Extra Large Medium
Encyclopedia
"Extra Large Medium" is the twelfth episode of the eighth season
of the animated
comedy series
Family Guy
. Directed by John Holmquist
and written by Steve Callaghan
, the episode originally aired on Fox
in the United States on February 14, 2010. In "Extra Large Medium", the show's main character, Peter
, discovers that he has supposedly developed "extrasensory perception," after his two sons, Chris
and Stewie
, go missing during a family hike in the woods. Soon after being rescued, Chris decides to ask out a fellow classmate at his school, named Ellen, who has Down syndrome
, and eventually takes her on a romantic date, which he goes on to regret. Meanwhile, Peter begins performing psychic readings, but is eventually discovered to be faking his ability once he is approached by the town's police force.
The episode generated significant controversy. Former Governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican
vice-presidential
nominee Sarah Palin
, who is referenced briefly in the episode as being the mother of Ellen, took offense to the episode's portrayal of Down syndrome, due to her son's diagnosis of the disorder. Andrea Fay Friedman
, who was also diagnosed with Down syndrome and portrayed the character of Ellen, publicly refuted Palin, instead supporting executive producer and series creator Seth MacFarlane
, who defended the episode, and was also supported by Bill Maher
, the host of Real Time
.
Critical responses to the episode were mostly positive; critics praised its storyline, numerous cultural references, and its portrayal of a person with Down syndrome. According to Nielsen ratings
, it was viewed in 6.42 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Jennifer Birmingham, Jackson Douglas
, Andrea Fay Friedman, Phil LaMarr
, Michele Lee
and Nana Visitor
, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, for the episode's song entitled "Down Syndrome Girl", at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
. Both Walter Murphy
and MacFarlane were recognized for their work on the music and lyrics. "Extra Large Medium" will be released on DVD
along with ten other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011.
decide to go for a hike in the local woods, Chris
and Stewie
get lost while chasing after a floating butterfly
. As a result, they go missing for several days, with only limited supplies. As Lois
is at her wit's end, she decides to see a psychic medium who assures her of the children's safety and well being. Eventually the boys are found and rescued by Bruce, and returned to their home in Quahog which only furthers Lois's psychic obsession to the annoyance of a skeptical Brian
. In defiance of Lois's assertion that extrasensory perception exists, Brian has Peter
perform a cold reading
on a passerby in the park in order to demonstrate that psychic readings are purely an act, and not real. However, Peter is struck by his success as a medium, convincing himself that he actually has extrasensory perception, and decides to capitalize on it by opening his own psychic reading
s business and performing in front of a live audience. Soon after, Peter's bluff is finally called when Joe requests his help in a frantic search for a missing person who has been strapped to a bomb. Peter stalls for time during the search, (as he just wants to feel the victim's daughter's breasts) eventually resulting in a gruesome death when the bomb explodes, prompting Peter to flatly admit that he actually has no psychic powers whatsoever.
Meanwhile, during the time when Chris and Stewie were lost in the woods, Chris promises to date Ellen, a school classmate with Down syndrome
. After their rescue, Stewie helps prepare Chris for a date by dressing him up, and instructing him on how to act during a prolonged musical song and dance number. During the date, Ellen winds up being pushy and demanding, and the relationship quickly falls apart. Chris admits that he had bought into a stereotype of people with Down syndrome being kind and loving, and breaks up with her. Stewie consoles Chris by congratulating him for overcoming his shyness and demonstrating confidence in asking her out on a date, as he had promised to do.
, and written by series show runner Steve Callaghan
before the conclusion of the eighth production season
. Series regulars Peter Shin
and James Purdum
served as supervising directors, with Seth MacFarlane
and David Zuckerman
working as staff writers for the episode. Composer Walter Murphy
, who has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for "Extra Large Medium".
Actress Andrea Fay Friedman
, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth, and who has appeared on several television shows, including Saving Grace
and Life Goes On
, voiced the character Ellen. Before performing on the show, Friedman stated in an interview that she had never watched Family Guy, but found it to be "funny" after watching several episodes from the series. In developing Friedman's character, her physical appearance was largely used in creating Ellen, in addition to adding a "bossy" personality to the character, which Friedman was reluctant to perform at first. She eventually "had a nice time" performing the script, however, as it was her first voice acting performance.
