In this send-up of TV retrospectives, Family Guy is depicted as a long-running sitcom and shows how the show (and society at large) has changed from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Meg's appearance in the '70s segment is a Whole Costume Reference to Jackie from That '70s Show. Both characters were played by Mila Kunis.
- Anachronism Stew: In the '70s segment, after Peter decides that he doesn't want to send Chris off to Vietnam after all, he mentions having to fight off Donkey Kong, which is immediately followed by Quagmire giving a spiel about the army climbing girders and ladders while Donkey Kong keeps throwing barrels at them. Although the segment is filled with '70s references, this one doesn't work because Donkey Kong was released in 1981.
- And the Rest: During the opening for the 60's segment parodying "The Archie Show" Peter calls every family member by name except Meg, who's just deemed the rest.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Much of the humor in the 1950s segment is based on concepts that, while acceptable at the time, would not fly by today's standards. These include the show being sponsored by cigarettes that are geared towards children and the idea that women don't belong in the workplace.
- Didn't Think This Through: Peter's plan in the '70s segment to save Chris from a tour of duty in Vietnam by going in his place. When he realizes the consequences, he says this word for word.
- Dirty Coward: Let my son die... let my son die... my son, not me...
- Don't Explain the Joke: The '50s segment ends with Peter threatening Lois with "to the moon!", leading to Lois having a conversation about what he means by that. When she asks if the idea of striking her so violently she flies to the moon is supposed to be funny, Peter says it no longer is in an annoyed tone.
- Dramatic Irony: In the '70s segment, Peter admonishes Stewie for playing with his toy vacuum cleaner like a girl and gives him a discus and javelin to grow up like a real man like Bruce Jenner (who would later identify as a woman and undergo gender reassignment surgery). Peter even shows Stewie Bruce's picture on a box of Wheaties, leading to Stewie remarking "didn't these used to have nuts in them?".
- Dropped-in Speech Clip: In the '60s segment, audio of The Beatles appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show and the Moon Landing are heard while Peter switches through TV channels.
- Improperly Placed Firearms: Played with in the '70s segment, where Peter tries to force Chris to enlist to fight in Vietnam by saying that he "knows war", claiming to have stormed the beaches of Normandy. Cut to him doing just that, with what appears to be an era-inappropriate M14 rifle, only for the beach in question to be filled with tourists who pay him no mind and lifeguards who tell him "no running on the beach", as Peter's narration reveals he "stormed the beach" in 1958.
- It Will Never Catch On: During Tom Tucker's first scene in the 1950s segment, he is depicted as a radio newscaster who believes that TV is just a fad, only for him to make the jump to that format by the time the Griffins rent a TV to watch Ed Sullivan.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: As Peter is hosting the episode at the Museum of Television and Radio, when he sees some tourists coming his way, he decides to pretend to be a wax figure. But when the tourists walk by they declare, they hate Family Guy much to Peter’s sadness as he cries.
- Nothing but Hits: '70s Quagmire is driven mad by the repeated playing of "Fortunate Son" during his stint in Vietnam. Also during the disco scene, the Walter Murphy song "A Fifth Of Beethoven" is heard.
- Off with His Head!: When the guys hit the Clam in the 70s segment, they show up in outfits with extremely large and sharp collars. By the time they reach their booth, they've either decapitated or slit the throats of nearly everyone else in the bar. The one person that didn't is sliced into thin pieces vertically instead.
- Overly Long Gag: Each segment contains a gag in it that goes on for quite a while. The 1950s has the Post Raisin Bran commercial, the 1960s has the bit with Peter's long car and the 1970s has the scene in the club of people getting their necks sliced due to the sharp collars on the guys' shirts.
- Rule of Three:
- The Post Raisin Bran commercial in the 1950s segment is basically the same spiel done three times using a different variation each time (first with a basic description of the product, then with 1950s style animated graphics, finally with the jingle).
- The same could apply for the whole episode itself since each of the three segments contain their own Overly Long Gag as mentioned above.
- Shout-Out:
- Peter mentions that Family Guy had sustained a "pretty good ribbing by those South Park guys", which is a reference to the season ten episodes Cartoon Wars Part I and Cartoon Wars Part II, where South Park parodied Family Guy.
- The opening for the 1960s segment is done in the style of The Archie Show.
- The Brady Bunch and the episode "The Tattletale," with Meg fitting the role of Cindy and "Mike" giving a tongue-twisting admonition to not tattle ... even if she sees someone using drugs. ("You're really only telling on yourself.") The tone is similar to The Brady Bunch Movie, where Mike scolds at Cindy for tattling, even though she is trying to tell him she witnessed a neighbor stealing their mail (a felony in every state).
- Walter Murphy, the show's musical director, with the use of "A Fifth Of Beethoven" in the disco scene.
- The ending of the '70s segment is a nod to the Downer Ending of the film adaptation of Hair, with Chris in the role of the "supposed to be Vietnam bound" Claude and Peter playing the Berger role of the one who ends up going in his place and winds up dying there.
- Standard Snippet: Parodied. When Peter asks Quagmire what serving in Vietnam was like, he goes on a spiel not about the violence or the physical toll, but about how often he heard "Fortunate Son" playing.
- Stealth Pun: Stewie remarks that the Wheaties (featuring Bruce Jenner on the box) used to have nuts in them, subtly referencing Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner's gender reassignment surgery.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Herbert wants Peter to know that he is definitely not "Roy Mitchell from three towns over who was accused of all sorts of nonsense and left in a hurry." Later, "Mike Brady" says the same thing about Robert Reed.
- Take That!:
- "Fred Trump Apartments: If you don't want to live with blacks, Fred Trump."
- In the '60s episode, Pete Townsend takes inappropriate pictures of Chris while claiming he's doing research for a book, which Peter disputes. Townsend was previously accused of accessing child pornography while claiming he was doing research.
- Truth in Television: Peter's ignorance of what war is like was a common mindset of the time. The Vietnam War was a major turning point in public opinion about war.
- A Wizard Did It: In the theme song for the 1960s episode segment, Peter claims a wizard gave Stewie the ability to talk, but made it so only characters outside the family can talk with him.
