Petergeist
Encyclopedia
"Petergeist" is an episode from season four of Fox
animated series
Family Guy
. Peter decides to build a multiplex
to top Joe's new home theater
, but comes across an Indian skull in his backyard and desecrates it. As a result, a poltergeist
haunts the Griffins' house and spirits drag Stewie away to the other side, followed by even stranger events.
The episode was written by Alec Sulkin
and Wellesley Wild
and it was directed by Sarah Frost
. Recurring voices included Jennifer Tilly
, Adam West
, Patrick Warburton
, Alec Sulkin
, Phil LaMarr
, Lori Alan
and Danny Smith
. The episode received mixed reviews.
The episode's name comes from and the plot closely follows that of the movie Poltergeist.
system, Peter
tries to build a multiplex
in his backyard out of spite
. While digging, Peter finds the skull
of a dead Native American
buried in the backyard. Brian
constantly urges him to put the skull back, but Peter treats it as a novelty (playing with it, urinating in it, wearing it as an athletic cup, etc.).
That night the Griffins start experiencing strange paranormal
activity: Stewie
talks to the TV static, the chairs and refrigerator stack themselves upside down on the kitchen table, Peter rips at the flesh on his face until he uncovers Hank Hill
's face, and Chris
gets scared by Ronald McDonald
and attacked by an evil tree before being saved by Herbert
. Lois
is in denial
of the events until Stewie gets sucked into his closet and disappears.
To find Stewie
, the Griffins hire a spiritual medium (Bruce the Performance Artist in one of his many jobs) to contact the other side, and learn that the entrance to the spirit world is Stewie's closet
, while the exit is "Meg
's ass". Unable to wait for Stewie to come out of the closet (he is obviously reluctant to exit from Meg's rear end), Lois enters the portal and rescues Stewie. The enraged spirits emerge and ravage the Griffin house, sucking it into their world. As the Griffins drive off, Peter dumps the Native American skull in a garbage can.
Now homeless
, Peter and Lois try and find a way to get their house back, and learn the Native American skull has to be put back in its resting place. After searching through the city dump, a garbage man tells them that the skull would be in the human remains bin, but it was cleaned out by Carrot Top
for things to use as props. They go to Carrot Top's mansion
and, after a chase through a hall of mirrors, they retrieve the skull and rebury it, thereby getting back their house and returning life to normal. At the end Lois takes the TV and moves it outside the front door but Peter comes out, retrieves it and puts Meg outside instead.
and Wellesley Wild
. This is the third episode written by Sulkin and Wild to air, the first two being "Petarded
" and "PTV
" respectively. It was directed by Sarah Frost
who is also a veteran of the show. Directors Peter Shin
and Pete Michels
acted as supervising directors. Kirker Butler worked as the executive story editor, while Patrick Meighan, John Viener and Cherry Chevapravatdumrong worked as story editors. Mark Hentemann and Tom Devanney acted as consulting producers. Show creator Seth MacFarlane, David A. Goodman and Chris Shreidan worked as executive producers, Danny Smith was the co-execuutive producer of the episode and Steve Callaghan, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild, Alex Borstein and Mike Henry all acted as producers of the episode.
Like many episodes of the series, it used an orchestra organized by MacFarlane; the orchestra used in "Petergeist" had 55 members, which was large for the series. Composer Ron Jones
"spent months" studying and recreating the original music sheets from the 1982 horror film Poltergeist. The photocopies of the music sheets cost Jones US$400.
"Petergeist," along with the remaining 13 episodes from Season 4, excluding the three that made up Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story were released on a three-disc DVD
set in the United States on November 14, 2006. Special features include commentary on every episode, multi-angle scene studies, deleted scenes, 3 featurettes, unrated audio, and a DVD-ROM link to exclusive content.
