animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of the sitcom that is animated instead of live action and is generally made or created for adult audiences in most cases. ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Simpsons'', '' South Park'', and ''Family Guy'' are four of ...

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ...

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

Peter Griffin Peter Löwenbräu Griffin, born Justin Peter Griffin, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is voiced by the series' creator, Seth MacFarlane, and first appeared on television, alon ...

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

Quagmire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types o ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Quahog The hard clam ('' Mercenaria mercenaria''), also known as the round clam, hard-shell (or hard-shelled) clam, or the quahog, is an edible marine bivalve mollusk that is native to the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Princ ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

. Whilst driving they are stopped by a police officer, arrested and thrown in jail by the sheriff who abuses his power, and plants

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...

in their car. The group then attempt to escape the prison due to their stay being extended indefinitely, and return to Quahog. The episode served as a follow-up to the exit of the main character Cleveland Brown, who left ''Family Guy'' in order to star in his own Fox spin-off, entitled ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry (voice actor), Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cle ...

''. Main cast member and former series writer Mike Henry returned to the series to provide the voice of Cleveland. The episode also featured a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

between ''Family Guy'' and ''The Cleveland Show'', both of which were created by executive producer

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and '' The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creato ...

, and included cameo appearances by two of ''The Cleveland Show''s main characters. First announced at the 2011

San Diego Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

, the episode was written by Artie Johann and Shawn Ries, and directed by

Brian Iles Brian Iles is an American animation television director, director. Iles is known for directing several episodes of the animated TV series ''Family Guy''. Iles has also served as a storyboard revisionist and as a character layout artist on ''Draw ...

. The episode received mixed reviews, praising its structure and humor, but criticizing it for not living up to the 1967 drama film ''

Cool Hand Luke ''Cool Hand Luke'' is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison ca ...

'', which the episode was named after. According to

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, it was watched by 7.14 million people in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by

Ralph Garman Ralph Garman (born November 17, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, saxophonist, drummer and radio host best known as the host of '' The Joe Schmo Show'', for his voice work on the Fox animated series ''Family Guy'', former entertainment repor ...

,

Bob Gunton Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945) is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama '' The Shawshank Redemption' ...

,

Sanaa Lathan Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows ''In the House'', '' Family Matters'', '' NYPD Bl ...

,

Julius Sharpe Jonathan Goldblatt, who writes under the pen name Julius Sharpe, is an American television writer, producer and show-runner of Making History (TV series), ''Making History'' and United We Fall (TV series), ''United We Fall''. Biography Sharpe re ...

,

Jennifer Tilly Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American–Canadian actress and poker player. Known for her distinctive voice and comedic timing, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two MTV Movie Awards and three Sat ...

, and

Jād Saxton Jad Saxton (, born September 27) is an American voice actress and ADR Director who works for Funimation and Sentai Filmworks. Early life Her name is an acronym of her parents' names, Jimmi and David, and is pronounced "Jayd". She grew up with ...

along with several recurring guest voice actors from the series.

Plot

When

Cleveland Brown Cleveland Orenthal Brown Sr. is a fictional character from the animated television series ''Family Guy'', and its spin-off series '' The Cleveland Show''. He is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family and is best known for his mild-mannered ...

returns to

Quahog The hard clam ('' Mercenaria mercenaria''), also known as the round clam, hard-shell (or hard-shelled) clam, or the quahog, is an edible marine bivalve mollusk that is native to the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Princ ...

for a week, he visits his old friends

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

,

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

and

Quagmire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types o ...

. When Peter gets tired of his wife,

Lois Lois is a common English name from the New Testament. Paul the Apostle mentions Lois, the pious grandmother of Saint Timothy in the Second Epistle to Timothy (commending her for her faith in 2 Timothy 1:5). The name was first used by English Ch ...

