When You Wish Upon a Weinstein
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“When You Wish Upon a Weinstein” is an episode of Family Guy that would have first aired in 2000, but due to concerns about its content it was not aired until November 9, 2003, when it was broadcast on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. It was later aired on FOX on December 10, 2004. Its production code of 2ACX05 suggests the episode was meant to take place early on in season two, but because it was first aired between seasons three and four, and since it is included as the last episode in the season three DVD box set for Region 1 (as a “bonus un-aired episode”), it is customarily placed at No. 22 in most episode lists (although in the Region 2 and 4 DVD releases it is included as the last episode of Season 2, and it is broadcast in Australia as the Season 4 premiere on both free-to-air and cable television networks). The episode title is derived from the Disney song “When You Wish Upon a Star.” This episode aired 19 months since the "last episode." It is arguably among the most controversial episodes of Family Guy ever made.
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[edit] Plot summary
Peter gives Lois’ “rainy day fund” to a scam artist selling volcano insurance. On that same night, Stewie breaks Meg’s glasses because he hates being watched while he sleeps. Lois then tells Peter that he needs to recover the money to buy their daughter a new pair of glasses. After hearing Quagmire and Cleveland talk how men with Jewish-sounding names have helped them achieve financial success, Peter decides that he needs a Jew to handle his money (though the fact that the men are Jewish is coincidental and Cleveland tells Peter he doesn't approve of his logic) in an elaborate musical number based on “When You Wish upon a Star.” When a Jewish man named Max Weinstein (Peter Riegert) has car trouble outside the Griffin house, Peter takes it as a sign. After a foot chase, Peter pressures Max into helping him get the emergency money back. Max later recovers the money from the scammer. After accompanying Max to a reform synagogue (“Temple Beth Thupporting Actor”) and inviting him over for dinner, Peter comes to the conclusion that Chris would get smarter if he converted to Judaism. He secretly drives Chris to Las Vegas, Nevada for a quickie Bar Mitzvah after Lois displays objection to his idea, but she arrives in Quagmire's car just in time to stop the ceremony. A crowd, angry that Lois is apparently insulting their religion, chases the Griffins until they escape onto a bus which is full of nuns who are not happy about Peter’s straying from Catholicism and whack the Griffins with rulers.
[edit] Controversy
Some FOX network executives were concerned that the episode could be construed as anti-Semitic, and decided not to air the episode after it had completed postproduction.[1] In fact, it aired on Cartoon Network before it aired on FOX, making this episode the first (and so far only) episode to do so.[1]
On the DVD commentary for the episode, Seth MacFarlane mentions that he showed the script of the episode to two rabbis, both of whom approved the episode “because Peter learns the right lesson at the end.” MacFarlane also points out that the writer, Ricky Blitt, is Jewish himself, as is Ben Stein, who plays the Rabbi.
One line considered particularly offensive by some occurs during Peter’s song when he sings “Even though they killed my Lord, I need a Jew,” in the song “I Need a Jew.” MacFarlane recorded an alternate version of the line (replacing “Even though they killed my Lord” with “I don’t think they killed my Lord”) which was used when Cartoon Network aired the episode and then when FOX aired the episode (TBS also airs this episode with the alternate line, even though the original line is shown in closed captioning, and if one reads Peter’s lips, he’s saying the original line. In fact, when Adult Swim aired the episode, one of their "bumps" hinted to this by telling the viewers to "read Peter's lips"). The episode aired in Israel with the original line.[citation needed] The original version also aired in Australia and the UK. When it airs on Teletoon, the “Hebrew people I’ve adored” caption freezes through the lines “I don’t think they killed my Lord, I need a Jew.” MacFarlane defends the original line giving a “consider the source” defense. Plenty of previous episodes, as well as this episode, make the point that Peter lacks very general knowledge (he believes that a volcano could come down the road mere minutes prior to the song) as well as knowledge of his own Catholic religion.
