Love Blactually
Encyclopedia
"Love, Blactually" is the first episode of the seventh season of the animated
comedy series
Family Guy
. It originally aired on Fox
in the United States on September 28, 2008. The episode features anthropomorphic
dog Brian
, after he meets a fellow atheist
named Carolyn at a book store, and the two begin dating. Heeding advice from Stewie
, Brian decides not to have sex with her. Carolyn is led to believe that Brian does not want a substantive relationship, however, and begins to date Cleveland
instead.
The episode was written by Mike Henry and directed by Cyndi Tang
. It received positive reviews from critics for its storyline and many cultural references. According to Nielsen ratings
, it was viewed in 9.2 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Kat Foster
and Meredith Baxter
, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "Love, Blactually" was released on DVD along with eight other episodes from the season on June 16, 2009.
, Lois
suggests that Brian find a new girlfriend. After going to the book store to buy The God Delusion
, Brian meets an atheist named Carolyn, who happens to be looking for the same book. Brian becomes interested in Carolyn, and the two begin to date. When she invites him to her house, Stewie
apprehends Brian and tells him that his relationships fail because he has sex with his girlfriends immediately when they meet. Brian realizes that Stewie is right and decides to listen to his advice; however, he finds out that Carolyn began to date Cleveland
, since Brian did not want to have sex for the three weeks they have dated.
A heartbroken Brian tries to deal with his loss, but keeps running into Cleveland and Carolyn having sex in various locations. Feeling sorry for Brian, Stewie suggests that find Cleveland's ex-wife, Loretta, and convince her to reconcile. The two visit Loretta and find out that she feels guilty for cheating on him
with Quagmire
. Brian feels uncertain that he should carry out this plan, but Cleveland announces plans to elope with Carolyn in Hawaii
. Loretta invites Cleveland to meet her at her hotel room, which he does. Loretta tells her former husband that she wants to start a new life with him, and Cleveland forgives her but insists that the both of them move on. A despondent Cleveland visits Carolyn, only to find her and Quagmire having sex. Since both Brian and Cleveland have been cheated on by the same woman, they make amends. At this point, Cleveland suspects that he recently contracted genital warts.
, based around his character in the show, Cleveland Brown. The episode was directed by Cyndi Tang
, also a Family Guy veteran.
"Love, Blactually", along with the first eight episodes of the seventh season were released on DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
in the United States and Canada on June 16, 2009, one month after it had completed broadcast on television. The "Volume 7" DVD release features bonus material including deleted scene
s, animatics
, and commentaries for every episode.
In addition to the regular cast, actress Kat Foster
portrayed the voice of Carolyn, and actress Meredith Baxter
portrayed herself. Recurring guest voice actors Ralph Garman
, writer Danny Smith
, writer Alec Sulkin
and writer John Viener also made minor appearances. Then-series writer and regular voice actor Alex Borstein
portrayed the voice of Loretta Brown.
Love Actually
. The episode begins with a costume party, where Brian and Stewie are both dressed as Snoopy
from Peanuts
, Quagmire dresses up as Napoleon Dynamite
, Peter dresses as Laura Bush
, Lois as Michael Dutton Douglas (the youth killed in a car accident that involved Bush in 1963), Joe as Mark Spitz
, and Cleveland as Charlie Chaplin
. Woodstock
also makes a cameo appearance. Stewie finds a book entitled Horton Hears Domestic Violence in the Next Apartment and Doesn't Call 911!, a parody of Horton Hears a Who!
Cleveland's deadpan exclamation of "...and boom goes the dynamite" during sex with Carolyn is a reference to a phrase used during Ball State University
student Brian Collins
' appearance as television sports anchor, which became an Internet sensation. Peter's statement to Brian "Sometimes, I don't believe I know you" parodied from the Sound of Music. Brian's dialogue as his nose gets longer is a reference to Airplane!
.
for their season openers on Fox. The episode received positive reviews. Ahsan Haque of IGN
praised "Love, Blactually", writing that it had "many memorable scenes, quote-worthy dialogue, politically incorrect references, and great storyline". He graded the episode 8.9 out of 10. Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club
wrote that the episode was "pretty funny overall" with "some great meta-commentary", and graded it B+.
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...
. It 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 September 28, 2008. The episode features anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
dog 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...
, after he meets a fellow atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
named Carolyn at a book store, and the two begin dating. Heeding advice from 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....
, Brian decides not to have sex with her. Carolyn is led to believe that Brian does not want a substantive relationship, however, and begins to date Cleveland
Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
instead.
The episode was written by Mike Henry and directed by Cyndi Tang
Cyndi Tang
Cyndi Tang-Loveland is an American animation director. Tang is most notably known for directing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy and King of the Hill....
. It received positive reviews from critics for its storyline and many cultural references. 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 9.2 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Kat Foster
Kat Foster
Kat Foster, sometimes credited as Kathy Foster , is an American actress.A classically trained dramatic actress, Foster studied acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts...
and Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter , also known for some years as Meredith Baxter-Birney, is an American actress and producer. She is known for her acting roles including three television series: Family , an ABC television-network drama, Family Ties , an NBC television-network situation comedy, and Dan Vs. , a...
, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. "Love, Blactually" was released on DVD along with eight other episodes from the season on June 16, 2009.
Plot
During a costume partyCostume party
A fancy dress party or a costume party , mainly in contemporary Western culture, is a type of party where guests dress up in a costume.-Fancy dress parties in Britain:...
, 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...
suggests that Brian find a new girlfriend. After going to the book store to buy The God Delusion
The God Delusion
The God Delusion is a 2006 bestselling non-fiction book by British biologist Richard Dawkins, professorial fellow of New College, Oxford, and inaugural holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that...