, constantly demanding for him to do chores, he and the rest of the group decide to take a road trip to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

. Whilst their husbands are away, Lois, Bonnie and Donna proceed to enjoy "girl time", resulting with them doing wine-induced childish antics which include forcibly dressing Brian in a humiliating bumblebee costume. While driving through a rural area in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, Peter and his group are pulled over by the local sheriff, and Peter makes every effort to talk as annoyingly and rudely to him as possible. But the Sheriff is more offended by Cleveland's attempt to calmingly explain themselves, punching out their left headlights and then planting a bag of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...

in their trunk. The group are then sent to a county work camp where they are forced to perform various tasks, including ditch digging and rock crushing. As their stay in the jail supposedly comes to an end, the warden then approaches them and tells them that their stay has been extended an additional thirty days. Learning from another prisoner that they might be locked up forever, the group decides to break out of the prison when the prison guard's eyes are diverted. Successful in their attempt, they soon come across a house where they discover a set of handcuff and shackle keys. They then discover that they are in the sheriff's home, who returns soon after. Peter tries to pretend to be his wife while hiding in a closet, and he convinces the sheriff to let the fugitives go free. This exchange ends with the sheriff asking for a hug, which makes Peter jump out of the closet and reveal the group, making the sheriff realizing that he doesn't have a wife. The entire police force then comes after them, until they are able to jump on a train and arrive in Quahog, only to be met by the sheriff and his deputies. Joe, however, had called ahead and arranged for the Quahog police department to arrive and rescue them. Joe then wrecks the sheriff's car, shoots him in the leg, and demands he leave Quahog.

Production and development

The episode was directed by series regular

Brian Iles Brian Iles is an American animation television director, director. Iles is known for directing several episodes of the animated TV series ''Family Guy''. Iles has also served as a storyboard revisionist and as a character layout artist on ''Draw ...

and written by Artie Johann and Shawn Ries, in their first episode of the series. Series regulars

Peter Shin Peter Shin is an American animator, director, and producer who served as supervising director of '' Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story'', the director of ''Big Bug Man'', the director of ''Family Guy'' episodes " Death Has a Shadow" (the series premi ...

and James Purdum served as supervising directors, with Andrew Goldberg, Alex Carter, Spencer Porter, Anthony Blasucci, Mike Desilets, and Deepak Sethi serving as staff writers for the episode. Composer

Walter Murphy Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (born December 19, 1952) is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for the instrumental " A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony which top ...

, who has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for the episode. The episode saw the re-appearance of former main cast member Mike Henry as the voice of Cleveland Brown. The actor had previously left the role on ''Family Guy'', in order to star as the character in his own spinoff, entitled ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry (voice actor), Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cle ...

'', which was co-created by Henry.

Sanaa Lathan Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows ''In the House'', '' Family Matters'', '' NYPD Bl ...

, who portrays

Donna Tubbs ''Family Guy (franchise), Family Guy'' is an American animated comedy multimedia franchise originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company, primarily based on the animated series ''Family Guy'' (1999–presen ...

on ''The Cleveland Show'', also guest starred as her character in the episode. "Cool Hand Peter" was first announced at the 2011

San Diego Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

on July 23, 2011 by series

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

s and executive producers

Steve Callaghan Steve Callaghan is an American screenwriter, producer and voice actor, best known for his work on ''Family Guy''. He is a graduate of the Department of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs. Callaghan started his career in 1999 as a ...

and

Mark Hentemann Mark Henry Hentemann is an American screenwriter, creator and producer for television and film. He is a writer, executive producer and former showrunner of the animated series ''Family Guy'', where he started as a writer in its first season. In ...

. In addition to the regular cast and Lathan, actor

Bob Gunton Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945) is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama '' The Shawshank Redemption' ...

, voice actor

Julius Sharpe Jonathan Goldblatt, who writes under the pen name Julius Sharpe, is an American television writer, producer and show-runner of Making History (TV series), ''Making History'' and United We Fall (TV series), ''United We Fall''. Biography Sharpe re ...

, and actress

Jennifer Tilly Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American–Canadian actress and poker player. Known for her distinctive voice and comedic timing, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two MTV Movie Awards and three Sat ...

, who portrayed the sheriff, warden, UPS Guy and Bonnie Swanson, respectively, guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actors Danny Smith, writer

Alec Sulkin Alexander Matthew Sulkin (born February 14, 1973) is an American screenwriter, producer, and voice actor known for his work on ''Family Guy'' and ''The Cleveland Show''. Career Sulkin began as a writer for ''The Late Late Show with Craig Kilbor ...

, voice actor

Ralph Garman Ralph Garman (born November 17, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, saxophonist, drummer and radio host best known as the host of '' The Joe Schmo Show'', for his voice work on the Fox animated series ''Family Guy'', former entertainment repor ...

