Chitty Chitty Death Bang

"Chitty Chitty Death Bang"
Family Guy episode
Peter negotiates at Cheesie Charlie's.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 3
Directed by	Dominic Polcino
Written by	Danny Smith
Production code	1ACX04
Original air date	April 18, 1999
Guest stars
Lori Alan as Diane Simmons Patrick Bristow as Cheesie Charlie's Manager Butch Hartman as various characters Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown Gary Janetti as various characters Waylon Jennings as himself Rachael MacFarlane as Jennifer John O'Hurley as Cult Leader
Episode chronology
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Family Guy (season 1) List of Family Guy episodes

"Chitty Chitty Death Bang" is the third episode of the first season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. The episode follows Peter after he tries to make amends for his son, Stewie's, first birthday party when he loses their reservation at a popular kids restaurant known as Cheesie Charlie's. Meanwhile, Meg becomes friends with an excitable girl named Jennifer, who leads her to join a death cult, in an attempt to fit in.

The episode was written by Danny Smith and directed by Dominic Polcino, both firsts in the Family Guy series. The episode featured guest performances by Butch Hartman, Waylon Jennings, Rachael MacFarlane and John O'Hurley, along with several recurring voice actors for the series. Much of the episode features a cutaway style of humor that is typically used in Family Guy, many of which feature cultural references including the Incredible Hulk, The Dukes of Hazzard, Three Little Pigs, and Couplehood. The title "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" was derived from 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology Suspense, which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder.

The episode has received praise from television critic Ahsan Haque for its storyline and use of cultural references.

Plot

Lois Griffin reserved a day at the family entertainment center, Cheesie Charlie's for her youngest son Stewie, who will soon become a 1 year old, and sends her husband Peter along with her older son Chris to drop off the deposit check at Cheesie Charlie's. However, once they arrive, Peter manages to lose their reservation — a move Peter immediately realizes will upset Lois. Peter lies to Lois, claiming Cheesie Charlie's is an evil place, though Lois does not believe his story. However, she decides to trust Peter after he says he has already planned an extravagant party at home.

The Griffins' daughter Meg, has been having trouble making friends and fitting in at school. She soon meets and befriends a girl named Jennifer. Soon Meg is invited to a party by Jennifer, but Lois does not give her permission as the party is the same day as Stewie's birthday party. Meanwhile, Stewie misinterprets the meaning of his birthday and assumes that the same mysterious "Man in White" who delivered him as an infant will be returning to force Stewie back into the womb. Stewie decides to travel to Nicaragua to hire merceneries to help him fight back against the Man in White. He makes it to the airport before deciding that he should face the "Man in White" on his own after all.

Peter fails to put together a party in time for Stewie's birthday, finally rerouting a circus parade into the Griffins' backyard, saving the day—that is, until he reveals to Lois that he gave Meg permission to go to a party at her friend's house. Peter goes to retrieve Meg from the party, where Meg is oblivious to the fact that the "party" is a cult meeting where the members will commit mass suicide by drinking poisoned punch. The cult leader meets Meg and she is almost ready to drink the poison. But Peter soon arrives and delivers a heart-warming speech to Meg and invites other members of the cult to Stewie's party; they all (except for the cult leader) agree and have a toast, but Peter and Meg do not drink the poisoned punch but Jennifer and the rest of the cult members do and they die immediately. The cult leader notices that Meg did not kill herself with the punch and has left, so he puts on his white robe and follows them to the Griffins' house. Peter and Meg race back to the party just in time for the erotic cake Peter bought. Meanwhile, Stewie traps and kills the cult leader, thinking he is the "Man in White". The episode ends with Stewie making his birthday wish. He firstly thinks of bombs dropping but changes his mind and wishes everyone in disco outfits dancing.

Production

This was the first episode to include show creator Seth MacFarlane's sister Rachael MacFarlane as a guest voice actress.

