Into Fat Air

Last updated
"Into Fat Air"
Family Guy episode
Episode no.Season 11
Episode 1
Directed byJoseph Lee
Written by Alec Sulkin
Featured music"September"
by Earth, Wind & Fire
"The Power"
by Snap!
Production code9ACX21
Original air dateSeptember 30, 2012 (2012-09-30)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Internal Affairs"
Next 
"Ratings Guy"
Family Guy season 11
List of episodes

"Into Fat Air" is the eleventh season premiere of the animated comedy series Family Guy , and the 189th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 30, 2012. The episode follows the Griffin family having dinner with Lois' old boyfriend's family and climbing Mt. Everest.

Contents

The episode was written by Alec Sulkin and directed by Joseph Lee. "Into Fat Air" received mixed reviews from television critics for its storyline and cultural references. According to the Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 6.55 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Elizabeth Banks and Martin Spanjers, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series.

Plot

When Lois tells Peter of a dinner date with her former boyfriend Ross Fishman (who was previously seen in "Stuck Together, Torn Apart"), his wife Pam, and their son Ben, Peter is distressed. When Ross brags about their family vacations and that they plan to climb Mt. Everest, Peter, sick of his attitude, claims that the Griffins will also climb the mountain. When they return home, Peter realizes he overspoke and asks Lois to make up an excuse, but Lois is also annoyed by the Fishmans' smug attitude and proposes they actually climb Mt. Everest.

Arriving in Nepal, the Griffins find the Fishmans, who are surprised they actually followed through with the trip. While climbing, they discover they are ahead of the Fishmans. But when they reach the top, they discover the Fishmans beat them there. As they start back down, things go awry when they get stuck on the mountainside in the middle of a massive storm. Starving after Peter mistook trail mix for a mix tape, they come across the dead frozen body of Ben and decide to eat him to survive. They pass Ross and Pam, who are going back up the mountain searching for their son, and come within sight of base camp. But as Lois watches the storm clouds, she decides to have the family go after the Fishmans to save them from certain death. They discover the Fishmans lying unconscious in a crevasse and send Peter down on a rope to rescue them. Peter barely gets Ross and Pam out alongside the rock he saved before the family heads back to base camp. Back at base camp, Ross and Pam are loaded onto a helicopter to be taken to a hospital to recuperate. As Ross and Pam are airlifted out, Peter casually reveals that they ate their son.

Production and development

The episode was written by Alec Sulkin and directed by Joseph Lee. Steve Callaghan, Mark Hentemann, Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild served as executive producers, and James Purdum, Dominic Bianchi as supervising directors. [1]

It featured guest performances from Elizabeth Banks and Martin Spanjers, along with recurring guest stars. [2]

Reception

"Into Fat Air" was broadcast on September 30, 2012, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by the season premiere of The Simpsons ("Moonshine River") and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's other series American Dad! ("Love, AD Style"). It was watched by 6.55 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings and acquired a 3.3/8 rating/share. [3]

The episode received mixed reviews. Kevin McFarland from The A.V. Club gave the episode a C, saying "The only parts of this episode that didn't feel cobbled together from previous episodes and other shows (the mountain climbing plot, the cannibalism sequence, the family dinner gone awry) were the cutaways, which is pretty typical of Family Guy at this point. It's anticlimactic, like when you realize there's about 11 minutes of action in a three-hour football game." [4]

Carter Doston from TV Fanatic gave the episode three and a half stars out of five, saying "There were a lot of funny little lines, some cutaways that largely fell flat, It wasn't great, but I've sure seen worse from this series." [5]

Related Research Articles

"Petarded" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on June 19, 2005. It was written by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild and directed by Seth Kearsley. In the episode, Peter takes the MacArthur Fellows Program test to see if he is a genius. However, he performs so poorly that he is declared technically intellectually disabled. Attempting to take advantage of the situation, he accidentally hospitalizes Lois while attempting to steal from a restaurant and loses custody of Meg, Chris, and Stewie.

"Sibling Rivalry" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 26, 2006. The episode follows Stewie as he battles with his half-brother, Bertram, who is born to two lesbians after Peter donates sperm. Meanwhile, Lois begins excessive eating after Peter undergoes a vasectomy and does not feel well enough to have sex.

