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Recap / Family Guy S 7 E 15 Three Kings

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After Lois nags him over not reading enough, Peter decides to sit down with the viewers and read three stories by the greatest author of the past millenium; Stephen King!


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Stand by Me

  • As Himself: Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider
  • Demoted to Extra: Meg's one appearance in the episode is being the dead body.
    Cleve: He's nasty.
  • 555: When Richard Dreyfuss talks to Roy Scheider about catching up and tries to give him his phone number, Roy is offended that it starts with "555" and tells him that he can just say no if he wants to.
  • "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: At the end, the narrator says that Cleve grew up to marry Rebecca Romijn, then says he's not making it up and that the actor who played the fat kid from Stand By Me (Jerry O'Connell) really did marry her.
  • Shout-Out: Ace's Gang of Bullies inexplicably consists of Beast Man, Mer-Man, and Norm Peterson.
    • The narrator reveals that Quag became a famous actor who died of a prescription drug overdose at the Viper room nightclub, something that happened exactly to River Phoenix in real life, who played Quagmire's character Chris Chambers in the film.
    • Before they get chased by Chopper (actually Brain), Cleve mentions he's got a "bad feeling about this".
  • Stating the Simple Solution: Quag complains that their journey is getting dangerous and asks why they couldn't have just taken a bus over. Petey says that it's because one of their friends is Black.
  • Take That!: After describing Quag's death, the narrator says that what remains is "a hair-lipped reminder of what might have been", as a live-action photo of Joaquin Phoenix is shown on screen accompanied by Losing Horns. After the commercial break, Peter tells Phoenix, if he is still watching, that he is "a good sport and a trooper.".
    Peter: You passed our test.
  • We Will Meet Again: Poked fun at; After Petey drives off Ace and his gang with a gun, Ace promises to get a gun of his own and come after Petey. Realizing that their next meeting will be inevitable since they all live in the same small town, Petey lets Ace have the body to avoid further altercation. This exact scenario happened in The Body, the Stephen King story the movie was based on, where Ace tracked down the main characters a few days later and beat the holy hell out of them, but seems to have dropped his grudge afterwards since none of them ratted him out. It was not included in the movie, letting Family Guy point out what a massive plot hole this is.

Misery

  • Ambiguous Gender: It's hard to tell if Stewie Wilkes is supposed to be a girl or a crossdressing boy.
  • Artifact Title: The segment is still called "Misery" despite that no longer being the title of the author's famous series — here, he's reimagined as the author of a children's book series titled Snuggly Jeff.
  • Black Comedy Rape: Stewie reveals that he "did stuff" to Brian while he was asleep.
  • No Ending: Brian/Paul's ultimate fate is left ambiguous because the short ends with a Magnum PI-style credits roll.
  • Shout-Out: The scene where Brian/Paul runs over Stephen King right before his car crash is a reference to how King himself got ran over in 1999, the same year Family Guy premiered. Especially funny since King is just randomly wandering along a mountain road in the middle of nowhere.
    King: *while flying through the air* Hey, this would make a neat story! *writes while tumbling along the ground* Done!
  • Take That!: Stewie compares what he sees as a Cliffhanger Copout to Contact with the sudden revelation of a secret backup machine after the first is destroyed in a suicide bombing.
  • Toilet Humor: Brian/Paul watches an episode of Magnum, B.M.
    T.C.: Magnum, I found a smudge on the crime scene. Do you have poo on your hands?
    Magnum: (looks at his hand) A little.

The Shawshank Redemption

  • Bittersweet Ending: Peter/Andy escapes, but he and Cleveland/Red never see each other again.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Peter/Andy's plan involves Cleveland/Red remembering the name of the town he mentioned that one time months prior. Unfortunately (but not unsurprisingly), Cleveland/Red doesn't remember it, meaning that Peter/Andy is now stuck on a beach alone with no money.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    Peter/Andy: [in letter] If you're reading this, you've gotten out. And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further. You remember the name of the town, don't you?
    Cleveland/Red: [beat] SHIT!!
  • Shout-Out:
    • Instead of naked ladies, Peter/Andy carves Star Wars figurines out of stone.
    • In one scene, Carter/Norton gets annoyed by a desk lamp blocking his view.
    • As Peter/Andy gets ready to break the pipe, we see that Carter/Norton is watching Friends. Peter/Andy smashes the pipe when the theme song gets to the clapping part, instead of matching the thunderclaps from the storm like in the movie. This is also a reference to the fact that show started a day before The Shawshank Redemption was released in theaters.
  • Take That!: The Italian opera record is replaced here with "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani. The characters are just as confused by this song's Word Salad Lyrics, and Cleveland speculates about how ugly Stefani must be.
  • Tantrum Throwing:
    Carter/Norton: God, I'm so angry, I could just throw a rock at that poster of David Cassidy!
  • Toilet Humor: After Boggs was taken away, Cleveland/Red narrates how Andy's farts never made a sound again, followed by a Cutaway Gag of Peter/Andy farting, followed by the sound of a small gust of wind.
  • Visual Pun: When Peter/Andy calls Carter/Norton "obtuse", it's shown that he is sitting at an obtuse angle.
    Carter/Norton: Two months in the hole! Or am I being obtuse?!
    Peter/Andy: No, now you're being acute.
    (cut back to Carter/Norton, now leaning forward to sit at an acute angle)
  • Your Mom: Cleveland/Red tells his parole officer that he had sex with his mother, delivered to the prison guards in a major "The Reason You Suck" Speech.

Well, that's our show. Thank you Stephen King, we'll see you in court. Now stay tuned for whatever FOX is limping to the barn with...

 
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Obtuse and acute

In this parody of The Shawshank Redemption, Norton (played by Carter Pewterschmidt) adjusts to an obtuse angle when Andy (played by Peter Griffin) calls him "obtuse".

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