, Brian meets an atheist named Carolyn, who happens to be looking for the same book. Brian becomes interested in Carolyn, and the two begin to date. When she invites him to her house, 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....
apprehends Brian and tells him that his relationships fail because he has sex with his girlfriends immediately when they meet. Brian realizes that Stewie is right and decides to listen to his advice; however, he finds out that Carolyn began to date Cleveland
Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
, since Brian did not want to have sex for the three weeks they have dated.
A heartbroken Brian tries to deal with his loss, but keeps running into Cleveland and Carolyn having sex in various locations. Feeling sorry for Brian, Stewie suggests that find Cleveland's ex-wife, Loretta, and convince her to reconcile. The two visit Loretta and find out that she feels guilty for cheating on him
The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire
"The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire" is a season four episode of the animated series Family Guy. This episode marks the final appearance of Loretta, until the season 7 episode, "Love, Blactually". The storyline of this episode is about Loretta cheating on Cleveland due to his "lack of passion" and...
with Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
. Brian feels uncertain that he should carry out this plan, but Cleveland announces plans to elope with Carolyn in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Loretta invites Cleveland to meet her at her hotel room, which he does. Loretta tells her former husband that she wants to start a new life with him, and Cleveland forgives her but insists that the both of them move on. A despondent Cleveland visits Carolyn, only to find her and Quagmire having sex. Since both Brian and Cleveland have been cheated on by the same woman, they make amends. At this point, Cleveland suspects that he recently contracted genital warts.
Production
"Love, Blactually" is the season premiere of the seventh season of Family Guy. It was written by Family Guy voice actor, and veteran writer Mike Henry, who would later go on to create the Family Guy spin-off, The Cleveland ShowThe Cleveland Show
The Cleveland Show is an American animated television series that premiered on September 27, 2009, as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox in the United States...
, based around his character in the show, Cleveland Brown. The episode was directed by Cyndi Tang
Cyndi Tang
Cyndi Tang-Loveland is an American animation director. Tang is most notably known for directing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy and King of the Hill....
, also a Family Guy veteran.
"Love, Blactually", along with the first eight episodes of the seventh season were released on DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
in the United States and Canada on June 16, 2009, one month after it had completed broadcast on television. The "Volume 7" DVD release features bonus material including deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s, animatics
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
, and commentaries for every episode.
In addition to the regular cast, actress Kat Foster
Kat Foster
Kat Foster, sometimes credited as Kathy Foster , is an American actress.A classically trained dramatic actress, Foster studied acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts...
portrayed the voice of Carolyn, and actress Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter , also known for some years as Meredith Baxter-Birney, is an American actress and producer. She is known for her acting roles including three television series: Family , an ABC television-network drama, Family Ties , an NBC television-network situation comedy, and Dan Vs. , a...
portrayed herself. Recurring guest voice actors Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman
Ralph Garman is an American actor, comedian, and radio host best known as the host of The Joe Schmo Show, for his voice work in Family Guy, and as the entertainment reporter and impressionist for the Kevin and Bean morning show on Los Angeles radio station, KROQ-FM...
, 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. Then-series writer and regular voice actor Alex Borstein
Alex Borstein
Alexandrea "Alex" Borstein is an American actress, singer, voice actress, writer and comedian. She is best known for her long-running role as Lois Griffin on the animated television series Family Guy, and as a cast member on the sketch comedy series MADtv.A native of Highland Park, Illinois,...
portrayed the voice of Loretta Brown.
Cultural references
The episode's title is a reference to the British romantic comedy filmRomantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
. The episode begins with a costume party, where Brian and Stewie are both dressed as Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
from Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
, Quagmire dresses up as Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 comedy film co-written and directed by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess and stars Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite. The film was Jared Hess' first full-length feature and is partially adapted from his earlier short film, Peluca....
, Peter dresses as Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
, Lois as Michael Dutton Douglas (the youth killed in a car accident that involved Bush in 1963), Joe as Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz
Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....
, and Cleveland as Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
. Woodstock
Woodstock (Peanuts)
Woodstock is a fictional character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. He is Snoopy's closest friend and, after Snoopy, the most recognized non-human in the strip.-History:...
also makes a cameo appearance. Stewie finds a book entitled Horton Hears Domestic Violence in the Next Apartment and Doesn't Call 911!, a parody of Horton Hears a Who!
Horton Hears a Who!
Horton Hears a Who! is a 1954 book by Theodor Seuss Geisel, under the name Dr. Seuss. It is the second Seuss book to feature Horton the Elephant, the first being Horton Hatches the Egg...
Cleveland's deadpan exclamation of "...and boom goes the dynamite" during sex with Carolyn is a reference to a phrase used during Ball State University
Ball State University
Ball State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana. It is also known as Ball State or simply BSU.Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball State's campus spans and includes 106 buildings...
student Brian Collins
Brian Collins (reporter)
Boom goes the dynamite is the nickname given to a college sportscast at Ball State University in March of 2005 that became an internet sensation...
' appearance as television sports anchor, which became an Internet sensation. Peter's statement to Brian "Sometimes, I don't believe I know you" parodied from the Sound of Music. Brian's dialogue as his nose gets longer is a reference to Airplane!
Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...
.
Reception
The episode was watched by 9.2 million viewers, compared to 9.3 million that tuned in to The Simpsons and 7 million that watched King of the HillKing of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
for their season openers on Fox. The episode received positive reviews. Ahsan Haque 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...
praised "Love, Blactually", writing that it had "many memorable scenes, quote-worthy dialogue, politically incorrect references, and great storyline". He graded the episode 8.9 out of 10. Steve Heisler 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...
wrote that the episode was "pretty funny overall" with "some great meta-commentary", and graded it B+.