"Extra Large Medium", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guys eighth season, will be released on a three-disc DVD
set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer
", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
In addition to the regular cast, voice actress Jennifer Birmingham, actor Jackson Douglas
, Andrea Fay Friedman, voice actor Phil LaMarr
, singer Michele Lee
, and actress Nana Visitor
guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Lori Alan
, writer Danny Smith
, writer Alec Sulkin
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
, which was a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber
. While Stewie and Chris are lost in the forest overnight, Stewie plays a guessing game with one of the answers being Thornton Melon. Stewie looks at the television audience wondering why the majority of them chose Thornton Melon, then Stewie makes reference of Thornton Melon being the character that Rodney Dangerfield
played in the movie Back To School. It was in fact a quote by Henry David Thoreau
. Stewie's reference to a newspaper headline saying "Stewie Defeats Truman" is a takeoff of the famous "Dewey Defeats Truman
" headline, which erroneously predicted that Thomas E. Dewey would defeat Harry S. Truman
in the 1948 presidential election. Peter's new career as a psychic is a parody of John Edward
and his TV show Crossing Over. While the police depend on Peter to help them find someone, Peter stalls by pretending to channel the spirit of Lou Costello
; his exchange with Joe about the missing man, Mr. Hu who lives on First Street, is a takeoff of the famous Abbott and Costello
routine "Who's on First?
", and when Spock
from Star Trek
wins the lottery he does The Crotch Chop. The voice of the USS Enterprise
computer is that of Nana Visitor
, who herself was Kira Nerys
on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
.
, a number significantly lower than the season premiere, largely due to airing simultaneously with the 2010 Winter Olympics
on NBC
, Undercover Boss
on CBS
and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
on ABC
. The episode also acquired a 3.2/8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show and American Dad!, in addition to significantly edging out all three shows in total viewership.
Reviews of the episode were mixed to positive, citing the episode as "a pleasant surprise." In a simultaneous review of the episodes of The Simpsons and American Dad! that preceded and followed the episode respectively and The Cleveland Show, Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
commented that he felt that the Chris plot line was "hung together in a way the storylines usually don't on this show," adding that, "I'll give the show points for both degree of difficulty and pulling off something I didn't think it would." In the conclusion of his review, VanDerWerff rated the episode as a B-, beating only The Cleveland Show episode "Buried Pleasure
". In a slightly less positive review, Ramsey Isler of IGN
gave the episode a 7.7 out of 10, and began his assessment of the episode by stating, "This one will certainly get some politically correct Down syndrome advocates all riled up, but Family Guy is nothing without a little controversy." Isler went on to call the plot "uneven in quality," but with "some moments that could be in the Family Guy "greatest hits" archive." Television critic Jason Hughes of the TV Squad called the Abbott and Costello joke "hilariously appropriate", and stated that the episode's portrayal of a person with Down syndrome was "refreshing."
At one point, Ellen states that her mother is the former Governor of Alaska, which strongly implies that her mother is Sarah Palin
, the only woman to have served in the office of governor in the state. Palin's daughter Bristol
publicly stated on her mother's Facebook
profile on February 16, 2010, that she took offense to the episode, feeling that it mocked her brother, Trig, who has Down syndrome
, commenting, "If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they're heartless jerks." Sarah Palin also criticized the episode in an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor
, calling those who made the show "cruel, cold-hearted people." The writer of the episode, Steve Callaghan, addressed Palin's criticism of the episode at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 24, 2010, in talking about the upcoming ninth season
of the show, stating, "This season, I decided that I'd even things out and write something that would offend smart people."