, and writer John Viener made minor appearances throughout the episode. Recurring cast members Adam West, and

Patrick Warburton Patrick Warburton (born November 14, 1964) is an American actor. On television, he has played David Puddy on ''Seinfeld'', the title character on ''The Tick'', Jeb Denton on ''Less Than Perfect'', Jeff Bingham on ''Rules of Engagement'' and Lemo ...

also appeared in the episode, portraying the characters of Adam West and

Joe Swanson ''Family Guy'' is an American animated comedy multimedia franchise originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company, primarily based on the animated series ''Family Guy'' (1999–present), its spin-off series ...

, respectively. Bob Gunton's voicing of the warden is probably a nod to his most famous role, that of the warden in the film ''

The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella '' Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), ...

''.

Cultural references

The title of the episode is a reference to the 1967 American film ''

Cool Hand Luke ''Cool Hand Luke'' is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison ca ...

''. In the opening scene of the episode, while Peter, Joe, Cleveland and Quagmire are drinking at the local bar, Peter's wife, Lois, calls him on his phone. The theme song from ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry (voice actor), Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cle ...

'' then begins playing as Peter's ringtone. While the group drives to New Orleans, they attempt to pass the time by playing various games in the car. One of the games involves deciding whether to be a "hobo," or former German Nazi leader

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. After the group is pulled over by the sheriff, and arrested for drug possession, they are all taken to court, where the jury is revealed to be various characters from the Fox animation series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''. Peter and Joe then debated over whether the Simpson jurors were actually a jury of their peers. The warden of the prison resembles the warden in the movie ''

The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella '' Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), ...

'', who is also authoritarian and cruel. In fact, the voice of the warden is the voice of

Bob Gunton Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945) is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama '' The Shawshank Redemption' ...

, the actor who portrayed the warden in the film. After the group escapes from jail, Peter remarks that he is filled with hunger, and would like to stop at a "Burger Queen" or "McDaniels" along the way back to Quahog, a reference to the American

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredie ...

restaurants

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant c ...

and

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...

, as indicated by Quagmire. who expresses his disdain that they are "on television".

Reception

"Cool Hand Peter" was originally broadcast on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

in the United States on December 4, 2011. It was watched by 7.14 million viewers, according to

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, despite airing simultaneously with the ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a to ...

'' on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in ...

'' on CBS and ''

Sunday Night Football Sunday Night Football may refer to: * ''NBC Sunday Night Football'', the Sunday night broadcast of American NFL games by NBC since 2006 * ''ESPN Sunday Night Football'', the Sunday night broadcast of American NFL games from 1987 to 2005 by ESPN * ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

. The episode also acquired a 3.6/8 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating ''

Allen Gregory ''Allen Gregory'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Jonah Hill, Jarrad Paul, and Andrew Mogul for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows pretentious seven-year-old Allen Gregory De Longpre, who is raised by his two rich ...

'' and ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry (voice actor), Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cle ...

'', in addition to significantly edging out both shows in total viewership. The episode's ratings increased significantly from the previous week's episode, "

Amish Guy "Amish Guy" is the seventh episode of the tenth season of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 27, 2011. The episode follows the Griffin family after their car breaks d ...

". The episode received mixed reviews, with Kevin McFarland of

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...

calling the storyline "disappointing." He wrote of the episode, "At this juncture, disappointment is an expectation, something I have to fight against whenever I sit down to watch the show in an attempt to give each episode a fair shake." He continued, "This week, I was at a bit of a loss, because despite a return to an older, more successful formula, with a clearly plotted path, ''Family Guy'' didn't muster up enough material to fill out the A-plot of a half hour." McFarland also stated that the episode did not live up to the 1967 drama film ''Cool Hand Luke'', that the title of the episode was named after. He concluded his review of the episode by giving the episode a grade of C. Terren R. Moore of Ology also found the episode to be unimpressive, noting, "It's good fun while it's on, but nothing here really sticks or adds to anything new to love about ''Family Guy''." Moore also commented, "it's a pretty weak episode of ''Family Guy'', where the most memorable joke of the night involves a thought bubble where Quagmire pulls a string of beads out of a woman's vagina." In the conclusion of the review, Moore gave the episode a 6/10 score.

References

External links

* {{Family Guy (season 10) 2011 American television episodes Family Guy (season 10) episodes Television episodes set in Georgia (U.S. state) American television episodes about cannabis Television episodes set in prisons