"Petergeist" is the 26th episode of the fourth season of the American animated series Family Guy, and the 76th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox on May 7, 2006. In this episode, Peter decides to build a multiplex to top Joe's new home theater, but comes across a Native American skull in his backyard and desecrates it. As a result, a poltergeist haunts the Griffins' house and spirits drag Stewie away to the other side, followed by even stranger events.

"Whistle While Your Wife Works" is the fifth episode of season five of Family Guy, the last episode produced for Season 4. The show originally aired on Fox on November 12, 2006. The plot follows Peter losing his fingers after an accident while holding fireworks. Behind on his work and threatened with the possibility of dismissal, he asks Lois to catch up on his work for him, to which she agrees. However, he repeatedly attempts to seduce her, eventually succeeding, distracting her from the work. Meanwhile, Brian begins dating a woman named Jillian who, much to Stewie's delight, lacks general knowledge and intelligence.

"No Chris Left Behind" is the 16th episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 6, 2007. The episode features Chris after he is expelled from James Woods High School for dragging down their test scores. He is forced to attend an upper-class academy that does not take kindly to Chris's economically middle-class and socially lower-class upbringing. In an effort to fit in, he decides to join the academy's Skull and Bones society, but he quickly finds participation in its activities to be too demanding.

"Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air" is the third episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It was an episode produced for season 5. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 7, 2007. Joe Swanson gets the impression that his wife Bonnie is tired of being married to a disabled person, so he decides to get a leg transplant. Excited about his new ability to walk, Joe dives head first into extreme sports and begins to hang around more active friends. Meanwhile, Peter and the guys are upset at how Joe is acting and decide to teach him a lesson. In doing so, he is re-crippled, and he makes amends with his friends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Dream of Jesus</span> 2nd episode of the 7th season of Family Guy

"I Dream of Jesus" is the second episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 5, 2008. The episode makes prominent use of the song "Surfin' Bird" by the Trashmen and features Peter finding Jesus Christ, voiced by Alec Sulkin, working at a record shop and convincing him to make his second coming. Directed by Mike Kim and written by Brian Scully, the title of the episode refers to the television series I Dream of Jeannie. The episode guest starred Chris Cox, Ike Barinholtz, Amanda MacDonald, Niecy Nash, Sulkin and Paris and Perez Hilton.

"The Juice Is Loose" is the ninth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 15, 2009. In the episode, Peter cashes in an old raffle ticket from 1989 and wins a golf outing with O. J. Simpson. When he befriends Simpson and brings him home to meet the family, the residents of Quahog are not as welcoming of Peter's new friend and try to force him out of town.

"Family Goy" is the second episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 4, 2009. In the episode, Lois discovers that her mother is Jewish and begins her struggle to adapt to her newfound heritage. Meanwhile, Irish Catholic Peter begins to embrace his wife's new religion, but after a spiritual visit from his deceased stepfather, Francis, he becomes increasingly antisemitic towards Lois and the family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spies Reminiscent of Us</span> 3rd episode of the 8th season of Family Guy

"Spies Reminiscent of Us" is the third episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 11, 2009. The episode pays homage to the 1985 comedy film Spies Like Us, featuring baby Stewie and anthropomorphic dog Brian as they discover that American spies Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd have moved into their neighbor Cleveland Brown's old house; they eventually follow them on a secret mission to Russia. Meanwhile, Peter, Joe, and Quagmire attempt to start an improv comedy group with very little success.

"Brian Griffin's House of Payne" is the 15th episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 28, 2010. The episode features Brian after he discovers an old script he had written that Stewie found in the basement, and subsequently pitches the show to television executives. The show is quickly and dramatically altered by the executives and James Woods, however, much to Brian's frustration, who nevertheless attempts to adapt to the new format. Meanwhile, Chris and Meg attempt to hide the fact that Stewie is unconscious, after they accidentally bump him down a flight of stairs in the house.

