"When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" is the twenty-second episode 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 ...

''s third season, and the original

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...

. The episode was intended to air on Fox during 2000,There’s A Story Behind The Controversial ‘Family Guy’ Episode That Has Never Aired In The U.S.
/ref> but Fox's executives expressed concern due to the content's potential to be interpreted as

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, and did not allow it to air on television in that year. The episode originally aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

on November 9, 2003, and 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 ...

on December 10, 2004. "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" was written by

Ricky Blitt Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

and 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'' ...

. This episode features guest performances from Andrea Beutener,

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards f ...

Phil LaMarr Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series ''Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include Jo ...

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...

Peter Riegert Peter Riegert (born April 11, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein in ''Animal House'' (1978), oil company executive "Mac" MacIntyre in '' Local Hero'' (1983), pickle store owner Sam Posner in '' ...

Mary Scheer Mary Scheer (born March 19, 1963) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter and producer, who is best known for her work throughout television. She had recurring roles as Marissa Benson on the Nickelodeon-sitcom ''iCarly,'' and as Gladys ...

Ben Stein Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer, lawyer, actor, comedian, and commentator on political and economic issues. He began his career as a speechwriter for U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford before ente ...

, and

Nicole Sullivan Nicole Sullivan (born April 21, 1970) is an American actress and comedian best known for her six seasons (1995–2001) on the sketch comedy series ''MADtv''. She also played Holly Shumpert in five seasons (2001–2005, 2007) of the CBS sitcom '' ...

. In the episode, Peter prays for a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

to help him with his financial woes. After befriending Jewish accountant Max Weinstein and discovering the wonders of their religion, Peter gets the idea of converting Chris to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

so he will be successful in life. Lois attempts to stop him, believing that success is not based on religion.

Plot

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 ...

gives

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 ...

's "rainy-day fund" to Jim Kaplan, a

scam artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

selling

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

. That night, Stewie breaks

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 ( ...

's glasses because he hates being watched while he sleeps. Lois tells Peter that he needs to recover the money to buy their daughter a new pair of glasses. After hearing Quagmire and

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. ...

talk about how men with Jewish-sounding names have helped them achieve financial success, Peter decides that he needs a

to handle his money in an elaborate musical number. When a Jewish man named Max Weinstein () has car trouble outside the Griffin house, Peter takes it as a sign. After a foot chase, Peter pressures Max into helping him get the emergency money back, and he recovers the money from Kaplan. After inviting Max to dinner and accompanying him to a

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

, Peter comes to the conclusion that

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

would become smart and successful if he converted to

. The two sneakily drive to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

for a quickie Bar Mitzvah. Lois learns of the Bar Mitzvah from

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 ...

(by means of torturing him with a dog whistle), and borrows Quagmire's car. She arrives just in time to stop the ceremony, but the congregants, angry that Lois is apparently insulting their religion, attack the Griffins. The family escapes just in time, locking the synagogue's door using a large

star of David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

and getting back home on a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

. Lois points out that one's success is not based upon religion, and Peter realizes the error of his ways and makes up to the family. However, as it turns out, the bus is full of

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s who, displeased that Peter strayed from

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, attack the family with rulers.

Cultural references

Peter's song, "I Need a Jew", is a parody of " When You Wish Upon a Star". The scene where Lois tries to stop the Bar Mitzvah is a parody of the ending of ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Wil ...

''.

Production

"When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" was written by

and directed by

. In addition to the regular cast, voice actress Andrea Beutener, actor

, voice actor

, actor

, actress

, actor

, and voice actress

guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voices in the episode include Mike Barker,

, Mike Henry, 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: ...

. Though the episode was aired during the third season, it was produced in 2000 and is a holdover from the second season production. Fox network executives were concerned that the episode could be construed as anti Semitic, and decided not to air the episode after it had completed post production.

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

(November 27, 2004)
Fox to air 'Family Guy' episode once considered anti-Semitic.
' It aired on

's programming block

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

in 2003, and then it aired on Fox in 2004. On the DVD commentary for the episode, Seth MacFarlane mentions that he showed the script of the episode to two rabbis, both of whom approved the episode "because Peter learns the right lesson at the end". MacFarlane also points out that 70% of the show's writers are Jewish, including Ricky Blitt, who wrote the episode, as is

, who plays the Rabbi.

Reception and lawsuit

Lisa Keys of ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ' ...

'' wrote that the episode is "not necessarily demeaning to Jews" but "too vapid to be funny". On October 3, 2007, the

Bourne Company Bourne Co. Music Publishers is an American publisher of sheet music, and one of the largest privately held international music publishers in the world,''Billboard'', 12 Nov 2005page 61 with over three thousand titles in their catalogue. Subsidiar ...

publishing house, sole owner of the song " When You Wish Upon a Star", filed a lawsuit against several Fox divisions,

Fuzzy Door Productions Fuzzy Door Productions is an American film and television production company founded by Seth MacFarlane in 1998. The company's productions include animated series ''Family Guy'', ''American Dad!'', the ''Family Guy'' spinoff ''The Cleveland Show' ...

, ''Family Guy'' producer

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 ...

and composer

Walter Murphy Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (born December 19, 1952) is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for the instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony which topp ...

, claiming

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

over "I Need a Jew", seeking unspecified

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

and to halt the program's distribution. The suit claims harm to the value of the song due to the offensive nature of the lyrics. On March 17, 2009, U.S. District Judge

Deborah Batts Deborah Anne Batts (April 13, 1947 – February 3, 2020) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. During Gay Pride Week in June 1994, Batts was sworn in as a United States distr ...

ruled that the creators of ''Family Guy'' did not infringe on Bourne's copyright. The episode has since returned to syndicated airings on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

, TBS, and other networks and is available on Hulu.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:When You Wish Upon A Weinstein Family Guy (season 3) episodes 2003 American television episodes Television episodes about Jews and Judaism Television episodes pulled from general rotation Jewish comedy and humor Cultural depictions of Woody Allen Television controversies in the United States Race-related controversies in animation Religious controversies in animation Race-related controversies in television Religious controversies in television Religious controversies in the United States Antisemitic works