After Lois calls Peter out on being an idiot following his latest act of parental neglect (leaving Stewie in the park so he can have a beer at the Drunken Clam, then bringing home a baby that looks like Stewie from behind), Peter volunteers to go on business trips on behalf of the Pawtucket Brewery and uses the extra days to learn and get cultured, which turns Peter smart, but his plans to make the rest of the family cultured (which means no television) chafes everyone else.
Examples:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Lois loses her shit due to Peter’s recent act of idiocy, but she changes her tune when Peter’s newfound intellect causes her to realize she prefers her husband as an immature buffoon.
- Break the Haughty: While technically subverted since Brian does not humble himself, it’s still satisfying to see the new smart Peter undermine Brian’s supposed ‘intellect’. Even Stewie sees this coming from a mile away.
- Bowdlerization:
- Quagmire's line "You're the dick who wrote that on the bathroom wall!" to Peter is only on the TV version. The Netflix and DVD version replaces "dick" with "asshole."
- The Karate Kid With Real Human Emotions clip has the "Fuck you" in "Fuck you! You just tried to cripple me" unbleeped in the DVD version.
- Clown Car: While watching Stewie at the park, one of these pulls up outside the Drunken Clam. Peter assumes that only one clown is in there because of how small it is, but then dozens more climb out.Quagmire: Peter, you gotta get down to the Clam! There's, like, 60 clowns in here!
- Enraged by Idiocy: While Lois frequently finds herself annoyed with Peter's antics, this episode sees her absolutely lose it with him.
- Eye Scream: Peter rips out one of his eyes to try and watch Stewie while he sneaks off the the Drunken Clam.
- "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: A rare self earned case, where Peter actually takes trips to many cultured resorts of America and becomes more educated as a result. A quick trip to Tucson reduces him back to his normal self.
- Heh Heh, You Said "X": Peter decides to test if his children are as smart as he is by seeing if they giggle at smart things that sound dirty, like "Balzac", "Homo erectus", and "spotted dick". They giggle at all three, to his disappointment.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Lois’ ego being taken down a peg by Peter and his newfound intellect could be karma’s way of punishing Lois for all the crap she pulled over the years.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lois tears into Peter for leaving Stewie at the park.Lois: What's wrong with you, Peter!?
Peter: Lois, I'm sorry.
Lois: How the hell can you possibly mistake another baby for Stewie!?
Peter: Now, calm down, Lois. You're gonna say something you don't mean.
Lois: Oh no, I'm not! You're an idiot!
Peter: You don't mean that...
Lois: Peter, I have put up with your nonsense for twenty years, but today, you crossed a line. You left a helpless baby in a public park, and that's something only an IDIOT would do. - Robot Wizard: One Cutaway Gag is about a Show Within a Show called "Wizard Robot and his less successful friend".
- Skewed Priorities: In the beginning, Peter's more afraid of Lois finding out about his mistakes than the fact he'd left Stewie, an infant baby, alone at the park.
- Status Quo Is God: Peter goes back to his old stupid self after the family sends him on a trip to Tucson, Arizona.
- Straw Loser: Discussed. When Peter becomes intelligent and is able to point out their follies, Lois and Brian begin to feel insecure since the lack of Peter's imbecilic behaviour means they no longer feel like the smart people of the household.
- Take That!: The family is able to return Peter to his former dumb self by sending him to Tucson, Arizona where everyone is a crooked-toothed, violent moron.
- Also there, the film Battleship is still playing in theaters.
- Peter poking holes in Brian's claim that he reads classic novels (or any books for that matter) is a burn on Brian's pretentious personality that developed when the show came back from cancellation.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: Peter's newfound intelligence causes the rest of the family to miss the old Peter.
