Petarded
Encyclopedia
"Petarded" is the sixth episode of Fox
's fourth season of Family Guy
, which originally broadcast in the United States on June 19, 2005. It was written by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild and directed by Seth Kearsley. The episode sees Peter
taking the MacArthur Fellows Program
to see if he is a genius, however he performs poorly and is declared mentally retarded. Attempting to take advantage of the situation, he accidentally hospitalizes Lois
while attempting to steal from a restaurant and loses custody of Meg
, Chris
, and Stewie
.
"Timer the Cheese Guy
", a character from 1970s cheese commercials made an appearance in the episode. Series producers tried to get Lennie Weinrib
, the actor who had voiced him in the original commercials, to make a guest appearance in the episode. However, Weinrib declined reprising the role as he could not accurately recall the character. Various scenes in the episode were removed by broadcast censors. "Petarded" gained a Nielsen rating
of 4.4, making it the week's 42nd most-watched program. Critics and news sources responded mostly positive to the episode.
, Lois
uses questions from the preschool edition for Peter
in order to let him win. When Peter wins, he brags to everyone, believing himself to be smarter than the rest of the family. Irritated at Peter's arrogance, Brian
challenges Peter to take the MacArthur Fellows Program
test to prove he is a genius. The results of the test show that Peter is not a genius; in fact, they indicate he suffers from mental retardation
. Peter sinks into depression after being publicly labeled as retarded. While driving home with Lois, Peter accidentally knocks down Tom Tucker. Tucker, recognizing Peter as "the retarded fellow", does not press charges, and Peter realizes his condition means he can get away with anything.
While testing the limits of what he can get away with, such as interrupting the church attendants by having a Bible fight, kicking the stall doors in the girls' bathroom, and saying "Testicles" through a microphone at a fast food restaurant. Peter goes in the counter area and sees a deep-fat fryer, "The Fryalator" wanting to take it home. However, he accidentally drenches Lois with boiling oil
. While she is recovering, Child Protection Services takes away Peter's custody of Meg
, Chris
, and Stewie
due to their contention that Peter is mentally unfit to look after them. The three are placed in the care of Cleveland. In a last attempt, he appeals to the court for custody of the children, but he is denied. After returning home and accepting that the Griffins may never be together again, Lois walks in, revealing she has completely recovered and reobtained custody of the children, returning life back to normal.
"Petarded" was written by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild and directed by Seth Kearsley. Though Sulkin and Wild wrote the episode, the idea for "Petarded" came from series creator Seth MacFarlane
. The episode featured an appearance by "Timer the Cheese Guy
", a character from 1970s Time for Timer cheese advertisements. Seth MacFarlane attempted to hire Lennie Weinrib, the actor who provided his voice for the character to appear in "Petarded" but, as MacFarlane describes in the DVD commentary, "he was a little old and he didn't remember doing it". Weinrib died one year after the debut of "Petarded".
In the original draft of the episode, Peter being asked easy questions during Trivial Pursuit was meant to be by chance, but executive producer David A. Goodman
proposed the storyline of easy questions being given to Peter by Lois. Prior to the episode broadcast, several sequences were shown after Peter discovers he can get away with anything on the basis that he is mentally challenged including a "how loud can I yell" experiment, as well as tackling down an opponent going for a touchdown while attending a New England Patriots
game, but they were not deemed funny enough and scrapped.
Various scenes in the episode were changed or removed because of broadcast censors. Originally, just after Peter hands Brian his test results from the MacArthur Genius Grant, Peter was to state "Would a retarded person have peed in their pants?", then for him to urinate in his trousers, however, because broadcasting standards prohibited this it was changed to "Well, would a mentally retarded guy have hired a bulldozer with a drunk driver to level half of his house in celebration of his fantastic test results?". Brian stating to Peter "In your fucking face, Fuckwad" after Peter performs poorly on the test was censored from television broadcasting. The Family Guy orchestra sung and recorded a song for a sequence which showed several Quahog citizens learning and talking about Peter being declared as retarded. However, this was removed from the episode because broadcasting standards believed it used the word "retarded" too many times. After Peter loses custody of the kids, Chris was originally to stay with Mort Goldman, Stewie with Cleveland and Meg with Quagmire. During this original sequence, Mort was to tell Chris that he has two anuses, causing Quagmire to force Meg to lock him in a safe room as he could not trust himself around Meg's friends, but the series was prohibited to broadcast it from an unknown authority, presumably broadcasting standards.
