Review: Family Guy “Play Time”

Overview:

The local “Quahog Theater” is in danger of closing down. Self-proclaimed “community activist” Lous stages three plays starring her family and friends to save it.

Our Take:

The first play is a send-up to “To Kill a Mockingbird,” with Meg as Scout, Peter as “Fatticus” Finch, and Chris as “Poo Radley.” Of course, the real star of the show is the talking mockingbird. Unfortunately, he might not survive his encounter with ensemble cast member Brian.

The second play sees Peter and Quagmire as “The Odd Couple” who learn that two white New York-based writers might actually have a bit in common. Lois and Bonnie play the Pigeon Sisters, and Chris plays Kramer as the whole thing turns into a parody of Seinfeld.

Chris then plays the Danish prince in the final segment, a parody of Hamlet. Naturally, Peter’s his spooky dad, with Glenn as King Claudius, the evil uncle who’s now married to Queen Lois. Of course, an impassioned hockey speech a la Miracle is enough to give Hamlet the inner strength to defy the original ending, allowing him to defeat Quagmire and live happily ever after. Granted, Disney did it first, but at least Family Guy didn’t rewrite the cast as talking lions.

This episode is a clever twist on the show’s anthology episodes. Because the characters are explicitly putting on a play, the story technically comes out in real time, with a few running gags and jokes about what’s going on behind the scenes. Some of these gags prove to be the episode’s highlights, like Stewie getting a call from Patti LuPone in the middle of the play.

The first two shorts mostly poke fun at the decades each play is set in, and it kind of takes up most of the jokes. This is especially an issue with the “Odd Couple” parody, as last week’s “Viewer DMs” already had a Glenn-centered segment that was dedicated to mocking the 1960s.

The Hamlet parody avoids this, but mostly skips through the beats of the story. Don’t expect jokes like poking fun at how the king was killed with poison in the ear (or how the Simpsons surprisingly didn’t come up with that). They also explicitly skip over Ophelia entirely, presumably so they didn’t have to choose between Meg or Stewie in the role. And you probably would’ve expected Peter to make at least one Lion King joke.

The story gets a surprisingly happy ending, with Lois revealing that they actually managed to save the playhouse. Of course, this being Family Guy, a narration from Peter reveals it was saved for less-than-innocent reasons. Still, if the ghost of Billy Shakespeare is okay with it, it’s best not to complain.

Ultimately, the little side jokes really make this episode. Following “Viewer DMs,” some fans might moan to learn the season has another “three short” story a week later, but it proves to be a clever take on the format.