Episode no. Season 3
Episode 16 Written by Danny Smith Original air date December 21, 2001 | Directed by Brian Hogan Production code 2ACX03 | |
"A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" is the sixteenth episode of Family Guy's third season. It originally aired on Fox on December 21, 2001. In the episode, it is Christmas time in Quahog, a time when Lois's plans for a perfect holiday blow up in her face, causing her to have a mental breakdown. Stewie uses his role as the baby Jesus in the town play to be good for Santa Claus, about whom he has become paranoid, and show Lois the true meaning of Christmas.
Contents
"A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" was written by Danny Smith and directed by Brian Hogan. Though the episode aired during the third season, it was a holdover from the second production season. It featured guest performances from the rock band KISS (Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, and Paul Stanley).
Plot
Lois signs Stewie up to star as baby Jesus in a nativity scene at the Quahog Christmas pageant. Stewie plays along in hopes of pleasing Santa, who he believes is omnipotent and thereby can supply him with plutonium. After Lois repeatedly reminds Peter to donate a present to charity, he mistakenly donates all of the family's Christmas gifts to a needy kids' charity. Lois seems unfazed by the mistake, but insists that the entire family shop for new presents at the mall. Peter reluctantly agrees, although he only wants to watch KISS Saves Santa on television; Brian stays behind to keep an eye on the turkey cooking in the oven. While at the mall, Peter finds a pair of barrettes that Meg wanted and ends up chasing down an old lady to a pet fish store called "Age of Aquariums", where the old lady throws fish food on him so that all the fish jump onto him to feed while the old lady escapes.
Meanwhile at home, an ember shoots onto the family rug from the fireplace. While Brian tries to deal with this crisis, the overcooked turkey begins to burn. Brian finds a fire extinguisher, but to his dismay, it is merely a novelty item filled with plastic snakes, which, upon being released into the fire, promptly explode and make it worse. After using the real fire extinguisher, he slips on the foam from it and the TV falls on top of him. Afterwards the interior of the house is destroyed; Brian escapes, but with his paws burnt hairless. Amazingly, Lois maintains a cheerful attitude, saying that they just need to clean up a bit. However, when Meg tells her that they are out of paper towels, Lois suffers a nervous breakdown and furiously screams at the family about how difficult it is to ensure that Christmas happens without a hitch, then runs from the ruined house on a rampage (Meg then ironically finds some paper towels mere seconds after Lois' rampage).
Lois storms through town, berating people for their Christmas optimism. When she reaches the town square, she climbs the Christmas tree there and grabs the ornamental star on top, bent on destroying it. The rest of the family arrives and Stewie, eager to perform a good deed to earn Santa's grace, performs an extemporaneous monologue about Jesus and the meaning of Christmas. Lois, watching Stewie, regains her sanity, but Peter, who thinks Lois isn't getting the message, allows the police to shoot her with a tranquilizer dart, just after she puts the star back on the tree.
The next morning at Christmas, the family opens their presents: Stewie gets his plutonium; Peter gets a week's vacation, a new VCR, and his own copy of Kiss Saves Santa; and Brian gets at what first appears to be a bottle of wine, but actually turns out to be a book. Lois is heavily sedated, sitting limply in a rocking chair and drooling. In the closing scene, the Griffins wish everyone a Merry Christmas (though Lois is still too numb to speak clearly).
Production
The episode was originally intended to air in December 2000, as part of the second season. However, it was shelved after the show was canceled for the first time, then reshuffled into the third season when the show returned.
Reception
Alynda Wheat of Entertainment Weekly ranked the episode 21 on her list of "26 Classic Holiday TV Episodes".