"Jungle Love" is the 13th episode of the fourth season of ''
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 ...
''. The episode originally aired on September 25, 2005 and was written by Mark Hentemann and directed by Seth Kearsley. Chris runs away from his home after getting hazed on his first day of school and joins the Peace Corps, after which he is dropped off in South America and becomes popular with the indigenous people. Peter gets a job at the Pawtucket Brewery, where the beer is free as long as employees do not drink during their shift.
Plot
Chris is excited to become a
freshman
A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.
Ara ...
at the local
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, until
Joe
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
warns Chris about the Freshman Hunt, a
hazing
Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...
ritual in which the freshmen are beaten with paddles by
Upperclassman, and even school staff. When Chris shows up at school
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 ...
, after falsely assuring him it is not real, shouts "Freshman!" to lure over other students. After a short chase Chris is caught and paddled by several people, including
Mayor Adam West
Mayor Adam West is a fictional character voiced by actor Adam West on the American animated television series '' Family Guy''. He was depicted as the mayor of the town of Quahog, Rhode Island, where the show is set. He appeared on a recurring ...
(a parody of a scene from the film ''
Dazed and Confused'', complete with
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
's "
No More Mr. Nice Guy" playing). Chris asks
Brian for advice on how to cope, and Brian tells Chris about his time in the
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...
. Chris decides to join the Corps and goes to
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, where he becomes popular with the natives. When he leads the tribe in a dance ("
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified pla ...
"), he unwittingly marries the chief’s daughter, as dictated by the tribe's customs.
Meanwhile, Peter, who has been
unemployed for some time, goes to work at the Pawtucket Brewery, where the beer is free as long as employees do not drink during their shift. However, Peter cannot control his drinking and he is
demoted
''Demoted'' is a 2011 American comedy film directed by J. B. Rogers and starring Michael Vartan, Sean Astin, Celia Weston, David Cross, Billy West and Sara Foster.
Plot
Rodney and Mike are two of the top salesmen at Treadline Tire Company. Desp ...
to the shipping department (where drinking is not permitted), where he ends up as a subordinate to
Opie, an intellectually disabled but somewhat more qualified man who speaks in unintelligible babbling.
When Lois learns of Chris' marriage, she immediately travels down to South America with the rest of the family. Upon their arrival, Peter is seen as the richest man in the country with just $37. He takes advantage of this by paying the natives nickels and dimes to act according to his whimsy. When Chris accuses Peter of "using" the natives to escape his troubles, Lois points out that that is also what Chris did. Chris then decides to return to
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, telling his wife that he must leave her, casually referring to his status as a freshman and mentioning she is only 11. The natives' response imitates the Freshman Hunt by upperclassmen in Quahog: they chase the Griffins in a hostile manner (causing Chris to realize that there is no place to hide from his problems). The Griffins escape on a
seaplane
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...
(another parody of a movie scene, this time from ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
''), but forget
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 ( ...
, who is left face-down in the river, riddled by
darts and
arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
s.
Production
![Mark Hentemann by Gage Skidmore 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Mark_Hentemann_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg)
The episode was written by future showrunner
Mark Hentemann
Mark Henry Hentemann is an American screenwriter, creator and producer for television and film. He is a writer, executive producer and former showrunner of the animated series ''Family Guy'', where he started as a writer in its first season. In ...
and was directed by
Peter Shin
Peter Shin is an American animator, director, and producer who served as supervising director of '' Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story'', the director of '' Big Bug Man'', the director of '' Family Guy'' episodes "Death Has a Shadow" (the series prem ...
and Seth Kearsley.
It featured special guest appearances from Ralph Garman, Lisa Wilhoit, Danny Smith, and Nicole Sullivan.
[ It also featured guest appearances by Adam West, playing himself as the eponymous ]Mayor Adam West
Mayor Adam West is a fictional character voiced by actor Adam West on the American animated television series '' Family Guy''. He was depicted as the mayor of the town of Quahog, Rhode Island, where the show is set. He appeared on a recurring ...
, and Carrie Fisher in her first appearance as Angela
Angela may refer to:
Places
* Angela, Montana
* Angela Lake, in Volusia County, Florida
* Lake Angela, in Lyon Township, Oakland County, Michigan
* Lake Angela, the reservoir impounded by the source dam of the South Yuba River
Fiction
* Angel ...
, Peter's boss.[
]
Cultural references
The episode contains some cultural references, for example when Stewie becomes a tootsie
''Tootsie'' is a 1982 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman. Its supporting cast includes Pollack, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Bill Murray, Charles Durning, George Ga ...
, when Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...
's evil plot backfired, and Kevin Federline's Magic Mirror, which is Peter. The episode featured the 1984 hit single "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified pla ...
" from the British pop duo Wham!. The title of the episode is a reference to songs of the same name by The Time and Steve Miller Band. There is a cutaway gag that involves Stewie taking violent revenge on actor Will Ferrell after being disappointed by his film ''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 ...
''. The last scene of the episode is a reference to ''Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
''.
Reception
In his review of the episode, Ryan J. Budke of TV Squad
Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...
reviewed the episode positively, commenting: "this week had some of the quickest (Deadwood) and longest (cave-couple fight) jokes that ''Family Guy'' has done and I was in stitches for just about every one", adding "I can't heap enough praise on this show." Critics of both Popmatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
and 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 ...
criticized the first few episodes but felt the show regained its humor after " Don't Make Me Over" which included this episode.
References
External links
*
{{Family Guy (season 4)
Family Guy (season 4) episodes
2005 American television episodes
Brazil in fiction