In the episode's DVD commentary, MacFarlane addressed what viewers perceived to be a rather abrupt ending to the episode. As Peter has lost all hope in getting custody of his kids back, Lois walks through the front door, returning from the hospital, and has brought the kids home with her. MacFarlane stated, "Some of the fans actually noticed, commented on the fact that this was a very abrupt resolution, but, to that I would say, you're not watching CSI
wouldn't you rather we throw in more jokes and fill up the time and then, hustle to the finish line at the last minute?".
. Lois is seen having developed a tumor due to constantly repressing negative thoughts about having married a mentally retarded man. The tumor sings an altered version of the 1985 Falco
song "Rock Me Amadeus
". Peter is shown taking the MacArthur Fellows Program
(also known as the "MacArthur Genius Grant") in his attempt to prove to Brian that he is a genius. When Peter takes the test, he uses a See 'n' Say
instead of a calculator. The Time for Timer
character shown singing and dancing is a reference to advertisements shown on ABC
in order to encourage people to eat more cheese. When Peter thought what he would do with all his money from the MacArthur Genius Grant, He thought of legally buying Cloris Leachman
, forcing her to juggle. Also on the Season 4 DVD commentary, Seth MacFarlane explained he wanted to hire Lennie Weinrib
to reprise Timer for the gag, but Weinrib was suffering from failing health when "Petarded" was being produced and as MacFarlane explained, he "didn't remember doing it." Indeed, Lennie Weinrib died about a year after "Petarded" first aired. A deleted scene showing Quahog residents singing about Peter being retarded was a reference to music from Bye Bye Birdie. When Peter is talking about how it was more out of place than when Stewie was in an iPod
commercial, the song performed is "The Warrior
" by Scandal. A reference is made to 1985 drama film Mask
, which is a film about Roy L. Dennis
who suffered from a rare bone disorder. *While stalling in answering a Trivial Pursuit
question, Peter arbitrarily mumbles the name of the superhero group The Fantastic Four. Peter watches an episode of Jake and the Fatman
where "Fatman" McCabe's fatness and laziness is exaggerated. Vern, Peter's state-appointed inspiration counselor parodies a character of the same name in the movie Rain Man
. His reference to Peter as his "main man" mirrors the movie in which Vern refers to Dustin Hoffman
's autistic character in the same way. When Quagmire complains after being shot by Peter, Peter replies "Relax, you're doing better than Peter Weller
in the opening scene from RoboCop
." This a reference to a scene in the film RoboCop, where Peter Weller is on his knees, wearing a police uniform, and is shot repeatedly.
. It gained a Nielsen rating
of 4.4, making it the 42nd most-watched show of the week of June 13 to June 19.
"Petarded" met with positive responses from critics. In his review of Family Guy, volume 3, Francis Rizzo III of DVD Talk wrote " I will say there are some very good episodes in this set, starting with 'Petarded', which sees Peter declared mentally retarded. The ways he takes advantage of this status is classic Family Guy material, while the musical montage here, involving phone calls all over town, is actually quite funny. Plus, the appearance of the Naked, Greased-Up Deaf Guy gave hope that the creators still had that sense of the bizarre in them." John Nigro of The Pitt News
considered "Petarded" one of volume 3's best episodes along with "Breaking Out is Hard to Do
" and "Perfect Castaway". The Sydney Morning Herald
critic Marc McEvoy commented "Petarded" to be "a real thigh-slapper." Kim Voynar of TV Squad gave the episode a mixed review, saying "[...] it just seemed to wrap up a little too quickly for me, like they ran out of time and were like, 'Oops, let's wrap this up now'. Other than that quibble, though, it was a fairly funny episode."