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times
, Seth MacFarlane
responded to Palin's criticism, saying that the series always uses satire as the basis of its humor, and that the show is an "equal-opportunity offender." In addition, Andrea Fay Friedman
, who voiced Ellen, and who herself has Down syndrome, also responded to the criticisms saying that the joke was aimed at Sarah Palin and not her son, and that "former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor." In a subsequent interview, Friedman rebuked Palin, accusing her of using her son, Trig, as a political prop to pander for votes, saying that she has a normal life and that Palin's son should be treated as normal, rather than like a "loaf of French bread." Later, MacFarlane addressed both Palin's statement and Friedman's rebuttal in an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher
calling Palin's outrage a presumptuous attempt to defend people with Down syndrome, and characterizing Friedman's statement as her way of saying that she does not need feigned pity from Palin. Family Guy cast member Patrick Warburton
stated that he objected to the joke, saying, "I know that you have to be an equal-opportunity offender, but there are some things that I just don't think are funny." While frequent MacFarlane critic Parents Television Council
touched on the Palin controversy in its assessment of the episode, the rest of the show's content—which contained "mean-spirited pot-shots, explicit language, and strong sexual content"—earned the watchdog group's "Worst TV Show of the Week" title. The PTC specifically cited the Broadway
-style song, which the PTC said "contained all the stereotypes of mental retardation
" and "disturbing sexual references," and the climatic scene in the subplot, where Peter pretends to be a psychic, which the PTC said also contained sexual humor.
On July 8, 2010, the episode's song entitled "Down Syndrome Girl" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
. Series creator Seth MacFarlane
and composer Walter Murphy
were nominated for their work on the song's lyrics and music. On July 24, 2010, MacFarlane gave a live performance of the song at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, to an audience of nearly 4,200 attendees. At the Creative Arts Awards on August 21, 2010, "Down Syndrome Girl" lost to the USA Network
series Monk
.
Family Guy (season 8)
Family Guy eighth season first aired on the Fox network in twenty episodes from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It ran on Sunday nights between May and July 2010 on BBC Three in the UK...
of the animated
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
comedy series
Television comedy
Television comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting. Among the earliest BBC television programmes in the 1930s was Starlight, which offered a series of guests from the music hall era — singers and comedians amongst them...
Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
. Directed by John Holmquist
John Holmquist
John Holmquist is a television animation director. He has worked on several episodes of Rugrats as a director and storyboard artist for the late 90's to early 2000's...
and written by Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan is an American screenwriter, producer and voice actor, best known for his work on Family Guy. He is a graduate of the Department of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs...
, the episode originally aired on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on February 14, 2010. In "Extra Large Medium", the show's main character, Peter
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
, discovers that he has supposedly developed "extrasensory perception," after his two sons, Chris
Chris Griffin
Chris Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is the son and middle child of Peter and Lois Griffin, brother of Stewie and Meg Griffin. Chris is voiced by Seth Green.-Personality:...
and Stewie
Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Once obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, and the brother of Chris and Meg....
, go missing during a family hike in the woods. Soon after being rescued, Chris decides to ask out a fellow classmate at his school, named Ellen, who has Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
, and eventually takes her on a romantic date, which he goes on to regret. Meanwhile, Peter begins performing psychic readings, but is eventually discovered to be faking his ability once he is approached by the town's police force.
The episode generated significant controversy. Former Governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
vice-presidential
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
nominee Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, who is referenced briefly in the episode as being the mother of Ellen, took offense to the episode's portrayal of Down syndrome, due to her son's diagnosis of the disorder. Andrea Fay Friedman
Andrea Fay Friedman
Andrea Fay Friedman is an American film and television actress with Down syndrome.-Early life:Friedman attended West Los Angeles Baptist High School and Santa Monica College. In 1992, she portrayed Amanda, the girlfriend of the character Charles "Corky" Thatcher, on the TV show Life Goes On for...
, who was also diagnosed with Down syndrome and portrayed the character of Ellen, publicly refuted Palin, instead supporting executive producer and series creator Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
, who defended the episode, and was also supported by Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
, the host of Real Time
Real Time with Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher is a talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous show, Politically Incorrect on ABC , Real Time features a panel of guests that discuss current events in politics and the media...
.
Critical responses to the episode were mostly positive; critics praised its storyline, numerous cultural references, and its portrayal of a person with Down syndrome. According to Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, it was viewed in 6.42 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Jennifer Birmingham, Jackson Douglas
Jackson Douglas
Jackson Douglas is best known for his role as Jackson Belleville in the television series Gilmore Girls, for which he's also directed the Season 5 episode To Live and Let Diorama and Season 6 episode Welcome to the Dollhouse...
