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"I Never Met the Dead Man" is the second episode of the first season of the
animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...
comedy series Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...
''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...
''. It originally aired on
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
in the United States on April 11, 1999, stating in a promo that it is the official series premiere of the show. The episode follows
Peter Griffin Peter Löwenbräu Griffin, born Justin Peter Griffin, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is voiced by the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane, and first appeared on television, alon ...
as he teaches his daughter
Meg Meg is a feminine given name, often a short form of Megatron, Megan, Megumi (Japanese), etc. It may refer to: People *Meg (singer), a Japanese singer *Meg Cabot (born 1967), American author of romantic and paranormal fiction *Meg Burton Cahill ( ...
how to drive. Due to his terrible advice they crash into a
satellite dish A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radi ...
, breaking out the city's cable. Peter begins to suffer from television withdrawal but finds new life in outdoor activities, driving his family to exhaustion. Meanwhile, Stewie plots to destroy the world's supply of broccoli with a
weather control Weather modification is the act of intentionally manipulating or altering the weather. The most common form of weather modification is cloud seeding, which increases rain or snow, usually for the purpose of increasing the local water supply. We ...
device so
Lois Lois is a common English name from the New Testament. Paul the Apostle mentions Lois, the pious grandmother of Saint Timothy in the Second Epistle to Timothy (commending her for her faith in 2 Timothy 1:5). The name was first used by English C ...
cannot force him to eat the vegetable. "I Never Met the Dead Man" was written by Chris Sheridan and directed by
Michael Dante DiMartino Michael Dante DiMartino (born July 18, 1974) is an American animator, producer, writer, and director. He is best known, together with Bryan Konietzko, as the co-creator of the animated TV series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of ...
, both firsts in the ''Family Guy'' series. Much of the episode's humor, in standard ''Family Guy'' usage, is structured around cutaway sequences that parody pop culture, including those focused on ''
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.
'', ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'', '' Wizard of Oz'', '' ALF'', ''
Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired for thr ...
'', ''
Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...
'', and ''
Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...
''. The title "I Never Met the Dead Man" was derived from 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology ''
Suspense Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...
'', which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder. The episode featured guest performances by
Erik Estrada Henry Enrique Estrada (born March 16, 1949) is an American actor and police officer. He is known for his co-starring lead role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the police drama television series ...
,
Butch Hartman Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He is most known for creating the Nickelodeon series ''The Fairly OddParents'', ''Danny Phantom'', ''T.U.F.F. Puppy'', a ...
,
Aaron Lustig Aaron Lustig (born September 17, 1956) is an American film and television actor. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1997, for Best Supporting Actor on ''The Young and the Restless'' as Tim Reid, whom he has also portrayed on ''The Bold and the ...
and
Joey Slotnick Joseph Slotnick (born October 2, 1968) is an American film actor and voice actor. He is known for roles in ''Twister'' (1996), ''Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Elevator'' (2011), ''The Single Guy'' (1995–1997), and ''Nip/Tuck'' (2003-2006). Life and c ...
, along with several recurring voice actors for the series. Critical responses to the episode were favorable; several television critics singled it out as among the "most memorable" episodes in the series.