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...
's fourth season of 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...
, which originally broadcast in the United States on June 19, 2005. It was written by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild and directed by Seth Kearsley. The episode sees 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....
taking the MacArthur Fellows Program
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
to see if he is a genius, however he performs poorly and is declared mentally retarded. Attempting to take advantage of the situation, he accidentally hospitalizes 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...
while attempting to steal from a restaurant and loses custody of Meg
Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is the eldest child of Lois and Peter and elder sister of Chris and Stewie. Meg is considered as the black sheep of the series due to the lack of attention she receives....
, 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....
.
"Timer the Cheese Guy
Time for Timer
Time for Timer was the collective title for a short series of public service announcements broadcast on Saturday mornings on the ABC television network starting in the early 1970s. The animated spots featured Timer, a tiny cartoon character who represented the sense of "time" in the human body...
", a character from 1970s cheese commercials made an appearance in the episode. Series producers tried to get Lennie Weinrib
Lennie Weinrib
Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
, the actor who had voiced him in the original commercials, to make a guest appearance in the episode. However, Weinrib declined reprising the role as he could not accurately recall the character. Various scenes in the episode were removed by broadcast censors. "Petarded" gained a Nielsen rating
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...
of 4.4, making it the week's 42nd most-watched program. Critics and news sources responded mostly positive to the episode.
Plot
The Griffins invite their neighbors over for a games night. While playing Trivial PursuitTrivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
, 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...
uses questions from the preschool edition for 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....
in order to let him win. When Peter wins, he brags to everyone, believing himself to be smarter than the rest of the family. Irritated at Peter's arrogance, 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...
challenges Peter to take the MacArthur Fellows Program
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
test to prove he is a genius. The results of the test show that Peter is not a genius; in fact, they indicate he suffers from 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...
. Peter sinks into depression after being publicly labeled as retarded. While driving home with Lois, Peter accidentally knocks down Tom Tucker. Tucker, recognizing Peter as "the retarded fellow", does not press charges, and Peter realizes his condition means he can get away with anything.
While testing the limits of what he can get away with, such as interrupting the church attendants by having a Bible fight, kicking the stall doors in the girls' bathroom, and saying "Testicles" through a microphone at a fast food restaurant. Peter goes in the counter area and sees a deep-fat fryer, "The Fryalator" wanting to take it home. However, he accidentally drenches Lois with boiling oil
Boiling oil
Early thermal weapons were devices or substances used in warfare during the classical and medieval periods which used heat or burning action to destroy or damage enemy personnel, fortifications or territories.Incendiary devices were frequently used as projectiles during warfare, particularly...
. While she is recovering, Child Protection Services takes away Peter's custody of Meg
Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is the eldest child of Lois and Peter and elder sister of Chris and Stewie. Meg is considered as the black sheep of the series due to the lack of attention she receives....
, 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....
due to their contention that Peter is mentally unfit to look after them. The three are placed in the care of Cleveland. In a last attempt, he appeals to the court for custody of the children, but he is denied. After returning home and accepting that the Griffins may never be together again, Lois walks in, revealing she has completely recovered and reobtained custody of the children, returning life back to normal.
Production
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,...
. The episode featured an appearance by "Timer the Cheese Guy
Time for Timer
Time for Timer was the collective title for a short series of public service announcements broadcast on Saturday mornings on the ABC television network starting in the early 1970s. The animated spots featured Timer, a tiny cartoon character who represented the sense of "time" in the human body...
", a character from 1970s Time for Timer cheese advertisements. Seth MacFarlane attempted to hire Lennie Weinrib, the actor who provided his voice for the character to appear in "Petarded" but, as MacFarlane describes in the DVD commentary, "he was a little old and he didn't remember doing it". Weinrib died one year after the debut of "Petarded".