"Chitty Chitty Death Bang" was written by Danny Smith and directed by Dominic Polcino, both their first episodes in the Family Guy series. Staff writers included voice actor Mike Henry and Andrew Gormley, while Ricky Blitt, Chris Sheridan and Neil Goldman acted as the story editors.^[1] To help Polcino direct the episode were supervising directors Peter Shin and Roy Allen Smith.^[1]

In addition to the regular cast there were guest stars which included, actor and comedian Patrick Bristow, animator, executive producer, animation director, storyboard artist and producer Butch Hartman who played Mr Weed, Peter's Boss and he also played various other characters, writer Gary Janetti who played the Demon and Riff, actor John O'Hurley, Waylon Jennings who played himself.^[1] Recurring cast members included Mike Henry who played Cleveland Brown and Lori Alan who played Dianne Simons.^[1] This is the first episode Seth MacFarlane's sister, Rachael MacFarlane guest starred in the episode as the voice of Jennifer. In future episodes she would become a recurring voice actor for the series. Rachel has noted that she was asked by Seth to lend her voice for the show, but she did have to audition for the role.^[2]

As with the remaining first four episodes of the season, the title of the episode, "Chitty Chitty Death Bang", was derived from 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology "Suspense", which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder. This convention was later dropped following the fourth episode of the season, "A Hero Sits Next Door".^[3] due to individual episodes becoming difficult to identify and distinguish.^[4][5]

Cultural references

When Peter explains to Lois why he canceled the party at Cheesie Charlie's, he said he had been kidnapped by them and that they are Nazis. He explains to Lois that he escaped by turning into the Incredible Hulk.^[6] The place where Lois had planned Stewie's birthday party is called Cheesie Charlie's, which is a reference to the food chain Chuck E. Cheese's.^[6] When Stewie recalls how he was conceived he tells the story of which he was in a sperm ships and gets in to a fight with other sperm ships is a reference to fights in the Star Wars trilogy.^[6]

Peter loses his Dukes of Hazard watch.^[6] When Peter is looking for pigs for a petting zoo he takes down a house of straw and a house made of sticks, this is a reference to the fairy tale Three Little Pigs.^[6] Items added to the suicide cult punch mix by Jennifer include cyanide, arsenic, rat poison, and the book Couplehood by Paul Reiser.^[7]

Reception

A 2008 review of the episode written by Ahsan Haque of IGN was generally positive; Haque stated that while it he did not believe "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" was an "instant classic," it has "plenty of memorable moments" and "a nicely crafted storyline." Haque went on to praise Peter's attempt to "convince [Lois] that the people are Cheesie Charlie's are Nazi devils who kidnapped him and that he only manages to escape because he was able to turn into the Incredible Hulk," as well as Stewie's role in the episode, calling it "extremely clever."^[6] Haque concluded his review by rating the episode an 8.4/10.^[6] David Williams from the DVD Movie Guide, "said that" this episode saying that the episodes of the first season did a marvelous job of introducing the characters of the series to the viewers.^[8]

In his review of "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" the TV Critic called the writing in the episode wittier than in previous ones. He found the Stewie storyline very enjoyable, and also commented positively on the moral of the story. He criticized the Meg storyline as he did not find mass suicide funny; he also commented that Peter felt a lot like Homer from The Simpsons. In his final comments he said it had some odd moments but it was a fun story.^[9]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Family Guy: Chitty Chitty Death Bang". Yahoo!. http://tv.yahoo.com/family-guy/show/i-never-met-the-dead-man/episode/1545. Retrieved 2011-06-19. 
2. ^ Callaghan, Steve (2005). Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: Harper Collins. p. 32. ISBN 9780060833053. http://books.google.com/?id=gyIVS0q09ZsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=family+guy&q. 
3. ^ Haque, Ahsan. "Family Guy Flashback: "A Hero Sits Next Door" Review". IGN. News Corporation. http://tv.ign.com/articles/882/882246p1.html. Retrieved 2009-12-01. 
4. ^ Goldman, Eric (2006-03-16). "William S. Paley TV Fest: Family Guy". IGN. News Corporation. http://tv.ign.com/articles/696/696615p1.html. Retrieved 2009-10-03. 
5. ^ Callaghan, p. 32
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Haque, Ahsan (2008-06-03). "Family Guy Flashback: "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" Review". IGN. News Corporation. http://tv.ign.com/articles/878/878250p1.html. Retrieved 2009-12-01. 
7. ^ Callaghan, Steve (2005). Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 22–25: "Chitty Chitty Death Bang". 
8. ^ Williams, David. "Family Guy: Volume 1 - Season 1 & 2 (1999)". DVD Movie Guide. http://www.dvdmg.com/familyguyvolume1.shtml. Retrieved June 19, 2011. 
9. ^ Pierson, Robin (2009-09-07). "Episode 3 – Chitty Chitty Death Bang". The TV Critic. http://www.thetvcritic.org/chitty-chitty-death-bang/. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 

External links

Family Guy portal

• "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" at TV.com
• "Chitty Chitty Death Bang" at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by I Never Met the Dead Man

Family Guy (season 1)

Succeeded by Mind Over Murder