I Take Thee Quagmire

Last updated
"I Take Thee Quagmire"
Family Guy episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 21
Directed bySeth Kearsley
Written byTom Maxwell
Don Woodard
Steve Callaghan
Production code4ACX23
Original air dateMarch 12, 2006 (2006-03-12)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Patriot Games"		Next →
"Sibling Rivalry"
Family Guy season 4
List of episodes

"I Take Thee Quagmire" is the 21st episode of season four of Family Guy , originally broadcast March 12, 2006 on Fox. [1] In this episode, Peter wins free maid service for a week; he intentionally creates extra work for the maid, Joan. Quagmire meets her and instantly falls in love with her, leading him to propose to her after the second date. After the marriage, Quagmire comes to regret his new relationship, but learns that Joan will kill him and herself if he leaves her, so he fakes his own death. [2]

Contents

The episode was written by Tom Maxwell, Don Woodard and Steve Callaghan and directed by Seth Kearsley. It received mostly positive reviews from critics for its storyline and many cultural references. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 8.06 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Adam Carolla, Stephan Cox, Bryan Cranston, Darrel Heath, Beth Littleford, Christy Carlson Romano, Nicole Sullivan, Fred Tatasciore, Alex Thomas, and Alex Trebek, as well as several recurring voice actors for the series.

Plot

Peter is a contestant on Wheel of Fortune , advances to the bonus round, and wins, despite choosing Z, 4, three Qs, and the Batman symbol for his consonants and vowel, and taking a self-described "shot in the dark" with his answer, "Alex Karras in Webster ", managing to get the correct answer on his first try, to Pat Sajak's absolute shock (who Peter believes is Regis Philbin). He chooses, among several other prizes, one week of free maid service. When his maid Joan arrives, Peter has her pull items out of his belly button (including, among other things, a ColecoVision set and a carton of Parliament Cigarettes), and rides on her back, like a horse, to the store. Peter decides to over-work Joan on her last night by giving Meg a watermelon filled with chocolate pudding and M-80 firecrackers, which explodes in her face. After being introduced to her by Peter, Quagmire falls in love with her. After dating Joan, Quagmire proposes marriage to her, which she accepts and the couple prepare their marriage ceremony. Lois, Peter and their neighbors visit Quagmire's house, finding that he has changed his personality significantly. Peter still believes this to be a prank and shows Quagmire porn magazines in an attempt to change him back to his former ways. Meanwhile, Lois begins to question whether she should keep breastfeeding Stewie, as he is hurting her when feeding.

By the time of Quagmire's wedding, Lois' breasts have gotten very large after deciding to wean Stewie, on the advice of Brian. While at the reception, the top of her shirt rips open. Peter notices that Quagmire is staring at Lois' huge breasts, and deliberately spills champagne on them. Peter then "helps" Lois by shaking her, which makes her large breasts jiggle. This arouses Quagmire, and he realizes that he has made a mistake by marrying Joan. He informs Joan that some of his friends think they should get an annulment after discussing it with Peter, Joe and Cleveland, but she threatens to cut herself and him if he annuls their marriage. As a result, Peter decides to help Quagmire fake his death. He shows Joan a video of Quagmire being attacked by a ninja (Joe), a Nazi (Cleveland), a "pots and pans" robot (Peter), and the body being consumed by a dinosaur held by Peter (to the theme of Jurassic Park ). Joan is unconvinced by the video. Peter and his friends then initiate plan B, which consists of Quagmire pretending to suffer a heart attack and die. Quagmire is buried in a coffin with enough oxygen to last him a short period of time so Peter can return after the funeral has finished and dig him up. However, when Mayor West announces that all coffins must be buried in concrete (to guard against zombies), Peter exclaims that Quagmire is not dead, and brings him out of the coffin, alive. Death shows up to retrieve his body. Joan pleads for Quagmire's life, and grabs Death by the arm, causing her to drop dead instantly. Peter talks Death into taking Joan instead, as "she was suicidal and her last name was Quagmire." However, before he leaves, Quagmire asks Death to leave the body for another five minutes, thus turning him back into his old usual self.

Meanwhile, Stewie has been having drug-like withdrawals since Lois decided to wean him. He becomes so desperate that when he and Lois are at the park, he jumps on a woman breastfeeding her baby and greedily suckles on her, but is pulled off by Lois. One night, he then tries to milk Lois in her sleep. He pumps her breasts and succeeds, but spills and desperately tries licking it up. Stewie realizes how pathetic he is and accepts his weaning. He comes to Brian and informs that he is now off breast milk, but Lois has other plans. Lois allows Stewie to be breastfed again, thus delighting him. [3]

This episode ends with a in memoriam to Don Knotts.