In addition to the regular cast, Recurring voices included actress Jennifer Tilly
provided the voice for Bonny, Lori Alan
actors Adam West
provided the voice of Mayor Adam West, Patrick Warburton
who provided the voice for Joe and Phil LaMarr
. Writers Alec Sulkin
and Danny Smith
made minor appearances.
logo. The television show that Peter and Lois watch entitled Fast Talking High Trousers, which parodied 1940s films, was conceived by Wellesley Wild. The episode's title and plot references the horror film Poltergeist. The episode references the NBC
sitcoms Friends
and its sequel Joey
, also referencing the cancellation of Joey. To cheer himself up, Stewie at one point imagines himself on the show Jackass
. In one scene, Chris is frightened by Ronald McDonald
, and is saved from an evil tree by Herbert, who fights the tree in a Lord of the Rings
-style battle. When Peter is clawing at his face, he transforms into Hank Hill
from King of the Hill
. When trapped inside the spirit world and finds out he can communicate through the TVs with a static-y effect, Stewie sings the second verse of the Phil Collins
song "In the Air Tonight
," with the same vocal effect as heard in the song. Peter also references Bugs Bunny
by sticking his head out of Meg's butt and claiming he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque
. The scene of Peter taking the TV back in and putting Meg out referenced the end of the original film Poltergeist, where the family's father removes the television set after the family flees to a motel room. JAG
is also shown, commenting how the show has run its course, and the series was retired in real life sometimes after the airing of Petergeist. When the Griffin family approaches Carrot Top's mansion, the same theme from Back to the Future
is used when Marty McFly realizes he in in 1955 when he sees his family residence has not even been constructed yet.
.
The episode received mixed reviews. Bob Sassone from TV Squad praised the episode's humor, saying that he loved the Poltergeist takeoffs in the episode, even the music and special effects, especially when Peter plays around with the portals that are in Meg's butt. IGN
staff writer Michael Drucker gave a more critical review, saying that the jokes "quickly get old once you realize the episode blows its load fifteen minutes into the show".
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...
animated series
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...
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...
. Peter decides to build a multiplex
Multiplex (movie theater)
A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens, typically three or more. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an...
to top Joe's new home theater
Home cinema
Home cinema, also commonly called home theater, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood with the help of video and audio equipment in a private home....
, but comes across an Indian skull in his backyard and desecrates it. As a result, a poltergeist
Poltergeist
A poltergeist is a paranormal phenomenon which consists of events alluding to the manifestation of an imperceptible entity. Such manifestation typically includes inanimate objects moving or being thrown about, sentient noises and, on some occasions, physical attacks on those witnessing the...
haunts the Griffins' house and spirits drag Stewie away to the other side, followed by even stranger events.
The episode was written by 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 Wellesley Wild
Wellesley Wild
Wellesley Wild is an American animation writer. He is best known for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy. He is currently co-executive producer and an occasional voice actor for the show....
and it was directed by Sarah Frost
Sarah Frost
Sarah Frost-Goetz is an English television director animation director, composer, and storyboard artist in America.Frost is most known for directing The Fairly OddParents and episodes of the animated series Family Guy. She has also worked in animation on The Simpsons and Rocko's Modern Life.-Family...
. Recurring voices included Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
, Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
, 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...
, 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....
, 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...
, 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....
and 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...
. The episode received mixed reviews.
The episode's name comes from and the plot closely follows that of the movie Poltergeist.
Plot summary
After Joe builds a home theaterHome cinema
Home cinema, also commonly called home theater, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood with the help of video and audio equipment in a private home....
system, 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....
tries to build a multiplex
Multiplex (movie theater)
A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens, typically three or more. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an...
in his backyard out of spite
Spite
In fair division problems, spite is a phenomenon that occurs when a player's value of an allocation decreases when one or more other players' valuation increases...
. While digging, Peter finds the skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
of a dead Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
buried in the backyard. 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...
constantly urges him to put the skull back, but Peter treats it as a novelty (playing with it, urinating in it, wearing it as an athletic cup, etc.).
