Episode no. Season 2
Episode 10 Production code 1ACX09 | Directed by John Holmquist Original air date April 11, 2000 | |
Written by Neil Goldman
Garrett Donovan | ||
"Running Mates" is the tenth episode from the second season of the Fox animated series Family Guy, and its 17th episode overall. A holdover from Season 1 that aired in Season 2, it first aired on April 11, 2000, and was written by Garrett Donovan and Neil Goldman, and directed by John Holmquist. Lee Majors guest stars as himself. This episode is rated TV-14 LS.
Contents
Plot summary
Lois's campaign for school board president is interrupted when Brian tells her that he got a call from the principal, saying that Chris has taken part in voyeurism. Peter tries to suppress Chris' behavior with pornography which he sells to his friends, while Lois finally holds a campaign for Head of the School Board of Education. Meanwhile, Peter runs into his favorite teacher from his schooldays, Mr. Fargus (voiced by Dwight Schultz), but is disappointed to discover that he has been reduced from his eccentric former self to a catatonic old man due to medication. Peter tells Fargus to stop taking his medication, which instantly makes his behavior reckless and gets him fired. Lois's rival for school board president quits, so Lois wins by default; however, when Peter finds that she will not re-hire Fargus, he himself runs for election to do so.
The two run tight campaigns against each other, but Peter humiliates himself at a debate. Desperate to turn this around, Peter airs a political advertisement with a sexually provocative photograph of Lois to humiliate her. Lois is shocked and upset when Peter actually wins the school board election in a landslide and does not seem to take his new position very seriously, making ridiculous changes to the school. A huge scandal erupts for Peter during a TV interview when it is revealed that the school's students are reading the pornography which he gave to Chris. Peter is advised to blame the situation on Lois, but during a press conference, he cannot bring himself to do that because every woman in the crowd turns into her. Due to this, he finds himself apologizing for his horrible behavior and resigning. Meanwhile, Mr. Fargus, back to taking his pills, is welcomed back by the middle school students before he is shot at by a robotic hall guard that Peter had installed while president.
Reception
In his 2008 review, Ahsan Haque of IGN, rating the episode a 9/10, stated that "Running Mates" is "one of the stronger outings of the excellent second season" and said that it is "entertaining, cleverly written" and features "a very strong tightly woven storyline".