Production

Steve Callaghan wrote the episode, along with Tom Maxwell and Don Woodard. "I Take Thee Quagmire" is the only episode of Family Guy that Maxwell and Woodard wrote. Steve Callaghan by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg
Steve Callaghan wrote the episode, along with Tom Maxwell and Don Woodard. "I Take Thee Quagmire" is the only episode of Family Guy that Maxwell and Woodard wrote.

This episode starts by depicting the game show Wheel of Fortune . [4] When Brian is watching Malcolm in the Middle on television, a scene begins showing Lois screaming at sons Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey and husband Hal. Jane Kaczmarek was asked to do the voice as she was the original actor in the series; however, she refused. MacFarlane said that he got a message that Kaczmarek wishes to portray that character as likable, and does not wish to jeopardize that. [5] During that scene, Hal was voiced by Bryan Cranston, the actor from the series, who accepted the role. [5] Seth MacFarlane comments that "this is the first real Quagmire story we've ever done." [5] A scene was made of Stewie attending a meeting similar to those at Alcoholics Anonymous; however, the meeting was designed for those who are too addicted to breast milk. [6] The format of Wheel of Fortune is somewhat similar to the layout of the modern-day program, but the scene also features several aspects which are now no longer broadcast, such as not automatically being given R, S, T, L, N, and E, and were featured in the 1980s. [5]

Two scenes during this episode were censored for television broadcasting. When Quagmire meets Joan and invites her out on a date, Cleveland asks, "Is that a banana in your pocket, or an erection in your pocket?" Although this entire scene was not censored, Fox Broadcasting Company bleeped "erection", which, according to DVD commentary, made what Cleveland said sound worse than what was intended. [7] The scene where Peter is promoting 'Crystal Pepsi' was shown only on the DVD, because it is prohibited to promote one product over another on television. [5]

There is also a scene after the watermelon exploding trick where Meg was supposed to say "Fuck you, asshole! I'll kick your ass to hell!", but Fox also censored the line and was replaced by "I hate you! I hate you!" instead.

In addition to the regular cast, voice actor Adam Carolla, actor Stephan Cox, actor Bryan Cranston, actor Darrel Heath, actress Beth Littleford, actress Christy Carlson Romano, voice actress Nicole Sullivan, voice actor Fred Tatasciore, actor Alex Thomas, and game show host Alex Trebek guest starred in the episode. Recurring voice actors Ralph Garman, Mike Henry, writer Danny Smith, actress Jennifer Tilly, and writer John Viener made minor appearances in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Patrick Warburton and Adam West made appearances in the episode as well.

Cultural references

In the opening scene of the episode, Peter is shown playing on the gameshow Wheel of Fortune , with hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White also appearing. [5] When Mayor West is playing as a contestant on Jeopardy! , he spells the name of the host, Alex Trebek, backwards (Kebert Xela), sending him back to the fifth dimension; this is a reference to when DC Comics supervillain and nemesis to Superman, Mister Mxyzptlk, is sent to the fifth dimension when someone makes him say his own name backwards. [5] A Family Guy fan later did this in a real life episode of Jeopardy! [8] [9]

When Peter and the children are flying through space and singing, this is a reference to The Great Space Coaster . [5] The two Asian men who meet Peter at the traffic lights when riding Joan's back speak in a very similar tone to Howard Cosell, a reference to the 1985 cult film Better Off Dead . [5] [6]

When Quagmire fantasizes about being alone in the forest with Joan and speaking to her in Elvish, this is a reference to a scene from The Lord of the Rings ; Quagmire goes on to imagine himself with Joan dancing dressed as the title characters from Beauty and the Beast , eating a plate of spaghetti similar to that shown in Lady and the Tramp , and flying on a magic carpet dressed as Aladdin and Princess Jasmine. They also fly through Baghdad, which is in ruins from the US/British invasion.

Adam West's response to seeing the Statue of Liberty is taken from the original Planet of the Apes . Also, there is a scene where Brian watches Malcolm in the Middle . In the scene, Lois nags the boys so much that she will go on strike, so Hal ends up killing her with a refrigerator door and walks away blissfully with the boys. [5] [7] Twice during the episode Quagmire engraves his name with his nose much like Woody Woodpecker. In the end, he engraves "giggity giggity goo" in the same fashion.

