Family Guy is one of those shows that’s pretty consistently funny and that I really take for granted. I watch reruns every so often and am usually good about watching new episodes, but it’s not one of those shows I bend over backwards to watch from week to week. This past Sunday was the show’s ninth season premiere in an hour-long episode. I was very impatiently waiting to watch Dexter, so I tuned in.
I was pleasantly surprsied to find that the epsiode was going to be an Agatha Christie murder spoof. It was even cleverly titled “And Then There Were Fewer”. They didn’t even have to make a joke and I was sold. Anything pertaining to Agatha Christie already captures my interest. In true Family Guy style, the show started out with some crazy setup to get into the plot. All of the regular and semi-regular cast members have been invited to a dinner party at a mansion on a remote penninsula. Chaos ensues when it is revealed that they were invited to the mansion by James Woods, who has been “terrorizing” the Griffin family for years. He claims he wants to make good and apologizes for his past actions, but then one of the dinner guests (Quagmire’s horrendous date Stephanie) ends up dead.
The story then progresses in Clue-like fashion with the guest finding they are stranded on the pennisula because the lone bridge is blocked, so they search the house for the potential murderer. What makes this so hilarious to watch is the writers ability to use each of the characters to their full joke-making potential. There are some great moments with Herbert the pedophile, as well as when Peter finds a secret passage that leads to a laundry room, only to then find an actual secret passage right next to it. The show did a really great job of poking fun at murder mysteries while still creating a suspenseful plot. There was even a twist ending!
I loved the the twist ending and will be curious to see how it will fit into any future plots in the show. Family Guy has been better in recent seasons about having more long-running plots instead of episode after episode of random skteches put together. Interestingly, Seth MacFarlane, the show’s creator, posted on his Twitter account that “Yes, tonight’s episode is ‘canon’.” Meaning that everyone who died in the events of the episode (which included some notable supporting characters) would stay dead, much like Bonnie finally giving birth to her baby in season 7. I’m really interested to see how these changes will play with the show’s comedic reportoire, which has been steadily getting stronger with each new season. I know that I love the show, and it always makes me laugh, despite it’s occasional off-color humor, but everyone needs a good laugh. I have full confidence in the fact that the show will continue to be hilarious and look forward to some new jokes.
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