Let's Go to the Hop

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“Let’s Go to the Hop”
Family Guy episode
"Lando" Griffin dancing with Connie D'Amico.
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 14
Written by	Matt Weitzman and Mike Barker
Directed by	Glen Hill
Guest stars	Gregg Allman, Mary Kay Bergman, Patrick Bristow, Wayne Collins, Tom Dorfmeister
Production no.	2ACX04
Original airdate	June 6, 2000
Season 2 episodes
Family Guy - Season 2 September 23, 1999 – August 1, 2000
Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater Holy Crap Da Boom Brian in Love Love Thy Trophy Death Is a Bitch The King Is Dead I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar If I'm Dyin', I'm Lyin' Running Mates A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks Fifteen Minutes of Shame Road to Rhode Island Let's Go to the Hop Dammit Janet! There's Something About Paulie He's Too Sexy for His Fat E. Peterbus Unum The Story on Page One Wasted Talent Fore Father

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List of Family Guy episodes

"Let's Go to the Hop" is an episode from the second season of the FOX animated series Family Guy. It is the 21st episode of Family Guy to air. Its title is derived from the hit song "At the Hop" by Danny & the Juniors. It guest-stars Gregg Allman as himself and Fairuza Balk as Connie D'Amico.

[edit] Plot summary

Lois and Peter become concerned, when a toad-licking problem arises in school. After finding a toad in Chris' pocket they suspect him, but then they discover that Meg was holding the toad for one of the popular kids in the hope that doing so would secure her a date to the Winter Snow Ball. Peter recalls his nervousness when he first asked his high school crush, Phoebe Diamond, to the prom. Later, Lois and Peter decide they need to do something to protect their kids from this drug problem. So, Peter talks with Meg's principal about it and arrives at school the next day as "Lando Griffin", an undercover student, no relation to Meg Griffin.

Things get "too real" for Peter.

Before long, Peter (as Lando) actually succeeds in convincing the kids at James Woods High that it's not cool to lick toad. Meg, seeing an opportunity, tells the cool kids that Lando has asked her to the Winter Snow Ball, which immediately increases her popularity. Meanwhile, Peter seems to be enjoying his "high school" experience and persona a little too much. In fact, when Meg shows up at school on the day of the big dance, she is stunned to learn that "Lando" is, in fact, going to the Winter Snow Ball with Connie D'Amico, a member of the popular clique.

Lois can't believe Peter's preposterous behavior until Brian explains that Peter has transferred his feelings for his old crush, Phoebe, onto Connie. Against Lois forbidding Peter to go to dance, he sneaks out to go to the dance. Lois encourages Meg to go to the dance by herself. When Peter (as Lando) and Connie are about to be crowned king and queen of the Winter Snow Ball, Peter uses the opportunity to tell the crowd that Meg was really his first choice as a date for the dance. This gets Meg lots of the attention she was seeking. "Lando" then drives recklessly off into the night, never to be heard from again. The next day, the news reports that "Lando" died when he went off Dead Man’s Curve. Although no body was found, the police decided it was best to not ask questions and get on with life. Meg is sort of cool at school and the yearbook is dedicated to Lando.

[edit] Notes

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

While some toads do produce venom that can cause a psychoactive effect (see psychoactive toad), merely licking the toad would not likely produce a strong effect. Also, there is no actual species of toad called the "Colombian Spotted Toad"; this toad was deliberately made up with a fictional effect being given when licked. Finally, the toads are shown to have come into contact with cocaine at the beginning of the episode.
At the beginning of the episode the two parachuting Colombians speak ungrammatical Spanish with Korean subtitles. The first Colombian says, "When the [lady] boss hears about this, we’re dead." The second asks, "Did you remember to close the garage door this morning?" The Korean subtitles are 1. "사장이 알면 우리는 파리 목숨이야!" and 2. "너 오늘아침 차고문 닫은것 기억하니?"; they say something similar to what is said in Spanish.
During the cutaway to the United States Supreme Court, it is implied that David Souter is the newest justice, and there are two women justices shown. However, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman ever to serve on the court, was not appointed until after Souter.
At the end of the episode, the flagpole outside James Woods High School is flying the American flag at half-staff, in memory of the "deceased" Lando Griffin.
The bondage costume Lois wears in this episode (when she and Peter are discussing what to do about the school drug problem while preparing for S&M role-playing) would later be worn by Lois in "Peter's Two Dads."
In the scene where Peter goes up to his room after Lois yells at him, he looks up at an Allman Brothers poster and asks Gregg Allman's picture what he did when times were bad. The poster comes alive and responds, featuring a voice cameo by Gregg Allman himself.
At the dance in the background there is a black version of Phoebe Diamond, Peter's high school crush.