, Andrea Fay Friedman, Phil LaMarr
Phil LaMarr
Phillip "Phil" LaMarr is an American actor, comedian and voice actor. One of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series MADtv, he is also known for his small, but memorable role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction...
, Michele Lee
Michele Lee
Michele Lee is an American singer, dancer, actress, producer, director and frequent game show panelist of the 1970s. She is best-known for her role as Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie on the 1980s prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing...
and Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor , born Nana Tucker, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.-Early life:...
, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, for the episode's song entitled "Down Syndrome Girl", at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, took place on August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT...
. Both Walter Murphy
Walter Murphy
Walter Anthony Murphy, Jr. is an American instrumentalist, songwriter, and arranger. He rose to fame with the hit instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of passages from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, in 1976, when disco was at the height of its...
and MacFarlane were recognized for their work on the music and lyrics. "Extra Large Medium" will be released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
along with ten other episodes from the season on December 13, 2011.
Plot
When the Griffin familyGriffin family
The Griffin family is a family from the animated television series Family Guy. The Griffins are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Peter and Lois, their three children Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their dog Brian. They live at 31 Spooner Street in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode...
decide to go for a hike in the local woods, Chris
Chris Griffin
Chris Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is the son and middle child of Peter and Lois Griffin, brother of Stewie and Meg Griffin. Chris is voiced by Seth Green.-Personality:...
and Stewie
Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Once obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, and the brother of Chris and Meg....
get lost while chasing after a floating butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
. As a result, they go missing for several days, with only limited supplies. As Lois
Lois Griffin
Lois Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by writer Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Lois was created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane...
is at her wit's end, she decides to see a psychic medium who assures her of the children's safety and well being. Eventually the boys are found and rescued by Bruce, and returned to their home in Quahog which only furthers Lois's psychic obsession to the annoyance of a skeptical Brian
Brian Griffin
Brian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
. In defiance of Lois's assertion that extrasensory perception exists, Brian has Peter
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
perform a cold reading
Cold reading
Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, illusionists, and con artists to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do...
on a passerby in the park in order to demonstrate that psychic readings are purely an act, and not real. However, Peter is struck by his success as a medium, convincing himself that he actually has extrasensory perception, and decides to capitalize on it by opening his own psychic reading
Psychic reading
A psychic reading is a specific attempt to discern information with clairvoyance and the resulting statements made during such an attempt. The term is commonly associated with paranormal-based consultation given for a fee in such settings as over the phone, in a home, or at psychic fairs...
s business and performing in front of a live audience. Soon after, Peter's bluff is finally called when Joe requests his help in a frantic search for a missing person who has been strapped to a bomb. Peter stalls for time during the search, (as he just wants to feel the victim's daughter's breasts) eventually resulting in a gruesome death when the bomb explodes, prompting Peter to flatly admit that he actually has no psychic powers whatsoever.
Meanwhile, during the time when Chris and Stewie were lost in the woods, Chris promises to date Ellen, a school classmate with Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
. After their rescue, Stewie helps prepare Chris for a date by dressing him up, and instructing him on how to act during a prolonged musical song and dance number. During the date, Ellen winds up being pushy and demanding, and the relationship quickly falls apart. Chris admits that he had bought into a stereotype of people with Down syndrome being kind and loving, and breaks up with her. Stewie consoles Chris by congratulating him for overcoming his shyness and demonstrating confidence in asking her out on a date, as he had promised to do.
Production and development
The episode was directed by series regular John HolmquistJohn Holmquist
John Holmquist is a television animation director. He has worked on several episodes of Rugrats as a director and storyboard artist for the late 90's to early 2000's...
, and written by series show runner Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan is an American screenwriter, producer and voice actor, best known for his work on Family Guy. He is a graduate of the Department of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs...
before the conclusion of the eighth production season
Family Guy (season 8)
Family Guy eighth season first aired on the Fox network in twenty episodes from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It ran on Sunday nights between May and July 2010 on BBC Three in the UK...
