Jump to content

I Dream of Jesus

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Aldousbchua (talk | contribs) at 12:08, 7 August 2010 (→Production and cultural references). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"I Dream of Jesus"

"I Dream of Jesus" is the second episode of the seventh season of Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 5, 2008[1]. In the episode, Peter finds an incognito Jesus Christ working at a record shop, and convinces Jesus to make his second coming public.

The episode was directed by Mike Kim, James Purdum and Peter Shin. It was written by Brian Scully, who became the first screenwriter to have penned episodes of both The Simpsons and Family Guy. The title of the episode is a pun of the television series I Dream of Jeannie, and the episode made prominent use of the song "Surfin' Bird" as recorded by The Trashmen. According to Nielsen Media Research, "I Dream of Jesus" was the Fox network's most-watched program the evening it first aired with 8.4 million views.

"I Dream of Jesus" received generally positive reviews. Seth MacFarlane was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and an Annie Award for his role as Peter Griffin in this episode. This was one of three episodes (along with "Road to Germany" and "Family Gay") submitted the year Family Guy was nominated for the "Outstanding Comedy Series".

Plot

Peter obtains a record of his favorite song, The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird" from a 1950s-themed restaurant (which was about to be thrown away because it was released in 1963) Peter drives everyone at home crazy by repeatedly playing and singing to it, and even squanders the family's savings to do a public service announcement. Everyone sees the public service announcement, and a mathematician tells his students that the bird is greater than or equal to the word. Deciding that enough is enough, Stewie and Brian steal the record while Peter is asleep and destroy it (Music playing in the background: "Still" by Geto Boys). Infuriated, Peter goes to a record shop the next morning to buy another copy, but it turns out this store and at least two other record stores had already been visited by a baby and a talking dog who bought all the copies. Frustrated, Peter is distracted as he recognizes the record sales clerk to be Jesus Christ.

Jesus and Peter become friends and Peter convinces him to make his second coming public. After Jesus walks on water to retrieve a lost dollar bill, he becomes famous and makes celebrity appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the MTV Movie Awards. He gets so caught up in his new-found popularity that he begins to neglect his friendship with Peter. The next day, Peter watches the news, where Tom Tucker reports that Jesus was found in Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment that morning face down and unconscious. Tom reports that police have revived and arrested the disoriented Jesus, who quoted "Jews are responsible for all the world's wars." Peter is asked by Jesus to bail him out. Now in disrepute, Jesus decides that maybe he wasn't mature enough to return to the world yet. Before he leaves this world, Jesus gives Peter a present: another record of "Surfin' Bird", which plays over the end credits.

Production and cultural references

The episode was written by Brian Scully, and it was directed by Peter Shin, Mike Kim and James Purdum.[2] Actor Ralph Garman and show writer Danny Smith guest starred in the episode both playing various voices.[2] The episode's name is a pun of the title of the NBC sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie.[3]

Following the first showing of the episode in the UK in April 2009, "Surfin' Bird" entered the singles chart for the first time (having failed to chart when first released there in 1964), reaching #50.[4]

The scene in which Stewie and Brian destroy the record is a parody of a scene in the movie Office Space, featuring the same song ("Still" by The Geto Boys).

Among the posters in the record store in which Jesus works, pictured in the image above are Nirvana's In Utero, R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (incorrectly reproduced) and Led Zeppelin's debut album.

Jesus refers to Mary Magdalene in a scene when he walks out to present an award alongside the Pussycat Dolls; he says "I used to hang around with only one whore".

When Jesus is arrested, his drunken rant is a reference to a similar outburst during Mel Gibson's DUI arrest.[3] It also has a parody of Marshall McLuhan's cameo appearance in Woody Allen's Annie Hall in the scene where Jesus is introduced to George W. Bush.

Reception

According to Nielsen ratings, "I Dream of Jesus" was the most-watched program on Fox the night it originally aired.[5] It was watched by 8.4 million viewers, and earned a 4.3/10 ratings share in the 18–49 demographic.[6] Richard Keller of TV Squad praised the "Surfing Bird" and Office Space parody segments.[7] Ahsan Haque of IGN rated the episode a 7/10, claiming the episode had entertaining moments, but was not one of the show's strongest efforts. Haque wrote, "Jesus on Family Guy should have been a big deal and featured far more laughs than it did." [8] Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club praised the "Surfin Bird" plot, but stated that the Jesus story was abrupt, adding, "There was a lot of ground Family Guy didn't tread that they wanted to".[9] L. Brent Bozell III of the Parents Television Council, a common critic of the show, took offense at this episode's portrayal of Jesus. Bozell said "this lying, slacker Jesus is even dumber than Peter, the greatest idiot on animated television today."[3]

Seth MacFarlane was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his role as Peter Griffin in this episode,[10] but lost to Dan Castellaneta for his role of Homer Simpson on The Simpsons.[11] MacFarlane was also nominated for an Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production or Short Form for his work in I Dream of Jesus but lost to Ahmed Best for his role as Jar Jar Binks in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II.[12] According to Seth MacFarlane, I Dream of Jesus was one of three episodes (along with "Road to Germany" and "Family Gay") submitted for consideration for "Outstanding Comedy Series" in the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009. He explained, "We picked three of our edgier shows as a choice. We figured if we are going to be damned, let's be damned for what we really are." The series was ultimately nominated for the award, the first time an animated series was nominated for the same category since the ABC sitcom The Flintstones in 1961.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Primetime Listings for "I Dream of Jesus"". FoxFlash. 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  2. ^ a b "I Dream of Jesus". Film.com. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  3. ^ a b c Bozell, L. Brent III (2008-10-10). "Fox's Lying, Slacker Jesus". Creators Syndicate. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  4. ^ "Number One is number one". MusicWeek. April 26, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2010. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Missing pipe in: |first= (help)
  5. ^ "CW's Sunday Slate Struggles last=Eggerton". Broadcasting & Cable. October 6, 2008. Retrieved FEbruary 28, 2010. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  6. ^ Bill Gorman (2008-10-06). "Sunday Ratings: Desperate Housewives, 60 Minutes Win, CW Crashes". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  7. ^ Keller, Richard (2008-10-11). "Six shows that I am watching pretty regularly this season". TV Squad. AOL. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  8. ^ Haque, Ashan (2008). "Family Guy: "I Dream of Jesus" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-09-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Heisler, Steve (2008-10-5). ""Lost Verizon"/"Earthly Girls Are Easy"/"I Dream Of Jesus"/"The One That Got Away"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2009-12-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards and 2009 Creative Arts Emmy Awards Nominees are..." Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2009-07-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Goodman, Dean (2009-09-13). "Tina Fey wins Emmy award for Sarah Palin spoof". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
  12. ^ "36th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2008)". Retrieved 2009-07-16.
  13. ^ James Hibberd (2009-07-17). "Family Guy smashes Emmy barrier for cartoons". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
Preceded by
Love Blactually 		Family Guy (season 7) Succeeded by
Road to Germany

Template:Family Guy (season 7)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I_Dream_of_Jesus&oldid=377635452"