Family Guy“I Dream of Jesus”
Original Air Date: October 05th, 2008
Thomas Nikl - TwoCents Reviewer
thomas@thetwocentscorp.com
Family Guy returns to a format a little more reminiscent of past seasons in this week’s episode “I Dream Of Jesus”. Essentially we have two story lines that technically have nothing to do with one another but which are drawn together by a random event in the middle.
Continue Reading...
[photo: FOX.com]
Posts
Family Guy
ReplyDelete“I Dream of Jesus”
Original Air Date: October 05th, 2008
Thomas Nikl - TwoCents Reviewer
thomas@thetwocentscorp.com
Family Guy returns to a format a little more reminiscent of past seasons in this week’s episode “I Dream Of Jesus”. Essentially we have two story lines that technically have nothing to do with one another but which are drawn together by a random event in the middle.
The episode begins with our favorite family- the Griffins- at a 50’s style diner. During their visit a song starts playing on the jukebox which, evidently, Peter loves! He does an admittedly hilarious dance routine to the tune “Surfin’ Bird”—if you are unfamiliar, it’s the song that goes “na-na-na-na-na-na the bird is the word everyone’s heard the bird is the word” (or something along those lines… I must apologize to my readers- singing is not my forte).
Peter takes the record home with him and plays it- repeatedly- and literally drives his family crazy. At one point at the breakfast table Stewie slowly puts a revolver in his mouth (it was actually really funny, but no, he doesn’t pull the trigger). Eventually, Brian and Stewie lead a covert op to steal the record. Peter tries to replace it, so Stewie and Brian continue their plan by purchasing every available copy from local record stores. Stewie and Brian also bring us the episode’s best moment where they destroy the record in a cut-scene that is reminiscent of the scene from Office Space where Peter, Michael Bolton and Samir destroy the printer. What do you think readers- was this the best scene in the episode?
Here is where we enter storyline two! Long story short, Peter meets Jesus at a record store and befriends him. Peter takes him to his house, introduces him to the locals (with a funny scene where Jesus walks atop water in a fountain but, Peter being Peter, tries to get some of the attention), gets Jesus on Jay Leno, and helps him win an award at the MTV Music Awards! Eventually, however, the fame goes to Jesus’ head and he lands himself in jail. Jesus calls Peter to bail him out (which he first refuses, until Jesus uses his power to smash a lamp in Peter’s face) and decides it’s time he left Earth altogether. Much to the dismay of his family, Jesus creates Peter a new record of “Surfin’ Bird” before he departs.
I have to be honest; I had high hopes for this episode. As a Heathen Atheist myself I always enjoy when TV shows poke a little fun at Religion. And if I was going to pick one show to do it I would take Family Guy- the show that traditionally has no problem crossing the lines of political correctness. Sadly, this episode left me disappointed. With so many opportunities to poke fun at religion I think this episode fell rather short. I felt the one clever scene in this episode was where Peter introduces Jesus to President Bush, and Jesus explains that he’s really not sure how President Bush was actually elected, as he certainly had nothing to do with it. And while this cut-scene was amusing, it’s another example where the show could have really crossed the line with their usual hilarious and insensitive antics and left me drooling on the floor laughing hysterically.
Sadly, this episode comes across as merely average. If you’re looking for a few chuckles, you’ll be content. But if you’re looking for a funny and witty social commentary on religion you’re better off checking out “Religulous” (Bill Maher’s new movie in theatres now).
At the end, when Peter gets them to fall for the trick again, just before he jumps up to sing and dance, Stewie says "CRAAPPPP!" - I rewound that 10 times and laughed louder every freaking time.
ReplyDeleteI should have stopped watching when Stewie had the revolver ... although the scene where he & Brian destroyed the album was a good one.
ReplyDeleteBetween that STUPID song & the weakly done story line(s), this episode didn't hit the list of my top 50 favorite episodes.
slice of paradise-
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. This episode could easily have been a TOP TEN (episode of all time) but they just didn't do it well.
Maybe next time. :(
I have to disagree. The writing was hysterical. When Peter spent their life saving to make a commercial...I laughed out loud. The Office Space reference was awesome. Jesus being a regular guy was very funny. Only of my favorites.
ReplyDelete