The Fat Guy Strangler
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"The Fat Guy Strangler" is the seventeenth episode of season four of Family Guy, which originally aired on November 27, 2005.[1] Lois discovers she has a long-lost brother, Patrick. She discovers he was put in a mental hospital after seeing his mother being seduced; so she consents to release him, but after a childhood flashback by Peter, he becomes traumatized and starts murdering overweight people.[2] The episode was written by Chris Sheridan and Seth MacFarlane and directed by Sarah Frost,[3] and guest-stars were Bob Barker and Robert Downey, Jr.[3]
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[edit] Plot
Peter goes to have a meal with Joe, Cleveland, Quagmire and Brian, rather than go to his physical examination. When Lois later forces him to go, he is told by the doctor that he is fat, much to his surprise. Later, after Peter knocks over an old family picture, Lois realizes there is another child on the picture whom she believes to be her brother; but when she confronts her father, he tells her she has no brother, then terminated the call. After breaking in to her parents house, Lois discovers she does have a brother named Patrick and obtains his address. When she goes to visit him, she discovers the address is that of a mental hospital where he is currently committed.
Believing Patrick to be sane, Lois authorizes his release, so Patrick comes and stays with the family. Meanwhile, Peter announces to the family that he is fat, and decides to create the National Association for the Advancement of Fat People (NAAFP). Peter later hosts the first meeting of his organization, although most of those who attended ate snacks the entire way through. Patrick announces he has a wife, Marion, but nobody else can see her, although he believes she is visible to all, leading Brian and Stewie to believe he is crazy. Patrick later attempts to persuade Peter not to encourage obesity, but Peter unintentionally traumatizes him by dressing up as a bus driver and using the Jackie Gleason catchphrase, "Pow, right in the kisser!" which brings back memories of seeing his mother, Barbara, giving fellatio to Gleason, triggering his original bout of insanity.
Lois' father, Carter, calls her and tells her how dangerous Patrick is, although she disagrees. She later hears on the news that an obese man has been murdered in Quahog and the police sketch looks exactly like Patrick. Lois is in denial about Patrick being the murderer, despite Brian's attempt to tell her otherwise. Peter later brings the members of the NAAFP back to the household to protect them from the killer, but Brian tells Peter that Patrick is the killer. Patrick then runs and the obese men give chase, where he runs into a local forest. Brian shows Lois Patrick's room, which has pictures of him strangling fat people, a dead fat guy under his bed as well as a conscious, but half-dead fat man in the corner saying that Patrick tried to kill him. Lois and Brian pursue Patrick and Peter into the woods, where Patrick is strangling Peter, but releases him after Lois threatens to stab Marion. Patrick apologizes, telling Lois that he never meant to hurt her, and he is sent back to the mental hospital.
[edit] Production
The origins of the episode and the character of Patrick began when Robert Downey, Jr telephoned the show production staff and asked if he could produce or assist in an episode creation, as his son is a fan of the show, so the producers came up with the character of Patrick for Downey.[4] Show producer Seth MacFarlane believes Downey "did a great job," and brought a "very kind of half crazy, and maybe just eccentric personality to that character that really worked out great."[5] Bob Barker voiced himself presenting The Price Is Right;[5] but the actual sequence took years to make.[4] Barker has provided his voice for the show twice, although MacFarlane has never met him.[5] MacFarlane also notes, in the DVD commentary, that he likes this episode, because its rare when the show produce an episode where a lot of it takes place in the home, and where it would be possible to do it in a live action series.[5] John Veiner voiced Bobby McFerrin falling down a flight of stairs.[4] The ball-in-a-cup scene is commented upon by MacFarlane, where he states that "the voice-overs work, the drawings work" and that Walter Murphy "did a great job of creating a piece of deliberately annoying music."[5] Several jokes had been pitched for Peter's words after killing an evil dragon, but all were dropped, as they weren't deemed funny enough by production staff.[4][6]
MacFarlane notes that he was surprised they were allowed to do the pickle gag, which consisted of Stewie placing a cucumber on the sofa where Patrick's imaginary wife is sitting, but inserting it into her imaginary vagina (to see if it would turn into a pickle),[5] but suggest that maybe broadcasting standards didn't fully understand the scene.[4] The music song by the over-weight people at a funeral for a murdered obese-man was only shown on the DVD version and not televised for timing purposes,[6] and for potential boredom to viewers.[6][5]. The musical composition was recorded at Fox studios on the Gary Numan stage,[6][5] and described by MacFarlane to be "beautifully, beautifully sung by our studio singers."[5] The chicken falling out of an obese man's mouth when outside James Woods was used a promotional sequence for Fox.[6] George W. Bush is portrayed hiding in a tree house and being informed by Brian of the Hurricane Katrina, Bush was offered the opportunity to voice himself, but declined.[4]
A deleted scene had been made which showed the family traveling onboard an airplane showing Peter, rather than using the airplane toilet as "he is too fat to get out of his seat,"[5] urinates in his seat, but unknowingly urinates on Brian in the process, as he is in a dog cage below Peter's seat. If this scene had been used in the episode, it was intended for Brian, after throwing a rock aimed at Peter's head to say "that's for pissing on me!"[5][4] The gag produced for the episode showing Brian throwing a rock at Peter's head and shouting "that's for rolling up the windows when I tried to jump in to the The General Lee" is a reference to "To Love and Die in Dixie."[5], an episode that aired four years earlier.
[edit] Cultural references
Patrick was traumatized as a child by Jackie Gleason after seeing him seduce his mother, Barbara.[5] When confronting Patrick strangling Peter in the woods Brian throws a rock at Peter. When Peter says that Brian had missed Patrick, Brian says: "No, thats for rolling up the window when I was trying to jump into the General Lee you bastard" this is a reference to a season-three Family Guy episode "To Love and Die in Dixie"[5] Lois is shown watching American game-show The Price Is Right, a reference to the actual show.[5]
[edit] Reception
In a review of the episode, TV Squad commented positively about the storyline, noting that "Unlike The Simpsons tonight, Family Guy actually did work their two storylines together. Their first big one, was about Peter's ever increasing weight problem. He skips out on going to his physical, so that he and Brian can go meet the guys at an all-you-can-eat steak restaurant."[7] In a review of Family Guy, Volume 4, Nancy Basile regards "The Fat Guy Strangler" as one of her favorite episodes, as well as "PTV."[8] Basile moves on to comment that "Being prejudiced against fat people just isn't talked about, but this episode sheds a harsh light on that problem. At times the episode tries to show people who are fat as being victims of unfair bias, but other times just out and out makes fun of them."[8]
[edit] References
- ^ The Fat Guy Strangler. TV.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ The Fat Guy Strangler. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ a b "Family Guy:" Fat Guy Strangler. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sheridan, Chris. (2005). Family Guy season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "The Fat Guy Strangler" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o MacFarlane, Seth. (2005). Family Guy season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "The Fat Guy Strangler" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e Sulkin, Alec. (2005). Family Guy season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "The Fat Guy Strangler" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Budke, Ryan J (November 27, 2005). Family Guy: Fat Guy Strangler. TV Squad. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ a b Basile, Nancy. Family Guy Volume Four DVD. About.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
[edit] External links