"Welcome Back, Carter" is the third episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 10, 2010. The episode follows Peter after he discovers his father-in-law, Carter Pewterschmidt is having an affair with another woman. Deciding to blackmail him, Peter begins taking advantage of his father-in-law's enormous wealth, before accidentally spilling the beans to Carter's wife, Barbara, who divorces him soon after. Peter then becomes Carter's wingman, and helps him rediscover his bachelorhood, as he begins navigating through the dating scene.

"And I'm Joyce Kinney" is the ninth episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 16, 2011. The episode follows housewife Lois as she becomes close friends with the local news anchor Joyce Kinney. In an attempt to become closer, the two decide to get drinks together, and reveal their darkest secrets. Wanting to fit in, Lois reveals her participation in a pornographic film when she was in college, with Joyce promising to keep her revelation a secret. The next day, Kinney unveils the story on the local news, much to the anger of Lois, who is quickly shunned by the entire town.

"German Guy" is the 11th episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 20, 2011. The episode follows high school student Chris Griffin, as he attempts to find a new hobby. He soon comes across a puppeteer named Franz, who befriends Chris and introduces him to his vast puppet collection. Meanwhile, Chris' neighbor, Herbert, tries to warn him of Franz's past as a World War II Nazi, but his attempts are largely unsuccessful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q</span> 3rd episode of the 10th season of Family Guy

"Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q" is the third episode of the tenth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, and the 168th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 30, 2011. The episode follows Brenda, Griffin family neighbor Glenn Quagmire's sister, as she struggles with physical and mental abuse at the hands of her psychotic boyfriend, and eventual fiancé, Jeff. Quagmire, along with his neighbors, Peter and Joe, seek to relieve Brenda from her torment, and soon decide to murder Jeff in order to prevent her from being harmed any further.

"Thanksgiving" is the sixth episode of the tenth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, and the 171st episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 20, 2011. The episode follows the Griffin family, and several of their neighbors, as they celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. As they sit down for dinner, they are shocked to see that Kevin Swanson, son of their neighbors Joe and Bonnie Swanson, has returned from Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grumpy Old Man</span> 9th episode of the 10th season of Family Guy

"Grumpy Old Man" is the ninth episode of the tenth season of the American animated sitcom Family Guy, and the 174th episode overall. The episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 11, 2011. The episode follows Griffin family patriarch Lois Griffin's father, Carter Pewterschmidt, after he accidentally falls asleep while driving in a snowstorm. Concerned for his safety, Lois decides to admit him to a nursing home in Florida, in an attempt to help him adjust to life as an older man. Carter is reluctant to live in the retirement community, however, but eventually comes to enjoy the various activities at the home. Six months later, Carter suddenly becomes grumpy, and even more elderly, causing Peter to take him back to his old business and bring him back to normal.

"Tea Peter" is the twenty-first episode of the tenth season of the animated television series Family Guy, and the 186th episode overall. The episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 13, 2012. In this episode, Peter joins the Tea Party movement and, along with his father-in-law, Carter, successfully shuts down the government. However, things do not turn out as expected, and Peter has to find a way to make things the way they were.

"Leggo My Meg-O" is the twentieth episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series Family Guy, and the 185th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 6, 2012. In this episode, Meg travels to Paris with her friend Ruth after being treated badly in school, but her exciting adventure comes to a halt when she gets kidnapped. Brian and Stewie embark on an action-packed mission to find her before it is too late. This plot is a parody of the 2008 film Taken.

"Ratings Guy" is the second episode of the eleventh season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, and the 190th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 7, 2012. The episode follows the Griffin family becoming a Nielsen family and Peter attempting to take over the TV airwaves.

References

  1. MacFarlane, Seth; Sulkin, Alec; Lee, Joseph (September 30, 2012). "Into Fat Air". Family Guy. Season 11. Episode 1. Fox.
  2. "Family Guy Episode: "Into Fat Air"". Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  3. Bibel, Sara (October 2, 2012). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'The Simpsons', 'Bob's Burgers' Adjusted Up; '666 Park Avenue', '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down & Final Football Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  4. McFarland, Kevin (September 30, 2012). "Into Far Air". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  5. Doston, Carter (September 30, 2012). "Family Guy Review: King of the Mountain". TV Fanatic. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.