Reception

Bob Sassone of TV Squad commented that "this episode had one of the more hysterical/disturbing images of this TV season: Lois flashing her breasts to Brian after giving Stewie his lunch." [10] [11] Michael Drucker of IGN noted that "the volume four episodes are easily funnier than the volume three ones", referring to the episode. [12] Tom Eames of entertainment website Digital Spy placed the episode at number four on his listing of the best Family Guy episodes in order of "yukyukyuks" and described the episode as "dark and horrible, but brilliant." [13] He added that the episode was "one of the first episodes to showcase just how ridiculously awful [Quagmire] could be." [13]

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.

"Blind Ambition" is the third episode of the fourth season of the American animated sitcom Family Guy. It was first broadcast on Fox in the United States on May 15, 2005. In the episode, Peter swallows an excessive number of nickels, causing him to become blind. He later becomes a hero after unwittingly saving Horace the bartender from a fire at his bar, The Drunken Clam, and then regains his sight. Meanwhile, Quagmire is forced to refrain from perverse sexual behavior or risk being driven out of the neighborhood following his arrest for spying on Lois in a ladies' lavatory.

"The Courtship of Stewie's Father" is the 16th episode of the fourth season of Family Guy, which originally aired on November 20, 2005. The episode sees Peter attempt to bond with Stewie after realizing that Stewie enjoys seeing Lois get hurt. After things go too far and Lois confronts Peter over the escalating pranks, Stewie feels betrayed, prompting a repentant Peter to take him to Walt Disney World Resort. Meanwhile, Chris is made to assist Herbert in his household chores after breaking his window, much to the delight of Herbert.

"Deep Throats" is the 23rd episode of season four of the television series Family Guy. It was written by Alex Borstein and directed by Greg Colton. Appalled at parking charges introduced by Mayor West, Brian decides to expose the corruption of the Mayor, despite the prospect of potentially destroying Meg's new career as the Mayor's intern. Meanwhile, Peter and Lois decide to participate in the Quahog community talent show with a folk singing act, as they did in the 1980s, but the couple becomes largely reliant on marijuana for inspiration and eventually fail the competition for their poor performance, despite their belief that they were singing well when under the influence of the drugs.

"Mother Tucker" is the second episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox on September 17, 2006. The episode follows Peter's mother, Thelma, divorcing Peter's father, Francis, and dating news anchorman Tom Tucker. Peter becomes closely attached to Tucker, only for his mother to end the relationship suddenly, leaving Peter feeling abandoned. Meanwhile, Stewie and Brian are employed as DJs on a local radio station, but have creative differences over the tone of the show, which eventually forces Brian to quit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewie Loves Lois</span> 1st episode of the 5th season of Family Guy

"Stewie Loves Lois" is the first episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox on September 10, 2006. The episode features Stewie becoming overly affectionate with his mother Lois after an incident. Meanwhile, Peter gets a prostate exam from Dr. Hartman, but believes that he has been raped instead, and decides to prosecute his doctor in court.

"Hell Comes to Quahog" is the third episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, an episode produced for Season 4. It originally aired on Fox on September 24, 2006. The episode follows Meg after she requests her parents to buy her a car. At the showroom, however, her father, Peter, decides to buy a tank, instead of the car Meg was interested in. Deciding to pay for a new car herself, Meg is able to get a job at Superstore USA, which eventually destroys the local economy of Quahog, and upsets the local community, leading Brian Griffin and Stewie to save the day.

"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 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.

"Barely Legal" is the eighth episode of season five of Family Guy. The episode originally broadcast on December 17, 2006. The plot sees Meg developing an obsession with Brian after he accompanies her as her date for the Junior Prom, eventually leading to her kidnapping Brian in order to rape him. Meanwhile, Peter and his friends join the Quahog Police Department to assist Joe with his work, but find being a police officer is not always about action.

"Road to Rupert" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 28, 2007. It is the third episode in the Road to... series of episodes in Family Guy. The episode follows Stewie after Brian accidentally sells Stewie's beloved teddy bear, Rupert, during a yard sale. In an attempt to retrieve him, Stewie and Brian discover that the family Rupert was sold to are former neighbours who had since moved to Aspen, Colorado. As a result, Stewie and Brian travel across the United States to get Rupert back. Meanwhile, Peter has his driving license revoked for careless driving and is forced to be driven around by Meg, which annoys him.