Plot

In a
cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Ameri ...
, Stewie plays with his ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'' telephone. As the phone says to count to three, Stewie uses his laser gun to destroy the phone three times. Annoyed that Peter spends more time watching television than with his own family, Lois suggests he teach Meg how to drive. Peter reluctantly agrees, and unwittingly gives Meg a list of lousy driving tips, including instructing her to "rev" her engine twice at traffic lights and challenge other drivers to a race, which causes her to eventually fail her driving test. As Peter drives them home from the DMV, he notices that a show he wanted to watch is on television in a nearby house. Distracted by the show, he crashes the car into the main cable television transmitter, breaking out reception for the entire town of
Quahog The hard clam (''Mercenaria mercenaria''), also known as the round clam, hard-shell (or hard-shelled) clam, or the quahog, is an edible marine bivalve mollusk that is native to the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Prince ...
. As Peter and Meg realize this, angry citizens of Quahog approach. In response, Peter promises Meg that if she takes the blame for breaking the cable transmitter, she would get a new convertible when she finally gets her license. Once they arrive home with the transmitter still attached to the car, Lois becomes furious with Peter for placing the blame on his daughter. Meg, of course, is blamed and is about to admit the truth, but then decides to keep quiet, reflecting with an inner voice, a reference to ''
The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age story, coming-of-age situation comedy, comedy/Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol L. Black, Carol Black. It ran on American Broadcasting Company ...
'', at school. Meanwhile, Stewie, (seeing the opportunity of the dish attached to the car), steals the satellite dish in a plan to create a weather control device capable of destroying the world's supply of broccoli, since Lois had forced him to eat the vegetable earlier that day. Suffering withdrawal syndrome from the lack of cable, Peter straps a television-sized cardboard cutout to himself, making it appear as though his entire world is a television program. When Meg cannot deal with the public scorn, she reveals that her father is truly responsible for Quahog's loss of television, causing the town to turn against him. To save Peter from further scorn and verbal attacks, Lois gives a heartfelt speech to the community about how television has kept them all from enjoying one another. Inspired by the speech, Peter drags the family to one outdoor activity after another, which quickly exhausts them. Once the family cannot keep up with him, Peter decides to go off with William Shatner, who has appeared on the Griffin family's doorstep after experiencing a flat tire, to a nearby festival. Meanwhile, Stewie's weather machine creates a huge storm. The storm's lightning strike destroys Stewie's weather machine and blows Stewie off the roof and onto the ground. While Meg is practicing driving with Lois, the storm causes her to accidentally hit Shatner and Peter, killing Shatner and hospitalizing Peter. As her father recovers, in a full-body cast, he is forced to watch television, causing him to become addicted once again, much to his family's relief. During the credits, Stewie tries (and fails) to imagine he is eating his broccoli by pouring it onto Brian's plate.


Production

"I Never Met the Dead Man" was the first episode of ''Family Guy'' for both writer Chris Sheridan and director
Michael Dante DiMartino Michael Dante DiMartino (born July 18, 1974) is an American animator, producer, writer, and director. He is best known, together with Bryan Konietzko, as the co-creator of the animated TV series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of ...
. For the first months of production, the writers shared one office lent to them by the ''
King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
'' production crew. As with the remaining first four episodes of the season, the title of the episode was derived from 1930s and 1940s radio programs, particularly the radio thriller anthology "
Suspense Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...
", which featured several elements pertaining to death and murder. This convention was later dropped following the fourth episode of the season. In addition to the regular cast, actor
Erik Estrada Henry Enrique Estrada (born March 16, 1949) is an American actor and police officer. He is known for his co-starring lead role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the police drama television series ...
, writer and animator
Butch Hartman Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He is most known for creating the Nickelodeon series ''The Fairly OddParents'', ''Danny Phantom'', ''T.U.F.F. Puppy'', a ...
, actor
Aaron Lustig Aaron Lustig (born September 17, 1956) is an American film and television actor. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1997, for Best Supporting Actor on ''The Young and the Restless'' as Tim Reid, whom he has also portrayed on ''The Bold and the ...
, actor
Joey Slotnick Joseph Slotnick (born October 2, 1968) is an American film actor and voice actor. He is known for roles in ''Twister'' (1996), ''Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Elevator'' (2011), ''The Single Guy'' (1995–1997), and ''Nip/Tuck'' (2003-2006). Life and c ...
and voice actor
Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...
guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actress
Lori Alan Lori Alan (born July 18, 1966) is an American actress and voice actress. She has played a long-running role as Pearl Krabs on the animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. She also voiced Diane Simmons on ''Family Guy'', the Invisible ...
also made minor appearances. The episode originally aired on April 11, 1999, nearly three months after the series premiere.


