Fifteen Minutes of Shame

Infobox Television episode
Title =Fifteen Minutes of Shame
Series =Family Guy


Caption =Chris on screen with Meg's substitute.
Season =2
Episode =12
Airdate =April 25, 2000
Production =2ACX08
Writer =Steve Callaghan
Director =Scott Wood
Guests =
Episode list =List of Family Guy episodes
Season list = Infobox Family Guy Season 2
Prev =A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks
Next =Road to Rhode Island__NOTOC__"Fifteen Minutes of Shame" is an episode from the second season of the FOX animated television series "Family Guy". It is the 19th episode of "Family Guy" to be aired. The title spoofs the popular paraphrase of Andy Warhol's famous quote about everyone getting 15 minutes of fame.

Plot summary

Peter plays a magical clam, in a historical re-enactment of Quahog's founding. The celebration is led by Mayor Adam West, making his first appearance in the series. Meg is further embarrassed when he shows up ashore naked. When he embarrasses her at her slumber party, she decides to take action. She gets the family invited on "The Diane Simmons " talk show to discuss their dysfunction. But instead of ending the embarrassment, this gets the family their own reality show, "The Real Live Griffins". Meg leaves the family, and the show.

Her replacement is a teenage sex symbol who steals the show. Eventually, the whole family is replaced. The replacement cast is Tom Arnold as Peter, Fran Drescher (who is later shown in the season five episode "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou") as Lois, "that fat guy from "Boogie Nights" (Philip Seymour Hoffman) as Chris, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as Stewie and Brian. The real Griffins are forced to live in a motel room until the reality show contract runs out.

Meg ends the episode typing a diary entry into her laptop, like the title character from "Doogie Howser, M.D.", followed by Stewie changing the last sentence from "I couldn't be happier" to "I want to KILL THEM ALL!" possibly implying he enjoyed being on television and is plotting revenge on the family for ruining it for him.

Censorship

* A Fox rerun of this episode cuts the part where Meg is at Quagmire's house and walks in on him about to have sex with a woman on the kitchen counter.
* In syndication airings, the part of the clam story where Miles contemplates killing the clam is cut out.
* The scene in which Meg and her friends hear Peter and Lois have sex is shortened - Peter climaxing and yelling "Shazam!" is cut. Although, as of March 2008, airings of this episode by Canadian stations have included this part. It is possible in this case that the inclusion or excision of specific scenes has more to do with decisions by various stations to shorten an episode for time reasons than it does with censorship.
* When Lois is putting alcohol on Peter's butt after falling into the stairs, Peter's line "Geez Lois, what is that acid?" is cut. Also, all shots of Peter's bare butt are cropped.

Cultural references

* In the episode's opening scene, Peter learns to paint from an episode of the PBS art show "The Joy of Painting" hosted by Bob Ross. Peter paints a portrait of the cast of "Family Ties"; a sketch of the family being painted started the show's opening credits.
* The story of the founding of Quahog mirrors the founding of "neighboring" Providence, Rhode Island.
* The undersea rescue during the story of the magical clam is a parody of a scene in "Disney's The Little Mermaid" where Ariel rescues Eric from drowning.
* Peter apologizes to Meg's friends for ruining their slumber party by promising to get Davy Jones for their school dance, a reference to an episode of "The Brady Bunch" where Marcia tries to get Davy Jones to perform at their school dance.
*There is a cutaway involving a man revealing himself to his girlfriend as a woman, then a horse, and finally a broom. The horse stage is a reference to the "I Married A Horse" episode of "The Jerry Springer Show".
* A cutaway shows one possible way to write Meg out of "The Real Live Griffins": Brian says "Meg Griffin's plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan", parodying Henry Blake's death on the show "M*A*S*H" due to the departure of McLean Stevenson from that series. Stewie then shows up in a dress and high-heeled shoes and says "Who do I have to see about a Section 8?". This is a reference to "M*A*S*H" character Corporal Klinger's attempts to prove himself mentally unfit for military service.
* Trying to get the cameras on him, Peter acts out a Wayland and Madame routine featuring a ventriloquism dummy. He mentions a song, "The Rainbow Connection", sung by Kermit the Frog in "The Muppet Movie".
* The scene where Peter tells Meg that he won't give her the antidote to the poison she just drank is from the Shanghai nightclub scene in the beginning of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". [cite web | title = Family Guy | publisher = TheRaider.net | url = http://www.theraider.net/information/influences/family_guy.php | accessdate=2008-01-17]
* The end where Meg is typing into her computer diary is just like the end of every Doogie Howser, M.D. episode.

Previous episode reference

The scene where the Griffins are watching their replacements on a television at the motel references a previous Family Guy episode, "Death Has a Shadow". Also, a flashback where Peter drinks communion wine at church and questions if it is really the "blood of christ", and then mentioning that Jesus must have been wasted is also originally from that episode.

Trivia

This episode marks the first time Quagmire says "Giggity", which would become his catchphrase and the first appearance of Adam West.

References

* S. Callaghan, “Fifteen Minutes of Shame.” "Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3". New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 86–89.
* A. Delarte, “Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 2” in "Bob’s Poetry Magazine", 2.May 2005: 17–19 [http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02My.pdf http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02My.pdf]

External links

*FGwiki
*imdb title|0576936
*tv.com episode|25459