Recap / Family Guy S8 E1: "Road to the Multiverse"

Airdate: September 27, 2009

When Stewie enters a genetically engineered pig at the carnival, Brian asks him where it came from. Stewie reveals to Brian that with an interdimensional teleporter, he can travel to different universes and takes Brian on a journey through several universes and realities.

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"Road to the Multiverse" contains examples of:

• Alternate History: Some of the universes, like the Japan-dominated universe and the World War III universe.
• Alternate Universe: Brian and Stewie visit many alternate universes in this episode, including one where they are seen in live-action.
• Anachronism Stew: The Disney universe appears to be based on Disney's Golden Age from the 1930s to the 1950s (particularly Snow White and the Seven Dwarves as Lois looks like Snow White and Peter looks like Doc). However, Disney Meg is based on Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and Disney Joe is based on Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast. Both movies are from the Disney Renaissance era (late 80's to 90's).
• And I Must Scream: While not taken seriously, Stewie and Brian are still conscious while they are in a block of ice.
• Animation Bump: The Disney sequence uses more fluid animation to match the style of its namesake.
• Artistic Licence – History: The Japan-dominated world, where the US never dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.
  • The question of whether Japan would have surrendered anyway is highly controversial, but even granting that they wouldn't have, Japan was in ruins by the time of the atomic bombings, and any realistic hopes of victory were already long gone. Serious-minded Japanese victory scenarios usually place the Point of Divergence much earlier when Japan was still in a strong position, and even most of those don't go as far as to have them successfully conquer North America. Alternate History Wank and Rule of Funny apply, of course.
  • That universe's version of Zeppelins is that Spooner St. consists of houses in an exaggeratedly Japanese style; Japan actually Westernised its architecture during the Meiji Restoration.
• Artistic License – Religion:
  • The first universe shows what the world would look like if Christianity never existed, in which the Dark Ages never happened and science was able to progress by 1000 years compared to us. However, the Dark Ages weren't caused by Christianity being imposed on other cultures, but rather the fall of The Roman Empire. Not to mention Christian monks preserving knowledge is the reason why a lot of information was not lost after Western Rome's fall, and while the Catholic Church stifled some advancements (an obvious example being the Inquisition), it also facilitated them, especially in the Renaissance. Furthermore, the non-existence of Christianity would also have implications for the existence of Islam, and Islamic scholars themselves were responsible for numerous advancements in science and math in the Middle to Renaissance ages. The Crusades were also a big influence on the Age of Discovery, so it's doubtful the Americas would have been colonized just the same. Overall, the absence of Christianity would be such a major change that the world would look completely unfamiliar, much less be a futuristic utopia by our standards.
  • The Sistine Chapel also still exists in the Christianity-less universe, even though without Christianity it wouldn't have been built in the first place. Rule of Funny applies since the ceiling was instead decorated by John Hinckley, Jr., who covered it with pictures of Jodie Foster.
  • Chapels would still have a purpose even without Christianity as they could be used for weddings and funerary services, so the fact it still exists might indicate its being used for that.
• Art Shift: Many, from the Disney-esque animation to stop-motion and even into live-action.
• Asians Eat Pets: When Stewie and Brian end up stranded in a universe where humans are pets to anthropomorphic dogs, Brian meets the dog versions of the Griffins and claims that Stewie is his pet human, Gabe. Stewie mutters under his breath that he hopes the next universe they go to is all Koreans.
• Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Meg from the futuristic universe is depicted as a sexy woman wearing a bandeau and shorts, which show off a sexy midriff.
• Behind the Black: Brian doesn’t notice the hulking, aggressive pig towering behind Stewie until the camera pans out to reveal it.
• Bestiality Is Depraved: Brian gets called a freak for enjoying a human woman licking him a bit too much, with this being a dimension where the master/pet roles of human and dog are reversed.
• Bowdlerization: The following changes were made between the TV version and the DVD version. Most of these scenes were left untouched on Cartoon Network as well:
  • Brian and Stewie in the universe where Meg is hot, but still considered ugly compared to Lois: Stewie's line about Lois is "If you saw Lois, you'd have to put your penis in a wheelchair". On the Cartoon Network and DVD version, the line is, "If you saw Lois, your penis would shoot right off your body."
