Original air date: 4/4/2000 (produced in 1999)
Production code: 1ACX-12
When Peter's favorite TV show Gumble 2 Gumble gets cancelled, he tries to pretend that Chris is dying of a rare illness so the Make-A-Wish Foundation can grant Chris his dying wish. Things get messy when Peter lies that he cured Chris with divine powers, causing the Griffins to be worshipped as false idols and Biblical plagues start to befall the family.
This episode contains examples of:
- An Aesop: It's not worth lying just to get your favorite TV show back on the air.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Meg, who usually doesn’t get along with Chris, cries when she hears that he's "dying".
- Bait-and-Switch:Peter: Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her, after I get a little bit of courage from my old friend, Mr. Jack Daniels. (a bottle of liquor is on the table, but Peter reaches past it to grab the phone and dial an unrelated Jack Daniels)
- Blatant Lies: Peter lies about his son Chris dying to get his favorite show un-cancelled. When Lois orders him to confess, he instead lies that he was able to heal him.
- Blood Bath: When God torments the Griffins with the ten plagues of Egypt, one sees Stewie's bath water turn into blood. While the rest of the family is freaked out, Stewie is enjoying himself.Stewie: How positively delightful! It's as if someone stabbed Mr. Bubble!
- Body Horror: Parodied. Peter tries to fool the Grant-A-Wish people into believing Chris is sick with a rare disease that leaves nipples all over his body which eventually fall off. The "nipples" are really pepperonis but the Grant-A-Wish people believe Peter's lies anyway.
- Characterization Marches On: Brian knowing about the Biblical plagues and saying "God is pissed!" when he slaps Peter will come off as odd for those who are more familiar with Brian's atheist leanings in later episodes.
- Comfort the Dying: Peter tearfully does this when Chris is almost killed by the final plague, assuring him that he'll get to watch all the Gumble 2 Gumble he wants in Heaven. Fortunately, Peter pleading for forgiveness from God is enough to save him.
- Epic Fail: Peter going on a hunger strike. It lasts all of five seconds, before Peter asks if he can eat a stapler.
- Even Evil Has Standards: It's subtle, but Stewie looks as concerned as everyone else does when Chris appears to be dying to the final plague.
- Extreme Omnivore: After vowing to go on a hunger strike until they revive "Gumble 2 Gumble", Peter then asks if the station manager is going to eat that stapler.
- A God Am I: When people start seeing Peter as a god, he starts taking advantage and begins developing a complex. It doesn't last.
- Go into the Light: As Chris lays dying after being almost crushed by Peter's statue, he says he can see a "white light at the end of a long tunnel". Peter, being Peter, tells him that's he should run towards it because Light Is Good, to which Lois correctly tells him to run away from the light.
- Halfway Plot Switch: The episode goes from Peter wanting to get the "Gumble 2 Gumble" back on the air to fooling people into believing he has divine powers.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Mr. Harris strongly resembles guest voice actor Martin Mull.
- Irony: Peter pretended that Chris was dying so he can get his favorite show back on the air. Near the end, Chris almost dies for real.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Stewie's nonchalant reaction to the bathtub suddenly filling with blood as God punishes the Griffin family. He's also the only one smiling when the Griffins go outside to see storm clouds forming.Stewie How positively delightful... it's as if someone stabbed Mr. Bubble!
- Not Hyperbole: When Peter demands to see the head of the network, he heads for a door:Receptionist: Wait, you can't go in there!
(Peter opens the door and runs right into a brick wall)
Receptionist: I mean, you can't go in there because that door leads nowhere. Use the door next to it. - Overly Long Gag: On Gumbel 2 Gumbel, Bryant Gumbel annoys a crook by saying "Mmm-hmm?" over and over.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Brian to Peter.Brian: GOD! IS! PISSED!
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The manager of the affiliate that Peter complains to. He can't save Gumbel 2 Gumbel from cancellation, but he will let Peter have all the videos with the episodes on them.
- Rewind, Replay, Repeat: A terminally ill kid got to be a quarterback for a day, and got tackled by a bunch of players. The footage is repeatedly rewound and replayed at fast speed for Dark Comedy effect.News Anchor: Looks like little Johnny should've wished for some blocking!
- Shout-Out: Gumbel 2 Gumble seems like a very similar show to Pacific Blue: Both are cop shows set at the beach.
- Peter's black cousin Rufus Griffins stars in a variety of films including "Black Draft", "Caddy Black", "Black Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Black To The Future".
- Take That!: A pretty major one towards
NBC's formulaic sitcoms of the time. - Tempting Fate: Peter taking in new fame as a "god" incurs the wrath of the actual God. When Chris almost dies from it, Peter finally gives up.
- Unfortunate Names: The episode of Good Times that Peter watches highlights this.JJ: Mama, what's wrong with you?
Florida: What's wrong with me? My name is Florida. Florida! That's the name of a state. Why is my name Florida? Oh, Lord! [sobs] - You Monster!: Both Brian and Lois say this to Peter when they find out he pretended Chris was terminally ill just to get his favorite television show back on the air.
