX04 |
| Original airdate | January 28 2007 |
| Season 5 episodes | |
| Family Guy - Season 5 September 10, 2006 – May 20, 2007 | |
| |
| | |
| ← Season 4 | Season 6 → |
| List of Family Guy episodes | |
“Road to Rupert” is the ninth episode of season five of the FOX animated television series Family Guy. It is the third Brian and Stewie “Road To...” episode.
[edit] Plot
The Griffin's have a yard sale to sell off products which they no longer require, but Brian accidentaly sells Stewie's teddy bear. Meanwhile, Peter attempts to purchase Evel Knievel gloves, despite the facts they are already his, but Brian accepts the money from Peter after he refuses to accept they are his and that buying them would be silly. Peter attempts to drive the family sedan over a row of cars,, however is unsuccessful, thus resulting in Joe Swanson revoking his driving license. Brian takes Stewie to the toy store to buy a new teddy for Rupert, eventually confessing he sold Stewie, much to Stewie's horror.
Lois organises Meg to be Peter's driver rather than a talking monkey, thus annoying Peter as his preference was the monkey. Stewie attemps to retrieve Rupert by tracking DNA from the money Brian was handed in exchange for Rupert against the federal database. After finding a match, they discover the man who bought the teddy ('Stanford') lives near them. Upon arrival to his home, Stewie and Brian discover the house is deserted, but they hitch a ride from Mayor West to follow the removal van leaving the house. West unexpectedly stops at the entrance to Connecticut, and the removal van drives off, however a box of personal belongings falls off with the address of the Stanford's new house. Peter and his friends mock Meg when she is driving them around time, thus making her angry enough to beat up a passing motorist who calls her a "dumb bimbo". Brian and Stewie perform a musical for the man serving at he helicopter rental service rather than paying the regular $100,000 deposit; impressed by their performance, he allows them to have the helicopter, which they use to fly over the mountains to Aspen, Colorado. Reluctant to give Stewie the teddy bear, they organise a race down the mountain, so if Stewie wins, they are allowed to have Rupert and if Stanford wins, he can have Brian. Peter is impressed by Meg beating up the man who hit the car, so secretly becomes her best friend. Brian and Stewie lose the competition in Colorado, but Stewie uses his Butler to pour boiling water in the Stanford's child eyes, then running away with the teddy and resuming to car jack a person to return back to Quahog.[1]
[edit] Notes
- This is the third road trip episode with Brian and Stewie, the previous two episodes being “Road to Rhode Island” and “Road to Europe.”
- Stewie says he bought the chattering teeth from Jack’s Joke Shop in South Attleboro, Massachusetts, which was previously mentioned in the episode “Lethal Weapons.” In the real world, Jack’s has been in Boston for 50 years[1][2].
- This episode first appeared on the weekend of Winter X Games XI, which also took place in Aspen, CO, and featured different competitions of skiing.
- 8.75 million people watched this episode on its first run on FOX.
- When Stewie tells Brian he’s one year old, Brian responds with, “Still?” This is a reference to the characters’ apparent awareness of the show’s floating timeline; in the episode “Blind Ambition,” Peter comments on how Bonnie Swanson, Joe’s pregnant wife, has been pregnant for six years with absolutely no signs of progress.
[edit] Censorship
- On the DVD version, there is an extra garage sale scene, where Lois is glad to be selling the "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" DVD (as "Stymie Gruffin: The Untold Story"). She insults it for being just "three back-to-back episodes" and calls it "a middle finger to the fans." Brian nervously tells her that she might be "overstating things a little." He then waves to someone off camera and points in Lois' direction. As Lois says, "FOX should be emba-" two men in suits cover her mouth and take her away.
- Another missing scene shown on DVD involves Stewie, depressed over Rupert's disappearance, drinks a bottle of NyQuil and calls a cat (that turns out to be a throw pillow).
