Review: Family Guy “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Cheater”

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Overview

Peter becomes a human pumpkin to help Joe finally win Quahog’s Great Pumpkin Contest. Meanwhile Stewie brings Rupert to life, and Rupert immediately resolves to kill Brian.

Cutaways

Tom’s Mustache, Fort Bragg, RHCP

Our Take

I gotta tell ya, I don’t know what FOX was thinking in NOT airing this episode of Family Guy. I mean, star power alone between Derek Jacobi (Star Wars) and Glen Powell (he’s in every movie right now) would’ve made this one a big ratings hit, though with the MLB playoffs taking hold maybe I can understand a bit, but maybe premiere this one ON Halloween which would’ve been a random Thursday this year and would have been completely devoid of baseball. It certainly would have been a better option than whatever Masked shit they’re trying to shove down our throats nowadays.

In any event, Hulu’s exclusive “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Cheater” really is just a FOX episode of Family Guy premiering on Hulu and one can tell for a few reasons: 1) Compared to say a Solar Opposites Halloween special where sexual innuendo and crass language is all over the place, clearly this Family Guy special encompasses all of the rules of a classic network airing of the show and 2) it’s not a Halloween short like The Simpsons just posted on Disney+ the other day. I’m sure if the producers of Family Guy were truly told ahead of time that they were doing a Halloween special, they would’ve done something even more maniacal than what we got.

Not that I’m complaining, “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Cheater” is actually a very, very good and very funny episode of Family Guy. One part Ted meets Chucky and one part Starfuckers Inc, “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Cheater” features hilarious dialogue, valuable contributions from their guest stars (Derek Jacobi is must-see TV in this as “Rupert”), and even a solid blast from the past when Stewie goes all sci-fi in his attempt to bring his toy to life. If you’re a super fan of cutaway gags, we don’t get a BUNCH of those here, but the ongoing Anthony Kiedis gags were plenty enough for me.

Again, this doesn’t feel like a true made-for-streaming episode of Family Guy, I’d like to think the producers would be a bit more adventurous for those, but for an episode of Family Guy this one’s pretty good. Later this year we’re getting a Christmas special so hopefully the show wraps up 2024 on the right note.

About John Schwarz

John is the Chief Editor and Founder of Bubbleblabber.com. While at first a part-time project, Bubbleblabber quickly grew into a full-fledged operation and officially became a company in 2014. When John isn't running a business full-time, he likes to go to concerts with your mother.