That night the Griffins start experiencing strange paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
activity: 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....
talks to the TV static, the chairs and refrigerator stack themselves upside down on the kitchen table, Peter rips at the flesh on his face until he uncovers Hank Hill
Hank Hill
Henry Rutherford "Hank" Hill Age 50 animated series King of the Hill. Hank lives in Arlen, Texas and works at the fictional Strickland Propane selling propane and propane accessories. Hank's voice is provided by series creator Mike Judge. The Economist named Hank Hill as one of the wisest people...
's face, and 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:...
gets scared by Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. In television commercials, the clown inhabits a fantasy world called McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and...
and attacked by an evil tree before being saved by Herbert
Herbert (Family Guy)
Herbert is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by writer and voice actor Mike Henry, who created and designed the character...
. 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 in denial
Denial
Denial is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence.The subject may use:* simple denial: deny the reality of the...
of the events until Stewie gets sucked into his closet and disappears.
To find 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....
, the Griffins hire a spiritual medium (Bruce the Performance Artist in one of his many jobs) to contact the other side, and learn that the entrance to the spirit world is Stewie's closet
Closet
A closet is a small and enclosed space, a cabinet, or a cupboard in a house or building used for general storage or hanging clothes. A closet for food storage is usually referred to as a pantry...
, while the exit is "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....
's ass". Unable to wait for Stewie to come out of the closet (he is obviously reluctant to exit from Meg's rear end), Lois enters the portal and rescues Stewie. The enraged spirits emerge and ravage the Griffin house, sucking it into their world. As the Griffins drive off, Peter dumps the Native American skull in a garbage can.
Now homeless
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
, Peter and Lois try and find a way to get their house back, and learn the Native American skull has to be put back in its resting place. After searching through the city dump, a garbage man tells them that the skull would be in the human remains bin, but it was cleaned out by Carrot Top
Carrot Top
Scott Thompson , better known by his stage name Carrot Top, is an American comedian known for his bright red hair, prop comedy, and self-deprecating humor.-Early years:...
for things to use as props. They go to Carrot Top's mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
and, after a chase through a hall of mirrors, they retrieve the skull and rebury it, thereby getting back their house and returning life to normal. At the end Lois takes the TV and moves it outside the front door but Peter comes out, retrieves it and puts Meg outside instead.
Production
"Petergeist" is the 26th of the fourth season of Family Guy. The episode was written by veteran writers and recurring voices for the show Alec SulkinAlec 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 Wellesley Wild
Wellesley Wild
Wellesley Wild is an American animation writer. He is best known for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy. He is currently co-executive producer and an occasional voice actor for the show....
. This is the third episode written by Sulkin and Wild to air, the first two being "Petarded
Petarded
"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...
" and "PTV
PTV (Family Guy)
"PTV" is the fourteenth episode of season four of the FOX animated series Family Guy. The episode sees the FCC censor the shows on television after a controversial wardrobe malfunction at the Emmy Awards. Peter starts to create his own TV network which he calls PTV, broadcasting classic shows...
" respectively. It was directed by Sarah Frost
Sarah Frost
Sarah Frost-Goetz is an English television director animation director, composer, and storyboard artist in America.Frost is most known for directing The Fairly OddParents and episodes of the animated series Family Guy. She has also worked in animation on The Simpsons and Rocko's Modern Life.-Family...
who is also a veteran of the show. Directors 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 Pete Michels
Pete Michels
Pete Michels is an animation director on Family Guy. He has also been the supervising director on Family Guy as well as on the short-lived TV show, Kid Notorious. He started working on The Simpsons in 1990 as a background layout artist. He worked his way up to character layout artist, timer,...
acted as supervising directors. Kirker Butler worked as the executive story editor, while Patrick Meighan, John Viener and Cherry Chevapravatdumrong worked as story editors. Mark Hentemann and Tom Devanney acted as consulting producers. Show creator Seth MacFarlane, David A. Goodman and Chris Shreidan worked as executive producers, Danny Smith was the co-execuutive producer of the episode and Steve Callaghan, Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild, Alex Borstein and Mike Henry all acted as producers of the episode.