Cultural references

When Meg asks her mother to help teach her how to drive, Lois suggests Peter take her driving instead. With Peter refusing in order to continue watching an episode of ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'', actor
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
, as portrayed by series creator
Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...
, then appears on the screen. Going on to suggest her father is not the best driver,
Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...
recalls a previous driving incident Peter had with
Wile E. Coyote Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short ''Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episode, t ...
, in which he accidentally ran over the Road Runner in the middle of the desert. When Peter becomes concerned about the "ostrich" he just hit, Wile E. tells him to keep going. In school, when Meg is about to confess that her father was actually the one who crashed the car, she reflects with an inner voice, a reference to the 1990s hit TV show ''
The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age story, coming-of-age situation comedy, comedy/Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol L. Black, Carol Black. It ran on American Broadcasting Company ...
''. Continuing to suffer a withdrawal from not being able to watch television, Peter has a '' Wizard of Oz''-inspired nightmare featuring Alf from the 1986
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
sitcom ''ALF'',
Gilligan Gilligan is a fictional character played by Bob Denver on the 1960s TV show '' Gilligan's Island'' and its many sequels. Gilligan, affectionately called "little buddy" by the "Skipper", is the bumbling, dimwitted, accident-prone first mate of t ...
from the 1964
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
series ''
Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired for thr ...
'', The Robot from ''
Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
'', and Jeannie from ''
I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually marrie ...
'', who promptly transforms into Samantha from the 1964
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
series ''
Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...
''. After creating a cardboard cutout in the shape of a television, Peter walks around town with the contraption strapped to his waist, perceiving the actions around him as television. Two women talking over lunch suggests that he is watching the television station Lifetime, two elderly people out walking reminds him of
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
, a group of Black people playing
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
suggests
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
, and James Woods High School reminds him of ''
Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...
''. After TV service is restored and most of the Griffin family is watching ''Star Trek'',
James T. Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in ''Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk leads ...
tells his crew that there is a dangerous mission in that someone will surely be killed. He explains the landing party will consist of himself,
Mr. Spock Spock is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as science officer and first officer (and Kirk's Second-in-command) and ...
,
Dr. McCoy Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, known as "Bones", is a character in the American science-fiction franchise '' Star Trek''. McCoy was played by actor DeForest Kelley in the original ''Star Trek'' series from 1966 to 1969, and he also appears in the an ...
, and Ensign Ricky (a
redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...
), who, upon being called, cynically says "Oh crap!", due to the television trope of oft-related instances of redshirt ensigns being killed on the show. At the end of the episode, after Meg accidentally hits and kills Shatner with the Griffin family car, the group of people looking over includes the actor who played Ensign Ricky stating "Wow, I did not see that one coming."


Reception

Reviews for the episode were generally favorable. A 2008 review of the episode by Ahsan Haque of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
was positive, calling the storyline involving Stewie "elaborate creative." He gave the episode a perfect score of ten, calling it one of the most "memorable" episodes in the entire series. Haque went on to note that "the tightly woven and hilarious storyline, combined with a constant barrage of cleverly inserted random jokes, and some truly unique imagery help make this episode one of the finest in the series. This is ''Family Guy'' at its best, and definitely sets a very high bar for animated comedy." Robin Pierson of ''The TV Critic'' rated the episode a 70 out of 100, making it the highest-rated episode of ''Family Guy'' on the site. Pierson described the episode as "A really fun twenty two minutes of television. There are so many jokes to enjoy and they are more focussed than
the pilot A pilot is a person who flies or navigates an aircraft. Pilot or The Pilot may also refer to: * Maritime pilot, a person who guides ships through hazardous waters * Television pilot, a television episode used to sell a series to a television netw ...
," in particular praising the ''Fast Animals, Slow Children'' sequence. In 2008, Haque later listed Stewie's plan to freeze broccoli crops as number one on his list of "Stewie's Top 10 Most Diabolical Evil Plans" and placed Peter's idea to pretend the world is a television program by attaching a cardboard cutout of a television set around his waist in sixth place on his list of "Peter Griffin's Top 10 Craziest Ideas".


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:I Never Met The Dead Man Family Guy (season 1) episodes 1999 American television episodes Cultural depictions of Charles Manson Television episodes about television