In the original draft of the episode, Peter being asked easy questions during Trivial Pursuit was meant to be by chance, but executive producer David A. Goodman
David A. Goodman
David A. Goodman is an American writer and producer and a graduate of the University of Chicago, earning an BA in 1984. He was one of the executive producers of Family Guy, beginning its fourth season, joining the show as a co-executive producer in season three...
proposed the storyline of easy questions being given to Peter by Lois. Prior to the episode broadcast, several sequences were shown after Peter discovers he can get away with anything on the basis that he is mentally challenged including a "how loud can I yell" experiment, as well as tackling down an opponent going for a touchdown while attending a New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
game, but they were not deemed funny enough and scrapped.
Various scenes in the episode were changed or removed because of broadcast censors. Originally, just after Peter hands Brian his test results from the MacArthur Genius Grant, Peter was to state "Would a retarded person have peed in their pants?", then for him to urinate in his trousers, however, because broadcasting standards prohibited this it was changed to "Well, would a mentally retarded guy have hired a bulldozer with a drunk driver to level half of his house in celebration of his fantastic test results?". Brian stating to Peter "In your fucking face, Fuckwad" after Peter performs poorly on the test was censored from television broadcasting. The Family Guy orchestra sung and recorded a song for a sequence which showed several Quahog citizens learning and talking about Peter being declared as retarded. However, this was removed from the episode because broadcasting standards believed it used the word "retarded" too many times. After Peter loses custody of the kids, Chris was originally to stay with Mort Goldman, Stewie with Cleveland and Meg with Quagmire. During this original sequence, Mort was to tell Chris that he has two anuses, causing Quagmire to force Meg to lock him in a safe room as he could not trust himself around Meg's friends, but the series was prohibited to broadcast it from an unknown authority, presumably broadcasting standards.
In the episode's DVD commentary, MacFarlane addressed what viewers perceived to be a rather abrupt ending to the episode. As Peter has lost all hope in getting custody of his kids back, Lois walks through the front door, returning from the hospital, and has brought the kids home with her. MacFarlane stated, "Some of the fans actually noticed, commented on the fact that this was a very abrupt resolution, but, to that I would say, you're not watching CSI
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
wouldn't you rather we throw in more jokes and fill up the time and then, hustle to the finish line at the last minute?".
Cultural references
The episode is based on the 1985 movie MaskMask (film)
Mask is a 1985 American biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz. Dennis Burkley and Laura Dern are featured in supporting roles. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress....
. Lois is seen having developed a tumor due to constantly repressing negative thoughts about having married a mentally retarded man. The tumor sings an altered version of the 1985 Falco
Falco (musician)
Johann Hölzel , better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian pop and rock musician and rapper. He had several international hits: "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home " and posthumously, "Out Of The Dark"...
song "Rock Me Amadeus
Rock Me Amadeus
"Rock Me Amadeus" is a 1985 song by Austrian pop musician Falco from his album Falco 3. It topped the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was Falco's only number one hit in either the United States or the United Kingdom, despite his popularity in Germany, his native Austria, and much...
". Peter is shown taking the MacArthur Fellows Program
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
(also known as the "MacArthur Genius Grant") in his attempt to prove to Brian that he is a genius. When Peter takes the test, he uses a See 'n' Say
See 'n Say
See 'n Say is an educational toy created by the toy company Mattel in 1965 after the success of its talking Chatty Cathy doll. In the 1960s, after introducing a line of talking dolls that said different phrases when a string protruding from their upper back was pulled, Mattel trademarked the word...
instead of a calculator. The Time for Timer
Time for Timer
Time for Timer was the collective title for a short series of public service announcements broadcast on Saturday mornings on the ABC television network starting in the early 1970s. The animated spots featured Timer, a tiny cartoon character who represented the sense of "time" in the human body...
