Padre de Familia
| "Padre de Familia" | |
|---|---|
| Family Guy episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 6 Episode 6 |
| Directed by | Pete Michels |
| Written by | Kirker Butler |
| Production code | 5ACX20 |
| Original air date | November 18, 2007 |
| Guest actors | |
| |
"Padre de Familia" (Family Guy in Spanish) is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the American animated sitcom Family Guy. It first aired on November 18, 2007. The episode follows Peter Griffin as he becomes frustrated with the presence of illegal immigrants and convinces his supervisor to initiate an inspection, laying off any immigrants employed, unknowing that he was born in Mexico and that his mother never filled out his citizenship papers. This makes him an illegal immigrant and he is soon fired for it.
The episode was written by Kirker Butler and it was directed by Pete Michels. This is one of the episodes that did not have show creator Seth MacFarlane's work in post-production because he was participating in the Writers Guild of America strike. The episode guest started Brendyn Bell, actress Carrie Fisher and comedian Gabriel Iglesias. Recurring voice actors Lori Alan, Phyllis Diller, Alec Sulkin, John Viener, Jeff Bergman, Mark Hentemann, Ralph Garman, Alexandra Breckenridge and Patrick Warburton also made appearances.
The episode received mixed reviews from critics. The episode was also submitted as Family Guy's sample episode to determine the nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, though it was not nominated.[1]
Plot
The Griffins attend a Veterans Day parade where Peter realizes he is proud of his American citizenship. He begins showing off his patriotism everywhere he goes and also becomes frustrated with the presence of illegal immigrants, especially with the fact that they are "taking away the good jobs". Peter goes to great lengths to make Quahog immigrant-free. At the brewery, Peter convinces his supervisor to initiate an inspection, laying off any immigrants employed.
After doing so, he goes to his mother Thelma's house for his birth certificate to prove his citizenship. However, Thelma tells Peter a startling secret: he was born not in America, but rather in Mexico and she never filled out his citizenship papers, making Peter an illegal immigrant. Peter is subsequently unemployed and the family begins to fall into debt. After Peter fails to find any good jobs, Lois turns to her father Carter for assistance. Carter agrees to employ Peter as a servant on his estate, and the Griffins move into a settlement of other Mexican immigrants near Carter's mansion. Of course, working as a servant proves gruelling for Peter, who begins to empathize with the immigrants. He forms a friendship with them and they invite him to a party, however, Carter crashes the party by reminding him of American regulations. Peter is outraged and rallies up the immigrants to form a rebellion. Carter decides to negotiate with Peter, saying he will arrange for Peter to gain American citizenship if he calls off the rebellion. Peter demands that everyone must gain citizenship, but the others insist that he take this opportunity, saying that their day will come someday. Peter agrees, and from this point onward Peter becomes an official American citizen; the family moves back to their house and Peter regains his job.
Production
"Padre de Familia" was written by the show's producer Kirker Butler, in his first writing credit for the show.[2] It was directed by Pete Michels, who would also direct the episode "The Former Life of Brian" later this season.[2] Series regulars Peter Shin and James Purdun acted as supervising directors for the episode.[2] The episode's music was composed by Walter Murphy.[2]
This is the first episode of Family Guy that was released after the show's creator, Seth MacFarlane, joined Writers Guild of America strike.[3] MacFarlane participated in the writing process and did record the voices of the characters he normally plays for the episode but he did not approve or participate in any post-production done to the episode.[3]
In addition to the regular cast, Brendyn Bell, actress Carrie Fisher and comedian Gabriel Iglesias guest started in the episode.[2] Recurring voice actors Lori Alan, Phyllis Diller, writer Alec Sulkin, writer John Viener, Jeff Bergman, writer Mark Hentemann, Ralph Garman, Alexandra Breckenridge and Patrick Warburton made minor appearances in the episode.[2]
Cultural references
The episode featured various references to the popular culture. While at the Veterans Day parade, Peter hears Herbert sing "God Bless The USA" by Lee Greenwood. When at the bar, Peter said he got a tattoo of the Space Shuttle on his penis and Quagmire in his head said he was going to do it and plays "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt. When Peter acts like a super U.S. Patriot he terminates anything associated with illegal immigration, such as arresting Brian's 85-year-old Korean Buddhist accupuncturist and discarding Stewie's Speedy Gonzales video.[4] During the scene in which Peter and Brian are talking about immigrants, Peter says that "they are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take 'em away!" This is a reference to a line spoken by Darth Vader to Princess Leia in the movie Star Wars.[4] The party Peter is invited to is the celebration of Cinco de Mayo.[4] The scene in which Peter is hired as a babysitter of two children is a reference to the film Mary Poppins. When taking the immigration test, Peter is asked who founded America to which he replies "Dick York" but then quickly changes his answer to "Dick Sargent". This is a reference to the two actors who played Darrin Stephens on the 1960s television show Bewitched.[5] Quagmire considers getting a tattoo in the shape of the Space Needle.[5] John McCain is referenced.[6] The ending to the film Dirty Dancing is referenced.[6] While Peter is seen sacrificing a goat in the name of Toby Keith, it is seen gone and a hat slowly disappearing into the brush, is reference to Jurassic Park with the Tyrannosaurus eating the goat. Also, during that scene, Lois says "Toby Keith doesn't want to be fed. Toby Keith wants to hunt." is a parody of the quote "T-Rex does not want to be fed, he wants to hunt." in Jurassic Park. The mouse that Peter had created, "Rapid Dave" is a parody of the Looney Tunes character Speedy Gonzales.
Reception
The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Ahsan Haque of IGN stated that the "scenes that worked in this episode were creatively brilliant" but he did criticize some of the episode's jokes; ending his review by saying that "with a bit more polish, this episode could have been a great one" and he rated the episode a 7.4 out of 10.[4] Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B- and while she acknowledged MacFarlane's involvement was missing, she did say that it "felt very much like Family Guy, albeit a not-so-great episode".[3] Robert Pierson from the TV Critic also gave the episode a mixed review; he compared the story to the ones from the episodes of the show's first season which he stated was "a good thing" although he did classify the episode's jokes as "more miss than hit"; he ended his review by calling the episode "a fun story with plenty of good jokes flowing from it" and he gave it a 58 out of 100.[6]
In contrast, the Parents Television Council, who have frequently criticized Family Guy, labeled the episode the 'Worst episode of the week' when the episode premiered, stating that "Family Guy never ceases to shock and horrify with its gratuitous transgression of moral and ethical boundaries" and that "the program hides its offensive filth under the cover of satire, but the smut that saturates the program from start to finish makes any honest critique of society impossible to accept.[5]
References
- ↑ "'Family Guy,' 'The Wire,' 'Pushing Daisies,' 'Mad Men' make Emmy lists of top 10 finalists". The Los Angeles Times. June 26, 2008.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Family Guy: Padre de Familia". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- 1 2 3 Koski, Genevieve. ""Husbands And Knives" / "Raise The Steaks" / "Padre De Familia" / "The 42-Year-Old Virgin"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 Haque, Ahsan (November 19, 2007). "Family Guy: "Padre de Familia" Review". IGN. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- 1 2 3 "Worst TV Show of the Week". Parents Television Council. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
- 1 2 3 Pierson, Robin. "Episode 6 - Padre de Familia". The TV Critic. Retrieved September 29, 2012.