. Series regulars Peter Shin
Peter Shin
Peter Shin is the:*supervising director of Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story*director of Big Bug Man.*director of Family Guy episodes:**"Death Has a Shadow"**"Emission Impossible"**"North by North Quahog"**"It's a Trap!"...
and James Purdum
James Purdum
James Purdum is an American animation director. Purdum is most notably known for directing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy....
served as supervising directors, with Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
and David Zuckerman
David Zuckerman
David Zuckerman is a farmer and a Progressive member of the Vermont House of Representatives, representing Chittenden-3-4 district. He grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts where he attended Brookline High School.-Career:...
working as staff writers for the episode. Composer Walter Murphy
Walter Murphy
Walter Anthony Murphy, Jr. is an American instrumentalist, songwriter, and arranger. He rose to fame with the hit instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of passages from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, in 1976, when disco was at the height of its...
, who has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for "Extra Large Medium".
Actress Andrea Fay Friedman
Andrea Fay Friedman
Andrea Fay Friedman is an American film and television actress with Down syndrome.-Early life:Friedman attended West Los Angeles Baptist High School and Santa Monica College. In 1992, she portrayed Amanda, the girlfriend of the character Charles "Corky" Thatcher, on the TV show Life Goes On for...
, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth, and who has appeared on several television shows, including Saving Grace
Saving Grace (TV series)
Saving Grace is an American television crime drama series which premiered on TNT on July 23, 2007 and ran until June 21, 2010. The show stars Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter in her first television series, as well as Leon Rippy, Kenny Johnson, Laura San Giacomo, Bailey Chase, Bokeem Woodbine,...
and Life Goes On
Life Goes On (TV series)
Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12, 1989 to May 23, 1993. The show centers on the Thacher family living in suburban Chicago: Drew, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Paige, Rebecca, and Charles, who is known as Corky...
, voiced the character Ellen. Before performing on the show, Friedman stated in an interview that she had never watched Family Guy, but found it to be "funny" after watching several episodes from the series. In developing Friedman's character, her physical appearance was largely used in creating Ellen, in addition to adding a "bossy" personality to the character, which Friedman was reluctant to perform at first. She eventually "had a nice time" performing the script, however, as it was her first voice acting performance.
"Extra Large Medium", along with the eleven other episodes from Family Guys eighth season, will be released on a three-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set in the United States on December 13, 2011. The sets include brief audio commentaries by various crew and cast members for several episodes, a collection of deleted scenes and animatics, a special mini-feature which discussed the process behind animating "And Then There Were Fewer
And Then There Were Fewer
"And Then There Were Fewer" is the first episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 26, 2010. The episode follows the citizens of Quahog, Rhode Island, after they are invited by actor James Woods to his stately...
", a mini-feature entitled "The Comical Adventures of Family Guy - Brian & Stewie: The Lost Phone Call", and footage of the Family Guy panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
In addition to the regular cast, voice actress Jennifer Birmingham, actor Jackson Douglas
Jackson Douglas
Jackson Douglas is best known for his role as Jackson Belleville in the television series Gilmore Girls, for which he's also directed the Season 5 episode To Live and Let Diorama and Season 6 episode Welcome to the Dollhouse...
, Andrea Fay Friedman, voice actor Phil LaMarr
Phil LaMarr
Phillip "Phil" LaMarr is an American actor, comedian and voice actor. One of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series MADtv, he is also known for his small, but memorable role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction...
, singer Michele Lee
Michele Lee
Michele Lee is an American singer, dancer, actress, producer, director and frequent game show panelist of the 1970s. She is best-known for her role as Karen Cooper Fairgate MacKenzie on the 1980s prime-time soap opera, Knots Landing...
, and actress Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor , born Nana Tucker, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.-Early life:...
guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Lori Alan
Lori Alan
Lori Alan , sometimes credited as Lori Allen, is an American voice actress who provides the voice of news anchor Diane Simmons on Family Guy, various voices on Hey Arnold!, and SpongeBob SquarePants as Pearl....