character shown singing and dancing is a reference to advertisements shown 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...
in order to encourage people to eat more cheese. When Peter thought what he would do with all his money from the MacArthur Genius Grant, He thought of legally buying Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
, forcing her to juggle. Also on the Season 4 DVD commentary, Seth MacFarlane explained he wanted to hire Lennie Weinrib
Lennie Weinrib
Lennie Weinrib was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R...
to reprise Timer for the gag, but Weinrib was suffering from failing health when "Petarded" was being produced and as MacFarlane explained, he "didn't remember doing it." Indeed, Lennie Weinrib died about a year after "Petarded" first aired. A deleted scene showing Quahog residents singing about Peter being retarded was a reference to music from Bye Bye Birdie. When Peter is talking about how it was more out of place than when Stewie was in an iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
commercial, the song performed is "The Warrior
The Warrior (song)
"The Warrior" is a song by pop/rock group Scandal, from the album of the same name. The song went to number one in Canada and number seven in the US, as well as number one on the Mainstream Rock chart in the US, in addition to winning a BMI Airplay Award in 1984.-In popular culture:*The song was...
" by Scandal. A reference is made to 1985 drama film Mask
Mask (film)
Mask is a 1985 American biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz. Dennis Burkley and Laura Dern are featured in supporting roles. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress....
, which is a film about Roy L. Dennis
Roy L. Dennis
Roy Lee "Rocky" Dennis was an American boy afflicted with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare, sclerotic bone disorder. The condition usually results in neurological disorders and death during childhood. His body was donated to UCLA Medical Center after he died...
who suffered from a rare bone disorder. *While stalling in answering a Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
question, Peter arbitrarily mumbles the name of the superhero group The Fantastic Four. Peter watches an episode of Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series...
where "Fatman" McCabe's fatness and laziness is exaggerated. Vern, Peter's state-appointed inspiration counselor parodies a character of the same name in the movie Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
. His reference to Peter as his "main man" mirrors the movie in which Vern refers to Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
's autistic character in the same way. When Quagmire complains after being shot by Peter, Peter replies "Relax, you're doing better than Peter Weller
Peter Weller
Peter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension...
in the opening scene from RoboCop
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
." This a reference to a scene in the film RoboCop, where Peter Weller is on his knees, wearing a police uniform, and is shot repeatedly.
Reception
On June 19, 2005, the episode was first broadcast on FoxFox 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...
. It gained a Nielsen rating
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...
of 4.4, making it the 42nd most-watched show of the week of June 13 to June 19.
"Petarded" met with positive responses from critics. In his review of Family Guy, volume 3, Francis Rizzo III of DVD Talk wrote " I will say there are some very good episodes in this set, starting with 'Petarded', which sees Peter declared mentally retarded. The ways he takes advantage of this status is classic Family Guy material, while the musical montage here, involving phone calls all over town, is actually quite funny. Plus, the appearance of the Naked, Greased-Up Deaf Guy gave hope that the creators still had that sense of the bizarre in them." John Nigro of The Pitt News
The Pitt News
The Pitt News is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland which has been active in some form since 1910. It is published Monday through Friday during the regular school year and Wednesdays during the summer...
considered "Petarded" one of volume 3's best episodes along with "Breaking Out is Hard to Do
Breaking out Is Hard to Do
"Breaking Out Is Hard to Do" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of Family Guy. It originally broadcast on July 17, 2005, guest-starred Dat Phan and Brian Tochi, and was written by Tom Devanney. The episode sees Lois becoming addicted to the rush of shoplifting; she, however, is soon arrested...
" and "Perfect Castaway". The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
critic Marc McEvoy commented "Petarded" to be "a real thigh-slapper." Kim Voynar of TV Squad gave the episode a mixed review, saying "[...] it just seemed to wrap up a little too quickly for me, like they ran out of time and were like, 'Oops, let's wrap this up now'. Other than that quibble, though, it was a fairly funny episode."