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 ...

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 ...

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

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 ...

Dan Povenmire Daniel Kingsley Povenmire ( ; born September 18, 1963) is an American animator, writer, director, producer, and voice actor. With Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Povenmire co-created the Disney animated series ''Phineas and Ferb'' and '' Milo Murphy's Law' ...

Victoria Principal Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Danny Smith and

Wally Wingert Wallace Eugene Wingert (born May 6, 1961) is an American voice actor. His roles include Almighty Tallest Red in ''Invader Zim'', Renji Abarai in ''Bleach'', Kotetsu T. Kaburagi / Wild Tiger in '' Tiger & Bunny'', The Riddler in the '' Batman: ...

as various characters. Series creator Seth MacFarlane conceived the idea for this episode, and was inspired by the 1940s '' Road to...'' series of comedy films which starred Bing Crosby,

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

, and

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...

. The episode received universal acclaim from television critics. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less than One Hour)".

Plot

In a flashback set seven years earlier,

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 ...

is born in a

puppy mill A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in ''Avenson v. ...

near

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

and taken from his mother. In the present, Brian tells his psychiatrist about the memory. Afterward, Brian volunteers to pick up Stewie from his vacation at his grandparents' summer home in Palm Springs, California, where Stewie frames a maid for stealing to amuse himself at dinner. At the airport bar, Brian gets drunk and, when Stewie comes to find him, their bags are stolen when left unattended; with the plane tickets inside. They stop at a decrepit motel, where Stewie tries calling home, but fails because he believes his phone number is 867-5309. The next day, they have to escape their room and hotwire a car due to their credit card being rejected. Eventually, they visit the puppy mill after being in a caravan of migrants and discover Brian’s mother had died, her carcass was stuffed and used as a table. A horrified Brian decides to take her remains and bury them in a nearby park. To get home, Stewie and Brian masquerade as crop dusters to steal a plane, which they immediately crash. When Stewie and Brian return home, Lois asks Stewie about the trip, and Stewie covers up for Brian by saying the trip was "Smooth sailing through calm seas". Lois leaves and Brian tells Stewie that he is thankful to Stewie for covering for him, and asks Stewie if there's anything he can do to repay him. At first, it appears that Stewie wishes to make him his servant by providing an example with an episode of ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, afte ...

'', although it turns out that Stewie wants Brian to tape that episode for him. Meanwhile, Lois urges

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 ...

to watch relationship videos with her, but the videos turn out to be pornography hosted by Dr. Amanda Rebecca, who strips after asking the women to leave the room. Peter becomes addicted to the videos, much to Lois's chagrin. She gets herself on the end of one of the tapes in black

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fash ...

and entices Peter. While kissing, Peter rewinds the tape, playing the part of Lois taking her robe off over and over.

Production

"Road to Rhode Island" was directed by

Dan Povenmire Daniel Kingsley Povenmire ( ; born September 18, 1963) is an American animator, writer, director, producer, and voice actor. With Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Povenmire co-created the Disney animated series ''Phineas and Ferb'' and '' Milo Murphy's Law' ...

and was written by Gary Janetti. It featured guest appearances from

Victoria Principal Vicki Ree Principal (born January 3, 1950),Danny Smith and

Wally Wingert Wallace Eugene Wingert (born May 6, 1961) is an American voice actor. His roles include Almighty Tallest Red in ''Invader Zim'', Renji Abarai in ''Bleach'', Kotetsu T. Kaburagi / Wild Tiger in '' Tiger & Bunny'', The Riddler in the '' Batman: ...

as various characters. This was the first episode directed by Povenmire. ''Family Guy'' creator Seth MacFarlane granted Povenmire substantial creative freedom for directing episodes. Povenmire said that MacFarlane would tell him, "We've got two minutes to fill. Give me some visual gags. Do whatever you want. I trust you." Povenmire praised MacFarlane's management style for letting him have fun. Several years after the episode was written, in DVD commentary for the eighth and ninth season of the show, Gary Janetti, the writer of the episode, recalled that the original title of the episode was intended to be simply " Brian & Stewie", but was changed by series creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane, who wanted there to be a "Road to" episode each season. The name of the episode was then changed to "Road to Rhode Island", with the original name later being used for the landmark 150th episode of the show, also entitled "Brian & Stewie", and written by Janetti. This is the first episode of the "Road to" episodes of the series which air through various seasons of the show. The episodes are a parody of the seven "

Road to ''Road to ...'' is a series of seven comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. They are also often referred to as the "''Road''" pictures or the "''Road''" series. The movies were a combination of adventure, comedy, ...

" comedy films starring Bing Crosby,

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

, and

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...

. MacFarlane, a fan of the film series, came up with the idea. The musical number in the episode is sung to the tune of " (We're Off on the) Road to Morocco" from the film ''

Road to Morocco ''Road to Morocco'' is a 1942 American comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, and featuring Anthony Quinn and Dona Drake. The film, which was written by Frank Butler and Don Hartman and directed by David Butler for Para ...

''.

Edits

During the airport section of the episode, there is a scene that has subsequently cut from some editions/airings of the show, involving Osama bin Laden. In the scene, Stewie, when approaching airport security, realizes that his bag is full of weapons. He then breaks into song, singing "

On the Good Ship Lollipop "On the Good Ship Lollipop" is a song composed by Richard A. Whiting with lyrics by Sidney Clare. It was the signature song of child actress Shirley Temple. Temple first sang it in the 1934 film, '' Bright Eyes''. In the song, the "Good Ship ...

" to distract the

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

scanners. He then says, "Let's hope Osama bin Laden doesn't know

show tunes A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. T ...

." At that time, Osama is pictured in another line, distracting the scanners by singing "I Hope I Get It" from ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

''. Even though the episode was made a year and a half before 9/11, it was still controversial, and was cut on the Family Guy: Volume 1 DVD in the US. However, the scene was left intact on Hulu from 2018 onwards and the "Freakin' Sweet Collection".

Reception

In his 2009 review, 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 ...

'', rating the episode 10/10, praised the episode, saying: "Great writing, hilarious jokes, a catchy musical, and a story that's both hilarious and touching at the same time – ''Family Guy'' doesn't get much better than this." It is one of the only three ''Family Guy'' episodes that has ever been given a "Masterpiece" (10/10) rating by IGN, the other being "

I Never Met the Dead Man "I Never Met the Dead Man" is the second episode of the first season of the animated comedy series '' Family Guy''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 11, 1999, stating in a promo that it is the official series premiere of ...

" and "

Da Boom "Da Boom" is the third and special episode of the second season of the animated comedy series '' Family Guy'' and the tenth episode of the series. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 26, 1999. The episode features the Gr ...

". IGN also placed the episode at the top of their list of "Stewie and Brian's Greatest Adventures", and again in the list of "Top 20 ''Family Guy'' episodes" to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour), but lost to ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' episode "

Behind the Laughter "Behind the Laughter" is the twenty-second and final episode of the The Simpsons (season 11), eleventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United Sta ...

". Tom Eames of entertainment website '' Digital Spy'' placed the episode at number thirteen on his listing of the best ''Family Guy'' episodes in order of "yukyukyuks" and despite describing the episode as "hilarious", he said that Brian discovering his mother's body was "ultra emotional" and "one of the rare emotionally-charged moments in the show." He added that he "can never get enough" of Brian and Stewie and their bromance.

References

External links

* Callaghan, Steve (2005). ''Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide, Seasons 1–3''.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Road To Rhode Island Family Guy (season 2) episodes Fiction about rail transport 2000 American television episodes Road to... (Family Guy) Cultural depictions of Osama bin Laden Impact of the September 11 attacks on television