"Save the Clam" is the nineteenth episode of the eleventh season and the 207th overall episode of the

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

comedy series Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first United States television ...

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

''. It aired 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 ("brush"). Twelve species ...

in the United States on May 5, 2013, and is written by Chris Sheridan and directed by

Brian Iles Brian Iles is an American animation 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 ''Drawn Together'' and ''Th ...

. The episode's plot revolves around

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 ...

and his friends trying to save Quahog’s local bar, The Drunken Clam, from being closed down after the owner Horace is killed in a freak accident during a ball game.

Plot

During a

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

match between the Drunken Clam and Goldman's Pharmacy,

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

is brought in as a player for Mort's team. To win the game, Horace attempts to strike Jerome out. Unfortunately, Jerome hits the ball so hard it accidentally flies into Horace's face and fractures his skull, killing him. During the funeral, Jerome expresses to Peter how awful he feels about it, noting that Horace was a good bartender and good person and wishes that there was something he could do. But Peter assures Jerome that he's not upset with him, acknowledging that Jerome never meant to harm Horace. After the funeral, the guys go to drink at The Drunken Clam to pay their respects to Horace only to find the bar has been

foreclosed Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mort ...

. The guys are forced to drink at Peter's house, but after

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 C ...

objects, they sneak back into the Clam for a night of drinking. The next morning, they find the Clam is about to be demolished & Peter demands they stop as he claims ownership of the bar. During the stand-off, Jerome suddenly appears and reveals that he used his sports earnings from playing

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

(which is also his brother's name) to buy The Drunken Clam so he can keep it open to honor Horace's legacy and redeem himself for what he did. The trio find the Drunken Clam modified by Jerome and then they are relegated to a space on the floor near a pile of garbage since there are three black guys in their usual booth. In a sub plot, during Horace's

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

Meg Meg is a feminine given name, often a short form of Margaret, Megan, Megumi (Japanese), etc. It may refer to: People *Meg (singer) (born 1980), Japanese singer *Meg Baird, American musician *Meg Bateman, Scottish writer * Meg Bellamy, British ac ...

leaves to use the bathroom and accidentally stumbles into an

embalming Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them with embalming chemicals in modern times to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for viewing as part of the funeral ceremony or ...

session. Impressed by her lack of squeamishness, the

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker or mortician (American English), is a professional who has licenses in funeral arranging and embalming (or preparation of the deceased) involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks o ...

offers her a job at the funeral home. Soon,

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

shows up after being locked out of the house without a key and plays with the deceased bodies to Meg's annoyance. When she goes to dress the body of Mr. Dugan, she finds it is missing and discovers that Chris stole the body, using it to get into "R" rated movies until it fell apart in a swimming pool. Due to Meg and Chris being unable to find Dugan's body parts, the former forces the latter to pose as Dugan during the funeral despite him having itchy testicles. As they progress, they learn from Dugan's wife, Helen, that the deceased face is to be donated for a transplant to a woman who lost her face in a freak

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

accident. Chris becomes furious at Meg for the loss of his own face, now unable to frown due to the transplant.

Reception

The episode received a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and was watched by a total of 4.79 million viewers. This made it the second most watched show on Fox's

Animation Domination Animation Domination (also called AniDom, Fox AD, and AD) is an American animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are d ...

line-up that night, beating ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' and ''

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is centered on the Belcher family—parents Bob Belcher, Bob and Linda Belcher, Linda and their three children, Tina Belcher, Tina, G ...

'' but losing to ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...

''. The episode was met with mixed reviews from critics. Kevin McFarland of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an 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 created in ...

'' gave the episode a B, saying "That’s a pretty standard way to appreciate anything that ''Family Guy'' does these days, tuning out the deliberately provocative jokes as though they're comments made by an older relative at Thanksgiving who gets a pass because they 'grew up in a different time.' ''Family Guy'' doesn't have that excuse, so when the material doesn't work because it trades in lazy stereotypes, it hurts the episode. Still, I laughed more this week at the remaining bits than I have in a few months." Carter Dotson of TV Fanatic gave the episode three out of five stars, saying "This was a rather pedestrian episode of the show, not a classic but not terrible. If your DVR didn't record it, you didn't miss much."

References

External links

* *

The plot description was adapted fro
Save the Clam
at Family Guy Wiki, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. {{Family Guy episodes, 11 2013 American television episodes Family Guy season 11 episodes Television episodes about funerals