"The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of Family Guy, which originally aired on February 18, 2007. The episode follows Stewie, who develops a tan, but becomes obsessed with his new look and attempts to keep it, eventually stopping after being told by a doctor that he may now have cancer. Meanwhile, Peter discovers Chris being tormented by a bully, and after a series of events, becomes a bully himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meet the Quagmires</span> 18th episode of the 5th season of Family Guy

"Meet the Quagmires" is the 18th and final episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox on May 20, 2007. The episode features Peter after he goes back in time to live the single life a little longer, before he meets future wife Lois. This causes Quagmire to make his own move on Lois, and they ultimately end up marrying and having children; Peter is horrified by this "alternate timeline" and resolves to go back in time again and set things right.

"It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One" is the 17th episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 13, 2007. The episode features Lois as she runs for Mayor of Quahog against incumbent Mayor Adam West, once she notices how polluted the local lake has become. Lois is elected as mayor and successfully cleans the lake, but quickly succumbs when the toxic-dump owner pressures her to let him resume dumping toxins into the lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewie Kills Lois and Lois Kills Stewie</span> 5th and 6th episodes of the 6th season of Family Guy

"Stewie Kills Lois" and "Lois Kills Stewie" is a two-part episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, which was originally produced for the end of the fifth season. Respectively, both parts are the fourth and fifth episode of their season, and they premiered in the United States on Fox on November 4 and 11, 2007. In the former, housewife Lois receives cruise tickets as a birthday present from anthropomorphic dog Brian, and invites her husband, Peter, on the cruise with her. This upsets Stewie, and he ultimately appears to murder Lois while she is on the cruise, only to find out that she had survived the attack as the year passes. In the latter, Lois is able to expose Stewie as the villain that he is, but he soon accomplishes his dream of world domination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Quagmire</span> Family Guy character

Glenn Quagmire, often referred to by just his surname, is a fictional character from the American adult animated sitcom Family Guy. He is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family and is best known for his hypersexuality and his catchphrase, "Giggity Giggity". The show's creator and voice actor Seth MacFarlane describes him as "an appalling human being who is still caught in the Rat Pack era" based on anachronistic 1950s party-animal clichés. The episode "Tiegs for Two" revealed that the surname Quagmire was originally the Polish surname Quagglechek or Quaggleczyk, the suffix -czyk indicating a diminutive in the Polish language.

"Love, Blactually" is the first episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 28, 2008. The episode features anthropomorphic dog Brian as he meets a fellow atheist named Carolyn at a book store, and the two begin dating. Heeding advice from Stewie, Brian decides not to have sex with her. Carolyn is led to believe that Brian does not want a substantive relationship, so she begins to date Cleveland. The episode was originally slated to air during season six on March 2, 2008, but was replaced with "Play It Again, Brian" for unknown reasons.

"Baby Not on Board" is the fourth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 2, 2008. The episode features Stewie after he is accidentally left at home when the Griffins head for the Grand Canyon. The family soon notice his absence and rush home; however, Peter makes it more difficult for his family because of his immature behavior. Meanwhile, Stewie realizes how much he depends on his family while he is alone.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quagmire's Dad</span> 18th episode of the 8th season of Family Guy

"Quagmire's Dad" is the 18th episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 9, 2010. The episode features Quagmire after his father, Dan Quagmire, returns to the fictional city of Quahog and comes out as a trans woman. Dan has decided to have gender-affirming surgery and changes her name to Ida. Meanwhile, Brian travels to a seminar and, upon returning, has sex with Ida, who he does not realize is Quagmire's father.

References

  1. ↑ "I Take Thee Quagmire (2006)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  2. ↑ "I Take Thee Quagmire". British Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  3. ↑ Plot synopsis information for the episode "I Take Thee Quagmire" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 2005.
  4. ↑ Michel, Pete (2005). Family Guy season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "I Take Thee Quagmire" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 MacFarlane, Seth (2005). Family Guy season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "I Take Thee Quagmire" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. 1 2 Callaghan, Steve (2005). Family Guy season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "I Take Thee Quagmire" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  7. 1 2 Goodman, David (2005). Family Guy season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "I Take Thee Quagmire" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  8. ↑ "Funny Jeopardy Contestant". YouTube . uploaded July 6, 2007. Archived from the original on 2021-11-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ Show #5255, aired 2007-06-15 J! Archive
  10. ↑ Sassone, Bob (March 12, 2006). "Family Guy: I Take Thee, Quagmire". TV Squad. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
  11. ↑ Television News, Reviews and TV Show Recaps - HuffPost TV
  12. ↑ Family Guy – Volume Four, Drucker, Michael. Retrieved on 2007-12-26
  13. 1 2 Eames, Tom (19 March 2017). "The 16 best ever Family Guy episodes in order of yukyukyuks". Digital Spy . Retrieved 19 March 2017.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.