Like many episodes of the series, it used an orchestra organized by MacFarlane; the orchestra used in "Petergeist" had 55 members, which was large for the series. Composer Ron Jones
Ron Jones (composer)
Ron Jones is an American composer who has written music for TV shows, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Duck Tales, American Dad!, and Family Guy...
"spent months" studying and recreating the original music sheets from the 1982 horror film Poltergeist. The photocopies of the music sheets cost Jones US$400.
"Petergeist," along with the remaining 13 episodes from Season 4, excluding the three that made up Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story were 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 November 14, 2006. Special features include commentary on every episode, multi-angle scene studies, deleted scenes, 3 featurettes, unrated audio, and a DVD-ROM link to exclusive content.
In addition to the regular cast, Recurring voices included actress Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
provided the voice for Bonny, 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....
actors Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
provided the voice of Mayor Adam West, 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...
who provided the voice for Joe and 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...
. Writers 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 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...
made minor appearances.
Cultural references
In the beginning of the episode, when they are in Joe's home theater, Joe appears rolling across the ground in a parody of the 1984 TriStar PicturesTriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. is an American film production/distribution studio and subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, itself a subdivision of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures...
logo. The television show that Peter and Lois watch entitled Fast Talking High Trousers, which parodied 1940s films, was conceived by Wellesley Wild. The episode's title and plot references the horror film Poltergeist. The episode references the 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...
sitcoms Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
and its sequel Joey
Joey (TV series)
Joey is an American sitcom, which stars Matt LeBlanc reprising his role as Joey Tribbiani from the sitcom Friends. It premiered on the NBC television network, on September 9, 2004, in the former time slot of its parent series, Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m...
, also referencing the cancellation of Joey. To cheer himself up, Stewie at one point imagines himself on the show Jackass
Jackass (TV series)
jackass is an American reality series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, self-injuring stunts and pranks...
. In one scene, Chris is frightened by Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. In television commercials, the clown inhabits a fantasy world called McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and...
, and is saved from an evil tree by Herbert, who fights the tree in a Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
-style battle. When Peter is clawing at his face, he transforms into Hank Hill
Hank Hill
Henry Rutherford "Hank" Hill Age 50 animated series King of the Hill. Hank lives in Arlen, Texas and works at the fictional Strickland Propane selling propane and propane accessories. Hank's voice is provided by series creator Mike Judge. The Economist named Hank Hill as one of the wisest people...
from King of the Hill
King 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...
. When trapped inside the spirit world and finds out he can communicate through the TVs with a static-y effect, Stewie sings the second verse of the Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
song "In the Air Tonight
In the Air Tonight
"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins that first appeared on his 1981 album Face Value. It was recorded in 1979 and was the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best-known hits. The music video, directed by Stuart Orme, was released in 1981.-The song/recording:The...
," with the same vocal effect as heard in the song. Peter also references Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
by sticking his head out of Meg's butt and claiming he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
. The scene of Peter taking the TV back in and putting Meg out referenced the end of the original film Poltergeist, where the family's father removes the television set after the family flees to a motel room. JAG
JAG
JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...
is also shown, commenting how the show has run its course, and the series was retired in real life sometimes after the airing of Petergeist. When the Griffin family approaches Carrot Top's mansion, the same theme from Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
is used when Marty McFly realizes he in in 1955 when he sees his family residence has not even been constructed yet.
Reception
The episode was watched by 8.4 million people, making it the 42nd most watched show of the week, tied with The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
.
The episode received mixed reviews. Bob Sassone from TV Squad praised the episode's humor, saying that he loved the Poltergeist takeoffs in the episode, even the music and special effects, especially when Peter plays around with the portals that are in Meg's butt. 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...
staff writer Michael Drucker gave a more critical review, saying that the jokes "quickly get old once you realize the episode blows its load fifteen minutes into the show".