"Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" is the 11th episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series ''

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 the

Fox network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...

in the United States on March 29, 2009. The episode was directed by Greg Colton and written by Danny Smith. In the episode, Quahog hosts its annual ''

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 ...

'' convention and the cast members of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' are guests. After he was unable to ask the actors any questions at a Q&A session, Stewie builds a transporter in his bedroom to beam the cast over and spend the day with them. Meanwhile, Meg becomes a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

and tries to convert the

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

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 ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. The episode garnered mixed reviews from critics and received a 4.8/7

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

. ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''s

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actor ...

Jonathan Frakes Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Commander William Riker in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and subsequent films and series. Frakes als ...

Brent Spiner Brent Jay Spiner (; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the android Data on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', as well as four subsequent films. In 2019, he reprised the role for ...

LeVar Burton Levar Burton Jr. (born February 16, 1957) is an American actor, director, and television host, best known for playing Geordi La Forge in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994). He also played Kunta Kinte in the ABC miniseries ''R ...

Gates McFadden Cheryl Gates McFadden (born March 2, 1949) is an American actress and choreographer. She is usually credited as Cheryl McFadden when working as a choreographer and Gates McFadden for acting work. She is best known for playing Dr. Beverly Crusher ...

Michael Dorn Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American actor best known for his role as the Klingon Worf in the '' Star Trek'' franchise. He has appeared more times as a regular cast member than any other ''Star Trek'' actor in the franchise's histo ...

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...

Denise Crosby Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in season one of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and Yar's daughter, the half-Romulan Commander Sela, in subsequent seasons. She ...

, and

Marina Sirtis Marina Sirtis (; born 29 March 1955) is a British actress. She is best known for her role as Counselor Deanna Troi on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and four ''Star Trek'' feature films, as well as other appearances ...

all guest starred as themselves, and Adam West and

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...

appear at the end of the episode in a live-action scene.

Plot

Meg catches the

mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gener ...

when the

Griffins The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

attend

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 E ...

's annual ''

'' convention, because

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 ...

forced her to stand next to an irresponsible attendee with the mumps to take a picture, believing him to be in costume as an alien. While recovering in bed, Meg becomes a

after watching

Kirk Cameron Kirk Thomas Cameron (born October 12, 1970) is an American actor and evangelist. He first gained fame as a teen actor playing Mike Seaver on the ABC sitcom ''Growing Pains'' (1985–1992), a role for which he was nominated for two Golden Gl ...

on television and begins irritating everyone with her beliefs. Meg is horrified to learn that

is an

and attempts to persuade him to repent and convert to

, but he repeatedly refuses. Finally taking drastic measures, Meg spreads the word of Brian's atheism around Quahog, which generally hates atheists, turning him into a pariah. Upon being made an outcast, Brian is banned from every bar and convenience store in Quahog, making it impossible for him to drown his sorrows. Desperate, and suffering from

delirium tremens Delirium tremens (DTs) is a rapid onset of confusion usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol. When it occurs, it is often three days into the withdrawal symptoms and lasts for two to three days. Physical effects may include shaking, shiver ...

(he hallucinates seeing several alcoholic beverages begging him to drink them), Brian fakes his repentance and persuades Meg to cease all hostilities against him so he can get back to drinking, but she takes him to burn books that are "harmful to God" (including ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'' by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

, ''

A Brief History of Time ''A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes'' is a book on theoretical cosmology by English physicist Stephen Hawking. It was first published in 1988. Hawking wrote the book for readers who had no prior knowledge of physics. I ...

'' by Stephen Hawking, and a book titled ''Logic for First Graders''). A disgusted Brian admits his bluff and attempts to convince Meg that what she is doing is wrong. When Meg refuses to listen, Brian points out to her that if there were truly a loving God, then he would not have created Meg to have an attractive mother like

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 ...

but have her to more physically resemble Peter, and that she would not be brought into a world where everyone holds her in contempt. Feeling ashamed, Meg concedes to Brian's argument and apologizes for her behavior, confessing that she does not know how she can feel loved. Brian then assures her that the answers are inside herself, and the real meaning of their existence is out there somewhere. Afterward, it is revealed that the entire ''Family Guy'' universe takes place within the molecules of a lampshade in the shared bedroom of Adam West and

. Meanwhile, furious that he did not get a chance to ask the cast of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' any questions at the convention, and the fact that the cast instead answered questions completely unrelated to ''Star Trek'', Stewie builds an authentic ''Star Trek'' transporter and beams the cast over to interview them (in a nod to the TNG episode "

Skin of Evil "Skin of Evil" is the 23rd episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and originally aired on April 25, 1988, in broadcast syndication. The story premise was written by Jo ...

is killed in a show of force). Stewie decides to spend the whole day with the cast, which includes stealing

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

's van, having lunch at

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

, going bowling, and going to a carnival. However, they prove extremely obnoxious, much to Stewie's exasperation, and he beams everyone back after stating that they have ruined ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' for him.