  • Brian and Stewie visiting the Flintstone world: Wilma!Lois' line about having sex with Fred!Peter included an extra line about having four "rock-gasms" on the Cartoon Network and DVD version, but both the TV version and the DVD version have the line about Wilma!Lois being glad Fred!Peter wore a "rock"^note cock ring.
  • Chris yelling "Fuck you!" after Stewie's burn on Robot Chicken being on a mainstream channel was bleeped on the TV and the Cartoon Network version.
  • Another bleeping of the word "fuck" was done on the TV and the Cartoon Network version of the scene with Stewie and Brian in the world where everything is a pretentious political cartoon for The Washington Post.
• Brick Joke: Stewie removes Brian's poop in the futuristic universe and tells him it goes to another universe. Later, when the two are trapped in an iceberg, Stewie notices the poop.
• Butt-Monkey: Meg. Even in the futuristic alternate universe, where she's smoking hot, she's still considered ugly compared to Lois (Stewie says, "If you saw Lois you'd have to put your penis in a wheelchair." On DVD, the line is, "If you saw Lois your penis would shoot right off your body.") Of note, and probably obvious to many, this universe's Lois doesn't appear. In the Disneyverse, she is Ursula. In the dog universe, she is an unattractive bulldog.
• Crapsaccharine World: The Disney universe is a fun and cheerful place where everyone gets along, and even when Herbert (as the hag from Snow White) tries to spoil the fun, he is defeated in a comical way. Stewie honestly can't think of a reason not to stay there... until Mort walks in. The Disneyverse is a magical place... but if you're a Jew, you're dead.
  Stewie: Oh, yeah. I forgot. This is a Disney universe.
• Depraved Bisexual:
  • They travel to a universe of fire hydrants and Brian says "Love it!" and Stewie says "Hate it." Then they travel to a universe of muscular men in speedos and their reactions are reversed.
  • In the universe where everyone has a happy head and a sad head, Happy Stewie is seen French-kissing Sad Stewie.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Apparently in the dog universe, misbehaved humans are immediately sent to the pound to be put down. Such as what almost happened to Stewie for biting Dog!Peter.
• Dog Stereotype: In the dog universe, Peter is a Labrador Retriever (dumb but friendly), Lois is a Cocker Spaniel (red wavy hair), Chris is a sheepdog (same as Labrador Peter), Meg is a bulldog (physically repulsive), and Stewie is a poodle (pompous and evil). Joe is a Doberman (aggressive guard dog).
• Disneyesque: The Disney universe shifts into a more fluid, softer animation style; in addition, the characters are largely anthropomorphic and break into song.
• Elemental Plane: The episode features quite a few of these. For example, in one universe, the whole world is frozen over. In another, everything is technologically advanced, and one universe is just a giant White Void Room.
• Human Popsicle: Stewie and Brian enter a universe where they are completely frozen in a block of ice.
• Inflating Body Gag: During a "guess your weight" contest at the carnival, Mayor West is revealed to be "95% helium", meaning that the guy's guess isn't even close, and West grabs a prize as he floats off.
• Look Both Ways: At the end of the episode, human Brian promptly gets hit by a car as he crosses the street.
• Male Gaze: There is a slow, upwards panning shot of Sexy Meg in the alternative universe that Brian and Stewie visit.
• Ms. Fanservice: Sexy Meg. In her universe, she's still considered one of the ugly ones. Makes you wonder what Lois looks like in that universe.
• Motor Mouth:
  Dog Peter: OH-MY-GOD-I-KNOW-THAT-SOUND-IT-MEANS-THERE'S-A-POTENTIAL-INTRUDER-AT-THE-FRONT-DOOR-OR-ONE-OF-MY-PALS-EITHER-WAY-I'M-EXCITED-AND-READY-FOR-ANYTHING!
• The Multiverse: The premise sees Stewie and Brian casually universe-hopping.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently, Dog Stewie and Human Brian have had a universe-hopping experience of their own.
• Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: In the first alternate universe visited, "Christianity never existed, which means the dark ages of scientific repression never occurred, and thus, humanity is a thousand years more advanced."
