"Mr. and Mrs. Stewie" is the nineteenth episode of the tenth season of the

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

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

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on April 29, 2012. In this episode, Stewie finds his perfect match, Penelope, and

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Quagmire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

decide to take their friendship to a new level after

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 ...

buys twin beds. According to Nielsen ratings, "Mr. and Mrs. Stewie" was watched by 5.63 million U.S. viewers and acquired a 2.8/7 rating.

Plot

Stewie is forced to come along to

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 meani ...

's book reading. Brian makes up for keeping Stewie out all night (when Brian scores with a college girl) by taking Stewie to the park. There Stewie meets Penelope, a girl who takes revenge on a boy who pushes Stewie, by feeding the boy taffy laced with superglue. Stewie discovers they share a love of mathematics and advanced weaponry. When he discovers that she actually managed to kill her mother, he becomes totally enamored. They wreak havoc all over the world, destroying the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

and the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...

, causing India and Pakistan to conduct nuclear war with each other, and destroying Copenhagen with a tidal wave (while incorporating a

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the U ...

theme). Brian tries to convince him that while Stewie causes chaos as part of a grand scheme, Penelope does it just for kicks. As Penelope plots to kill a teacher, Stewie tells her that Brian suggested they take it easy. Penelope demands that Stewie kill Brian. Stewie is reluctant due to their friendship. He tries to steel himself but ultimately cannot do it. Penelope decides to do the job herself. Stewie secretly thwarts several of her attempts before confessing all to Brian. Penelope and Stewie battle, and she agrees to leave Brian alone. Penelope kisses Stewie goodbye but leaves him hanging from a lamppost. Brian thanks Stewie for saving his life. Meanwhile,

tires of being crushed at night by

in bed. She replaces their shared bed with twin beds. Unable to sleep alone, Peter proposes that he and

become bunk buddies. As their friendship blossoms, Quagmire gives Peter a " giggity band". Lois misses Peter and asks him to return. Peter rises from Quagmire's bed, revealing he has crushed the seriously injured Quagmire during the night.

Production

This episode was written by

Gary Janetti Gary V. Janetti (born March 22, 1966) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He has written for ''Family Guy'', and was an executive producer on ''Will and Grace''. He co-created and wrote the British sitcom '' Vicious'', which ...

, who has been with the show since its first season when he wrote " Brian: Portrait of a Dog". This episode is Janetti's second writing credit for the season, since he also wrote "Stewie Goes for a Drive". The episode was directed by

Joe Vaux Joseph S. Vaux (born 1972, in Islip, New York) is an American animator, and artist who works as a storyboard artist and animation director on TV show ''Family Guy''. Vaux created the artwork for the character Goliath on the TV series ''Resident Ali ...

, this being his first directing credit for the series. This episode featured

Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received nu ...

as Penelope.

Cultural references

The episode name is a reference to the 2005 film '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith''.

Reception

This episode was watched by 5.63 million viewers, airing on the same night with ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'' on

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 ...

, according to Nielsen ratings. It has a 2.8/7 rating share in the 18-49 demographic group, losing to ''Desperate Housewives''. The ratings raised from the previous episode, "

You Can't Do That on Television, Peter The tenth season of ''Family Guy'' premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network from September 25, 2011, to May 20, 2012 with a one-hour broadcast of two episodes. The series follows the Griffin family, a dysfunctional family consisting ...

". This episode received mainly positive reviews. Kevin McFarland from ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave a B+ grade. He liked the humor that is used in the episode, especially for

and Stewie's moments, saying "This episode featured a lot of the humor that frequently works for me. It focused on Brian’s snobbery at the book reading, seducing a college creative writing student at a

Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel ''The Corrections'', a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Pr ...

reading. I always like jokes that show Brian as a dog, so I found Stewie using the spray bottle to prevent Brian from hijacking the reading with his own work pretty hilarious." However, he criticized how the family treats Meg, and disliked the sub-plot with Peter. Carter Doston of TV Fanatic gave a 3/5 rating. He enjoyed the Stewie and Penelope fight scene, calling it "entertaining", but said that "it wasn't as long and drawn-out as any of the Giant Chicken fights".

References

External links

"Mr. and Mrs. Stewie"
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{Family Guy (season 10) 2012 American television episodes Family Guy (season 10) episodes Matricide in fiction