Production

Patrick Stewart Photo Call Logan Berlinale 2017 (cropped)

"Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" was directed by series regular Greg Colton, in his second episode of the season (his first one being "

Road to Germany "Road to Germany" is the third episode of the seventh season and the fourth episode in the '' Road to...'' series of the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 19 ...

"). It was written by regular writer and recurring voice actor Danny Smith, in his first episode of the season. Series regulars

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 James Purdum served as supervising directors.

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 ...

, ''Family Guy''s creator and executive producer, is a fan of ''

'' and made two guest appearances as engineer Ensign Rivers on ''

Star Trek: Enterprise ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', titled simply ''Enterprise'' for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on Uni ...

'', in " The Forgotten" (season 3, episode 20) and "

Affliction Affliction or Afflicted may refer to: Books * ''Affliction'' (novel), a 2013 Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novel by Laurell K. Hamilton * ''Affliction'', a novel by Russell Banks, basis of the 1998 film Film and TV * ''Affliction'' (1997 film), ...

" (season 4, episode 15). Former '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' cast members have also made other appearances in ''Family Guy'':

, for example, briefly voiced

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 ...

(normally played by MacFarlane) in "

No Meals on Wheels "No Meals on Wheels" is the 14th episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series '' Family Guy''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 25, 2007. The episode features the Griffin family opening a restaurant, and eve ...

" (season 5, episode 14), his ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'' character,

Avery Bullock This article lists characters from the animated series ''American Dad!''. Voice cast The voice actors are not assembled as a group when performing the lines of their characters; rather, each of the voice actors perform their lines privately ...

in "

Lois Kills Stewie "Stewie Kills Lois" and "Lois Kills Stewie" are a two-part episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series '' Family Guy'', which was originally produced for the end of Season 5. Respectively, both parts are the fourth and fifth episo ...

" (season 6, episode 5), and his ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' character Captain

Jean-Luc Picard Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, most often seen as the captain of the Federation starship . Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''T ...

in "

Peter's Got Woods "Peter's Got Woods" is the 11th episode and the mid-season premiere of the Family Guy (season 4), fourth season of the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox in the United States on ...

" (season 4, episode 11);

and

also appeared in "

" as their respective ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' characters

William Riker William Thomas "Will" Riker is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' universe appearing primarily as a main character in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. Throughout the series and its accompanying films, he is the ''Enterprise''s first ...

Worf Worf, son of Mogh is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. He appears in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG'') and seasons four through seven of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (''DS9'') as well as t ...

, and Counsellor Deanna Troi. "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" features the entire original cast of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'': Stewart as Captain Picard; Frakes as Riker;

as Doctor

Beverly Crusher Beverly Crusher is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise played by Gates McFadden. Debuting in the television series, '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', McFadden appeared in every season except for the second, as well as its spin ...

;

as Lieutenant Commander

Data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted ...

; Dorn as Worf; Sirtis as Troi;

as Chief Engineer

Geordi La Forge Geordi La Forge ( ) is a fictional character who appeared in all seven seasons of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and its four feature films. Portrayed by LeVar Burton, he served as helmsman o ...

;

Wesley Crusher Wesley Crusher is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. He appears regularly in the first four seasons of the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG''), and sporadically in its next three seasons. He also app ...

; and

, whose character

Tasha Yar Natasha (russian: Наташа) is a name of Slavic origin. The Slavic name is the diminutive form of Natalia. Notable people * Natasha, the subject of ''Natasha's Story'', a 1994 nonfiction book * Natasha Aguilar (1970–2016), Costa Rican sw ...

died during ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''s first season. It is also the first time the cast, minus Crosby, has worked together since the 2002 feature film ''

Star Trek Nemesis ''Star Trek: Nemesis'' is a 2002 American science fiction film directed by Stuart Baird. It is the tenth film in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, as well as the fourth and final film to star the cast of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. It was wr ...

'', although the actors did not meet when they recorded their speaking parts. Including Crosby, the last time that the entire cast worked together was the 1990 episode " Yesterday's Enterprise".

, who played

on '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', recorded his parts for the episode on September 20, 2007. Seth MacFarlane directed the recording sessions with the guest stars.

Reception

"Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" received a 4.8/7 Nielsen Rating. 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 ...

'' called the episode "surprisingly refreshing", saying the scenes with the ''Star Trek'' cast lived up to expectations. He also found "Meg's journey of seeking acceptance through religion" well handled. Steve Heisler of ''

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 the episode a C grade, criticized "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" as boring and formulaic and stated that the writers "have no idea how to best use Meg".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Not All Dogs Go To Heaven 2009 American television episodes Family Guy (season 7) episodes Star Trek: The Next Generation Atheism in television Television episodes with live action and animation Television episodes about Christianity