- The scene in the car where Peter, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Joe discuss which woman they would have sex with (Queen Latifah or Halle Berry if she were dead for six hours) has an extra part on the DVD where Joe says that he's seen dead bodies that didn't look too bad after six hours, implying that he would have sex with Halle Berry if she was dead for six hours.
- The scene where Brian and Stewie are shown riding in a pickup truck bed and travel to Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas (followed by a shot of all their photos, which reveal that each of those places look exactly alike) was cut from TV, but is shown on DVD.
[edit] Cultural references
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- At the end of the opening credits, there is a shot of Brian riding a horse and Stewie dressed up in an American flag shirt and wearing a moustache, a reference to the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
- Aspen was the destination of the main characters in Dumb and Dumber, who also lived in Rhode Island. During the opening credits, two slides have resemblance to scenes from the film: a picture of Brian and Stewie riding a mini scooter, and Stewie with his tongue stuck to the metal of a chairlift.
- Stewie’s fantasy of Rupert’s funeral is a parody of Spock’s funeral in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, right down to the song “Amazing Grace” being played on bagpipes and then taken up by the non-diegetic soundtrack.
- On the car’s DVD player, Peter watches an episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon SpongeBob Squarepants (complete with an actual recording of “The Campfire Song Song” from the episode “The Camping Episode”). The director of “Road to Rupert,” Dan Povenmire wrote “The Campfire Song Song.”[2]
- The James Taylor song that Brian sings when hitchhiking is called “Country Road.”
- The musical number with Stewie and a live-action Gene Kelly is an edited scene from the film Anchors Aweigh (1945). The sequence originally involved Jerry Mouse of Tom and Jerry fame. Stewie’s reflection on the floor remains that of Jerry. Editor and compositer Andy Tauke was responsible for supervising this sequence for this episode, and took part in the DVD commentary.
- When Stewie and Brian are crossing into Colorado, the welcome sign says “Welcome to Colorado. More than just Kobe and Columbine,” referring to two events Colorado is famous for.
- When Stewie and Brian’s helicopter crashes, Stewie appears momentarily as the devil, just as John Candy appeared to Steve Martin in Planes, Trains & Automobiles while they were driving the wrong direction on the expressway.
- During the My Black Son intro, almost all of the shots are scenes from open themes of 1980s sitcoms. Peter and his black son (purportedly Emmanuel Lewis) are distracted by a woman, as in the intro for the first three seasons of Three’s Company.
- Stewie and Brian get a ride from Bandit from Smokey and the Bandit. The character Frog, portrayed by actress Sally Field in the film, is also in the car.
- When Stewie tells Stanford that Brian will lick peanut butter on any part of his body, Stanford pauses momentarily before saying, “Well I did go to Choate,” referring to Choate Rosemary Hall, a New England preparatory school.
- After Peter crashes his car during his first car-jumping stunt, he makes a comment about Matthew Broderick’s car accident.
- When Lois opens the refrigerator and tells Peter to get out, he replies, “There is no Peter, only Zuul.” This is a reference to two scenes from the film Ghostbusters.
- The Flintstones opening is parodied.
- The ski race towards the end between Stewie and the father who bought Rupert is a direct reference to the climax of Better Off Dead.
- Inland Empire—a surrealistic David Lynch movie is seen on a marquee.
- After Stewie and Brian jack a car, the road sign says "Rhode Island 2112 Miles". This is a reference to the breakthrough album of prog-rock band Rush. This is, however, the actual distance[3] between Aspen, CO and Pawtucket, RI.
- During a montage of scenes featuring Meg driving Peter around, the Herman's Hermits song I'm Into Something Good plays, as a reference to The Naked Gun.
[edit] References
- ^ (2007). Plot synopsis information for the episode "Road to Rupert" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Spongebob Music
| Preceded by “Barely Legal” | Family Guy Episodes | Followed by “Peter's Two Dads” |
Family Guy "Road to..." episodes |
|---|
| "Road to Rhode Island" • "Road to Europe" • "Road to Rupert" • Road to Germany |