, writer Danny Smith
Danny Smith (writer)
Daniel "Danny" Smith is an executive producer, writer and voice actor on the American animated television series Family Guy. He has been with the show since its inception and throughout the years has contributed many episodes, such as "Holy Crap", "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz", "Chitty...
, writer Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin is an American television writer. Most notable for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy, he has also contributed to The Cleveland Show, another series by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane....
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances.
Cultural references
Peter mentions starring in Starlight ExpressStarlight Express
Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...
, which was a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
. While Stewie and Chris are lost in the forest overnight, Stewie plays a guessing game with one of the answers being Thornton Melon. Stewie looks at the television audience wondering why the majority of them chose Thornton Melon, then Stewie makes reference of Thornton Melon being the character that Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
played in the movie Back To School. It was in fact a quote by Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
. Stewie's reference to a newspaper headline saying "Stewie Defeats Truman" is a takeoff of the famous "Dewey Defeats Truman
Dewey Defeats Truman
"Dewey Defeats Truman" was a famously inaccurate banner headline on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on November 3, 1948, the day after incumbent United States President Harry S. Truman beat Republican challenger and Governor of New York Thomas E...
" headline, which erroneously predicted that Thomas E. Dewey would defeat Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
in the 1948 presidential election. Peter's new career as a psychic is a parody of John Edward
John Edward
John Edward McGee, Jr. is an American television personality and professional psychic medium. He is best known for his TV shows Crossing Over with John Edward and John Edward Cross Country....
and his TV show Crossing Over. While the police depend on Peter to help them find someone, Peter stalls by pretending to channel the spirit of Lou Costello
Lou Costello
Louis Francis "Lou" Costello was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott...
; his exchange with Joe about the missing man, Mr. Hu who lives on First Street, is a takeoff of the famous Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
routine "Who's on First?
Who's on First?
Who's on First? is a vaudeville comedy routine made most famous by Abbott and Costello. In Abbott and Costello's version, the premise of the routine is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team to Costello, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers...
", and when Spock
Spock
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
from Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
wins the lottery he does The Crotch Chop. The voice of the USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise may refer to the following vessels:-United States of America:In watercraft, the prefix "USS" or "U.S.S." is applied to ships commissioned by and for the United States Navy. Private citizens also use the name unofficially...
computer is that of Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor
Nana Visitor , born Nana Tucker, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.-Early life:...
, who herself was Kira Nerys
Kira Nerys
Kira Nerys , played by Nana Visitor, is a main character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Backstory:Per Bajoran custom, her family name, Kira, precedes her given name, Nerys. She has two brothers , and her parents' names are Kira Taban and Kira Meru...
on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
.
Reception and Controversy
"Extra Large Medium" was broadcasted on February 14, 2010, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by an episode of The Simpsons and MacFarlane's newest series The Cleveland Show. It was followed by MacFarlane's second show American Dad!. In a slight improvement over the previous week, the episode was watched by 6.42 million homes, accordin to Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, a number significantly lower than the season premiere, largely due to airing simultaneously with the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss is a television franchise series that has been released in multiple countries, originating in 2009 on the British Channel 4...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a reality television series providing home renovations for less fortunate families and community schools etc...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The episode also acquired a 3.2/8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show and American Dad!, in addition to significantly edging out all three shows in total viewership.
Reviews of the episode were mixed to positive, citing the episode as "a pleasant surprise." In a simultaneous review of the episodes of The Simpsons and American Dad! that preceded and followed the episode respectively and The Cleveland Show, Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
commented that he felt that the Chris plot line was "hung together in a way the storylines usually don't on this show," adding that, "I'll give the show points for both degree of difficulty and pulling off something I didn't think it would." In the conclusion of his review, VanDerWerff rated the episode as a B-, beating only The Cleveland Show episode "Buried Pleasure
Buried Pleasure
"Buried Pleasure" is the thirteenth episode of the first season of The Cleveland Show it aired on February 14, 2010. It was the last episode to feature Nia Long as Roberta.In this episode, Cleveland sets Holt up on a date.-Plot:...