[edit] Cultural references

The entire plot involving Peter going back to high school while impersonating a high school student, becoming popular and dating a secret family member to encourage popularity with the culmination at a high school dance is strikingly similar to the film Never Been Kissed.
Peter encounters Spider-Man. When he is sneaking out of his room, he falls and is caught in a web hammock. (Spider-Man’s costume colors are slightly off.) Peter responds with "Thanks Spider-Man!" and Spider-Man says "Everybody gets one." Spider-Man later saves Cleveland in "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air."
The effects of toad-licking cause one of the teenagers to "finally get" Aaron Sorkin's cult television show Sports Night: "It's a comedy that's too good to be funny", referring to the show's complex but dry humor.
The Griffins watch a Doublemint Gum commercial featuring conjoined twins, a parody of the brand's commercials featuring identical twins.
A slang term for licking toads is "Doing Kermit", a reference to Kermit the Frog.
The anti-toad licking public service announcement parodies a classic Tootsie Pop ad.
In a cutaway to "the good old days" of public education a girl correctly recites the quadratic formula, causing the class to deem her a witch and stone her. This is a reference to the Salem witch trials and the atmosphere of sexism and paranoia that facilitated it.
Lando fakes his way through saying slang terms, one of them being "Poppin' Fresh", a reference to Pillsbury.
Peter attempts to imitate Happy Days character Fonzie by saying the catchphrase "Aaaay" and pounding on a jukebox in order to get it to start (however, it doesn't work, and in his second attempt, he breaks the jukebox, causing glass shards to get stuck in his hand).
When Peter is seen outside spray-painting something on the school wall, a group of the students come up to him, and he acts as if it is deodorant. This is a reference to the opening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
When Peter goes to detention, he exclaims, "Holy crap! It's the Breakfast Club!" However, instead of the gang from the 1985 teen movie, he sees several breakfast cereal mascots including Toucan Sam, Tony the Tiger, the Trix Rabbit, Lucky the Leprechaun, and Cap'n Crunch.
When Meg confronts "Lando" about why he has broken his promise to take her to the dance, he says "Something suddenly came up!" This is what Marcia Brady's date said to her when he changed his mind about taking her to the dance after her nose was broken with a football and swelled up, on The Brady Bunch.
"Lando" says goodbye to his classmates saying "I will ride recklessly into the night, and up Dead Man's Curve", parodying the climax of the 1982 movie Grease 2 used also in the "Church of the Fonz" scene in the episode "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz."
At the end of the episode, Peter walks across the football field. He punches his fist into the air and the picture fades to black. This is a parody of the ending of The Breakfast Club. "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds is also played, again parodying the ending of the film.
When Peter sneaks off to the dance and has the tape recorder rigged up underneath his covers, this is a reference to Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
The music cue heard when Peter sneaks out of the house until he loses his balance is a parody of Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
The name "Lando Griffin" and his infiltration of the high school is a pun on the famous union (Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959)^{[citation needed]} and the famous Star Wars character Lando Calrissian played by Billy Dee Williams.
At the end, when the Griffin family is watching the news over breakfast, the first shot of the tv (from further away) shows just Tom Tucker, and then Dianne Simmons just appears out of nowhere next to him.

[edit] Musical References

Peter spray paints "Thompson Twins Rule" on a school wall, referring to a 1980s new wave band.
The song "Give Up the Toad Now" is based on "You're the One That I Want" from the 1978 film Grease.
Peter resolves to "fight for my right to party", referencing the Beastie Boys' 1986 release "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)."
Peter's sneaking out of his room is a parody of Fast Times at Ridgemont High's Stacey sneaking out of her house to have sex with a 27 year old date, with the soundtrack featuring a sound-alike of Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby", which is featured in the original movie.
The song being played at the dance is "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" by Billy Ocean.
The song played at the end as Meg walks down the corridor is "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds which is a song famous for being played in the '80s high school movie The Breakfast Club. It is well known for being a song representing high school and is often played at proms in the USA.

[edit] References

S. Callaghan, “Let’s Go to the Hop.” 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: 20–21 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02My.pdf