Review: Family Guy “Pal Stewie”

It’s like Night Rider, but with a lot more Tony Robbins, bacon, and boogers.

Overview:

Stewie is back at it trying to kill Lois until he is interrupted by a young boy named, Hudson.  The innocent child helps Stewie reconnect with his inner baby – well, he is a baby – but, they become best friends.  But, things get weird when Stewie doesn’t get an invite to Hudson’s birthday party.  What else would Stewie do in a situation like that, but try and kill the little boy?

Meanwhile, Lois takes Peter to a Tony Robbins self-empowerment seminar.  Peter is adamant that he is a fraud, but Tony Robbins will not give up on trying to help him.  After being struck by lightning, the ghost of Tony Robbins seemingly is transferred to Peters car.  Finally, Tony Robbins is able to give Peter the confidence he needs to ask for a raise, and more bacon.   Although, it turns out he never died and was actually living in Peter’s trunk.

Our Take:

Is it just me, or is it starting to feel like new episodes of Family Guy are just repeats of old episodes of Family Guy?  I cannot count the number of times that I have seen Stewie make a new best friend at the playground.  And, instead of it being some sweet girl he falls head over heels for, it’s just some other kid.  This honestly felt like a rehash of old material, and there is nothing more disappointing than that.  Family Guy has always been a show about pushing boundaries, but if they can’t give us some original content, then what exactly are they trying to accomplish right now?

With that said, they did keep to their pop culture references in obscure ways.  Incorporating Tony Robbins into a Night Rider themed plot is clever on so many levels.  However, even that part of the show was hurt by being so limited.  And, really, is Tony Robbins even relevant right now?  I don’t think he is.  And, neither is Night Rider for that manner.  Anyone born after the eighties is not going to understand that reference at all.

The only saving grace of the episode was the booger picking scene.  I am pretty sure we are all guilty of picking our noses in the car at some point and not knowing what to do with the aftermath.  Peter always knows how to represent all of us in a situation like that.  And, the music that went along to it just made the scene all that much funnier.  Seriously, you can skip the whole episode and not have missed anything, but you should watch the nose picking scene on YouTube or something.

Damn, I sound bitter.  But, I totally am.  I expect more from a series that has been on-air for so long and provided so many intelligent episodes.  Seventeen seasons in I should not be feeling like I have seen this same episode time and time again.  We are three episodes into the year already, and I have yet to see any original storytelling.  I sincerely hope that they step their game up soon because we need some great stories and jokes again.

Score
3/10