A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas

Infobox Television episode
Title =A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas
Series =Family Guy


Caption =Merry Christmas from "Family Guy"!
Season =3
Episode =16
Airdate =December 21, 2001
Production =2ACX03
Writer =Danny Smith
Director =Brian Hogan
Guests =KISS|KISS
Episode list =List of Family Guy episodes
Season list = Infobox Family Guy Season 3
Prev =Ready, Willing, and Disabled
Next =Brian Wallows and Peter’s Swallows__NOTOC__"A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" is the 16th episode of Season 3 of "Family Guy", guest starring the members of Kiss (Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, and Paul Stanley) as themselves. The episode is a Christmas special which "isn't being irreverent just for the sake of mocking religion at Christmastime." [Diane Werts, "Christmas on Television". Westport, CT: Praeger (2006): 122]

Plot summary

After Lois repeatedly reminds Peter to donate a present to charity, he mistakenly donates all of the family's Christmas gifts to a needy kids' charity. Lois seems unfazed by the mistake, but insists that the entire family shop for new presents at the mall. Peter reluctantly agrees, although he only wants to watch "Kiss Saves Santa" on television; Brian stays behind to keep an eye on the turkey cooking in the oven.

Lois encourages Stewie to star as baby Jesus in a nativity scene during the Quahog Christmas pageant. Although Stewie initially resists, he eventually plays along in hopes of pleasing Santa, who he believes is omnipotent and thereby can supply him with plutonium.

Meanwhile at the Griffin house, an ember shoots onto the family rug from the fireplace; while Brian tries to deal with this crisis, the overcooked turkey begins to burn. Brian finds a fire extinguisher, but to his dismay it is merely a novelty item filled with plastic snakes, which, upon being released into the fire, promptly explode and make it worse. The interior of the house is destroyed, but Brian escapes with minor burns. Amazingly, Lois maintains a cheerful attitude, saying that they just need to clean up a bit; but when Meg tells her that there are no more paper towels, Lois freaks out, in a parody of the "wire hangers" scene from "Mommie Dearest". She screams at the family about how difficult it is to ensure that Christmas happens without a hitch, then runs from the ruined house on a rampage (Meg then finds some paper towels mere seconds after Lois' rampage).

Lois storms through town, berating happy people, enjoying the season for their ridiculous optimism. When she reaches the town square, she begins to climb the huge Christmas tree there, bent on destroying the ornamental star on top. The rest of the family arrives and Stewie, eager to perform a good deed to earn Santa's grace, performs an extemporaneous monologue about Jesus and the meaning of Christmas. Lois, watching Stewie, regains her sanity and begins to descend the tree; at that moment the police shoot her with a powerful tranquilizer dart at Peter's urging.

The next morning at Christmas, the family has gathered in the charred living room, happily opening their presents; Stewie gets his plutonium, Peter gets his own copy of "Kiss Saves Santa", and Lois, as Peter would put it, is as cheerful as ever, despite still being heavily sedated, sitting limply in a rocking chair and drooling. In the closing scene, the Griffins wishes everyone a Merry Christmas (though Lois is still too numb to speak clearly).

Cultural references

*Peter having his VCR destroyed by the FBI as punishment for taping Monday Night Football without permission from the NFL is a reference to an old controversy regarding the legality of recording copyrighted TV broadcasts. The FBI agents quote almost verbatim the disclaimer given during nearly all sporting event broadcasts.
*When the men go out drunk at night while Peter goes sober, they go wassailing, which is actually based on an age old tradition of drinking wassail during the Winter season.
*Peter is unamused by Joe's joke about breaking his legs, and claims that it was "about as funny as Sinbad". He goes on to explain that he was not referring to Sinbad the comedian (whom he considers hilarious), but rather Sinbad the Sailor.
*In Stewie's nightmare, Santa deflects Stewie's raygun blasts and telekinetically grabs the gun; this is similar to Darth Vader's actions in a scene from "".
*After Lois asks Peter if he gave away the family's Christmas presents, Peter responds: "Lois, if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine". This is almost an exact quote of Obi-Wan Kenobi in his climactic duel with Darth Vader in "".
*The movie "Kiss Saves Santa", whose plot apparently involves the kidnapping of Santa Claus by pterodactyls, is a reference to the 1978 movie "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park" (and more generally, the tradition of Christmas specials involving the starring characters "saving Christmas").
*When Peter is chasing the old lady in the shopping mall he finds her in a fish store called "The Age of Aquariums". This is a reference to The Age of Aquarius (or "Hair", in which one of the songs was "The Age of Aquarius").
*When Lois rampages through Quahog in a frenzied rage, she stomps into a black and white scene of a man saying "I've changed my mind. I wanna live again. I wanna live again!" before being pushed by Lois into the river below. This is a reference to the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" starring James Stewart as the man in the scene.
*Peter asks for "Lights, please", like Linus in "A Charlie Brown Christmas".
*Stewie remarks that he is playing the part of Jesus, brought to life by actor Jeffrey Hunter. Hunter starred in "King of Kings" and, as Captain Christopher Pike, was the captain of the "USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)" in "'s" first pilot, "The Cage". Hunter was then replaced by William Shatner who, as Captain Kirk, is often seen seducing alien women. This prompts Stewie's comment that "Hunter was good enough to die for our sins but not quite up to the task of seducing green women".
*During her rampage, Lois has a little run in with Frosty the Snowman.
*When Brian says "Can I buy some pot from you?", it's a reference to 'Animal House'.
*Brian is seen watching "Bob Hope's Christmas with the Troops". Which it cuts to a black and white scene featuring Bob Hope performing a monlogue to a group of union solders. This is an apparent joke on Hope's age as he was 98 the time of this episode's initial airing.

Censorship

*Edits made in syndication:
**During the pageant Bonnie says "I am the Virgin Mary. That's my story and I'm sticking to it." Her line "That's my story and I'm sticking to it." is removed (this was also cut when FOX began re-airing old Family Guy episodes to commemorate the return of the series).
**The part where Stewie is mooning the Santa ornament (which Stewie thinks is a spy camera from Santa Claus) is edited to remove Stewie's rear end being reflected on a bulb ornament.
**Some syndicated versions change Peter's line when he gets his nipples pinched by the old woman at the mall from "Ah, ah, titty twister! Ah, that hurts!" to "Ah, ah, that hurts!".
**The part where Cleveland and Quagmire are singing: "Deck the balls on Uncle Charlie", is cut to say "on Uncle Charlie".
**When the boys in the trailer are arguing over the VCR, the line "She's my sex box, and her name is Sony!" is cut, though the line by the other boy ("Dang it Buck, its my turn to use the sex box!") was left in.
**Brian yelling, "Damn it, Peter" after discovering that the extinguisher he used to put out the living room fire is a toy was cut.
**The Christmas greeting ending by The Griffins (with Lois groaning from being heavily medicated) was cut.

References

* S. Callaghan, “Husband, Father...Brother?” "Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3". New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 152–155.
* A. Delarte, “Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 3” in "Bob’s Poetry Magazine", 2.August 2005: 51–52 [http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Au.pdf http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Au.pdf]

External links

*FGwiki