• Pie in the Face: Herbert (as the hag from Snow White) gets this treatment from the rest of the characters in the Disney universe.
• Rock Theme Naming: Parodied in the Flintstone universe with Rock-Peter and Rock-Lois, who basically just say "rock" in front of everything. Stewie and Brian leave the universe in annoyance, though they briefly join in the theme.
  Stewie: Hey, Brian, want to get the rock out of here?
  Brian: Rock yeah.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: After human Brian makes it to the universe where people are in change he is quickly run over by a truck before he can start his new life.
• Shout-Out:
  • One universe is based on The Flintstones (which, coincidentally, was the next cartoon Seth MacFarlane worked on before he put it on hold in favor of The Cleveland Show).
  • "Take your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty dog!"
  • Brian's alternate name in the dog universe is Blake Carrington.
  • "I hope this next leap will be the leap home."
  • In the Disney universe, many of the characters appear as parodies of Disney characters — Lois as Snow White. Chris as Winnie the Pooh. Meg as Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Quagmire as a bird from Song of the South. Cleveland as Flower from Bambi. Joe in a parody of Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast. Mayor Adam West as The Dormouse from Alice in Wonderland. Herbert as the Evil Queen from Snow White. Bruce as Tinkerbell. Tom Tucker as The March Hare from Alice in Wonderland.
  • Other characters have slight similarities but may not be direct parodies such as Peter to Mr. Smee from Peter Pan.
  • The fifth pane of the opening credits shows Brian playing Pac-Man with Stewie playing the part of Pac-Man, and Peter, Lois, Chris, and Meg as the Pac Man Ghosts.
  • The seventh pane of the opening credits features a scene from Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King with Brian as Frodo Baggins and Stewie as Gollum.
  • The eighth pane of the opening credits shows Brian and Stewie hanging from a tree as piñatas being struck by children.
  • Stewie's remote control is a toy tricorder from Star Trek: The Next Generation being held upside-down in the "Reverse Universe".
  • The song that plays while Sexy Meg walks down the street is Van Halen's "Drop Dead Legs".
  • The subject of Walt Disney's antisemitism is brought up again. Walt used racial jokes in many of his cartoons much like Family Guy, and was very anti-union which he attributed to communism which most American businessmen attributed to Jews through the mid-20th century. However, Walt was not known personally for hatred towards any particular racial group.
• Skewed Priorities: Upon seeing a random multiverse portal in his pound, Dog Joe seems more concentrated on the two humans trying to escape euthanization.
• Slasher Smile: While the rest of the Disneyfied characters look at Mort with sheer malice, the Tom Tucker bunny has an evil grin on his face.
• Smurfing: Exaggerated in the Flintstone universe.
  Stewie: Hey, Brian, wanna get the rock out of here?
  Brian: Rock yeah.
• Stealth Pun: In the Disney universe, Joe appears as a coffee pot. So he's "a cup of Joe".
• Take That!:
  • At Seth Green and Robot Chicken.
  Stewie: How does it feel like to be on a major network for 30 seconds?
  Chris: FUCK YOU!!!
  • The punchline of the Disney universe (where everyone beats the crap out of Mort) once more reflects rumors of Walt Disney's alleged Antisemitism.
  • In the Flintstones universe, Brian describes the universe as looking cheap and lazy, a shot at the animation quality of 1960's Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
• Tempting Fate: As Stewie and Brian enjoy pie in the Disney universe, Brian says there is no reason why they shouldn't stay in the Disney universe because there is not a thing wrong with the place. Then Mort arrives and everyone in the Griffin household attack him and the entire Disney Universe is revealed to be antisemitic.
• Unscaled Merfolk: In the Disney Universe, Meg is half-octopus.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?:
  • In the World War III universe, Lee Harvey Oswald shot Mayor McCheese, with Jackie Kennedy eating the scattered head.
  Brian: That joke's not in bad taste, right?
  Stewie: Who cares? He's a cheeseburger.
  • Reconstructed in the dog universe, where dogs and humans switch roles, and humans are thus put down without much thought if they act vicious. Dog Joe is completely unfettered about sentencing a baby human to death for biting Dog Peter.
  Dog Joe: *to Brian* You can pick him up tomorrow. *flatly* Bring a trash bag.