Family Guy April in Quahog April 11, 2010

With the threat of a black hole enclosing the solar system in 24 hours, the Griffins, along with the rest of Quahog, prepare for their last day on Earth. What turns out to be an April Fool’s joke from Channel 5, (“And with only 87 suicides and widespread looting, we think this was a pretty successful practical joke.”) gives the town an excuse for complete freedom one ordinary Tuesday.

As usual, the episode is filled with humorous cutaways and tangents distantly related to the situations. Each scene directs the focus to another punchline, keeping the fast-paced tempo commonly found on Family Guy. The hilarity wasn’t missed between jumping from the citizens of Quahog and the Griffin’s adventures, and though it might have been appropriate to end the episode at the April’s Fool joke, the conflict introduced just after was simple enough to resolve while adding more layers to the story.

Peter Griffin had been called into jury duty the day before, and after he realized that everyone gets called, his enthusiasm disappeared. Overjoyed that the last day on Earth meant that he didn’t have jury duty anymore, Peter neglects his family for the entirety of the day in order to do the things he never accomplished in his life. Stolen from the zoo, Peter rides in the living room with a lion and just as proud as one. “Hello everybody, this is Montecoy. He’s my lion. I have a lion now.” Later, he scampers off into an all black neighborhood and yells the “you-know-what word,” returning crowned and robed.

Quagmire convinces Joe that he is actually a virgin and wants permission to sleep with his wife. Joe allows him and when he asks Quagmire how it went, Quagmire replies, “Oh, I’ve had lots of sex. I just wanted to have it again!” Then he proceeds to skip and sing away, finishing with a convicted “Screw you!” at the end. The camera slides back to Joe, whose only reply is an equally enthusiastic, “That’s Quagmire for you!”

Lois and the kids spend the day on the couch watching the Channel 5 news cover of the black hole. When Peter finally returns from his escapades, Lois yells at him just seconds before the count down finishes. Spared for a few seconds while Channel 5 reveals their spoof, Peter is later shunned for not taking interest in Meg, Chris or Stewie’s lives. Lois tells Peter to try harder since he is obviously failing, which leads to his buying a new XBOX for the kids. Predictably, the children forgive him and all is resolved within the Griffin family again.

The humor found in Family Guy normally rides on the use of irrelevant and somewhat absurd occurrences happening to regular people in a boring town, and yet, the jokes haven’t lost their zing. Familiar plays on the characters and their relationships connect this episode to the running seasons, and show Seth McFarlane’s signature comedic devices. After another solid episode and relieved that the town of Quahog stands strong for another day, the impatience grows for the next episode of the never ordinary lives of the Griffin’s.