". In a slightly less positive review, Ramsey Isler of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a 7.7 out of 10, and began his assessment of the episode by stating, "This one will certainly get some politically correct Down syndrome advocates all riled up, but Family Guy is nothing without a little controversy." Isler went on to call the plot "uneven in quality," but with "some moments that could be in the Family Guy "greatest hits" archive." Television critic Jason Hughes of the TV Squad called the Abbott and Costello joke "hilariously appropriate", and stated that the episode's portrayal of a person with Down syndrome was "refreshing."
At one point, Ellen states that her mother is the former Governor of Alaska, which strongly implies that her mother is Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, the only woman to have served in the office of governor in the state. Palin's daughter Bristol
Bristol Palin
Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin is the second child and oldest daughter of former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd....
publicly stated on her mother's Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
profile on February 16, 2010, that she took offense to the episode, feeling that it mocked her brother, Trig, who has Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
, commenting, "If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they're heartless jerks." Sarah Palin also criticized the episode in an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
, calling those who made the show "cruel, cold-hearted people." The writer of the episode, Steve Callaghan, addressed Palin's criticism of the episode at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 24, 2010, in talking about the upcoming ninth season
Family Guy (season 9)
Family Guy ninth season first aired on the Fox network in eighteen episodes from September 26, 2010 to May 22, 2011 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication...
of the show, stating, "This season, I decided that I'd even things out and write something that would offend smart people."
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
responded to Palin's criticism, saying that the series always uses satire as the basis of its humor, and that the show is an "equal-opportunity offender." In addition, Andrea Fay Friedman
Andrea Fay Friedman
Andrea Fay Friedman is an American film and television actress with Down syndrome.-Early life:Friedman attended West Los Angeles Baptist High School and Santa Monica College. In 1992, she portrayed Amanda, the girlfriend of the character Charles "Corky" Thatcher, on the TV show Life Goes On for...
, who voiced Ellen, and who herself has Down syndrome, also responded to the criticisms saying that the joke was aimed at Sarah Palin and not her son, and that "former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor." In a subsequent interview, Friedman rebuked Palin, accusing her of using her son, Trig, as a political prop to pander for votes, saying that she has a normal life and that Palin's son should be treated as normal, rather than like a "loaf of French bread." Later, MacFarlane addressed both Palin's statement and Friedman's rebuttal in an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher
Real Time with Bill Maher is a talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous show, Politically Incorrect on ABC , Real Time features a panel of guests that discuss current events in politics and the media...
calling Palin's outrage a presumptuous attempt to defend people with Down syndrome, and characterizing Friedman's statement as her way of saying that she does not need feigned pity from Palin. Family Guy cast member Patrick Warburton
Patrick Warburton
Patrick John Warburton is an American actor of television, film, and voice. He is best known for his several TV roles, including the title role of The Tick, David Puddy on Seinfeld, the evil Johnny Johnson on NewsRadio, and anchorman Jeb Denton on Less Than Perfect...
stated that he objected to the joke, saying, "I know that you have to be an equal-opportunity offender, but there are some things that I just don't think are funny." While frequent MacFarlane critic Parents Television Council
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...
touched on the Palin controversy in its assessment of the episode, the rest of the show's content—which contained "mean-spirited pot-shots, explicit language, and strong sexual content"—earned the watchdog group's "Worst TV Show of the Week" title. The PTC specifically cited the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
-style song, which the PTC said "contained all the stereotypes of mental retardation
Mental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
" and "disturbing sexual references," and the climatic scene in the subplot, where Peter pretends to be a psychic, which the PTC said also contained sexual humor.
On July 8, 2010, the episode's song entitled "Down Syndrome Girl" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
62nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, took place on August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT...
. Series creator Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
and composer Walter Murphy
Walter Murphy
Walter Anthony Murphy, Jr. is an American instrumentalist, songwriter, and arranger. He rose to fame with the hit instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of passages from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, in 1976, when disco was at the height of its...
were nominated for their work on the song's lyrics and music. On July 24, 2010, MacFarlane gave a live performance of the song at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, to an audience of nearly 4,200 attendees. At the Creative Arts Awards on August 21, 2010, "Down Syndrome Girl" lost to the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
series Monk
Monk (TV series)
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...
.