[edit] Lawsuit
On October 3, 2007, the Bourne Company publishing house, sole owner of the song "When You Wish upon a Star", filed a lawsuit against several Fox divisions, Cartoon Network, Fuzzy Door Productions, Family Guy producer Seth MacFarlane and composer Walter Murphy, claiming copyright infringement over "I Need a Jew", seeking unspecified damages and to halt the program's distribution. [2][3] The suit claims harm to the value of the song due to the offensive nature of the lyrics.[4]
[edit] Censorship
The FOX version of this episode edits the episode not only by replacing the "Even though they killed my Lord" line in the "I Need a Jew" song, but also by drastically shortening the part where Quagmire is searching his pockets for his car keys. This was done so it looks less like he’s masturbating in front of Lois. Versions of this episode shown on TBS and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim line-up merely replace Peter's "Even though they killed my Lord" line in the "I Need A Jew" song with "I don't think they killed my Lord" and leave the Lois/Quagmire scene intact.
[edit] Cultural references
Given the main plot of the episode, many of the cultural references pertain to Jews in entertainment. For example, Peter tells Weinstein “Thanks for Spaceballs!,” in reference to Spaceballs, the Star Wars parody, written and directed by Mel Brooks, who is Jewish. Also, later in the episode Peter makes a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark; that movie’s director, Steven Spielberg, is also Jewish, and the star, Harrison Ford is also partly Jewish. Lois watches Seinfeld, whose star, Jerry Seinfeld, is Jewish. When Peter says that people have taken credit for the achievements of Jews for too long, a cutaway reveals Woody Allen writing Louis Farrakhan’s speeches. Allen then complains that he hasn’t been so humiliated since he was at the Friars Club and Soon-Yi’s retainer fell out of his pants. A scene depicts William Shatner performing a scene from Fiddler on the Roof. He shouts “Khan!!!” (instead of "can") as a reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
A short cut scene, which parodies the rumored unsafe procedures of laser eye surgery, references the Star Wars character Luke Skywalker (voiced by Mark Hamill), who wields a lightsaber to execute the surgery on the encouragement of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
When Peter tells Max, "I'm Irish, I drink and I ban homosexuals from marching in my parade", this is a reference to the Supreme Court case Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston.
The last few scenes of the episode parody the ending of The Graduate. At the Vegas synagogue, Lois uses a Star of David to lock the door, then she, Peter, and Chris board a bus, sitting all the way at the rear.
When Meg asks her family how she looks with her new glasses, Stewie comments that there is probably an old picture of her in the attic that just became more beautiful. This is a reference to the Oscar Wilde novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which the lead character experiences the opposite: his appearance is unaffected by aging and his mistreating of others; instead his crimes show on a portrait of him in his attic, in which his appearance becomes more and more hideous.
When the Griffins enter the synagogue, Peter mentions that musician Lenny Kravitz is half-Jewish by stating "Look, there's half of Lenny Kravitz" which shows Kravitz literally halved lengthwise. This itself is a reference to Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song" in which he mentions Kravitz and Courtney Love both being half-Jewish. A couple of seconds later, Autobot leader Optimus Prime enters the synagogue. Peter also points out Bill Nye the Science Guy.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Chicago Sun-Times (Nov 27, 2004) Fox to air 'Family Guy' episode once considered anti-Semitic.
- ^ It's 'Wish Upon a Star' vs. 'Family Guy'. CNN.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
- ^ Neumeister, Larry (2007-10-04). Classic song's owner sues over spoof. Yahoo! News. The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
- ^ Bourne Co., vs. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Fox Broadcasting Company, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainement, Inc., Fuzzy Door Productions, Inc., The Cartoon Network, Inc., Seth MacFarlane, Walter Murphy, [1] . "Defendants' infringing activities have cause and will continue to cause Bourne great and irreparable harm. By associating Bourne's song with such offensive lyrics and other content in the episode, Defendants are harming the value of the song."
